Dealing With a Large Party of 7 PCs

[Aluvial]

This has all been good advice, but why not let PCs plan for too long? If they take X amount of time planning and whispering (or whatever), isn't that their problem if their plan goes to hell?

The real problem isn't them planning and it going to hell, it is that with that many idea makers in the group, if you don't have a definite leader who controls the planning for the group (unlikely), then you have three guys wanting to do one thing, some guy who has some complicated whacked out idea (which would work if he could get anyone to cooperate), and two or three others with other ideas. They could spend up to one hour of time thinking about their ideas, but in the end, these usually don't come to fruition. It is better to give a group 10 minutes to come up with an idea, and then move on.

Aluvial

 

[VirgilCaine]

The real problem isn't them planning and it going to hell, it is that with that many idea makers in the group, if you don't have a definite leader who controls the planning for the group (unlikely), then you have three guys wanting to do one thing, some guy who has some complicated whacked out idea (which would work if he could get anyone to cooperate), and two or three others with other ideas. They could spend up to one hour of time thinking about their ideas, but in the end, these usually don't come to fruition. It is better to give a group 10 minutes to come up with an idea, and then move on.

Aluvial

Oh, okay. So set an in-game time limit for the player's to plan. And have the players and the PCs agree to respect a PC leader's decisions.

 

[Aluvial]

Oh, okay. So set an in-game time limit for the player's to plan. And have the players and the PCs agree to respect a PC leader's decisions.

Yeah, if you don't you'll have guys argueing about what they want to do all night. That is one of the reasons that you want to try and use linear adventures whenever possible. One activity leads to another, there really isn't any question about what they are going to do next. I'm running the old box set Return to the Tomb of Horrors right now. The beginning of that adventure is a great example of one thing leading to another. They may try to get off track, but even if they do, they'll quickly realize that the path they chose was a dead end and get back to the lead that you gave them.

Aluvial

 

[VirgilCaine]

Okay. Linear adventures.

Could you define this, just so we are totally clear?

A murder mystery that leads the PCs to a village with 20 or so red herring NPCs (~300 people in the village), and the true culprits can pretty much only be exposed (barring PCs having a plan or something, this is just on evidence and knowledge the PCs can get easily) by talking to about three people in the only inn in town...and all these other people don't have a farking clue about the mystery and aren't really interested in adventuring or directly helping the PCs...

...that's NOT linear, I'm guessing?


--Thanks for all this advice, people.