Hi there.
I am trying to do the exact same thing as you and also have the same dilemma.
I decided to go first with a multiplayer framework and then build my game on that.
I did not know anything about network programming so far so I plan to work with this as my backbone:
[it is a python external python library network game tutorial]
It is client-server based, the problem I am facing now is, what to do on the server side and what to leave to the client. Synchronization will be difficult here as I want events based on sprite collisions and other graphic dependencies.
I also plan to use Lucid's 'S' plugin. Hope the plugin works with the python net library used in the tut. Be sure to check the plugin out
Edit: Hehe, just saw your post in the tut thread so you already know about it :] Sorry then for spamming.