What I learned from Dungeons and Dragons: Never split up the party
There is one cardinal sin that every D&D gamer eventually has committed. Because D&D is played in a truly open ended world where characters can do ANYTHING that the player can imagine, there are times when one, two or three players will decide that they want to do something different than the rest of the group. Rather than go along with the majority, the one, two or three characters will strike out on their own with the intent of the characters getting back together again.
With a DM who knows and loves the game, splitting up the party is always a disaster. There are a couple of reasons for this. In terms of the in game story, splitting up the party may not seem like a big deal. People often go their own way only to come together again. That is called life, and role-players like to have their characters imitate what people in life really do.
However, in D&D, groups are often composed of several specialty characters, and the well-made campaign gives each character something to do that uses his or her specialization (much like The Avengers had a role for each character). Typically, there is the fighter who takes and deals damage, the thief who disarms traps and does the sneaky things, the cleric who heals and the mage who casts spells and knows about magic. Remove anyone in the group, and you end up with chaos.
For example, if the trap is magic, the thief will probably not be able to disarm it. Much like any horror movie, things quickly devolve, and characters start dying. In the long run, this is good for the DM because it hopefully teaches players that there are consequences for having a character go off on his or her own. In the short term, it plays havoc with the storyline.
The other reason that it is bad to leave the group is that it requires the DM to run two separate games. That means that there will be some people sitting around doing nothing while others get vital information. Boredom sets in, side conversations get started, and in a worst case scenario, players learn information that their characters shouldn’t know and use it in game. Games can run hours, and even the best DM will be hard-pressed to remember who is where and should know what. Missing an important detail can ruin a story leaving players and the DM frustrated.
Staying with the group means that everyone survives and gets to know everything about the story. Even if a player does not think his or her character would stay with a group, it is important to find a reason why he or she will. Sometimes, it is to pay off a debt. Sometimes, it is to appease the gods. Sometimes, it is because a fortune teller shows up and laughs at your character while explaining that “If you go off alone, you die. Ha! Ha!” No matter how made up the reason, it is important to stick with your team.
Real life has the same component to it. It is important to find people that you can trust and that you can stick with. Friends can help you through the rough times, but if you decide to leave at every challenge that any relationship eventually faces, you won’t have anyone to pick you up when you fall. Worse than that is that you won’t have the relationships that make life worth living.
Your friends and family may occasionally want to do something that you do not want to do. It is important to decide how important it is to them that it get done, and how much it matters to you not to do it. There will be times when you will have to decide to do whatever it is regardless of how you feel about it. Never split up the party.
Shared experiences
Becoming a part of a group
Academically speaking
A critical failure is success
With a DM who knows and loves the game, splitting up the party is always a disaster. There are a couple of reasons for this. In terms of the in game story, splitting up the party may not seem like a big deal. People often go their own way only to come together again. That is called life, and role-players like to have their characters imitate what people in life really do.
However, in D&D, groups are often composed of several specialty characters, and the well-made campaign gives each character something to do that uses his or her specialization (much like The Avengers had a role for each character). Typically, there is the fighter who takes and deals damage, the thief who disarms traps and does the sneaky things, the cleric who heals and the mage who casts spells and knows about magic. Remove anyone in the group, and you end up with chaos.
For example, if the trap is magic, the thief will probably not be able to disarm it. Much like any horror movie, things quickly devolve, and characters start dying. In the long run, this is good for the DM because it hopefully teaches players that there are consequences for having a character go off on his or her own. In the short term, it plays havoc with the storyline.
The other reason that it is bad to leave the group is that it requires the DM to run two separate games. That means that there will be some people sitting around doing nothing while others get vital information. Boredom sets in, side conversations get started, and in a worst case scenario, players learn information that their characters shouldn’t know and use it in game. Games can run hours, and even the best DM will be hard-pressed to remember who is where and should know what. Missing an important detail can ruin a story leaving players and the DM frustrated.
Staying with the group means that everyone survives and gets to know everything about the story. Even if a player does not think his or her character would stay with a group, it is important to find a reason why he or she will. Sometimes, it is to pay off a debt. Sometimes, it is to appease the gods. Sometimes, it is because a fortune teller shows up and laughs at your character while explaining that “If you go off alone, you die. Ha! Ha!” No matter how made up the reason, it is important to stick with your team.
Real life has the same component to it. It is important to find people that you can trust and that you can stick with. Friends can help you through the rough times, but if you decide to leave at every challenge that any relationship eventually faces, you won’t have anyone to pick you up when you fall. Worse than that is that you won’t have the relationships that make life worth living.
Your friends and family may occasionally want to do something that you do not want to do. It is important to decide how important it is to them that it get done, and how much it matters to you not to do it. There will be times when you will have to decide to do whatever it is regardless of how you feel about it. Never split up the party.
Shared experiences
Becoming a part of a group
Academically speaking
A critical failure is success
|
|