How do you run a combat encounter with a group being split. Last session I(the DM) had to run a combat encounter for my group when the party was split over half a mile of ground.
Should you do group A's combat and then group B's combat or should you try doing both at the same time. I tried both at the same time because it sounded smart but it was hell to manage.
As always love your work
This is a really good question, and a situation I’ve found myself in quite a few times as well. Obviously it depends on what works best for your group size and personal style of DMing, but here are some ways I try to handle these tricky combat scenarios
1. The Domino Effect: Consider the enemies that your separated groups are fighting, and start with the group whose enemy is the weakest and/or whose fight will take the least amount of time. Run through the encounter until either A. the enemy is defeated, at which point the players can either rejoin the other group and help in the next fight or continue doing whatever it was they were doing before the encounter started or B. The players go down. If this happens I generally switch to one of the other groups and either allow them to run through their encounter or I give a convenient plot related excuse for one of the players (usually the healer) to escape their fight and save their downed teammates. (Of course if you’re playing in a more ruthless campaign this might feel like a bit of a cop out.) While one group is fighting, those not involved can take this time as a break (especially if you’ve been playing for a while) to get up and stretch, use the restroom, or just check their phones for a bit.
2. The Tennis Game: This method generally involves switching between encounters after a round (or a few) of combat. This method relies pretty heavily on the DM to not only keep track of both enemy stats in various encounters and the players level of entertainment. For my players I usually switch between encounters after 2 rounds of combat or I feel the other group is getting antsy to play again. This method works best for smaller groups with enemies that are similarly leveled or your players have relatively low attention spans (like mine). Like I said before, this method relies pretty heavily on the DM keeping track of fight details for the groups, so it can be very taxing if the fights go on too long.
3. The “How’re They Gonna Know?”Method: This is personally my favorite and most used method in my current game, because no matter how many times I tell them not to, my group always splits the party in the most inconvenient places. This method basically revolves around either giving the separated parties incentive to regroup then trigger the fight (loot, plot, etc.) or if that fails only allowing one of the groups to start an encounter so the other players can rejoin them as back-up. Of course, this method also has its issues (mainly that the players can also initiate combat) if both groups have decided they want to start combat still separated, I refer to the two previous methods. Otherwise. unless it’s for plot, or just the general vibe of the game, I’ll only initiate combat on one group at a time.
So these are my most common methods for dealing with split encounters, certainly not perfect by any means but they work for me. And don’t be afraid to mix and match the methods, if you start out with one, but your players aren’t feeling it, don’t be afraid to switch back and forth as needed. And don’t forget, you’re a player too! And if you have issues with the split party encounters don’t be afraid to talk to your players about it. The best conversation is an open one after all and you deserve to have fun too!
