Nerdarchy on Worst D&D Advice Don’t Split the Party
In this 18-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted challenge the age-old conventional wisdom of never splitting the party in a D&D game.
The conversation begins with Dave and Ted posing the question, “How many times have you heard to never split the party?” This idea has become somewhat ubiquitous in the RPG hobby over the years. They discuss why this came to be and why this piece of advice permeates the hobby so thoroughly.
In the video Dave and Ted ponder whether never splitting the party is good advice or not. There are concerns both from a narrative standpoint as well as safety and tactical concerns. Both of these aspects work both ways however, and the conversation reflects these different perspectives. For example it could be narratively incongruous without consideration for those who aren’t involved while they await the focus coming around to their characters. It might also unbalance things mechanically if for example characters run into danger while away from the rest of their party.
Those two aspects can also be enhanced by splitting the party too. Combat can quickly increase in challenge for a split up party, but this might be just the thing a group needs to shake things up a bit. Outside of combat splitting the party can be beneficial as well because characters can cover more ground, accomplish different tasks simultaneously and perhaps even facilitate a cause and effect dynamic between both groups of the split party.
The main point in the video is how splitting the party need not always be strictly avoided at all costs. A party split into two (or more!) groups creates interesting situations for players to explore. Managing both groups effectively is a worthwhile skill for a Dungeon Master to develop too. The video conversation wraps up with Dave and Ted sharing some of their experiences with splitting the party including in a game play video found on the channel, in a Monster of the Week campaign and most recently during our Zoo Mafia RPG live playtest. In this last case the group’s mob became known as the Split Up Gang for their habit of splitting into groups of two for every single Job. In one situation the group split even further, with each of the two pairs of mob members then splitting up from each other! (Nerdarchist Dave does masterful work balancing the time between all the players.)
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