Why You Should Split the Party - Playing RPGs
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- Опубліковано 10 лип 2024
- A popular saying among gamers is, "Never split the party." But that's not true 100% of the time. Here's several reasons why you shouldn't, when you should, and some tips for playing and running a split party.
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00:00 Intro
1:31 Reasons Not to Split
1:35 Challenges Designed for the Group
02:04 It Save No Time Around the Table
03:01 It Can be Harder to Run
03:24 Reduces Other Players to Spectators
04:33 Reasons to Split the Party
04:40 When it is Low Threat
05:12 Short Recons
05:53 Short Thief Runs
06:51 Personal Agendas
07:32 Ticking Clocks
08:28 Great for Horror Games
09:10 Schedule a Rendezvous
10:42 Running a Split Party
10:59 Let Them Split Up
11:13 Rotate Between Groups
11:38 Use Dramatic Cuts
12:37 I Let the Non-Active Players Watch
13:55 What if They Get Into Combat?
15:43 Toning Down Encounters
17:06 Long-Term Splits
20:27 Closing
20:46 The Deleted Intro Skit - Ігри
"We're a party, and a party sticks together, even in the face of carnie-dog diarrhea!" 😂🤣😂🤣
Q: How many CoC investigators does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: All of them; you never split the party!
I need this on a tee shirt!
It was sooooo funny
James Rolfe moment
Nothing brings a smile to your face like a good ol’ “hello internet, Seth Skoooorkowsky”
I personally would write it as "Seth Skorrrrkowsky."
So agreed
Skooor...Skooooorkow.....
Scorecowski
Boom! easier to remember
I was thinking exactly the same
It actually put me off this time - doesn't Seth usually say: 'Hello Internet, Seth Skorkowsky here and today we'll be talking about...' I think I missed the 'here'. Its too much different Seth! Make it stop!! :-)
That last sketch is hilarious and shows how much the three care about each other.
True bros watch each other's backs, even when they go to the bathroom.
Only to a point; "I'm not going to watch you go to the bathroom...again" !
This is why girls always go to the bathroom together
It's actually really genre savvy of them to do that. The guy who goes to the bathroom always gets killed by the monster.
Flukeman!
@@AnEnemySpy456 Yeah, there just might be a Neo-otyugh below the seat...just waiting...
ᗒʖᗕ
"A good game master runs two campaigns if the party splits up." Clearly that is a person who has never run a campaign of any game before
Clearly that's someone who has only been a player 🤣
Clearly that guy has never anything else to do but make and run campaigns
This. Can't even express how dumb this idea is.
"Oh yeah Bob, I know you have a family, a full-time job and can only accomodate this Thursday evening game, but we've decided to do a long-term party split. To be a good GM, you're going to have to rearrange the rest of your life and flip on those "On Demand" creative juices. Don't do that and you're a BAD GM."
That level of self-entitlement boggles the mind.
D&D was all prepared for this eventuality. If someone is determined to wreck your game, just pound them with boring random encounters until they get with the program or die.
I did this recently. I mostly seperated the planned game session where I just told my players to go watch some netflix after an hour or so and I'd text them if input was required (the groups kept in touch using sending -_-). When they whined, I just told them it was their idea to split up, what did you expect? I'm quite sure they won't think of splitting up long term any time soon...
Anyways, I set the groups up in 2 different camps and both groups are convinced they are doing the right thing. So now there is a pvp situation going on... pretty interesting (but chaotic)
That skit was hysterical. Glad you included it.
whenever someone says to me "never split the party" I just think back on every moment in every choice driven video game ever that had me thinking "gee, I really wish I could split the party right now and try to do both of these things insead of being arbitrarily forced to pick one"
Well that does happen in ME1.....
@@Martionize ironically ME2' is my go to example for this premise. Specifically Zaeed's loyalty mission.
Let me hop the railing to save the civies while Zaeed and whoever else I brought run ahead after Vido
Virmire is.... different.
That's one of the reasons why Divinity 2 is the best split screen game for me and my wife. It manages players going their own ways excellently.
