Many experienced DMs should have crossed this problem at some point in their D&D games: Your party of players face a conundrum that is hard to solve together. Or a player gets an idea they REALLY want to explore RIGHT NOW. Or you accidentally set up a scenario that encourages the party to split -unplanned by you, of course. No matter what happened, you find yourself in one of the worst positions for a DM to be in: You have to focus on your players in different spaces AND give them equal playtime. In other words, you have to be in at least 2 places at once (Or more!) and still try to make a good experience for everyone at the table. I’ve recently come across this in my Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus 5e game with my players, and while it was a headache to keep track of, here are the steps I took to re-unite the players while minimizing boring moments and time sinks.
Table of Contents:
Prologue: My Descent Into Avernus Story
While I won’t spoil too much about the story of Descent Into Avernus, I must talk about a particular scenario that all players will inevitably face while playing the module. This scenario is when the players come across Tiamat’s Treasure in the Bathhouse dungeon section, the first real dungeon in the game. The really funny part about this section of the bathhouse is that Tiamat’s Treasure isn’t even remotely related to the story of the dungeon. –Of why the players are crawling through it. The main plot point for the bathhouse is for the players to clear the area of cultists belonging to The Dead Three, which worship three evil gods that basically do murder, (Bhaal), torture (Bane), and corpse worshiping (Myrkul). You even get shiny badges that give you the authority to suplex these cretins with permission from the local guard faction, The Flaming Fists. So would it surprise you to learn that a completely different faction of cultists have their limelight in this dungeon? And would it also surprise you to learn that their introduction was RIGHT when my party of players decided to split up? I can’t stop smiling about it now, thinking about it.
It was when my party of 4 players came across Tiamat’s Treasure in this dungeon that their party cohesion started to fray. Before finding this treasure, they found the minor BBEG of the dungeon, (a high ranking Myrkul cultist) and a major plot-point character fighting in a duel surrounded by dead cultists. Epic, right? However, while the party dealt with this plot-point NPC, for some reason they ALL just let the BBEG run away. –Leaving this cult leader to, in my game, summon the power of their god to conduct a ritual that made them slightly more OP. Thanks, players! 😀
While the BBEG was doing their own thing in the background the players were busy doing something else, though. They discovered a strange treasure horde. After some clever insight from Player Character (PC) Hrutho (an undercover gnoll with semi-civilized sensibilities), the party made the discovery that the strange dragon-like artifacts and dragon minted coinage is from Tiamat, the Queen of Dragons herself. However, despite some trepidation from Hrutho as to whether or not they should even TOUCH this treasure, it was PC Luke “The Hell-Walker” (think DOOM Guy), that proposed a wonderful idea to secure the treasure properly.
The Party Splits! The Consequences Of Their Actions
Luke’s idea was essentially: “Let’s use the treasure to buy a Bag of Holding and then use that to nab the rest of the treasure!” –And his idea is sound. I mean, look at the logistics of trying to carry nearly 200 pounds of coins, gems, and artifacts from this treasure. A partial sum of it all could totally be used on a Bag of Holding, so even if they are level 2 at this point, it makes a lot of sense. In the module, the DM is encouraged to point out just how heavy this treasure is to carry without major assistance. But what completely derailed the game was his suggestion to go get that Bag of Holding RIGHT NOW.
To paraphrase how the conversation went:
Luke: Hey Guys, let’s split up. You stay and watch the treasure, and I’ll go with my NPC companion to go buy a bag of holding. It’ll be really easy.
The other party members: Sure! Just be careful!
Spoiler alert: Things got a little crazy.
Remember when I was talking about that random dragon cult faction? Well, according to the module, when you take some of Tiamat’s treasure and attempt to leave with it, you will eventually be confronted at the entrance of the dungeon by the dragon cult that is seeking to recollect this treasure horde for Tiamat. The module excuses this cult ex machina as a good introduction into the workings of factions that come from the hellish planes. –And in this case, if you are wearing a literal dragon crown on the top of your head, like Luke was, you better bet that you’re rolling initiative. So that’s what Luke and his NPC did.
As for the party sent to watch the treasure below…well, remember that minor BBEG that ran away? Well, he completed that ritual, and I made a big stink about how the dead bodies in the dungeon were all starting to float and get consumed at his ritual chamber. I essentially made a duplicate doppelganger of the BBEG. Both with equal stats, but for fairness, I had their HP tied to a Myrkel statue that was in the room. –Because of course their god Myrkel was involved in that duplication fiasco.
Above the dungeon, the party was split even further. After seeing how fast he was dying (even as carbon copy DOOM Guy), my player made the wise decision to scatter. By scatter, I mean separate from their NPC and run away into the busy city crowds and lose the dragon cultists. Meanwhile, he had his NPC run back through the dungeon again in a bid to either hide in there or re-unite back with the majority party. That poor, poor tiefling NPC.
The End: Aftermath
The aftermath of the party split actually went well for the players, too. I am both surprised and proud that my split players were able to conquer and solve their separate encounters. –If not without a lot of trouble. That BBEG did do a ton of damage to Hrutho in particular, because she kept getting surrounded. They did defeat the minor BBEG, despite almost getting a TPK. And they were wise enough to play around with the statues and figure out the BBEG’s weakness and exploit it. Above ground, Luke was able to use a class feature that let him run away (treasure in tow!) from the dragon cultists before they could kill him. He was even able to save his NPC companion, which by all means was essentially a commoner stat character.
