Creamsteak
Explorer
I've often found problems designing proper encounters for vastly larger numbers of lower level PCs. With higher level characters you can put them into a normally overwhelming threat, like fighting any sort of dragon, and expect them to come out bloodied but not completely broken. With lower level characters, one good NPC fighter or creature with supernatural abilities like regeneration or hefty damage reduction can be absolutely impossible to take down without luck...
Increasing the size of encounters has worked at times, but more often than not that seems to lend itself too much to cannon-fodder feelings for opponents that should never be treated like that. Some solutions that have worked involve battles that basically involve fighting in two directions, effectively splitting the power and defense of the party but still allowing coordination on both sides (such as trying to fight off flying opponents with ranged weapons and land based opponents at the same time).
The DMG gives a little vague advice about how challenge ratings are effected by these kind of circumstances, but experience tells me that group numbers have a much more varied effect than CR ever would. 8 PCs means that on average 4 of them will be above a given initiative and 4 below, and in low levels that can be enough to cut any reasonable encounter in half.
This is just a little personal rambling on the circumstances, but mayhaps you would like to throw some of your opinions and experiences into the ring concerning the subject. It seems discussion worthy enough. Mayhaps some of you would like to throw some encounter ideas that are effectively most fun with large groups of PCs.
Increasing the size of encounters has worked at times, but more often than not that seems to lend itself too much to cannon-fodder feelings for opponents that should never be treated like that. Some solutions that have worked involve battles that basically involve fighting in two directions, effectively splitting the power and defense of the party but still allowing coordination on both sides (such as trying to fight off flying opponents with ranged weapons and land based opponents at the same time).
The DMG gives a little vague advice about how challenge ratings are effected by these kind of circumstances, but experience tells me that group numbers have a much more varied effect than CR ever would. 8 PCs means that on average 4 of them will be above a given initiative and 4 below, and in low levels that can be enough to cut any reasonable encounter in half.
This is just a little personal rambling on the circumstances, but mayhaps you would like to throw some of your opinions and experiences into the ring concerning the subject. It seems discussion worthy enough. Mayhaps some of you would like to throw some encounter ideas that are effectively most fun with large groups of PCs.