Never split the party (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waa2ucfgVgQ&feature=player_embedded)
Why do players always go against this sage advice?
Very good video.
I used to play with a group whose mantra was:
Split the party
F*ck the plot
Get a PC killed
It used to get very nasty.
Gag video aside, I tend to find games in which the party splits up feel more natural and less video-gamey. Running a split party is also a good pacing device, it gives individual scenes more room to breath, makes things feel more dynamic and it gives both and player and the GM more time to think about what they want to do next.
Of course it does mean the players have to be comfortable with the idea of being off stage part of the session.
For a slash horror game it is an essential component.
Quote from: Cold Blooded Games;344382For a slash horror game it is an essential component.
It is. Part of the reason why in Cynthia Celeste Miller's Slasher Flick RPG, there winds up being more than just one character per player. So that you can split the party, get your bodycount and everyone still has something to do.
In RPGs that have parties, this is a pretty fucking essential rule, no matter what the genre is.
RPGPundit
Quote from: Kyle Aaron;344375Never split the party (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waa2ucfgVgQ&feature=player_embedded)
Why do players always go against this sage advice?
I don't know why they always do. Or why they can't learn.
My online group finally found their way into the outer areas of the adventure...and immediately 2 of them lit out chasing something.
Of course, the chasing group runs into an ambush at the same time as the group by the entry gets attacked.
They just don't learn.
Never split the party is an essential rule for survival in a lot of cases. But it doesn't always help the story or character development. I think it really depends on the game and the groups goals.
It's the players job to keep the group together.
It's the GM's job to lure them away to be devoured.
I love splitting up parties. It's hysterical how much fear you can instill in them when they split up and absolutely nothing happens...until it does.
Quote from: Malvor;344491Never split the party is an essential rule for survival in a lot of cases. But it doesn't always help the story or character development.
An essential part of character development is survival ;)
Ok, let's look at this hypothetically. Me and some other guys in DeeAnDeeWorlde are tired of a life of peasantry and decide to risk our lives in some dank, dismal dungeon for more money than we'd otherwise see in our *Life*.
The following is basically IC.
We're on Level 3 and have faced swarms of rats, ugly midgets who want to kill and eat us, a stalactite dropping from the ceiling and growing teeth, varied traps, sometimes poisoned, a few un-named, nigh-incomprehensible Things with far too many teeth and claws lunging out of the darkness and an ogre.
On the one hand, throughout all this we've felt ourselves literally growing more powerful and deadly. And, we're literally set for life with gold and magic items.
On the other hand, someone I knew my whole life fell through a hole in the floor and last I saw him, he was Stuck in some invisible thing, slowly being digested. All I can do is hope he's dead. But so is that thing - Someday.
And then someone suggests splitting up.
I knock him out, sling him over my shoulder and say "That's it. We're getting the %^*$%#$%*#$#*$#$#*$@%#@%*# out of here."
This has been a public service message from Sanity Enterprises.
Quote from: Kyle Aaron;344375Never split the party
Why do players always go against this sage advice?
Mine rarely ever do, even when it may make sense. Sometimes it makes sense to envelop or flank an enemy; which requires acurate (or at least some) intelligence on the location, enemy position and enemy behavior.
In these cases they will split the party, to devastating effect on the opposition.
Vagabonds in an ancient/medieval society have never seen a horror movie.
It's a role play thing. In a tactical game where the roles are less important then spliting up is bad as it' s tactically unsound.
But if the Prince refuses to sleep in the save cave as the rather unpleasant and smelly half orcs then ... that fine. If the greedy thief sneaks past the monster and tries to grab the treasure for himself whilst the rest are fighting, if the low wis barbarian gets pissed off waiting for the patrician warlord to plan a meticulous combat strategy and just charges straight it, if the CoC investigator sneaks of on his own because he is really the serial killer the party have been hunting since day one, if the solo sneaks off to meet his contact because he has been placed in the party deliberately to keep track of them and report back to HQ before eliminating them all once they have recovered the virus .... all of these are fine.