Large group advice?


Advice


Hi all, so it looks I'll be starting a Jade Regent campaign this weekend. One thing led to another and it looks we'll be a group of nine. Moreover, while I know 3 of the players, six are new to me (but longtime players from what I've been told). Now I've GMed since 2e days and have had groups of six-seven in 3.5 but nine still seems a big jump from seven. That said I'm looking forward to it and throwing myself into it but wondering if folks who have Gmed larger groups have any advice, tricks they used to streamline play? Of course if you have any ideas specific to JR too that's great.

Thanks!

Silver Crusade

Maybe get rid of the established NPCs and have the PCs establish them as their own characters? Of course being a caravan AP, still could be present.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

This is so very, very hard. I've had several campaigns fall apart completely when players got too frustrated at how slowly combat moved. Also, big groups are prone to side conversations because individuals have to wait so long for their turns to arise.

If you are going to use miniatures, you will have to increase the size of every room so that players can manuever. Otherwise, you will have players standing in the line in the hallways hoping to get into the room with the monster.

I've also experimented with having everyone say what they plan to do in initiative order and then have everyone roll dice at the same time and carry out their actions. This keeps everybody focused and listening although it makes it impossible for a player to react to a previous player's action since the outcome is unknown. Still, it really moves the game along.

Use Kyle Olson's Combat Manager (combatmanager.com) to help keep it all straight. His software will also allow you advance monsters quickly. You will need to advance all the monsters and increase the number of monsters so that all the players will have something to fight.

Just a few thoughts.


Thanks guys, I'm definitely stripping the NPCs down and yeah I think them taking over the caravan completeley makes sense. Maybe Vandhru can't stand the cold.. Thanks for the tip re the combat manager alas no mac version.

And by all means other suggestions welcome or any GMs that care to share their experiences in running such a large group.


I personally would put a few restrictions on the PC's.
No summoner, familiars, animal companions, etc...
Can only have 1 single summoned monster at a time.
Each PC has to have a spell card for any spell they are going to use on a regular basis (or for other odd special abilities).

But to be honest, I just wouldn't allow a group that large. If nothing else, I'd split in to a 4 and a 5 person group.


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We have a big group in my game when everyone shows, and there a few things i've learned.

1. In combat, everyone should have a few seconds to state in a sentance what they are doing. "I move here and attack this goblin" then you resolve that action. No takebacks, not chess like consideration of movement. You dont have 40 seconds to think about it in combat, and you had the whole time between turns to consider it. Same goes for spell casters. Within a few seconds they should say 'I am casting glitterdust here [points]'. Yes there will be additional time to roll dice, resolve saves etc. But the declaration of actions should happen immediately, and the consequences of those actions resolved in turn.

2. Spell casters should have printed or written cards for each and every spell they can cast. And that card should be in their hand when their turn starts. Perrams spellbook is great for this.

3. Combatants (all players in fact) should have standard buffs calculated in separate lines in their character sheets. If the bard always sings and casts haste, people should have written and labeled what their ac and attack routines are with those buffs in place. They should also have room to add in attack lines or new acs with unexpected conditions. With 9 players you are not going to be able to track every buffs/debuffs mentally, make them write them down.

4. As mama loufing said, reconsider EVERY encounter's map. Make halways wider, make rooms bigger, every door is a double door. There is NOTHING more frustrating then not being able to do anything because tehre is nowhere to stand where you can act. Watch for chokepoints and make an effort to clear them up.

5. Decide what you are going to do when someone is missing. With a group that big, trying to schedule a game where everyone is there each and every time is nearly impossible. If you cancel every game for 1 missing player you'll almost never play. So sort out what you will do if someone isnt there and make it clear from the beggining. Maybe someone plays the char for them, maybe you come up with a story reason for them to be gone, or maybe they just 'fade into the background' and are present without acting. Either way give it some thought and be prepared for it.

6. Be strict on table talk. Out of character talk at the table can be a killer with a group like this. In a group of 4 a joke or two, or a comment about a video game are not a big issue. Double that number of people and it can be a BIG drain on time, be strict about it and make sure everyone stays focused.

7. Make sure players are thinking about their actions between turns. See #1, if that isnt followed the player delays untill he decides what he wants to do.


Having run a group of 8 to 9 players before, my advice is: Don't.

Once you hit that 7 to 8 marker for players, you can say good-bye to the days of rping with npcs and the party rping amongst themselves.

Encounter are also very tough to handle once you get too large of a group because singular monster encounters are either too weak or too strong. The combat last for eternity.

I wish you the best of luck in running your group. But I personally feel you should split the group.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Seven players is definitely my limit. I won't go above that again and 7 can be frustrating. But I also understand how hard it is to split friends into two groups.

I agree with Kolokotroni on every point. I also enforce this house rule quite frequently: If you need to look up how your spell, feat, etc. works in the middle of a combat, your character hasn't quite mastered that one yet and you don't get to use it.

Absolutely make the players responsible for keeping track of buffs. There is no going back. "Wait, I forgot to add ___; I actually did 5 more points of damage." Sometimes I do help track buffs by displaying two large dice: one for attack and one for damage. The number displayed tells the party how many to add to each.

One more thing: Use a large initiative board that everyone can see so that each knows the order of turns. I use a magnetic white board with magnets.


Thanks Kydeem for the note re summoners, familiars and Koloktroni. Even in a regular game those issues can be a headache.

As for the size of the group I agree with those saying its too large and it may very well get split in the end but I'm going to try to accomodate folks. That and I'll see about how often players are able to make it. Its funny that earlier, I was worried whether I'd have enough players.

Scarab Sages

Most of the games I run always seem to be larger. And the biggest things I have to deal with is table talk and one boss encounters. A major boss needs support or he/she is dead in one to two rounds of combat. And table talk is very distracting and frustrating. It make me as a GM wonder sometimes if my players really care about the adventure I'm trying to run. Thanks guys I did learn some valuable stuff, that I plan to use in my game tonight.

So as stated above make sure your players know what you expect from them and follow through. It's majorly frustrating for me to spend 4-6 hours around a table and only get through 1 or 2 encounters before we quit playing.

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