Why Game Masters should encourage “Splitting the Party"

It's not a trick, hear me out!

Photo by Dmitry Vechorko on Unsplash

Anyone familiar with Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) knows the phrase “don’t split the party”. For anyone who isn’t familiar, the phrase “don’t split the party” means the player’s characters stick together to increase their chances of survival in any given situation. For example, if the party’s Fighter isn’t with the party when a monster attack, they don’t have access to that fighter’s abilities for combat. Which, surpiringly, the fighter has several of.

Well I’ve decided “don’t split the party” is dumb. I’ve considered the pros and none of the cons of splitting the party and I’m going to present them in a caffeine fueled haze before you now.

Make Narrative Sense

The story will call for the entire party to be present when the quest giver weaves their tale of the macguffin they need for some reason. The story doesn’t need the entire party hanging out while the wizard peruses the scroll shop. I’ve often asked players if they want to do anything else while one player does something that only requires one person present because I want everyone to have a good time. Some players are happy to hang out while the wizard shops, but others may want fantasy gyros which are the same as regular gyros, but magical in that they feed you without spilling all over your shirt. Let them wander off and eat some gyros! Splitting the party there makes narrative sense.

“Don’t split the party” is also a very meta-gaming practice. “Meta-gaming” is using knowledge the players have that the character’s don’t. Meta-gaming, while sometimes very funny and makes for great jokes, ruins the narrative. The hungry rogue walks towards a food cart, about to meet a NPC I lovingly stole from the Dungeons & Dragons movie. Before they finish describing the action the wizard player tells them “Don’t walk off, the DM’s going to do something shifty!” I’ve never occasionally been shifty, but that shouldn’t stop the player exploring the world their character inhabits.

If you’re concerned about party balance in combat and how splitting the party can lead to a Total Party Kill, I' can assuage your fears in the following segment. So read it, cowards.

Combat Balance is Trash to Start

The internet is smeared with tales of how big boss fights were demolished within seconds of beginning and how characters achieve godlike feats at level 6 (out of 20). There are digital tomes going beyond any number I can imagine of questions about how to balance a party, what sort of monsters and strategies will balance combat in a fair way, is a particular spell casting class balanced, and so on. I think if it takes that much discussion about. published rule book, then balance is bullshit and you should do whatever you want in combat.

It’s an open secret that Game Masters make up rules on the fly. Myself and any other GM worth their weight in sourcebooks and homemade material can attest that the books are a guideline at best. Players want to do things not covered in the book. Players are discussing strategies and cooking up spell combos in their free time. The DM has some ideas, but the combined might of 4-7 different minds is tough to keep up with.

So split the party in combat. It’s the only thing they can’t fully plan for. How do you strategize various pairings, or worse no pairings and everyone is on their own? I’m not advocating for shutting down teamwork, I fully support the party cooperating in whatever way makes them happy. But to introduce some level of challenge and make the narrative (ah! callback) interesting even in battle, have the big bad throw some lieutenants at the spell casters to keep them from buffing the fighters into unstoppable tanks. Make the ground itself shift and move people around. Introduce a background element that could distract the heavy hitter while everyone else holds off the hordes.

Wizards of the Coast gave us a version of the game that is fun but ultimately unbalanced if you stick to classic party tropes. Like never splitting the party. But I’m more interested in television tropes. Which reminds me…

TV shows do it, why can’t I?

Some of the best moments in television happen when two characters are separated from the rest of the cast. It can be funny, dramatic, tense with action, scary, or any emotion the writers want to convey.

While I loath D&D tropes based on memes, let’s assume the Paladin is the Lawful Dad of the party and the Bard is the Chaotic Pervert of the party. Instead of clumping them with the spell casters in the dungeon, a wall trap activates and now this fantasy odd couple gets to interact one on one? It could go poorly, maybe the Bard tricks the Paladin and runs off to have sex with a dragon. Or it could go great and both characters grow and become more interesting characters while fending off dungeon threats.

I am aware that television is written to a set pace and the splitting can be detrimental to the overall session if not done appropriately. Lucky for everyone involved, we’re here to have a good time and play together. The group can decides how long we focus on each character, and every GM I’ve played with was pretty good about equal spotlight for everyone.

Also it’s amazing when Xander and Willow have to handle a manticore while Buffy is equal parts punching and explaining lore to a makeup coated extra. I might be remembering Buffy the Vampire Slayer wrong, it’s been a while since I’ve watched it. But think of how cool it would look if the Paladin and Bard were breaking up a robbery while wandering about, casting song spells and stiff arming baddies into the dirt. All while the casters are having a shopping montage. And if you say combat takes too long, you’re not doing combat correctly. Split the party and watch the live studio audience lose their minds.

This is where you nod and say “Yeah, he’s got a point!”

I understand my idea of “splitting the party is good, actually” can seem revolutionary and like the ramblings of a madman. Thank you for that vote of…something.

But it’s time to break out of the tropes of memes shared across the internet and challenge the old ideas with new, fun ways to play this game we love. Or just play the game how you want, that’s how it’s supposed to be anyway.