Re:scheduling a rendezvous. At military school they taught us GOTWA.
Going: where you are going.
Others: who you are taking with you.
Time: how long you'll be gone.
What: what to do if you don't come back.
Actions: if they know for sure you're engaged or if they get engaged themselves.
It works for me when roleplaying and helps me when I get my players to do it.
Honestly the skit made me laugh out loud
Its a very familiar case of "maximum overthink".
I was laughing so hard in my office.
That last skit was amazing. Hearing the plan laid out while the dm is grossed out was a perfect finisher. Great video as always.
Am glad I didn't miss the skit at the end!
I glad it was put on the end with a warning. Beginning the video with that would have been...weird.
I made it almost to the end of the video and thought, "No skit? That's disappointing." And then I made it to the sketch part and I was so happy.
One of the most irritating things for me was when a large group I was playing in (I'm talking 8 players) refused to let us even do just brief scouting missions because "That would be splitting the Party!" and it basically meant that half the group that was actually good at Stealth basically didn't get to use it except in combat.
It got so bad that it started circulating into another group where one of the new players heard the first spouting it off so much, they literally tried following my character to an older woman's house, in the middle of a peaceful town because "Don't split the party." And I retorted with "Are you gonna follow me into the bathroom on the off-chance a sewer gator bursts out of the toilet?"
So that deleted Skit really hit home on a personal level, especially as a GM lol
My groups split the party all the time so I often have the other players play nearby NPC'S in Combat.
Good idea
@@marcar9marcar972 It usually works, but there have been several times where their Commoner Carriage Driver has died horrible trying to keep up with the PCs. Though it is entertaining to watch.
Not a bad trick if you don't want to stop them from splitting up.
"A party sticks together, even in the face of carnie dog diarrhea." Love it.
Seth, just want to say, i love your use of the UA-cam Chapters feature. Even when UA-cam forgets where I am your chapters help me go right back to where I was in the video. You use them so well so i just had to shout you out for using it
I stayed for the Deleted Intro and I regret nothing.
I like that the option of a strategic retreat when faced with unexpectedly steep odds is brought up. Makes for fewer TPKs
That last skit alone was worth the 20 minute wait.
Always brightens my day to see a new Seth Skorkowsky video.
My (totally unwarranted) two cents; when the party is split is a great time for bathroom breaks and refreshments for the non-active players! Plus they can use that time to do character sheet cleanup, note taking, and talking among their own side about what they plan to do next. Just make sure to tell your players that all this is ok. And maybe to grab the DM a beer while they are free!
Great video with solid advice all around!
It was probably shaped by my love of Golden Age and Silver Age comic book superteams, but I always tried to steer the party to split up into co plimentary groups of 2 (3 max) to tackle things (and reunite for the endgame). When it worked out, it was great, like a comic come to life. When it was me as a player and the DM/GM wasn't prepared for it, many did it fall apart gloriously.
"Now we need to make sure we stay together....Ok let's split up." - Dark and Stormy Night'
Idea for when lone or paired characters meet overwhelming odds: give them an easier encounter, but hint that if they stick around they will be overwhelmed. If they still decide to stay, *then* spring the rest of the encounter on them.
Feels so good when Seth suggests you handle a situation in a certain way when that IS the way you already handled it. Also, Seth is all about the friends around the table; love that. Great video.
I once played with a really old group that was so obsessed with not splitting the party they literally did not think you should split up in regular towns full of patrol guards. Nobody should sleep in separate rooms, and that image of 4 people sitting in the same bathtub was almost a reality to them.
The skit at the end was pure gold. ^^
Please tell me the Charlton Heston pic as Moses was foreshadowing to a time when Seth will play Moses in a skit!!
Split the party or part the Red Sea?
"Don't die alone and stupid."
-Ancient Pennsic Advice
That skit reminded me of "The Moving Finger." I'm sure it looks goofy today, but it freaked me out as a kid.
