My wife and I are considering Co-DMing a mini-campaign, with the main idea being that we would each be able to play to our strengths. She is much better at developing stories and painting word pictures than I am, whereas I have a much more full understanding of systems and rules. We would split duties along those lines with her doing most of the story exposition and world building and with me calling for rolls and conducting combat where needed. We would split NPC acting along gender lines. She also has prior GM experience with other games, whereas this would be my first foray into the role.
Wondering what others think of this idea. Have you ever played in or run a campaign with multiple DMs? What advice might you have for us as we attempt this? As a player what might you like, or conversely, worry about with this approach?
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It has a lot of potential. I've co-DM'd things many times but not in a regular D&D setting - in text based projects, where we could voice privately with ease whilst the actual story and combat all flowed within the chatbox.
I think you'd have to pre-plan a lot to check you both have a thorough understanding of the plot and NPCs, because you're not going to be able to double-check story points and what a character might say right in front of all your players with spoiling it.
Something we did with this system was let the party 'split' and DM for one group each temporarily. I think it will be tricky to smoothly convert that in this situation, but perhaps worth keeping in mind.
One of the fun things is, if you have multiple factions involved in an encounter or combat, each co-DM takes control of a faction each, and you get some really entertaining three-way fights. Especially if you're competitive, even in a casual way. Fighting for your own 'side' each as a DM can give them a more realistic feel in the battle and more passion in their portrayal. Examples: Two rival gangs where the PCs get caught up in their struggle. Two rival bounty hunters who both want to capture a PC.
I've co-DMmed D&D before for a particularly large group (it was about 11 PCs at the peak). We needed a way to split the players up into more manageable groups and just have a short period at the beginning/end of the session where they met up together to decide what to do.
Myself and the other DM would meet up early to discuss the next session and what our overall plan was for it, ensuring we were on the same page. During the session when the group was all together, only one of us took charge to prevent us from stepping on the toes of the other person. Then, when the group split, we each took control of one group. When the group got back together at the end, the other DM would take charge of the session wrap-up so that duties were evenly split.
For your situation, it sounds like you can do much the same thing (except without splitting the party, that probably isn't needed). Meet together to get on the same page story-wise and what the session plan is. One of you takes the lead during the session itself while the other plays certain NPCs that were already agreed-upon beforehand. The other can chime in on rules questions and can also help with some of the "off-topic" tangents that come up. Then, the next session the other co-DM takes the lead, so that duties are essentially shared.
And, if the party does ever actually split, you can each run one side of the split in different rooms/areas so they can't know what the other group is doing.
Thanks for all the feedback so far guys! I guess I should also mention that this would be for an online group using Roll20 with voice chat, so we might have a little leeway for real time behind the screen exchanges if it's something quick. I very much appreciate the tips and experiences you all are sharing and hope to hear some more!
Co DMing is interesting. There are a few times where my group attempted to start it but it basically just ended up with me doing all the DMing and the other guy giving me ideas or hooks.
I see a few potential problems though.
#1 DM PC/NPC
If you as a DM have an NPC that is an active member of the player group (basically your PC for when one of you is not DMing the game) he will naturally have more knowledge then the other characters which leads to metagaming. "I designed the dungeon, I know there are traps so lets make sure the rogue remembers to check". "I happen to know a guy for just this situation...", etc...
Similarly special gear appears like it was specifically designed for your character. "Sure is convienent that you found that super special trident for your Trident specialist fighter"
Finally your character can potentially become more plot relevant, giving him plot armor or a particularly special role to play. Players can then feel less important in comparison which is a bad experience.
Now this is general advice for all DMs with re-occuring NPCs but I can see it being particularly troubling with multiple DMs as it gets harder to separate everything you know from what your players know or will experience.
#2 Boredom
If you don't have an active character to play as the other DM leads the group, I imagine it would get a little dull as you have no effect on the game. It is more fun to play after all.
#3 Disputes
Who will make the ultimate decision if something is allowed or not. Say there isn't a specific rule for something, or a spell description is vague. Maybe the DMs disagree so who has final say over the result? Be prepared and understand what each of your responsibilities will be.
My groups has 2 DMs, me and another - we usually run 2 separate campaigns and each of us take a night on the weekend to run our stuff, but when we get through mine (they are almost finished Hoard of the Dragon Queen), we are going to co-run Tomb of Horrors. Mainly so we can laugh at them (since none of them have ever run it in any version). We are taking bets on how many characters they need to rotate through.
If you are doing it, maybe start with a published adventure, even a 1 shot - make sure you get into a habit of who is doing what. I have the benefit of we use ROll20, I'm much better with the technical side, so can make all the fancy bits work whilst he tells the story/laughs at them dying. :D
Thanks for all the feedback so far guys! I guess I should also mention that this would be for an online group using Roll20 with voice chat, so we might have a little leeway for real time behind the screen exchanges if it's something quick. I very much appreciate the tips and experiences you all are sharing and hope to hear some more!
You can also make great use of Roll20's whisper feature in the chat.
I've done a co-DM game before. It can work, but think the biggest thing to establish is boundaries. There were a few times it felt like we may have stepped on the other's toes. However, when things came together, they came together really well.
