More than 4 at the table...

[Lidgar]

Our current gaming group has been steadily growing over the years. We currently average 7-8 players plus a DM per session.

I would rather not get into a discussion how this was or was not not an issue under 1e or 2e, or how 3e/4e may or may not make gaming with groups of this size more slog than fun.

Rather, I am interested in hearing what RPG's gaming groups of a similar size (or larger) play on a regular basis. Our group plays once per month, and has been doing so for about 15 years. We currently play Pathfinder, but have played pretty much all the flavors of D&D.

We have discussed splitting into two separate groups that rotate players through campaigns, but really don't want to - we have played with one another for such a long time, rotating between two different groups would deny us the social interaction we look forward to once a month.

So now we are interested in experimenting with other systems - ones that can easily accommodate a group of our size.

Any suggestions out there?

 

[RedTonic]

In my experience, larger groups last longer in the same system if the system is rules-light. I've found (non-D&D) d20 systems to fill the dicing itch without imposing unwanted complexity. The less time you spend discussing rules over a table of 6+, the more time you spend gossiping and actually playing the game, I've found.

If your group is very fond of the roleplaying aspect and wants to go to the more extreme end of no dicing, I've found Nobilis to be pretty awesome. I don't know if it's still being published, but I believe you can buy PDFs online. You only need the sourcebook for it (and the sourcebook is gorgeous!).

 

[MacMathan]

I don't have any suggestions for a fix yet but my group is experiencing the same problem 7 players is just too hard to schedule and take too long to wrangle in most of the systems we have tried.

So far we have played 2e,3e,3.5e,4e and D20 Modern and run into the same problems.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Right now, my group is myself, plus 6 players and we're playing 4E. We've had some trouble scheduling since we started a year ago, but not a huge amount. Normally, I say if we're down 1 player, we'll still play and run the missing player's PC as a silent ally (does everything the player normally does, except the r/p aspect) If we're down 2 players, it's a 50-50 call on calling them game off or not.

For my previous campaign, it was D&D 3.5E and we had myself, plus 8 1/2 players (the teenage son of one of the players ran a series of NPCs towards the end of the campaign, so I considered him a half player) We were usually pretty good about keeping to our schedule of every other Friday night, though we did miss 1 player once in a while, and we did go on gaming hiatus for 6 weeks one summer when we had a bunch of people on vacation, including me. (We had two couples, so if one was on vacation, then both were...)

We had a pretty good amount of social interaction at the table, both in & out of game stuff. However, I usually tried to focus on one or two PCs at a time for role-playing. Also, it helps if you know your players well - some of them need their moments in the spotlight each session, while others are content to just be there and hang out and roll some dice once in a while.

However, I made sure that everybody in the group had their moments throughout the campaign and each PC had some sort of mini-arc related to their backstory/family history. I think I was lucky in that my group was (usually) pretty mature and did not mind when somebody else had the spotlight temporarily.

 

[scourger]

I would love to have 7-8 players in our group. We had 7 at one point, but I don't think we'll ever see those days again, unfortunately. So, I wouldn't do anything to upset the game. If you have to stay with d20, make changes to make it easier to run so that you can keep the game & group going. Perhaps using D&D minis for the foes could help. Otherwise, you might check out E6 or d20 microlite. I've found that more options keeps the players engaged while fewer options makes it easier for the DM.

As for other systems, I suggest Savage Worlds. It has the right balance of complexity for the players but simplicity for the GM. I think it can do fantasy, but some of the concepts are a little way from D&D; so you need to gauge your group's interest in it before switching. Our group always had the greatest overall interest in D&D, so we defaulted to it many times. See above on keeping it going.

You might also try the new Gamma World for a switch. It is very fire & forget. The only limitation I've seen is that it may not have enough of the character development game-within-the-game to keep players captivated. But, it is a simpler version of 4e & fun to run.

 

[the Jester]

Hey there fellow large-group-gamer!

I've run every edition of D&D from 1st to 4th with 8 players regularly attending. Currently we're at about 8 players when the table's fully loaded, but a typical game will be short 1d2 players at most times, and I'm running 4e and playtesting my homebrewed version (which attempts to take what I like best from each edition and put my own tweaks on it). We like both, but it is a lot easier to cram more action into the same time with my homebrewed version.

