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View Full Version : Opinions wanted for a 2-DM experiment shenanigans



ninja_penguin
2008-07-23, 09:13 PM
So, I'm running a 4th edition group, and to keep me from burning out, one other person from the group takes over to DM from time to time, and swap out each other's character in the group. We've got some people who are irregular, but there's a core group of 3 people that are always there.

I had this idea the other day that I thought would make an interesting dungeon/session with an emphasis on using things from the character's backstory, and not necessarily a whole lot of combat involved. Some sort of planar/spiritual journey or trap, but as soon as it starts, the party is separated into two groups, and I DM one group, and my friend DMs the other.

As we've been working on the idea, we've got a sort of theme of corruption going, with some sort of guardian spirit/astral being. (This won't be run for a bit, and I didn't fully form the idea until I was sure the other guy was on board for it) We thought it would be fun to insinuate that the other group has at least one corrupted member, or is some sort of doppleganger. We're going to split up the group into two rooms, so they're not as aware of this. We've sort of come down to this for ways to run the encounter when the meet each other.

1. We reconvene in one room again. We feel this is the weakest option, as it probably tanks any sort of ambiguity about the nature of the fight, or even if anything has gone wrong with the other characters.

2. We use laptops to IM what's happening to the other DM. I feel this has a slight weakness due to the timing involved; waiting for an IM before you can resolve another character's movement is an obvious giveaway. To deflect suspicion, we'll be bringing laptops in earlier sessions, and making a point of using maptool. Possible workaround: just do a basic attack if there's a time lag, and do the action next round.

3. Copy characters sheets/make a stat block for each character like they were a monster, bring the laptops, and make it just look like we're communicating, and they're actually fighting dopplegangers. Useful if the players try and get too genre savvy, although I feel like it's almost a cop-out of the running theme of corruption. However, it has no timing issues, and avoids breaking the flow.

Any thoughts and opinions? Aside from the final encounter bit, there's going to be no direct interaction, to avoid timing/immersion problems. As the group is being split, there's going to be less combat, and possibly mostly just minion combat, and lower level. We'll be focusing more on making it a mind-bender, like opening a door and seeing the other group walking on the ceiling, doors that send you in a loop until you go back through a door, etc.

erikun
2008-07-23, 09:33 PM
Be completely evil - in one of the two groups, replace just ONE character with a doppleganger. Leave all the other party members the same. Assume that the doppleganger is doing exactly the same thing with the group as the character is. (After all, the character is in a group full of dopplegangers, and the group is talking to a doppleganger psychically connected to the doppleganger group.) When the two parties fight, the whole group will be fighting the doppleganger group + PC, while the PC + on doppleganger group will be fighting a group of dopplegangers. Just run it like a normal encounter, except for a few differences: the actions of the dopple'd PC should be relayed to the other DM, and the DM should pass notes to the dopple'd PC about any "inconsistencies".

Yeah, perhaps that's too complicated. Then again, it would be interesting if both parties killed all the "clones" and the dopple'd PC got to run a doppleganger from then on out. :smalltongue: Or maybe something less complex....

Totally Guy
2008-07-24, 06:30 AM
Go for option 2 but tell each group that you've hired an internet nerd that wants to show you how tough he is in his unbeatable D&D knowledge. The players may then start thinking hard about how to beat an angry basement geek rather than thier friends one room over. You'd better be using a computer dice roller for your own actions to account for the lack of dice being rolled on the opponent's turn. Also you'd need to explain separate initiatives rather than all baddies go together.