Playing with friends
Splitting the party (yes, really)
Every table knows the rule: never split the party. Here you actually can. When the group decides to cover more ground apart — half to the cellar, half to watch the gate — the DM runs each group's scene separately, and each player sees only what their own group experiences.
A banner shows who's where while the party is split. The DM keeps both threads moving and weaves them back toward each other; when the groups reunite, everyone sees the shared story again and can compare notes on what they found apart.
Split scenes pair naturally with secrets — what your group learned in the cellar is yours to report back… or not.