I'm a bit curious as to the average size of a D&D group.... seems most adventures are designed for 4 these days...but my two groups are 5 and 6 players plus DM...
If the average group size is larger perhaps more products balance for the larger groups would be forthcoming
I've even had groups as large as 10... which was too many but certainly made adapting materials harder
I'm a bit curious as to the average size of a D&D group.... seems most adventures are designed for 4 these days...but my two groups are 5 and 6 players plus DM...
If the average group size is larger perhaps more products balance for the larger groups would be forthcoming
I've even had groups as large as 10... which was too many but certainly made adapting materials harder
Actually, I have hit the other problem. I have been dealing with groups as small as two or three players (+ DM). :(
My group is 5 and seems to work easy enough with published stuff.
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I'm a bit curious as to the average size of a D&D group.... seems most adventures are designed for 4 these days...but my two groups are 5 and 6 players plus DM...
If the average group size is larger perhaps more products balance for the larger groups would be forthcoming
D&D 4E does this with its standard group of five players. And if you look at the PFRPG's XP-table , you'll see that a given encounter rewards 5 players with the same amount of XP per player as it would be the case with 4 players, if you're choosing option 2 for rewarding the players.
My groups also have generally 5-6 players but I don't think that the adventures necessarily should adapt to this situation. In fact, for me it helps alleviating the problem that quite some encounters the paizo adventures are very hard to win for my players and probably would be too deadly for a group of four
My two groups are both 5 players + GM, most other groups I know or played in where between 4 and 6, the smallest was 2 players + DMPC, the biggest I heard of where 8 players, but most times 2 or 3 where absent
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2 people:
1 DM, 1 player controlling 2 gestalt PCs.
It's not how many players, but how powerful and how much the DM adapts.
The big problem for a small party is less actions per round.
We play gestalt with a powerful stat-rolling option and we're wise enough to ensure each character has at least one caster level (currently going through CotCT with a wizard/cleric and a ranger/bard).
My group is usually 5 although who the 5th member is changes. Interestingly enough when we've had 4 were the times I also had a DMPC in the game.
3 groups over the last 20 years. All have been 5 or 6 players (usually 6).
I am only running 1 group now, but am thinking of starting up a weekly group with only 4 players and a DM NPC (tank).
-- david
Papa.DRB
Usual range is 3 players + 1 GM, to 6 players +1 GM. Many people only seem to make about 2/3s of the game sessions.
We usually have between 3-4 players plus DM. 3 seems to be ideal for us. Usually the DM uses adventures meant for one level lower than us when there are only three of us, and that seems to work out quite well.
I have one group of 6 players and one group of 5 players. For the group of 6 players I adapt the adventures somewhat, since they have a lot of fighting power and the usual encounters are sometimes too easy. For the group of 5 players I do not adapt the adventures, since they have only one fighter and one of the players is new and not yet very experienced.
The smallest group I have ever had was 3 players and a DM. 6 is my maximum. With more than 6 players I tend to lose the thread of combats.
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I have played with as few as 2 players (D0 Beta I ran with my wife and a friend, my twins are running 2 characters through Shackled City, but they're a level higher as well and since they're only 9 I pull lots of punches.)
My live group is currently 4 (lost our 5th when he moved, we're trying to set-up a PbP for CotCT on my forum though), which is where I'm comfortable running it. (smaller house). I can go as high as 6, but not higher.
5 to 6 PCs, usually, which is my comfortable spot. I've had years and years of DMing and playing 6-person Living Greyhawk tables, so that's what I've become most comfortable with. I'm lucky enough to be a reasonably popular DM, so I'm often having to decline players above 6 in my campaigns, rather than scramble for players to get to 5.
My group is 8 Players average and 1 DM (Myself) and it's difficult to manage form time to time but very fun!. In terms of game play, I always need to modify published adventures (for 8 PCs!) and one of the key and most challenging factor to have fun, is to get combat fluid!
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D&D was based on a group size of four players and the DM. Which works well in most gaming situations.
I have played in groups ranging from 4 players to 13 players. I can say that four works well, 5 is ideal, 6 can is good but any more it becomes a but unwieldy and difficult to manage. A group of 13 players was an absolute nightmare for the other players and the DM.
I recommend 4-6 as well, though 5 is usually a good number. It allows for a range of characters and classes.
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I can only imagine 13 players, the balancing act to make the encounters challenging without having the opponents slaughter the the characters in 1 hit, or having combats take 2 hours for 18 seconds is mindboggling...
That's where minions would have to enter I think, perhaps that's where 4e would shine, is in groups of 13, but I don't have enough experience with 4e to really see if that would work. All I know is that having 13 players would be hell...(I think I would just say, ok you always go on your initiative bonus and throw out the I die. Then make everyone sit in Initiative order! So you can go down the line...LoL.)
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I can only imagine 13 players, the balancing act to make the encounters challenging without having the opponents slaughter the the characters in 1 hit, or having combats take 2 hours for 18 seconds is mindboggling...
That's where minions would have to enter I think, perhaps that's where 4e would shine, is in groups of 13, but I don't have enough experience with 4e to really see if that would work. All I know is that having 13 players would be hell...(I think I would just say, ok you always go on your initiative bonus and throw out the I die. Then make everyone sit in Initiative order! So you can go down the line...LoL.)
As a player it was hell and I know our DM wasn't happy about it. We still have the same DM. However, our group is around 8 players now when everyone turns up. On a bad night, it might be 2 players and on an average night 4 players.
We were all at Uni when we hit 13 players and it was literally, roll Initiative once and have someone who recorded that number (usually one of the players). Lots of jobs were farmed out to players to help the DM cope with numbers.
At the time we were playing Temple of Elemental Evil, which was interesting having an army of adventurers running around and hacking stuff to pieces. The attrition rate was high, I went through three character deaths during the campaign. One player went through five characters, because he would throw a tantrum and run off.
Unfortunately, he would bring the random encounter back down on the party before finally dying himself. His most impressive death was at the hands of a hatchling white dragon (Int 9) who eventually betrayed him at a crucial moment.