D&D 5E Advice for playing with a large group

[Griffon Lore Games]

Identifying player types will go a long way:

• players in it just for socialization and having fun
• players who like to roleplay
• players who need a break from reality (escapism)
• players who love the tactical side and is meh about everything else
• Etc.

When you have seven players, having a spreadsheet with ready-to-go PC interactions, interactions tailored for their playstyle, is a big help, as a DM can only remember so many things when there are four or more players.

 

[Lanefan]

I can sum up my advice in one word: patience.

Things won't move as fast as with a smaller group. Player-side group decisions (e.g. which way do we go next) will take longer as more voices will want to have input. Combats will take longer, both due to there being more players and due to your probably needing to throw in more opponents to counter.

One thing unrelated to patience I'll throw in, however: make it VERY clear what happens if a player misses a session; as with that many players it's inevitable that someone will - probably every time. (here our rule is that character sheets stay with the DM, and if you miss a session the rest of the group more or less plays your PC by committee; it's still in the party and contributing as it should, and is at the same risk it would otherwise be)

 

[Coroc]

Remind your players upfront that you request utter discipline, and that thosespecialists who love to shine in RP do not bogart the DM for themselves for to long.

 

[MNblockhead]

Keep in mind that D&D was originally played with large groups. As @aco175 states, let the players help. One way to do this is to bring back the old-school role of group caller. The players discuss what they are going to do and the caller tells the GM. Whether the players like this depends on the group. For more thespian players who are really into playing a role, it may be unsatisfying. For more tactical players who like to think through situations, it will likely be appreciated.

I think my old Toast Masters experience comes into play here. In addition to playing their character, give the players a role in running the game. It will keep them more engaged when it is not their turn. Some roles I've delegated to players to make my life easier and to help them keep more active, includes:

1. Initiative tracker. If you are not using a VTT or other digital tool, have players take turns tracking initiative during battles.

2. Time keeper. If time is important in your game, for random encounters, deadlines, etc. Let one of the players track it. I have a time tracking chart printed and laminated that you place six-side dice of different colors on to track rounds, minutes, and hours, and a wet-erase pen to mark off days and weeks. It gives the player a cool new thing to play with rather than using a spreadsheet or notes on paper.

3. Party inventory / XP. Have someone take responsibility for recording collected treasure and XP

4. Note taker. Not for everyone or every group. Many people prefer to take their own notes, many people hate taking any notes. But sometimes there is a player who is good at and enjoys taking notes.

5. DJ. It can be fun to play background music. Let the player control the playlist, Syrinscape, or whatever you are using.

6. Drawing battlemaps, placing terrain. For in-person groups, for more simple encounters, I'll just have the players draw out the battlemap and place the terrain. I just give some general guidelines. This is one thing I miss now that I'm running my game in VTTs and am running a massive megadungeon where everything is all mapped out.

7. Inspiration tracker. One thing I've played with that works better for me than RAW is to have an inspiration pool. The party can have inspiration up to the number of players. It only lasts for the session. To earn inspiration they have to either play a character trait in a manner that may be otherwise against their interests but which benefits the party. Or they take a big risk, or just do something funny/cool that is related to a bond/flaw/ideal. The inspiration pool is tracked and as they use it, it is removed from the party pool. This encourages risk taking early in the session and helps kick people into their roles, while given a thematic bonus later in the session when they are lower on resources. It also prevents hoarding of inspiration by players are are worried that if they use their one shot of inspiration, they won't have it if they need it later.

 

[Shiroiken]

In general, I'd say adding in a 7th shouldn't be too disruptive. Usually you'll still be below that each session, and even when you are it'll only slow the game slightly. As for encounter difficulty, I think the use of XP is the important question, since more players means more overall encounters needed to level. If using milestone leveling, maybe throw in 1-2 of the weakest monsters in the encounter to beef it up.

Fourteen players! I can't even imagine running a game for a group that large. How do they even fit around the table? (Or is this an online game?)

You use a really big table!

I actually used to play in a game with 9 players and a DM, and we did use a really big table custom made. It was 4 ft by 8 ft, with the DM on one end (taking up about a 1/3 rd of it), and the rest of us seated around it. Two players on the corner were a bit tight, but overall it worked really well. Unfortunately for the host that built it in his basement Man Cave, it was not possible to disassemble without destroying it. Instead it became a feature for the new owners...

