Would a game group where there were changing GMs work?

[Gundark]

We're a large group (8 people) . Currently there are two games being run (mine and another guy in the group). I'm running Deadlands, and my friend is running a mecha game. Others in the group have expressed a desire to run campaigns of their own. In response to this we have been discussing having just one campaign (we were thinking playing in Eberron) with various people in the group taking turns being the DM. There are advantages to this, however there is the potential for this to fail spectacularly (at least for my group).

Have you done this? What are the pros and cons that you have encountered, and any general advice for running a campaign with people taking turns as GM/DM?

 

[Jon_Dahl]

We have done this. It's very easy if the current GM has his/her character in the game as a GMNPC. That way the adventuring group doesn't have to split up every time the GM changes.

Once a player made a mind flayer PC and then took the DM seat. Then he realized that his upcoming detective adventure wouldn't work if a mind-reading creature was in the group. So he left his newly created character literally in the ditch while the rest of us journeyed towards the adventure.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I think it can work and work well.l My group does this. I just finished running Gardmore with my own DMPC and now a player will do Tomb of Horrors and Neverwinter with mostly the same adventurers.

We have switched off before and it has been no problem.

 

[Dordledum]

see this thread in the D&D Legacy forum on similar thoughts:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-legacy-discussion/321958-multiple-dms.html

 

[Derfmancher]

My players in and I are going to do something similar with our current campaign (Pathfinder, Kingmaker AP) however we are going to be straying off the scripted path once I hand the reigns over.

I think it can work as long as everyone understands what the limits of the game are. Also, do not go with a time frame for taking turns, instead use a particular event. "After the group captures the castle", or "once everyone is level 8" etc. Just my 3c

 

[Ringlerun]

Its not as hard as you would think. Done this heaps of times with different gaming systems. Longest we did was close to 10 years multi DMing d6 Star Wars. With the group i am in its kind of standard now to have multiple DM's.

 

[Jhaelen]

We have done this. It's very easy if the current GM has his/her character in the game as a GMNPC. That way the adventuring group doesn't have to split up every time the GM changes.

We're doing it the same way right now in our 4e Dark Sun campaign. It works pretty well, although the difference in DMing style is very noticable:

One prefers a slightly rail-roady approach, the other an open sandbox style. Since they also have different strengths that complement each other's (one is very good at creating and roleplaying memorable npcs and the other is a genius at creating challenging encounters), as a team they really beat a single DM.

One of the advantages is that they have split responsibilities based on campaign 'threads', so we, the players always have at least two options on how to continue without any requirement for taking a break.

 

[Dioltach]

My groups do this. It worked particularly well in a Star Wars Rebellion Era campaign, where the separate DMs could locate their adventures anywhere in the galaxy so nobody's settings interfered with each other.

 

[Ahnehnois]

It's quite common in many creative endeavors. A TV show typically brings in a new director and guest stars every week. As long as there is one clear story being told, having multiple people tell it is fine.

For D&D, I'd recommend having one primary DM or "showrunner) who really creates the core of the campaign, but leaves room open for other DMs to introduce their perspectives. I've never co-DMed myself, though a couple of others in the group ran a brief co-DM gig that went fine, and we switch DMs for different campaigns regularly. I'd think co-DMing could be an interesting experience, especially for those who say that DMing is too much work.

 

[Piratecat]

We do this with Golden Age Mutants & Masterminds; it's unusual for the same GM to run two sessions in a row. It works wonderfully, but only because we don't give a damn about continuity and because each adventure is self-contained.