Splitters!

[CPezet]

I have been running a home-brew D&D based game which converted characters from a LARP for a few years now.

The trouble is my players have the habit of splitting up into different groups to try different ways of achieving their goals.

This leads to me having to deal with the groups individually and I worry about the other players not having anything to do while I am dealing with another group. I have tried things like creating puzzles/riddles for one group to solve while I roleplay with another but this is incredibly taxing on me to keep doing, and I worry about it getting repetitive.

I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to deal with this, I don't want to railroad them but I want to keep all the players engaged.

 

[GMMichael]

I have been running a home-brew D&D based game which converted characters from a LARP for a few years now.

The trouble is my players have the habit of splitting up into different groups to try different ways of achieving their goals.

This leads to me having to deal with the groups individually and I worry about the other players not having anything to do while I am dealing with another group. I have tried things like creating puzzles/riddles for one group to solve while I roleplay with another but this is incredibly taxing on me to keep doing, and I worry about it getting repetitive.

I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to deal with this, I don't want to railroad them but I want to keep all the players engaged.

Sounds like you're physically splitting the party.

Stop doing this.

GMs can't consume enough pizza to balance this use of calories. Just establish a Roleplaying XP bonus for each session. Then, handle one group of players at the table, for about the length of a Brittney Spears song (you know, standard American attention span). Then make the first group wait while you handle the other group for the same duration. If either group uses player knowledge of what happened with the other group to bolster character knowledge, deduct from that PC's Roleplaying XP bonus.

 

[Janx]

DMMike's right.

Establish that acting on out of character info is wrong/penalizable.

Give the characters communication doo-hickeys (walkie, talkies), so they CAN share info, and thus turn out of character info into character knowledge.

Do not spend longer than 5-10 minutes on any one group. Just like a TV show, cut back and forth between the different teams. You've likely watched enough TV to know how/when to cut. The trick is remembering to do it.

This also has the added benefit that players CAN leverage their out of game knowledge to better align their side of the plan to what's impacting the other team (without blatantly saying that's what they are doing). Improved party success is not a bad thing.


On thing to watch out for, is the Forker.

If your real problem is you've got a Lone Wolf type who sneaks off while the party is planning to explore, find trouble or steal, that's actually not the same as the party splitting up.

The Forker takes advantage of reactionary behavior. While the party is planning or talking among themselves, the GM gets bored. Suddenly, the Forker is engaging him with questions and actions that demand response.

The next thing you know, the main party has sat for an hour while the Forker has looted 3 rooms ahead and woken up all the monsters.

My current strategy, is when I realize I have a Forker going on, I cut away from him to the party again, and infrequently return to him. I make him find nothing of value, or get him into some trouble that he NEEDS the rest of the party for. And then I leave him there until the party happens to decide to go looking for him.

D&D is a group game. There are meta-game rules of behavior expected at most tables:
every player is welcome to join the party, which in character would violate reasonable trust testing
every player should be working together so everybody has fun.

the Forker is aiming to get more spotlight, loot, power than the other players. That usually means one player is trying to take from the group. That's usually not cool.

 

[Mark CMG]

Sounds like you're physically splitting the party.

Stop doing this.

GMs can't consume enough pizza to balance this use of calories. Just establish a Roleplaying XP bonus for each session. Then, handle one group of players at the table, for about the length of a Brittney Spears song (you know, standard American attention span). Then make the first group wait while you handle the other group for the same duration. If either group uses player knowledge of what happened with the other group to bolster character knowledge, deduct from that PC's Roleplaying XP bonus.

Yup. Sorry I cannot give you more XP just yet. Too many good advice posts from you, it would seem.

 

[CPezet]

Thanks for the advice guys

I shall take it onboard and change a few things going forward. Luckily I don't have a forker, but I will keep a wary eye out just in case.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Move away from D&D is my answer tbh.

Something like Apocalypse World with almost realistically deadly shooting handled in a couple of rolls means that you can slice scenes in only a couple of minutes each. You can snap back and forth between them readily. Splitting the party only dooms you with combat as intricate as any edition of D&D's.

 

[CPezet]

Yeah there are quite a few systems where combat is a long and drawn out process and D&D is quite bad for it.

I might take a look at Apocalypse world and see how it compares

 

[was]

Build, or find, a random encounter table with encounters built to challenge the level of the full party. If the party is split, the encounters should then be challenging/deadly enough to convince them to seek the help of the rest of the group.