Oh that last part was hilarious. I loved it. 😆 I have also never had a problem with parties splitting up in most of my games. It happened a few times in my Alien game recently. Also happens all the time in Vampire. I also recently ran Dune and the whole session was separate groups working towards the same thing but in different ways. We have all had a blast in all these games and nobody was worried about not splitting the party because of course we did and it worked perfectly.
"I'll watch you poop."
Never thought I'd heard those words on a Seth Skorkowsky video, lol.
But yeah, now *that* is friendship! ;-)
And while the three are standing there, discussing who watches out for whom, this creepy Clown-Miniature is creeping nearer and nearer...
I've almost never split the party, but most of my group games are character based so would prevent our primary source of fun being playing our characters off each other
And that’s a good reason not to split
Quite the opposite. If there are to be interesting dynamics between characters in the party (intrigue, trust issues etc) everybody always knowing what everybody else is doing would just make the dynamics pointless.
@@robertchmielecki2580 Think of some of the best character based TV shows, many great episodes revolve around unexpected character groupings, or suddenly removing a key member to see how it changes the group dynamic.
Some of my best sessions I've run are situations were the players are separated and they have to be overly cautious to not accidentally shoot their own friends. Builds the tension because they can't just go trigger happy. Have used this in modern settings, fantasy, and mechwarrior. Every time it is memorable and long talked about by the players.
The gross-out skit was hilarious.
Ah, splitting the party. Like the auto-de-fe, "What you oughtn't to do, but you do anyway."
Best RPG UA-camr and nobody knows it.
We do, man. We do.
"I'll watch you p@@%."
That is true friendship.
Might be even more than that lol
In my group, we split the party so often, we practically have a standard pairing off we follow for our Delta Green game. It's yet to actually be a problem.
That Skit was fantastic. i am so glad Seth added it
The opening ( closing?) sketch was brilliant !
that skit was so funny, glad you didn't cut it from the video
At least for me I think splitting the party works out well if there is a good reason to split and you rapidly swap between the two like in CoC while one group raids someone’s home while the other group is distracting is distracting the homeowner at the bar
I mostly run horror games so I, personally, love it when the party splits up, whether it's to cover more ground for research or in a dangerous situation. Your advice on that is great, though I usually don't use a stopwatch to give each group exactly the same time, usually trying to keep my jumps back and forth to a minute or three.
The only time we've had long term splits is when people can't make game sessions, sometimes multiple ones. I usually use one-on-one games to catch up the other player when they plan to come back and before they reunite with the party (if they do). I usually make sure they can return with some new information for the group as well, perhaps having had some encounter that revealed some secret they can bring back to help the others.
I prefer splitting the party, especially when it makes sense for the story. It can make for some really memorable moments as well.
Love the closing skit. Now I want to use a cannibal clown in one of my games.
11:20 bingo! We've been having fun with dramatic cuts with the split party; the ax goes up and..., you see waiting just beyond the door..., just then you hear behind you... then cut.
Limited split party play has been working well with our group. They are a good bunch, and understand when I truncate the narration, and move things along for solo player actions. I sometimes tease the party, say by having one party overhear an NPC discussing the trap the the other part of the group is walking into. There had been some players that had wanted to take center stage and hold it, but they were allowed to go their own ways years ago.
PS 17:06 You are right, what is it with Youtude "Experts" telling refs "the right way to play." any part of a game. Your method of sharing insights, and offering suggestions is greatly appreciated.
It works EXTREMELY well with horror games. The players are (usually) on edge already because they know they are playing a horror game and then you turn the vice even harder.
Also, that overhearing a trap is just brilliant.
The Deleted Intro Skit made me stit my coffee out! LoL
We were skulking through this dungeon, a mighty sorry lot
Old Galliard the fighter had been actin' like a sot
Damn only 12 minutes ago!
Personally I find party splitting interesting, but potentially quite difficult for the GM.
Perhaps we get to see the video split off from this, later.
One of the games I wanted to run as a GM was a party-less game where each player character is in a different location (in a different genre) like in War and Peace. Each PC adds to the narrative as a whole.
