Everyone who playsDungeons & Dragonshas heard the phrase “Never split the party.” For a team of adventurers, splitting up means it’s easier to get killed off in an ambush, get brick walled because you don’t have the person with the right skills, or for one of the million other things that can go wrong.
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That being said, if you’re a DM, there are also a lot of reasons to split the party. It can make certain encounters more challenging, it might encourage new player dynamics by having them play off different people, and it can reflect characters who have fundamentally different priorities.
How To Split The Party
Players will bereluctant to split up on their own, but there are ways you may encourage that as the DM.
You’ll want to split the partyinto onlytwo groups, three at most. Any more and you won’t spend enough time with each group.
Give Them Multiple Tasks
If youcreate multiple tasks that have to be done at the same time, then naturally, the party will split. These could be tracking someone down, fighting a monster, casting a spell, retrieving treasure, or whatever you want.
The key is to ensureyou incentivize your players to at least attempt to do both tasks.If they can opt out of one, they might play it safe.
If you cantie one task into a character’s backstoryor motivations, that’s even better.
Give Them Limitations
Perhaps a dungeon willonly allow two people to enter at a time, or an NPC can get only a handful of party members in to meet with the Duke. The point isthat the party has to split to do the task andchoose the best people to send beforehand.
Take The Choice Out Of Their Hands
If your party is particularly reticent to splitting up, you’re able to just kidnap half of them. You might do this by overwhelming them with enemies, getting players totouch a cursed object, or forcing them to make a saving throw.
This is the most difficult option for players because it meansyour players can’t plan beforehand and might not be able to communicate, but it can also force them to think on their feet.
What To Do Before Splitting The Party
Once you’ve decided how to split the party,leave time for players to make a planbefore they have to split.
It’s best to let players decide this on their own. Make sure you design challenges such thatany combination of players can succeed with the same level of difficulty.
Some tasks will be better suited to certain characters and builds by default, so you’ll besafe in assuming that the rogue will be sent to steal somethingand can design the challenge accordingly.
Keep a variety of challenges in your back pocket, and don’t be afraid to change things on the fly if you’re worried your players might have locked themselves out of a task.
For combat, you’ll want toscale your encounters so that they’re slightly easier than if there was a full partyor give playersa way to cheese it if they’re outnumbered.The dice can be cruel, but no one like getting wiped out because of a party split, so you can make it a little easier on them.
What To Do While The Party Is Split
Try tokeep the amount of time spent on each group even.You may use a timer, but that can be hard to keep to if one group is in the middle of combat, for example. If one group goes over, balance it out with the next group.
Fifteen minutes for each group before switching is generally a good baseline,depending on how long your sessions are.
Keeptrack of who knows what, even if it’s frustrating sometimes. If one group learns something important but can’t communicate it to the other group,remind your players to keep going as if they know nothing.
How To Communicate Via Long Distances
If both parts of the party want to keep in touch, here are a couple of methods:
