Greetings gamers from all systems, places, and timelines!
I can already feel some of you asking when in the nine hells would I ever need to do this? However, this is not about need, at least not exactly. In a similar vein, you might not need anyone else to help you move everything out of your apartment – but it’s definitely welcome when your friends show up.
When running an especially complex game, sometimes it’s nice to have someone else to be there and help pick up the other end of the sofa. This is why we have put together a list of steps to help make one of these sessions not only run smoother but also be so good that it will be worth remembering.
Choose Carefully
Who you select to run a game with will have an enormous impact on how the game turns out as a whole. Much like any school project, you will want to pick someone who holds up their end of things.
Then it comes down to gaming style. The easy choice is to select someone similar to yourself – where if you have an idea, they should be able to build it out. Like you are both working on different rooms of the same house at the same time. If you get really lucky, you have someone willing and able who has a different style than your own. But instead of this causing conflicts, the two of you are able to strengthen the game in places where the other is lacking.
Establish the Structure
There are a few ways to break this down that have proven successful. The first is to have one DM running somewhere between one and three scenes at the beginning of the game. This has been effective in allowing a new DM to dip their toe behind the DM screen to build up enough confidence to run an entire game.
The second is to split the game in half where one runs the first act and one handles the final one. For DM Chris’ birthday, we had a very large group in attendance. This allowed DM Dave and I to split the party into two teams and run them separately while each trying to accomplish a goal which would then lead to the finale.
The third is for extremely large-scale games with numerous scenes and NPCs, which the two DMs would divide and conquer. This was just recently used in my girlfriend Jenn’s birthday game set in the world of Fourth Wing, which had twelve scenes. This had a near absurd amount of moving parts to such an extent that the idea of handling it all on my own made me want to drink heavily.
The DM Partner
An important question is, what will your partner DM be doing when they are not running a scene? One solution is to have them act as a Monster Wrangler and control the monsters which, not surprisingly in battles with a lot of players and or monsters, can be extremely helpful. Because personally I love tracking initiative, the boss monster’s hitpoints, their special abilities, legendary actions, and then their menagerie of sidekicks stats as well.
Outside of combat, they could be specific NPCs who appear during the story that they are prepared to run. This could likewise take the pressure off of you to deliver a stellar performance with every important character in the story, while making their actions also further the plot. And if your partner DM is feeling especially ambitious, they can take the role of an NPC who joins the party. One that can still have cool moments, just not one that steals all of the PCs spotlight.
Collaborative for a Reason
The real magic of the collaboration is the ability for both DMs to bounce ideas off each other so that a story that is truly unique has been formed.
To start, lay out a general story together in terms of what beats you would like to hit. Then, read it back and consider how this might sound to a player. It could sound like Shakespeare in the Park in your head, but to your players, it could sound like a poorly edited fever dream of a story that will lose them five minutes in.
Once you have a scene list, you can divide up who’s tackling what, and then each of you fills in the blanks. During this phase, you start getting into the nitty-gritty of hatching out non-critical NPCs, determining who’s approving character sheets, which minis will represent who, and my personal favorite – which art and music will be used. Then all of these things must be divided out between the two of you in terms of who is handling what. Because if you are bringing someone on board to help you, then let them – otherwise, what’s the point?
Getting the Final Say
At some point, you and the DM who you have brought along on the adventure (hopefully not kicking and screaming) will disagree on something. To which they say the beast can only have one head. However, I would encourage you to be a good sport, and if the DM who has agreed to go on this journey with you absolutely hates a particular concept, let it go.
Final Thoughts
We have even done crazy versions of this where all 3 Wise DMs have each written three independent stories which played out as separate chapters in the same game. It’s pretty great not having to handle every single aspect of the game with a complex plot and combat scenarios. So my advice is, if you want to run a particularly complicated game with a lot of moving parts, you might not have to do all of the lifting by yourself.
Got a Question?
3 Wise DMs mission is to help DMs with problems that you can’t find answers to in the rulebooks. If you’ve got a question or a problem, visit the website and enter it in the “What’s Your Problem” field. Or reach out to us at 3wisedms@gmail.com.
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