Co-DMs open up several doors. RPing a couple getting into a dispute in front of the characters, for example, or a translator to a tribe that speaks an ancient tongu, are all better when there's two voices instead of one.
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My wife and I are considering Co-DMing a mini-campaign, with the main idea being that we would each be able to play to our strengths. She is much better at developing stories and painting word pictures than I am, whereas I have a much more full understanding of systems and rules. We would split duties along those lines with her doing most of the story exposition and world building and with me calling for rolls and conducting combat where needed. We would split NPC acting along gender lines. She also has prior GM experience with other games, whereas this would be my first foray into the role.
Wondering what others think of this idea. Have you ever played in or run a campaign with multiple DMs? What advice might you have for us as we attempt this? As a player what might you like, or conversely, worry about with this approach?
Never done this, but I think it could be fun. Division of labour. Let us know how it goes.
It has a lot of potential. I've co-DM'd things many times but not in a regular D&D setting - in text based projects, where we could voice privately with ease whilst the actual story and combat all flowed within the chatbox.
I think you'd have to pre-plan a lot to check you both have a thorough understanding of the plot and NPCs, because you're not going to be able to double-check story points and what a character might say right in front of all your players with spoiling it.
Something we did with this system was let the party 'split' and DM for one group each temporarily. I think it will be tricky to smoothly convert that in this situation, but perhaps worth keeping in mind.
One of the fun things is, if you have multiple factions involved in an encounter or combat, each co-DM takes control of a faction each, and you get some really entertaining three-way fights. Especially if you're competitive, even in a casual way. Fighting for your own 'side' each as a DM can give them a more realistic feel in the battle and more passion in their portrayal. Examples: Two rival gangs where the PCs get caught up in their struggle. Two rival bounty hunters who both want to capture a PC.
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I've co-DMmed D&D before for a particularly large group (it was about 11 PCs at the peak). We needed a way to split the players up into more manageable groups and just have a short period at the beginning/end of the session where they met up together to decide what to do.
Myself and the other DM would meet up early to discuss the next session and what our overall plan was for it, ensuring we were on the same page. During the session when the group was all together, only one of us took charge to prevent us from stepping on the toes of the other person. Then, when the group split, we each took control of one group. When the group got back together at the end, the other DM would take charge of the session wrap-up so that duties were evenly split.
For your situation, it sounds like you can do much the same thing (except without splitting the party, that probably isn't needed). Meet together to get on the same page story-wise and what the session plan is. One of you takes the lead during the session itself while the other plays certain NPCs that were already agreed-upon beforehand. The other can chime in on rules questions and can also help with some of the "off-topic" tangents that come up. Then, the next session the other co-DM takes the lead, so that duties are essentially shared.
And, if the party does ever actually split, you can each run one side of the split in different rooms/areas so they can't know what the other group is doing.
Thanks for all the feedback so far guys! I guess I should also mention that this would be for an online group using Roll20 with voice chat, so we might have a little leeway for real time behind the screen exchanges if it's something quick. I very much appreciate the tips and experiences you all are sharing and hope to hear some more!
Co DMing is interesting. There are a few times where my group attempted to start it but it basically just ended up with me doing all the DMing and the other guy giving me ideas or hooks.
I see a few potential problems though.
#1 DM PC/NPC
If you as a DM have an NPC that is an active member of the player group (basically your PC for when one of you is not DMing the game) he will naturally have more knowledge then the other characters which leads to metagaming. "I designed the dungeon, I know there are traps so lets make sure the rogue remembers to check". "I happen to know a guy for just this situation...", etc...
Similarly special gear appears like it was specifically designed for your character. "Sure is convienent that you found that super special trident for your Trident specialist fighter"
Finally your character can potentially become more plot relevant, giving him plot armor or a particularly special role to play. Players can then feel less important in comparison which is a bad experience.
Now this is general advice for all DMs with re-occuring NPCs but I can see it being particularly troubling with multiple DMs as it gets harder to separate everything you know from what your players know or will experience.
#2 Boredom
If you don't have an active character to play as the other DM leads the group, I imagine it would get a little dull as you have no effect on the game. It is more fun to play after all.
#3 Disputes
Who will make the ultimate decision if something is allowed or not. Say there isn't a specific rule for something, or a spell description is vague. Maybe the DMs disagree so who has final say over the result? Be prepared and understand what each of your responsibilities will be.
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My groups has 2 DMs, me and another - we usually run 2 separate campaigns and each of us take a night on the weekend to run our stuff, but when we get through mine (they are almost finished Hoard of the Dragon Queen), we are going to co-run Tomb of Horrors. Mainly so we can laugh at them (since none of them have ever run it in any version). We are taking bets on how many characters they need to rotate through.
If you are doing it, maybe start with a published adventure, even a 1 shot - make sure you get into a habit of who is doing what. I have the benefit of we use ROll20, I'm much better with the technical side, so can make all the fancy bits work whilst he tells the story/laughs at them dying. :D
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I've done a co-DM game before. It can work, but think the biggest thing to establish is boundaries. There were a few times it felt like we may have stepped on the other's toes. However, when things came together, they came together really well.
Co-DMs open up several doors. RPing a couple getting into a dispute in front of the characters, for example, or a translator to a tribe that speaks an ancient tongu, are all better when there's two voices instead of one.