“Never split the party” might be a word of advice mostDungeons & Dragonsgroups live by, but it’s not alway applicable. Like all things in life, there are exceptions to every rule. Sometimes having everyone in one place is too awkward, too dangerous, or too inconvenient.
Awareness of these kinds of situations needs to be more commonplace on both sides of the table. If you’re a player, try to be flexible, and if you’re the DM, be sure to remind players that splitting the party is allowed. Here are some situations where party splits are the best option.
8Downtime
Every Table Does It
We all love our friends, but that doesn’t mean we spend every waking moment with them. Your friend doesn’t need to accompany you on a shopping trip that doesn’t interest them, nor do both of you need to be present every time someone runs an errand or makes an important phone call.
The same philosophy should be taken to heart when playing D&D. Maybe your party’s rogue and bard want to carouse in a tavern together while the wizard spends all day in the city’s library. That’s a perfectly good reason to split, and good DMs will manage to spend equal time and attention on both groups.
7Parties, Festivals And Balls
Mingle A Little
We’d put this under downtime, butparties and festivalshave a knack for advancing the plot in a way that downtime activities typically don’t. These types of scenes often contain a huge amount of NPCs for players to interact with, but conversations involving more than two or three people become untenable quickly.
It’s better for the party to split during sessions where a ball, festival, or other event is being held. This way, each PC can interact with characters and activities that interest them, and perhaps uncover important rumors or adventure hooks along the way. A good party session will have multiple chances for the PCs to split and reconvene as needed.
6Scouting And Surveying
When Five People Is Just Too Obvious
This is a common scenario for party splits, and for the most part, it’s not long before everyone is back together again. Before combat encounters or stealth missions, it’s perfectly normal for parties to send one member to scout ahead for potential hazards while the others prepare in a safe location.
While the scout is typically the party’s rogue, they don’t have to be. Another common variation of this type of split involves the party’s druid wild shaping themselves into an inconspicuous animal, such as a spider or rat. This gives them some form of cover in case they’re seen by enemies.
5Solving A Puzzle
It Depends On The Puzzle
Dungeon crawls are the one situation where you want to keep everyone together as much as possible, but it’s still not a hard and fast rule. Some obstacles are best overcome when the party is willing to split for short periods, especiallyif there’s a puzzlethat needs to be solved.
This can take many forms. Maybe the puzzle is split into two different rooms, and the party needs to divide themselves into two groups to solve it. Or perhaps one room contains a time-sensitive puzzle while another has enemies advancing towards the party. Either way, this isn’t too weird of a situation.
4Tense Social And Political Scenes
PVP: Not Just For Combat
This one has a fair bit of overlap with other situations. Perhaps a party of murderers has finally been arrested for their (many) crimes. Before the group inevitably tries to escape, each PC is questioned separately. Not only does this mirror real-life interrogation procedures, it also gives the PCs the chance to unknowingly screw each other over.
In these types of scenes, the tension arises from the difference between in-character and out-of-character knowledge. There are all sorts of other situations where you can use this type of party split, but they all work to further potential complications in the campaign’s plot. Secret meetings between faction members and trials are another common scenario for these kinds of splits.
3Limited Physical Space
The Bane Of Mixed-Size Parties
Maybe a tunnel in a dungeon has a crawlspace that only the two smallest party members can fit through, or maybe that rickety elevator has a limited weight capacity that forces you to leave the minotaur barbarian behind. Sometimes, the environment makes the decision of whether to split the party for you.
These situations come up often in dungeon crawls, although the party is expected to converge again a few rooms later. It’s always possible to run into complications with a trap or a few enemies. However, If you’re the DM, you should make sure alternate paths are readily apparent to your players.
2Plot Relevant Rituals
Not Everything Needs An Audience
Perhaps you’re the DM of a high-level campaign. Your paladin has been chosen by an order of knights to join their ranks, and needs to pass their initiation test. Meanwhile, your necromancer wizard wants to undergo the horrific, clandestine ritual one must perform to become a lich.
In both of these cases, it’s perfectly reasonable for your PCs to go through these trials alone. While the other PCs reacting from the sidelines might be welcome in some situations, they can potentially derail important character moments if they’re brought along in every scenario.
1Heists
Everyone Has A Part To Play
Planning a heistis a little more elaborate than your typical dungeon crawl. Every party member will need to put their skills to the test, and the potential for things to go wrong increases tenfold. Often, party members will need to split up to fulfill their roles.
Perhaps the party’s bard schmoozes with some NPCs for important information while the wizard creates a distraction. All the while, the rogue sneaks past to steal the payload, and the fighter’s beating up the guards. When you visualize the plan in action, it’s not hard to see why a split is necessary.
