Attitudes towards splitting the party vary a lot. Some players feel the party should always stay together and others that they should role play their character and this is what their character would do.
The first thing to do is to sit down and have a chat with the players.
1) If people are going to split the group emphasize to everyone that all characters are going to receive roughly the same amount of time and attention - so if one character wanders off and 5 stick together to pursue something then the group of 5 will have roughly 5/6 of the time - it will be a long time before the game gets back to the solo person. Keep in mind that two groups does not mean that each group will get 1/2 the time no matter how many characters are present. (The time division doesn't need to be perfect but if someone goes off on their own it is not an opportunity to play with the DM 1:1 while everyone else waits).
2) Ask the players to THINK. Why would their character really go off on their own. Remind the players that the world can be a dangerous place. Something that a party can deal with might easily be enough to kill a character. If a character falls in a trap, there may be no one there to help rescue them if they are off on their own - I am aware of characters in different games that ended up dying because they were off on their own and these things happened. Some folks will still have their character go off on their own but after a close call or two, you have to ask the player, why would the character really go off on their own after having these experiences? Even characters with very low stats are likely to learn from their experiences.
Other than that, there are times when it will be in character for a party to split up - just roll with it - give folks your attention more or less proportional to the number of player being SURE that everyone gets a turn on a reasonable time scale - and run it to its logical conclusion.
Finally, if a DM really doesn't want to deal with split groups then have an out of character chat with the players describing the challenges you are having running the group when it is split and asking the players to come up with reasons for their characters to stay more or less together. Keep in mind that from a character safety perspective it should make sense to the characters to stay with their friends/party most of the time.
Attitudes towards splitting the party vary a lot. Some players feel the party should always stay together and others that they should role play their character and this is what their character would do.
The first thing to do is to sit down and have a chat with the players.
1) If people are going to split the group emphasize to everyone that all characters are going to receive roughly the same amount of time and attention - so if one character wanders off and 5 stick together to pursue something then the group of 5 will have roughly 5/6 of the time - it will be a long time before the game gets back to the solo person. Keep in mind that two groups does not mean that each group will get 1/2 the time no matter how many characters are present. (The time division doesn't need to be perfect but if someone goes off on their own it is not an opportunity to play with the DM 1:1 while everyone else waits).
2) Ask the players to THINK. Why would their character really go off on their own. Remind the players that the world can be a dangerous place. Something that a party can deal with might easily be enough to kill a character. If a character falls in a trap, there may be no one there to help rescue them if they are off on their own - I am aware of characters in different games that ended up dying because they were off on their own and these things happened. Some folks will still have their character go off on their own but after a close call or two, you have to ask the player, why would the character really go off on their own after having these experiences? Even characters with very low stats are likely to learn from their experiences.
Other than that, there are times when it will be in character for a party to split up - just roll with it - give folks your attention more or less proportional to the number of player being SURE that everyone gets a turn on a reasonable time scale - and run it to its logical conclusion.
Finally, if a DM really doesn't want to deal with split groups then have an out of character chat with the players describing the challenges you are having running the group when it is split and asking the players to come up with reasons for their characters to stay more or less together. Keep in mind that from a character safety perspective it should make sense to the characters to stay with their friends/party most of the time.
Again, from the OP, this thread really isn't about "whither split the party?" This is about one player who persistently endeavors to disengage or "lose" the rest of the party to do their own thing, to the point of coming up with something entirely different to do when party members opt to accompany them in on said "own thing." This isn't conventional game management where a DM may avail themselves of cut scenes and the like. This is about a problem player who insists on not sticking with the group.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I think the solution is actually quite simple. The party is where the camera man is. If they want to leave? That's fine, but that's the character leaving. You can't play a character who has left until they come back. You can't play a character who is predominably off-camera. Create a new character who will stick with the party.
I've had characters that have habitually split off from their party. A druid of mine frequently goes off to forage resources or smoke pot or not go underground (he's a tortle) and I stay mainly silent while the rest of the party sort out all the RP.
In the wilds random encounters at a level to challenge the entire party could be fair. A lone character can be vulnerable and may quickly come to appreciate the value of remaining in the group.
I like the trap idea. either that or put a monster in their way that only the party together can defeat. that way they are forced to rely on the party.
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DM: Ok you encounter a Bugbear.
Newbie: THAT SOUNDS AWFUL! its like a bear bug combo!
Veteran: No actually its-
DM: (scribbling furiously) The Bugbears mandibles click loudly! Roll initiative!