 

[Rugsrat]

As a DM that has only ever really dealt with large groups (7+), I can safely say that I wouldn't know what to do with a smaller game at this point. My biggest party was 11 people... that was actually really fun.

Some things I do:

Rotating the spotlight is a must. If you can't let players shine, they won't pay attention. Now, my sessions are pretty short, and generally really plot intensive, so I only get a chance to rotate once or twice a session.

So during one session, my drow artificer might meet the God of Tinkerers (that made my Wizard really happy too.). Next session, my Genasi Warden might have to deal with some family issues, or meet a Genasi from their hometown that has a beef with her, etc.

I gave my Raven Queen Cleric some new converts out of the bandits that were trying to capture them. He enjoyed that.

You have to know what your group likes really well. My group as a whole prefers really involved stories with the occasional combat. So that's what I give them. Incredibly detailed stories, with the occasional combat thrown in, only when required.

NO RANDOM ENCOUNTERS. In a group that big, combat is going to take up a ton of time anyway. My group can only play for a few hours at a time, every two weeks. A random encounter would eat our session alive. So unless it's specifically to build the narrative, do not just throw monsters at them. This also serves to give you room to play with: your combats might be a little less frequent when you cut out random encounters, but the planned ones get to be more epic because of it!

As far as system? I'm honestly not sure that it matters. The above game? D&D 4e. Super combat-heavy system in a fighting-lite game.

Before that, when I had 11 players: Marvel Universe RPG. Better for non-combat, I guess.

Seriously, just pick the system you like. As long as everyone is having fun, you're not hurting anything. There's no need to find the perfect system for your game. Just get into the ballpark. If you have seriously balance problems, or people are griping, then yeah, maybe you should try something new. Until then "if it ain't broke..."

 

[Greylock]

The only time I've played in a group that large, 8 to 9 usually, we played Castles & Crusades. Like the fellow in the first reply, I don't think that game could have been possible if we'd been playing our usual system, 3.x. It was a breeze in C&C though, and the DM managed to keep his sanity.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Ran a very successful 13+ campaign for about 4 years before I moved. The trick is knowing that you are only going to be playing once a month or so and scheduling a time when you can play for the long haul.

We would get together the night before and have a mass sleep over, we would hang out, play other games, talk, drink, whatever. The next morning we would have a communal breakfast and start role playing. Around noon we would either take a break to make lunch or have it delivered depending upon the mood and then play until that evening. All of the administrative stuff was handled away from the table, usually within two or three days of the game end by email/phone.

You can't go in thinking, I used to visit, play and then do a wrap up in three hours when I was younger and playing once or twice a week and expect the same sort of results when you play once a month. I don't think the size of the group is the issue, it's the mind set of the group. It takes a re-thinking of the "norm" of role-playing. I'll warn you, some folks will see this as too radical and will probably leave, those that stay will take your game to a new level . Eventually you'll fall into the pattern and wonder why you didn't do this years ago.

BTW we were scheduling around birthdays, Scouting events, school (both for our kids and some of the players), band, church events, jobs and the like. I think part of the reason it worked was so many of us were former military and were just used to making it work regardless, but if the desire is there, you can do it too.

 

[Morrus]

Our current gaming group has been steadily growing over the years. We currently average 7-8 players plus a DM per session.

I would rather not get into a discussion how this was or was not not an issue under 1e or 2e, or how 3e/4e may or may not make gaming with groups of this size more slog than fun.

Rather, I am interested in hearing what RPG's gaming groups of a similar size (or larger) play on a regular basis. Our group plays once per month, and has been doing so for about 15 years. We currently play Pathfinder, but have played pretty much all the flavors of D&D.

We have discussed splitting into two separate groups that rotate players through campaigns, but really don't want to - we have played with one another for such a long time, rotating between two different groups would deny us the social interaction we look forward to once a month.

So now we are interested in experimenting with other systems - ones that can easily accommodate a group of our size.

Any suggestions out there?

It might help if you explained the problems you are experiencing with a group that size. Hard to help solve a problem which hasn't been revealed!