Two DMs, one campaign?


Advice


Is it feasible? Basically, I hate to talk. Not my favorite thing to do, as I have a pretty bad stutter even around people with whom I'm comfortable speaking. My friend and I, however, have some pretty good thoughts for a campaign, we mesh well combining ideas, and I'd be happy to help run it from behind the scenes while he does the talking.

Any tips, pointers, pros/cons? To be honest, we're most likely going to run it anyways, but I'd like to have an idea of any potential pitfalls.

To throw another monkey wrench in the mix, neither of us have ever DM'd, and we both are only on our second foray into the D&D universe (Pathfinder for both campaigns).

I watched our previous DM doing his thing, I'll be doing the same for our current campaign, and I've also perused the game master info section of the PFSRD site, so I have a general idea of how it all works.

Many thanks to all for your input.


Depends how you want to do it.

1) Two DM's, two adventure paths: Can work easily, you have two groups of characters each in a different adventure run by different DM. They are effectively just sharing a game world.

2) Two alternate DM's, one adventure path: Much harder. Each DM runs an adventure, then the other DM runs the next adventure. Can be complex as each DM is a PC for the other, and their characters come and go. On top of that, they may know spoilers.

3) Two DM's, one adventure, simultaneous: Can work, as one DM is assistant to the other. If the party split, each can control a group. If there is a combat, one can adjudicate the player's actions and look up rules and the other can run the opposition. Pretty good way to run if you are beginners.


Cool, thanks for the insight. I like the idea of a split party for part of the campaign...


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Having a Co-GM game is something that we've talked about in my group a few times before. It's an interesting idea, definitely, and there are a few ways to make it work with 2 GM's at the table. You can have the role split, with one running combat, the other running interactions and descriptions. I've thought of doing something like that, because I'm good at designing encounters and the mechanical side of things, but not as good with the roleplaying aspect of running characters off the cuff when the party sidetracks.

Another thing I've always wanted to try, though it wouldn't apply to your situation as much, is to have two linked campaigns, each run by a different GM. The GM's would get to play a character in the campaign that they weren't running, kind of a glorified NPC. I've even had the idea to start the campaign with a few sessions at the same location, allowing everyone to run both of their PC's at the same time, until the story forces them into two different groups to go off and deal with two different aspects of the plot. The big problem after this, though, is keeping the pacing of the games in sync, so that both parties level at the same rate, both in and out of game.


I've done it a few times, it's really handy for big parties. For small parties, it's really too many cooks for one broth.

The 'troop style play' with alternate DMs running for the same PCs or in the same world can work well if done properly, and is easier for smaller pools of players.

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