 

[aco175]

I wonder if there is some sort of chip to give players to help speed things up. Like an inspiration token somehow. I was thinking that large groups could use them to speed things up a bit, mostly around combat.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

One thing to consider is that by time someone's combat turn comes around it has probably been a long while since they got to go, which means it really sucks if they then don't get to do much. So large groups is a good time to be more lenient about letting people attempt wild things, a good time to be more lenient about letting people do things like drink a potion as a bonus action or ignore the only cantrips with bonus action spell rule, and a good time to avoid enemy spells and abilities that involve incapacitating players. Naturally this all means that it is also time to bust out some seriously deadly encounters.

 

[pukunui]

Thanks again, everyone! There's some really good advice in here. I'm feeling more comfortable with the idea.

I thought I'd take the time to address a few points and ask a few more questions.

We usually play in person, and when we do so, I haven't been using minis or a battle map for this particular campaign. However, when we've had to shift online due to covid lockdowns, I've taken to using makeshift battle maps with tokens, which can be fun.

Also, when we play in person, I hang tent cards on my DM screen, one for each PC, that I shuffle around for initiative order. When we're online, I have a spreadsheet with everyone's names. I record what they roll then order by highest to lowest number. That said, I do still find that, regardless of method, I still have to prompt everyone when it's their turn. This is definitely an aspect of gameplay that the players could help me out with -- simply by paying more attention to the initiative order and making sure they know when it's their turn, so I don't have to remind them!

We also do generally already have one person who volunteers to be "party loot keeper" and the others take notes as they feel they need to.

I like the idea of having someone be a time keeper. Rather than wholly skip someone's turn if they take too long, however, I think I would say that their character takes the dodge action.

I will also have to insist that they spend less time chit-chatting and be more focused.

And I will get them to do the rules lookups so I don't have to.


OK so now I have a question about specialization. As I mentioned, I'm running Odyssey of the Dragonlords for this group. The party currently consists of:

1) Human hoplite* fighter
2) Human academy philosopher* wizard
3) Minotaur zealot barbarian / fighter
4) Warforged artillerist artificer
5) Human Odyssean* rogue
6) Aasimar divine soul sorcerer (who is considering MCing into bard for funsies)

With that in mind, can anyone identify some specializations that I could present to the new player as options for their PC? So far when she's joined in the past, she's just played the PC of one of the missing players (with their permission) so doesn't already have a character of her own.




*New subclasses from the Odyssey of the Dragonlords book.

 

[Li Shenron]

My experience only goes as far as 6 (briefly 7) players and it was a long time ago in 3ed. It was actually my first DM experience and we were all new to the edition.

- Combat was a bit slow, but keep in mind this was 3ed and we didn't know the rules well yet, and overall it was not a slog thanks to the fact that we started the game at 1st level (I am quite sure that it would have been another matter after a few levels, when PCs start getting multiple attacks and lots of stacking spells). Nevertheless, I am very confident that combat doesn't slow down nearly as much in 5e even with 7 PCs.

- Let the players take initiative in social encounters and exploration scenes, just let them decide who does what. A big group means ideas and initiatives will keep coming, so you don't need to shove them around too much or give too many hints about what they could try. OTOH there is an increased possibility that an argument between players (about the best way to proceed, or a rules argument) may halt the game, when there are more players. Because of this, I would try not to adopt a very rules-precise gaming style, and I would try to keep the atmosphere relaxed... let them know that it's not worth arguing over the best tactic, because there is no single tactic required to win the game, many paths are the correct path.

- Make sure the group accepts that some characters will just be dragged along certain social/exploration scenes without contributing much. Focus on the idea that contribution to the adventure should average out on the long term. An attitude of "the game must make everyone shine all the time" won't work.

- The more PCs in the adventure, the more narrow their focus should be, so that they don't cover exactly the same roles. When levelling up, I would encourage them to get better at what they're already good, rather than expand their character options "horizontally". As a matter of fact, they can already adapt also with their current set of abilities... spellcasters in particular can change their prepared spells to focus on certain things.

- I would not actually worry too much about changing combat encounters. I would probably add more monsters just because I like mass battles, but all in all there is no real need to, as the game is self-adjusting in the sense that if the PC group is stronger, then they simply push through more combats before taking rests. You can actually go through an adventure more quickly if you don't buff combat encounters, both because it's faster for the PCs and it's faster for the players.

- I would probably prefer to run combats with miniatures, but I don't mean that TotM is unfeasible.

 

[pukunui]

Thanks.

I should add that I am using milestone leveling for this campaign.