In game solutions only serve to coerce a player to make the decision that the DM deems to be the correct choice. This does nothing to address the problem of a player ignoring the tenet of group play during the game. It works as a bandage to ease the symptoms.
In game solutions can also work to enable this type of behavior by providing, what may appear to be, plot attention to a player behaving selfishly. I'm also not a fan of fabricating impromptu reasons for the party to be a team. They have a reason, it's a social contract that they all agreed to play a game that requires them to work together toward a common goal in order to succeed. If they fail to adhere to their own contract, they don't succeed at D&D.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
I currently have a player in my campaign that seems completely uninterested in sticking with the party– and in fact, seems to change their mind and split off to do something else if the party tries to stay with them. I'm not necessarily bothered by this behavior, it's their character and their choice, after all! The thing that seems troublesome about it is trying to narrate two different portions of the story at the same time... one for what the player is doing, and one for the rest of the party. I imagine it's not very fun for any of the players to have to play this way.
So, what do you do if one of your players does this– do you set up traps to dissuade them from leaving the party? Or perhaps encourage their exploration and make it work for the rest of the team? Would love to hear your stories! :)
In some campaigns I've played ( on my country ) I've found there were 2 DMs no matter the amoount of players involved in the session / campaign. That's allways a help for those players who likes to stay away in some moments ( just to take a deviation on the road, or buy more stuff, or why not ""seduce the innmaidens"" ). xDD
You should do the same, that could make the session more affordable for the rest of the party and for the soloer. And the best part, if the soloer DOSEN'T KNOWS WHERE THE PARTY IS AT THIS MOMENT, then you as the MAIN DM can tell him:
AHHHH, this is not my fault.................... dear soloer.
In game solutions only serve to coerce a player to make the decision that the DM deems to be the correct choice. This does nothing to address the problem of a player ignoring the tenet of group play during the game. It works as a bandage to ease the symptoms.
If you're trying to discourage bad behavior, you have two choices: ask the person to moderate their behavior, or make sure that their behavior doesn't result in the consequences they want. In general people who decide to kick off on their own want solo attention, so you deny them by not giving them that attention: if they go off on their own, ignore them.
Yes, there is inevitably a player who would much prefer to go off galivanting on their own adventure, scripting their autobiography apart from the party. Now, I am not opposed to splitting the party - and my players do split rather frequently in the open-world setting that I have constructed. In truth, there are many, many times when this is fun.
However, I have found that the best way to keep a single player from consistently wandering off is to show them just how dangerous the D&D world is for solo travelers. And there are several ways you can do this creatively. For example, a rival could have easily formed over the course of all the solo escapades this player has taken - perhaps one that he/she doesn't even know about. The next time they go off on their own, for no other reason than to split the party, have this rival's plan go into motion. Maybe a bitter noble from the city doesn't like the PC and has paid an assassin for their death. Perhaps the local authorities arrest the PC, mistakenly identifiying them as a fugitive who is known to "skulk about these parts by their lonesome."
Or, even more fun, perhaps a patron is out looking for "lost souls" in need of enlightment. Yes, that kind of patron. Perhaps you embody a warlock patron (a fiend, a celestial, a bored archfey etc.) and you have that entity spirit the PC off to a different location - the Hells, the Feywild, or heavens forbid, the Abyss!
Now the party has to figure out what happened to their friend and perhaps you might even have a session or two without that player while the others figure it out.
Don't think of having the session without the player as punishment, but more as an in-game reminder of just how dangerous the Prime Material Plane (and others) is. Could be fun and perhaps the new PC returns with an interest in sticking with the group and maybe even with an unprecedented multiclass into Warlock!
It depends on how the guy is splitting off the party.
Is he opening up random doors during combat? If so ask to speak with him during combat and explain to him that if he does that, there is a chance he'll find something that might just kill him or worse if he runs back to the party yelling for help it might wipe the party out. You could also ask him if he was in a firefight would he run away from his friends with guns to be by himself and not know what is coming his way? A few character deaths and he'll probably be a lot more careful doing this or take a character that can cast invisibility and hide real well and that solves the problem of training back to the party.
If its just during non-combat etc, no big deal. It does cause problems when people are talking and then they want to interject themselves into a conversation they are not part off.