I've always found that splitting the party for more than a handful of minutes can lead to boredom of the players that are not involved I keep it brief if it has to be.
Wow Seth, that was my face too when they were laying out the poop observation survival strategy!
In terms of long term splits - well, I guess my question is, why would you do that? It works in movies or books where it was designed that way, but in an RPG, the social contract generally involves sticking together. If your character wants to leave to do something else, then you need to go make a new character, not draw half the party away with you. If you want to play an RPG with your friends, then do that, and that means you need a character in the party.
Thank you for not completely cutting The Gang intro out of this. They deserved their time in the spotlight.
Thanks for the video Seth! Great as always!
As per usual, amazing content and delivery.
Oh my gosh! That end skit perfectly explains why you should split the party every now and again.
I love these videos Seth! So well put together
Excellent advice and a great, well thought video.
That final skit was awesome, I'm so glad you included it because it made me laugh and I needed that!
Always happy to see a new video from Seth!!!!
Dude, your videos are always funny, but the end sketch genuinely made me laugh out loud. I appreciate the effort you put into entertaining us.
Great and informative video as always. That ending, I'm laughing my ass off.
Putting the skit at the end was a great idea as it hammers all the points you made throughout the video a lot better. Thanks for the great content.
I absolutely loved the skit at the end! That made all of the great advice even greater.
The skit is hilarious as usual great job, great vid!!!
I like to split the gregarious players and the shyer players apart to give the shyer players more opportunity to take charge instead of always kinda just tagging along
@Dizzy Gear I think shyer might have been the wrong word, I think less assertive is more appropriate to what I meant. Players that are capable of roll playing but don't get a lot of opportunity because the other players are far more eager and willing to jump in.
Me and my friends play CoC on twitch. The way we tend to handle splitting the party is to focus on the sub-group that we determine will take less time to do what they were doing.
That intro was great, glad you still uploaded it
Great tips and insights! Thanks for a much-needed video on a tricky topic for many GM's
You always give good gaming advice. Thank you.
Great video!!
The sketch in particular was hilarious (specially since I actualle HAVE HAD groups do something very similar to that!).
I am currently running a campaign in which each character has a very particular and individual agenda; where they have spent like 50% of their play time, each on their own; and where one player joined in on the third session, and whose character is not only in a different place than the rest of the party, he is even in a different time. With his character currently having an adventure that is taking place about a month before the actual campaign starts. Even with one other character in the party that is now existing in both times, as he is both on the current adventure as a party member, and on the "past" adventure with this other character that started later in the game, kind of in a flashback style.
It is a very enjoyable mess, but it required a LOT of coordination between players, and pretty much every single point you bring up here has come up. Between the possibility of characters riding off on their own for good, players waiting on their turns and having to adjust their expectations accordingly, a lot of spectator mode playing, etc.
Luckly, we have managed to make it work, but your video has helped me do a good and thorough review of all the dangers and pitfalls that exist in having a split party.
The skits are one of the best bits of the video!! Please never take them away!! XD
Perfect timing on this. Was thinking about this topic a couple days ago.
Thank you Seth! This video and the "How to run a Horror Game" has both helped me with this problem. Just last saturday the group split up and they were both on a gigantic boat that they all tried to stop, while I had planned for them to have to split and choose where to go some of the players really did not like that they split up, they argued for a long time both during and after the session about it.
I did try my best to use the tips on jump-cuts from your Horror video, making it so that if one group had just had a long time talking and were about to get into combat, I switched to the other, likewise if they had just had a long combat and wanted to do something else, I made another switch. Great videos, fair and square!
Good to see and hear you again Seth!!!
That skit was pure gold, gave me a very hearty laugh.
Really great advice here! I've seen all of that, and done most of it myself, for good and ill. Sometimes splitting up works, and sometimes it doesn't. Be well and stay safe!
That outro is absolutely hilarious. Thank you.
