So, there are 3 of us in our group and we have been rotating the GM duties around so that there are always 2 out of the 3 characters playing, and we have an NPC droid that is the GMPC. We are having a serious amount of fun and so far, flipping the GM duties hasn't been a problem. I'm about to start my 2nd go around as GM and that will complete our 6th 'set', meaning we've all GM'd twice.

Again, everything has worked out well, however, there is very little in the way of an ongoing and overarching campaign and it is very episodic in it's nature. Sure, we are all bringing characters back and tying in plot lines but in some respects, it feels like we are potentially missing out on having a single GM creating a single world with subplots and the like.

So, I'm curious if anyone else has taken part in this kind of shared-GM, shared-world and if you had any tips and tricks for making this work without getting overly complex?

We have also discussed having the 3 of us run different campaigns but, again, aren't looking to make this overly complex.

Thoughts and ideas very welcome "_

One of you has to come up with the overall campaign idea. The rest can create filler within the confines and overall goals.

When we played through 5Es relaunch and the cult of the dragon stuff, I stepped in to pinch hit for the main GM who had family obligations and such. I just created some ideas of my own side adventures, some several sessions long, that played into what was going on in our main campaign, but I never knew the details of the outcome.

There was also some of the campaign content that we hadn't 'finished' or skipped over, and he would scan out the pages I needed to run just that.

So one of you create the main campaign and only that one know the ultimate campaign plot goals. That main GM can then either create some compartmentalized modular encounters for the others to run, or the co-GMs can just be inspired to create some thematically relevant sessions that don't change the overall direction at all.

So the main GM can still enjoy the modular stuff and expand their character, and the co-GMs are kept in the dark.

The last time I was part of rotating GM duties was way back in D6. Ultimately, there were about 3 of us (with a fourth who came just to GM from time to time). Each of us had our own big plot line that we focused on, but communicated the broad strokes so there wasn’t a huge disconnect.

Another way to go (and perhaps probably less muddled) is as the dread pirate above me suggested: one of you runs the big arc, the other two provide stand-alone sessions. When one big arc ends, rotate that responsibility to the next GM.

Structure-wise, think of it as a season of X-Files or Buffy: there’s an overall arc to the season, but there are also stand-alone “monster of the week” stories.

I've done it once, we had five of us one summer. We went to a pub and brainstormed an idea (Fantasy campaign, using Dragon Warriors system. Plot was a powerful mage had got strong enough to challenge Death, and had stolen the page with his death on it from Death's book, so that Death could not claim him. The party were hired by Death to get it back. Then basically whomever could think of plotlines etc GMed, and another took over after each mini-arc. All sorts of stuff came up, my favourite being the impact on some of the other people on that page.)

Have also done a variant where a pair of us GMed a game for a dozen players at the same time. That was a tabletop playtest of a new Sci-Fi LARP we were working on.

In my group everyone likes to GM so we rotate through periodically. Like 2P said one of us does the over-arching and the others add-on. Just as an idea Matt Coleville's suggestion of a campaign that is able to build on the characters exploits with a central meeting point may be an option. You could have an outpost in the Tatooine Desert, a Space Station, or a Fleet of ships as the central meeting point where the characters share their exploits with one another which sparks hooks. The characters who want to go form a group for the duration of that story and then can disband or stay together.

When I've co-GMed, I went the "separate campaign" route. I had some thematic similarities to the main campaign, but in general, I just ran my game to give our regular GM a break every once in a while. It worked out pretty well.

I like the idea of swapping for big arcs, though. Makes me think of the change in writers during a comic book series. You can give your successor a few notes about your intended direction after your own arc, maybe some details you've established in the background and why they're important, but it's the next GM's job to take the story and run with it in their own direction.