It sounds like, if he is saying that he wants to go off and do his own thing, then you should simply ask "Ok, are you leaving the party?". If they say yes, then say "Oh, ok, fair enough. You start making your new character and I'll work out a way for them to meet the party". If they argue or don't understand, explain that dnd is about telling the story of a group of adventurers, and by leaving the group, they are leaving the story.
Obviously, this doesn't apply to when the party makes a plan and that involves splitting up, or if the world makes them split (crumbly canyon wall, or a trap door, for example). But if they persist in just walking off and not wanting to play as a group, then don't entertain it. Your character leaves, make another one or decide that they stay.
I have a player doing this fairly frequently. I have no problem with it. The main party is the main story. We play on line so I try to do some messaging with the break away player regarding their bit.
Unfortunately in our recent game the house they were all in collapsed. The main party in the cellar were fine. The wandering player - not so fine. And being by ton their own - no one heard their death rolls.
it’s a shame, as in this particular situation running away (which the break away player did) was by far the more sensible choice.
I feel like talking to the player is the best solution. Explain that when they leave the party to go on their own adventure, they take away time and play from everyone else. It's a group game, and there is no solo hero in the party.
If it doesn't work and they have a path or storyline they want to look into and that's why they keep leaving, stop dropping those in the direction they head.
I'm also a fan of the "this threat was made for a party, here are the consequences" and just have them roll saves against something and they show up later in the game when they inevitably fail them. Don't even give them a combat fight on their own. They left and nobody else knows what happened.
I personally love to split the party to accomplish goals, but if they are leaving because they want to play by themselves, it is disruptive to the game and it is rude to everyone else playing.
I would keep the narratives around the player wandering off super brief. Make sure to spend the bulk of the time on the party, not the one player (about 90%/10%). Makes the fact that you need to split between two narratives less painful.
Also this passively pushes the player to stick with the program.
A lot of the above solutions deal with punishing the player who splits off from the party (either with mechanics/threats or just making the game unfun for them to play) or talking to them out-of-game, which is what you specifically noted was not how you were looking to solve the issue.
I do not really want to rehash what has already been said, but I will note that capturing a party member who wanders off on their own (especially if they are not a roguish type with the ability to easily break out of jail) is a great way to deal with this problem. The narrative focuses on the main party trying to rescue their ally, and the only real thing you have to do with the solo player is jump back to them periodically and let them roll a check to try and break out.
But punishing the problematic player is not your only option--you can also reward the main party. The main party is going to be able to search rooms more thoroughly, kill bigger monsters, have a greater range of skills to utilize in certain situations, etc. By sticking together, they can earn better loot, have their characters learn helpful information the other player does not know (provided your group is good at avoiding metagame information), or otherwise have fun roleplaying that strengthens the bond between the present party members.
(Jokingly) Threaten to throw a beholder/tarrasque at them if they keep running away from the party; that usually works. If they still do it follow through.
So, what do you do if one of your players does this– do you set up traps to dissuade them from leaving the party? Or perhaps encourage their exploration and make it work for the rest of the team? Would love to hear your stories! :)
I usually inform the party during session 0 to make characters that want to adventure with others, and that making a loner is not useful to this campaign. I stress to not split the party as it can be very dangerous but i otherwise don't mind occasional split, especially when it's to scout ahead or sneak away etc... which i must divide my attention between the individual that go alone and the party and when it become too frequent, it start to look like spotlight hugging. I simply say i prefer no solo campaigning in a multi-player campaign as after that others start to do so as well and it just become a mess.
After that if it still occur to much in play, i speak to the player individually about my concern.
Attitudes towards splitting the party vary a lot. Some players feel the party should always stay together and others that they should role play their character and this is what their character would do.
The first thing to do is to sit down and have a chat with the players.
1) If people are going to split the group emphasize to everyone that all characters are going to receive roughly the same amount of time and attention - so if one character wanders off and 5 stick together to pursue something then the group of 5 will have roughly 5/6 of the time - it will be a long time before the game gets back to the solo person. Keep in mind that two groups does not mean that each group will get 1/2 the time no matter how many characters are present. (The time division doesn't need to be perfect but if someone goes off on their own it is not an opportunity to play with the DM 1:1 while everyone else waits).
2) Ask the players to THINK. Why would their character really go off on their own. Remind the players that the world can be a dangerous place. Something that a party can deal with might easily be enough to kill a character. If a character falls in a trap, there may be no one there to help rescue them if they are off on their own - I am aware of characters in different games that ended up dying because they were off on their own and these things happened. Some folks will still have their character go off on their own but after a close call or two, you have to ask the player, why would the character really go off on their own after having these experiences? Even characters with very low stats are likely to learn from their experiences.
