When worlds collide...

[Renaissance Man]

There are five people in my gaming group; two of us take turns DMing. Historically, we've used different sets of characters in different campaign settings. But my fellow DM in the group is eager to merge our settings, or even abandon them in favor of one, shared setting.

I worry that by being part-time players/part-time DMs in the same campaign, we will soon find ourselves in a logistical nightmare - how do we handle campaign secrets, plot twists, abuses of power (i.e., favortism toward our own characters), etc.? I'm sure there are other complications that haven't even occurred to me yet.

I know some of you take this approach to gaming - what else should I be looking out for? What advice can you offer for keeping the game fun and balanced in the face of these complications?

 

[La Bete]

our group has done this a couple of times, with mixed success. May I recommend that you appoint an authoratative GM (i.e. boss man) for some areas such as rules, canon sources, etc?

Other than that, the usual stuff applies, you divvy up geographical areas, have some metaplots shared (admittedly means as a player you have to take a bit of a back seat) etc.

 

[Nightfall]

Send them all to Forge! (Oathbound setting) Trust me, it can be handled. ( I would say Scarred Lands...but Oathbound might suit your various characters/players' needs.)

 

[Renaissance Man]

I would say Scarred Lands...

Nightfall passing up an opportunity to pimp Scarred Lands? I'm shocked, sir, shocked !

Thanks, though, I'll take a look at Oathbound...

 

[barsoomcore]

Send them all to Forge! (Oathbound setting) Trust me, it can be handled.

Hey! Who are you, and what have you done with Nightfall?

 

[Silver Moon]

We've been running a shared setting for 21 years. Our campaign takes place on a small continent with 9 autonomous areas. Some are "shared" areas that anyone can use, others are the domain of a specific DM. It works great as long as people can respect the boundaries and know what is shared and what is not.

A few DM's haven't even use the continent, always bringing the players to their own worlds and back, although I've noticed that the players seem less interested in those modules, since they don't relate to the ongoing history of their own world.

 

[Renaissance Man]

What I'm hearing is that the key is in keeping the adventuring parties isolated from each other within the same campaign world. But do any of you limit it to one set of characters, switching out the part-time player/part-time DM's character only?

Thanks for the input - keep it coming!

 

[Nightfall]

Hey! Who are you, and what have you done with Nightfall?

I'm still me! *Trust me man, Scarred Lands forever!* Just thought I'd be nice an offer a USEFUL suggestion, instead of a pimptastic suggestion.

 

[Renaissance Man]

Ye gods! Nightfall is everywhere!

Edit: No more martinis before posting...

 

[Nightfall]

Like I said Oathbound is your best bet. Mainly since each part of the world is almost a seperate world AND you can still have them interact. (Though Arena is the only one other than Penance that will be covered before Fall 2003.)

(As for me being everywhere, hey I'm the Sage, I got places to be. )