RPG MythBusters: Never Split the Party! … Or Should You? - a podcast by Thorin McGee

One of the old, unwritten rules of most TTRPGs is “Never Split the Party!” We tease our players with the risks and watch things go haywire when they don’t listen. But is splitting the party actually so bad? Can you play “Character Karaoke” and make sure everyone still has fun?

In truth, though, we usually try not to split the party up as DMs. After all, that just means you’re now trying to juggle 2 or more stories instead of the one you came to tell. But we’ve had a few split-party incidents lately that turned out to be a lot of fun! Is this old saw just a myth?

In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave play MythBusters: They dig into their experiences with splitting the party and break down what you gain and lose by introducing this trick to your game.

2:00 Why splitting the party in an RPG doesn’t work the same as a book or movie

7:00 When scouting gets out of hand: The druid works alone

10:00 A few ways to handle solo scouting and fly-away familiars without eating up too much game time and spotlight

20:00 The usual suspects: Breaking PCs out into individual dialogue with NPCs (like the Arkham police)

28:00 Is everyone at the table having fun when they split up?

31:00 Shopping during game-time: Better in some systems than others

34:00 How to balance individual character spotlights and the rest of the party waiting

43:00 How far should you let the player’s interpretation of NPCs and events influence what you planned?

47:00 What makes the party split themselves?

56:00 Character impulsiveness: Good role play or impatient players?

59:00 Tips for DMing split-up parties

63:00 When do you bring the party back together?

66:00 How do you handle table-talk and party knowledge when the characters split up?

69:00 Secrets and lies: How do you handle intraparty secrets and hidden backstories?

74:00 Who is Finneas, anyway?

79:00 Partial-party side quests: Do you do them? How do you handle treasure, XP and … Death?

87:00 Final thoughts: Myth busted, confirmed of inconclusive?

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