Other than that, there are times when it will be in character for a party to split up - just roll with it - give folks your attention more or less proportional to the number of player being SURE that everyone gets a turn on a reasonable time scale - and run it to its logical conclusion.
Finally, if a DM really doesn't want to deal with split groups then have an out of character chat with the players describing the challenges you are having running the group when it is split and asking the players to come up with reasons for their characters to stay more or less together. Keep in mind that from a character safety perspective it should make sense to the characters to stay with their friends/party most of the time.
Again, from the OP, this thread really isn't about "whither split the party?" This is about one player who persistently endeavors to disengage or "lose" the rest of the party to do their own thing, to the point of coming up with something entirely different to do when party members opt to accompany them in on said "own thing." This isn't conventional game management where a DM may avail themselves of cut scenes and the like. This is about a problem player who insists on not sticking with the group.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I think the solution is actually quite simple. The party is where the camera man is. If they want to leave? That's fine, but that's the character leaving. You can't play a character who has left until they come back. You can't play a character who is predominably off-camera. Create a new character who will stick with the party.
I've had characters that have habitually split off from their party. A druid of mine frequently goes off to forage resources or smoke pot or not go underground (he's a tortle) and I stay mainly silent while the rest of the party sort out all the RP.
In the wilds random encounters at a level to challenge the entire party could be fair. A lone character can be vulnerable and may quickly come to appreciate the value of remaining in the group.
I like the trap idea. either that or put a monster in their way that only the party together can defeat. that way they are forced to rely on the party.
DM: Ok you encounter a Bugbear.
Newbie: THAT SOUNDS AWFUL! its like a bear bug combo!
Veteran: No actually its-
DM: (scribbling furiously) The Bugbears mandibles click loudly! Roll initiative!
In game solutions only serve to coerce a player to make the decision that the DM deems to be the correct choice. This does nothing to address the problem of a player ignoring the tenet of group play during the game. It works as a bandage to ease the symptoms.
In game solutions can also work to enable this type of behavior by providing, what may appear to be, plot attention to a player behaving selfishly. I'm also not a fan of fabricating impromptu reasons for the party to be a team. They have a reason, it's a social contract that they all agreed to play a game that requires them to work together toward a common goal in order to succeed. If they fail to adhere to their own contract, they don't succeed at D&D.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
In some campaigns I've played ( on my country ) I've found there were 2 DMs no matter the amoount of players involved in the session / campaign. That's allways a help for those players who likes to stay away in some moments ( just to take a deviation on the road, or buy more stuff, or why not ""seduce the innmaidens"" ). xDD
You should do the same, that could make the session more affordable for the rest of the party and for the soloer. And the best part, if the soloer DOSEN'T KNOWS WHERE THE PARTY IS AT THIS MOMENT, then you as the MAIN DM can tell him:
AHHHH, this is not my fault.................... dear soloer.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
Would like to hear from the OP on if this was resolved and how it went.
If you're trying to discourage bad behavior, you have two choices: ask the person to moderate their behavior, or make sure that their behavior doesn't result in the consequences they want. In general people who decide to kick off on their own want solo attention, so you deny them by not giving them that attention: if they go off on their own, ignore them.
Ah, the bane of all mankind...I mean DM's...
Yes, there is inevitably a player who would much prefer to go off galivanting on their own adventure, scripting their autobiography apart from the party. Now, I am not opposed to splitting the party - and my players do split rather frequently in the open-world setting that I have constructed. In truth, there are many, many times when this is fun.
However, I have found that the best way to keep a single player from consistently wandering off is to show them just how dangerous the D&D world is for solo travelers. And there are several ways you can do this creatively. For example, a rival could have easily formed over the course of all the solo escapades this player has taken - perhaps one that he/she doesn't even know about. The next time they go off on their own, for no other reason than to split the party, have this rival's plan go into motion. Maybe a bitter noble from the city doesn't like the PC and has paid an assassin for their death. Perhaps the local authorities arrest the PC, mistakenly identifiying them as a fugitive who is known to "skulk about these parts by their lonesome."
Or, even more fun, perhaps a patron is out looking for "lost souls" in need of enlightment. Yes, that kind of patron. Perhaps you embody a warlock patron (a fiend, a celestial, a bored archfey etc.) and you have that entity spirit the PC off to a different location - the Hells, the Feywild, or heavens forbid, the Abyss!
