I am a HUGE fan of the 6-player conversion for Kingmaker that's stickied in that thread, and I was wondering if anyone has undertaken an attempt for that with this game? We will be starting this AP this weekend with some friends, and the GM wants to add a sixth player, but doesn't want to unless she can find a conversion similar to the one in Kingmaker (she's a relatively new GM and just doing all that herself would be a handful). I told her I'd hit the boards and ask around...
I also ran Kingmaker with that conversion a few years ago, and I also recently started running this AP for the same group. I haven't seen one yet, though.
I'd like to think I'm capable of creating one, based on the excellent example and commentary in the Kingmaker version. But I barely have time to prep each week between sessions, let alone revise them in a fun and balanced way. So I'm just running the by-the-book version for now as a way to judge whether I really need to adjust it or not. So far, it hasn't made much difference either way.
Ultimately your DM should be able to 'easily' adjust encounters for your group by adding 1-2 additional enemies of the same quality, or by adding additional encounters of the same variety into the dungeons and scenarios as presented.
My group is through book 2 with 6. It's not that difficult.
The hardest part, IMO, is adjusting the maps for the extra combatants. 6 players plus the extra baddies crowds a room designed for a 4 player encounter, and MM areas are not expansive in general (not like they are in GS, for sure).
She is BRAND NEW to GMing. I don't think it's fair to ask her to do all that when she's never even GMd before That's why she's using an AP in the first place.
Just add a few extra mooks, some extra treasure so everyone has a chance to roll around in it. And if a map says one square = five feet, then make it ten.
Generally the biggest issue with larger groups is action economy, so more meat sponges are better than increased level.
Increasing everything by half is the best bet. If a room has four monsters or whatever, add two more.
Sorry I don't have specific builds or more then general guidelines, but I haven't run anything for a larger group since Kingmaker (and that was all ten year olds).
I forgot to mention to also add on to story award experience points (If you use those).
I was brand new when I started MM back in September, too. I did a run through a Tomb of Horrors conversion I found while our Kingmaker GM (another newbie, actually) was otherwise occupied last May. He ended up moving and dropping out of our group, so I decided to step into his place. We voted, and MM was chosen (though my choice at the time was Hell's Rebels, I'm now glad we chose MM because I think HR will be more difficult).
There are some things that helped me, however:
1. Hero Lab is a big benefit for adjusting encounters. Without it, there will be a bit more work. I downloaded the community pack which has all of the encounters pre-built.
2. Somewhere in the MM forum are printable VT maps for books 1 and 2. All of the maps otherwise fit onto a Chessex Megamat, but they are complex enough that you can easily wipe out your time budget on map drawing leaving little time left for encounter adjusting. I didn't start using the printable maps until book 2, and kicked myself for not doing so earlier.
3. My group was relatively accommodating w.r.t. my experiments in adjustments. At first, I simply applied the advanced template everyone. Then I tried adding +1 HD to everything, then class levels. I had mixed results.
I finally have settled on a mixture of mostly advanced template, +1 HD, and/or adding more of the helper mooks, though it takes a bit of time to work out the details. Adding class levels can be dangerous (particularly with the BBEG at the end of book 1) because you can easily push a baddie into abilities that additional PCs cannot counter.
Scaling treasure can be a pain, too. In general, you can multiply it so there is 1.5x as much of everything, or hold back and keep it as is to make adjustments easier. I like loot, so I'm going with 1.5x. I've been playing long enough as a PC that I know the kinds of things that would go well, so I don't sweat treasure as much as the encounters themselves.
Our Kingmaker group started out with 13 PCs, btw. I'll let you all be the judge of how well that progressed.
Add the simple advanced template to most mobs, up the numbers where possible and put put more grunts in to soak up the extra PC's.
Add a bit more loot, but not to much, if they start moaning about cash then a decent party should be able to come up with plenty of ways to make money.
I'm just about to start running book 3 for a party of 6 experience players with high tatted characters.
FYI, APs are designed with nearly 2x WBL, which works out to almost 1.5x WBL if they sell most stuff (after taking the 50% sell-back hit).
I'm in the same boat as you McBoatface (ba dum dum). We start book 3 once my 6th player gets back from an extended absence.
James Jacobs has stated it on numerous occasions. :-)
Giantslayer most certainly is, btw. Mummy's Mask less so, at least early on, since a rather large amount of loot is tied up in encounters the party may miss, or get through without pillaging.
I know someone went through every chapter of Runelords (every single spellbook even) and it came out to just over 2x wealth.
Taks :
Cool, you'll have to let me know how it goes when you start. I should be starting in about 2 or 3 weeks, were are just finishing book 4 of Skulls and shackles with another DM.
Hopefully Memorial weekend. We probably start Hell's Rebels on either June 1st or 8th, too, which im really stoked for.