Luke was able to get their desired Bag of Holding, and while he techically wasn’t in combat, I made sure to treat the game as if there were rounds so I could safely give the appropriate amount of time to everybody. Luke and his NPC eventually reunited with the party and we all started playing together again. What a huge relief!
What I Learned: How NPCs, Situations, and Consequences Can Prevent Party Splits
Personally, I feel like my handling of the game helped lead my players to splitting up in the first place. My style of DMing means that I rarely say no to what a player decides to do with their characters. The only time I really provide boundaries is when it makes sense to do so. For example, I won’t say no to the idea of splitting up the party. But when a physical obstacle or a law is in play that prevents the party from splitting up naturally, they’re gonna have to work hard to do it. –Or face the consequences.
In my particular situation, I should have utilized the NPCs I had at my disposal to quell the idea of separation in the first place. My BBEG was still in the other room, after all. I could have made the decision to have him confront the characters and then Luke the Hell Walker would never have left the party to try to get his Bag of Holding in the first place. –At least not in that moment. Even if the BBEG had to die, it may have prompted the players to leave together. Though that exact scenario is never guaranteed. I just feel like that ideal scenario was more possible if a dungeon threat occurred before the split happened.
Players That Split Will Die Eventually
Speaking of consequences, it’s important to stress that from a player perspective, leaving your party can be dangerous. Even momentarily. Before PC Luke was playing as DOOM Guy, he played another character called Topachi “8” Yusuki, someone who was sort of like a character from the Baki anime series. Earlier in that same game, and in the same dungeon, he and another PC called The Masked One decided to split from the party (By only a few rooms!). They got absolutely demolished by a high-level cultist’s fireball spell. The scenario went so bad for my players that it ended in a half TPK, where the other party members had to withdraw from the dungeon temporarily while the two PCs had to re-roll their characters.
Oh, the survivors tried to save them before running. But that damn cultist had a flood of skeletal rats to contend with too. I think they made the wise choice. Running. Despite losing a few character sheets so early in the campaign. I’m just glad they all kept playing. I think it goes to show that if it makes sense as to why your players died, then it stands to be a good death. Just try to make their deaths interesting.
Regarding Playstyle And Splits: Speed and Prep Is Key
I think it’s really important to mention that no matter what you do to prevent a party from splitting, it will probably happen anyway. With D&D and other roleplaying games set up with the idea that player choices are prioritized, there will come a situation where splitting the party makes complete sense. –Even if the DM didn’t plan it out to be that way. Nothing short of saying no to the idea of split parties when the question is raised and making it a firm rule via Session 0 will do anything to stop it. Even if you make a session 0 rule, mini splits will occur just through natural play.
To be honest, I feel like that rule-of thumb is personal to me only. It’s just how I play. I think my style of D&D lends itself more towards the players rather than for my benefit as a DM. I just prefer to count party splits as a challenge for myself, and if the party splits in-between sessions, I plan multiple scenarios to try to get my players back together without making it boring. If I must contend with party splits, then I have to contend with quick play. It’s never fun to play D&D when I’m not prepared and I have to make my players wait as I pull up the maps, notes, and scenarios involved in that session. While I can’t control how fast my players react, I can control how fast I react. So if I’m playing split a split party, even if it’s temporary, I try to be as fast as I can in terms of setting up the game. I think my players can forgive any mistakes that happen as a result. It’s all in good fun, after all.
One thing I do is that I refuse to adjust the difficulty of the game. If my players want to do multiple things at once, then I think of it as a game of risk vs. reward. Do you want to split up into weaker groups and do things on your own? Okay, sure, but I’m not dialing down anything. This forces the split players to really pick and choose their battles. More often than not, stealth and speed will help the smaller groups survive–Which turns into a unique experience for everyone involved. After all, it’s sort of fun to see how a lone player could potentially survive or die depending on their hubris.
The Carrot & The Stick: Consequences Must Matter
Going deeper into consequences, I think challenge and difficulty is important for keeping split party situations fun for everybody. Like I said above, I don’t adjust my difficulty settings, but even I know that a module’s difficulty must be based on a set number of players that are together. Usually a party of 4. Thus, whatever module I run, It must be more difficult with only two players. Imagine the difficulty for just one. For periods where separate parties happen commonly, it’s only a matter of time before someone dies and a character gets re-rolled. –Reunited once again…just new game + instead. 🙂
Stick to your guns, too. While you should always be aware if your players are having fun, if you are scrutinized for killing your players, you certainly have the perfect question for everybody. Why did you decide to split up?
It goes without saying that for any scenario where a player just leaves the party and does their own thing for prolonged periods, then I chat with the player. It’s not cool to divide the party for so long, because it truly does detract from the overall shared experience that makes up the bulk of D&D. This game is meant to be played with multiple people, especially when it comes to the prewritten modules. No one wants to be on the side-lines forever, so make sure that players are aware of how much their time away from the party is taking literal time away from the other players too. –Not to mention the stress it can have on DMs.
While my players survived splitting up in my Descent Into Avernus game this time, they have not always been so lucky. RNG is only good for so long before you roll a Nat 1 and wished you had a friend beside you. That’s why I make sure that any scenario involving certain death for the PC means that death must be scary, awesome, or both.
For example, despite my player characters rolling death saves against the fireball cultist, they got plenty of opportunities to try to survive the aftermath. –Either through feinting and pretending to be dead, or in how they chose to respond to their final moments before the cultist dragged their corpses away forever.
Thanks for reading. I hope this article helps you contend with any party splits happening in your games! Let me know if you have a specific way of dealing with split party members, or if you have any interesting stories of your own to share in your dungeons.
Sincerely,
Ryan
Dungeons With Dragons