Now the party has to figure out what happened to their friend and perhaps you might even have a session or two without that player while the others figure it out.
Don't think of having the session without the player as punishment, but more as an in-game reminder of just how dangerous the Prime Material Plane (and others) is. Could be fun and perhaps the new PC returns with an interest in sticking with the group and maybe even with an unprecedented multiclass into Warlock!
Good luck!
It depends on how the guy is splitting off the party.
Is he opening up random doors during combat? If so ask to speak with him during combat and explain to him that if he does that, there is a chance he'll find something that might just kill him or worse if he runs back to the party yelling for help it might wipe the party out. You could also ask him if he was in a firefight would he run away from his friends with guns to be by himself and not know what is coming his way? A few character deaths and he'll probably be a lot more careful doing this or take a character that can cast invisibility and hide real well and that solves the problem of training back to the party.
If its just during non-combat etc, no big deal. It does cause problems when people are talking and then they want to interject themselves into a conversation they are not part off.
It sounds like, if he is saying that he wants to go off and do his own thing, then you should simply ask "Ok, are you leaving the party?". If they say yes, then say "Oh, ok, fair enough. You start making your new character and I'll work out a way for them to meet the party". If they argue or don't understand, explain that dnd is about telling the story of a group of adventurers, and by leaving the group, they are leaving the story.
Obviously, this doesn't apply to when the party makes a plan and that involves splitting up, or if the world makes them split (crumbly canyon wall, or a trap door, for example). But if they persist in just walking off and not wanting to play as a group, then don't entertain it. Your character leaves, make another one or decide that they stay.
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I have a player doing this fairly frequently. I have no problem with it. The main party is the main story. We play on line so I try to do some messaging with the break away player regarding their bit.
Unfortunately in our recent game the house they were all in collapsed. The main party in the cellar were fine. The wandering player - not so fine. And being by ton their own - no one heard their death rolls.
it’s a shame, as in this particular situation running away (which the break away player did) was by far the more sensible choice.
I feel like talking to the player is the best solution. Explain that when they leave the party to go on their own adventure, they take away time and play from everyone else. It's a group game, and there is no solo hero in the party.
If it doesn't work and they have a path or storyline they want to look into and that's why they keep leaving, stop dropping those in the direction they head.
I'm also a fan of the "this threat was made for a party, here are the consequences" and just have them roll saves against something and they show up later in the game when they inevitably fail them. Don't even give them a combat fight on their own. They left and nobody else knows what happened.
I personally love to split the party to accomplish goals, but if they are leaving because they want to play by themselves, it is disruptive to the game and it is rude to everyone else playing.
I would keep the narratives around the player wandering off super brief. Make sure to spend the bulk of the time on the party, not the one player (about 90%/10%). Makes the fact that you need to split between two narratives less painful.
Also this passively pushes the player to stick with the program.
A lot of the above solutions deal with punishing the player who splits off from the party (either with mechanics/threats or just making the game unfun for them to play) or talking to them out-of-game, which is what you specifically noted was not how you were looking to solve the issue.
I do not really want to rehash what has already been said, but I will note that capturing a party member who wanders off on their own (especially if they are not a roguish type with the ability to easily break out of jail) is a great way to deal with this problem. The narrative focuses on the main party trying to rescue their ally, and the only real thing you have to do with the solo player is jump back to them periodically and let them roll a check to try and break out.
But punishing the problematic player is not your only option--you can also reward the main party. The main party is going to be able to search rooms more thoroughly, kill bigger monsters, have a greater range of skills to utilize in certain situations, etc. By sticking together, they can earn better loot, have their characters learn helpful information the other player does not know (provided your group is good at avoiding metagame information), or otherwise have fun roleplaying that strengthens the bond between the present party members.
(Jokingly) Threaten to throw a beholder/tarrasque at them if they keep running away from the party; that usually works. If they still do it follow through.
I usually inform the party during session 0 to make characters that want to adventure with others, and that making a loner is not useful to this campaign. I stress to not split the party as it can be very dangerous but i otherwise don't mind occasional split, especially when it's to scout ahead or sneak away etc... which i must divide my attention between the individual that go alone and the party and when it become too frequent, it start to look like spotlight hugging. I simply say i prefer no solo campaigning in a multi-player campaign as after that others start to do so as well and it just become a mess.
After that if it still occur to much in play, i speak to the player individually about my concern.