What's wrong with splitting the party?

[Lanefan]

you can also send the nonactive players out of the room. there they can discuss strategy and/or talk about clues or riddles or ideas.

Assuming you *have* an "out of the room" area to send them to...not so easy in a small-ish apartment. But yes, that's the best way...or, if it's just one player active, the DM and that player go elsewhere. It's certainly more efficient than doing things by note.

Lanefan

 

[Greg K]

1. don't leave one group sitting for too long.
2. have entertaining players. There have been times I have sat back while the GM was focused on half the group. The other players were so entertaining that I did not mind being away from the action for a brief period.

 

[lukelightning]

One genre which is a major party-splitter is Cyberpunk. The decker/hacker/whatever goes off in cyberspace and has his own little adventure while the rest of the party does nothing. Shadowrun makes it even worse by adding astral projection to the mix.

 

[Umbran]

Shadowrun makes it even worse by adding astral projection to the mix.

At least for Shadowrun, the interesting Astral space is the one corresponding to where the rest of the PCs are. For deckers, the interesting matrix space usually isnt' analogous to the space the PCs are in...

 

[Voadam]

One genre which is a major party-splitter is Cyberpunk. The decker/hacker/whatever goes off in cyberspace and has his own little adventure while the rest of the party does nothing. Shadowrun makes it even worse by adding astral projection to the mix.

Agreed. I played a bodyguard in one campaign and found it really boring to stand there next to the unconscious mage in his apartment while he had astral conflicts binding spirits off somewhere else.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

One genre which is a major party-splitter is Cyberpunk. The decker/hacker/whatever goes off in cyberspace and has his own little adventure while the rest of the party does nothing. Shadowrun makes it even worse by adding astral projection to the mix.

The Matrix adventure thing has been fixed fairly well in SR 4e. Now everyone has access to "augmented reality" and can follow along with the hacker and help him/her out using their own icons.

Astral space, however, is still an issue.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

The best "split-up PCs" game I've ever been involved in was a d20 Star Wars game.

The GM made heavy use of the infamous Lucas wipe.

Focus on one group for a few moments, and WIPE! it's the second group for a bit of time, then WIPE! back to the first.

Because everyone kept getting screen time, there was never a chance for one group or the other to get bored. That's an important lesson in handling multiple groups, that I hope I've managed to learn.

 

[lukelightning]

Regarding the player knowledge factor (that is, how to deal with players knowing what the other PCs are up to), in my experience players take a fiendish delight in roleplaying (correctly) that they have no idea what is happening when the rogue or scout or other loner is getting mauled by an owlbear or smothered by a mummy.

Scout: "aaagh, I'm getting killed by a troll, help!"
Rest of party (in another room down the corridor): "Did you hear something? Nah, must have been my imagination."
Scout: "C'mon guys, it's a DC -10 check to hear a battle, and it's only 60 feet away through a door, that's like a total of DC 1 to hear! And the DM says that my screams give an ad hoc -2 to the DC! If you roll a zerp you can still hear me!
Party: "sorry, we count as distracted. Plus you are the only one with ranks in listen...."

 

[VirgilCaine]

Is it because it's a pain in the ass on the DM to have to worry about two or more smaller groups at once?

God, yes.
Think of three groups of PCs, all doing different things in different place at different points in time during the same day.
God, I'm glad I split the group.

Is it a metagame thing that people beleive the encounters they run into need everyone to defeat, and half the part y just won't cut it?

No, that's just being logical about the danger of the world. Two people can't defeat things four people could take apart like a car.

 

[Li Shenron]

you can also send the nonactive players out of the room. there they can discuss strategy and/or talk about clues or riddles or ideas. or they can go to the bathroom, get snacks, make drinks or chat out of character or even out of game without distracting the active players.

I think this works only if it is a short break, like half an hour or so. If the half-party currently playing has a combat, then it's already too long at least if you're playing 3ed.