Loved the skit. always worth adding them
Great video. You're channel has inspired me to get back into rpgs like dungeons and dragons. Really made it understandable for someone with attention issues. Thanks.
I'll have to remember these tips as a player as well. Should smooth over some of those split-ups.
Thanks for including the skit and not cutting it all together. Very funny stuff.
As a player, SPLITTING THE PARTY HAS BEEN HUGELY SUCCESSFUL IN GAMES LIKE SHADOWRUN!
Sometimes, the sneaky player needs to break off and talk his way into a building, then sneak around and open a back door from the inside for his teammates with the big guns, waiting patiently outside, to come in guns-a-blazin', and just take a corporate building by storm, using shock-and-awe tactics to maximum effect.
Sometimes, you can have one charismatic player, and he can talk one or two other players into the building before anything happens, and everyone agrees upon the plan, and everyone gets a healthy share of the action!
It all depends upon the players, the group, the GM, and the situation. Splitting the party is a risk, but sometimes it throws your GM for a loop and he has to improvise a bit, which is all good fun!
@Seth Skorkowski
Loved the extended intro at the end.
The skits just keep getting better!
Was just about to complain about the lack of Jack or the gang when you gave us that, er, banger of an outro! (Also, as a GM usually gming more story/character-focused than plot-focused adventures who _wants_ the players to occasionally wander off and do their own thing, both for immersion and bc it just makes more sense, I will totally use the "a party sticks to gether, even in the face of carny dog diarrhea" line to remind my players every now and then, how weird "never splitting the party" would be in real life.)
@Seth Skorkowski playing another out-of-print sci-fi game "GuildSpace", we quickly found that of the six starting races and professions, half were really good at scouting ahead, going for a stealth approach, while the other half were more heavy ass-kickers with weapons and armor. As a gaming group, it took all of one session for me (one of the more experienced ones) to play a stealthy, scout-ahead type, lead the other two playing stealthy-types on recon, and establish the map for the other three playing more ass-kicker-ish-types to come in heavy. In that way, the "stealth/ recon" types got a share of the action, then the "ass-kickers" got the heavy share of the glory and advancement, and the stealth could come back around for a flanking/ support move for the final resolution of the scenario! Good planning, characters, and teamwork wins in the end! That's just basic good game design and good gameplay, where everyone gets a chance to do something cool, play their character their own way, and have an active role in how the story came out. Cheers!
I am a complex man. When I see a new Seth Skorkowsky video I make something hot to drink, some food, fire up the playstation so I can watch youtube on my big screen and not just the crappy little screen on my phone, and THEN I click.
Love the end of vid!
Really funny slit at the end, it is 2 am here and I had troubles not cracking up loudly
Hearing all of these pieces of advice from Seth really gets my mind going for some West Marches style gaming, especially when he was talking about long-term splits. While I may not do a full-on split campaign for a party, I would happily set things up where every few sessions between big adventures, I’d have something for one or two players that can be done in one to three sessions. This way, everyone gets to have those long strings of being together and having epic quests, and players and characters can still have very intimate personal journeys that can be discovered by the rest of the party when they get back together.
I love your skits man, most skits in the internet are cringy but yours are pure gold lmao
I am elated you tackled this, more GMs and players should know about how effective this can be when done right.
that toilet humor at the end was actually pretty humorous, well done.
This is a great video for beginners. I am running A L I E N as a first time GM and these are all good tips.
Honestly dude, I didn't think the skit was too long or overly gross. Glad you included it.
Totally agree on splitting the party, sometimes it's the right call, but spotlight balance is important.
Oh my god that should still have been the opening that was hilarious. Solid advice as always thanks.
that was a good skit, thank you for leaving it in.
I understand your reasons for not putting that skit in the beginning, but man was it hilarious.
I actually really like that skit at the end. Totally made your point
I'm glad I stuck around to the end!
I can completely see my group having that conversation.
I have the feeling, that if it was me GM-ing that, I would stress the players:
"You can barely hold it any longer!"
"Despite all your efforts to hold back, your body does what it needs to do..."