Dealing with 7 strong party of new players!

mrrockitt · Jul 5, 2017

Hi all. My first post and need a little honest advice

After 15 years off I reluctantly agreed to return to DM'ing for Lost Mine of Phandelver for 6 new players and 1 experienced (all between 18 and 30 years of age).

We had our first session tonight and, although most seemed to enjoy it, it was a little chaotic unsurprisingly!

I know what you will all say, 7 is too big a party and I agree!
However, this party included 6 new people to D&D and I naturally wanted to bring on new players to the game I love so did not want to exclude anyone. It would also have been a struggle for me to manage two different adventures and find the time for both so it had to be this way.
I would certainly try to divide the party up for future adventures but I'm going to persevere with 7 for now.

So, the reason I'm posting is, how do I manage the adventure well enough to allow all 7 party members to fully enjoy it?
We have some outspoken players and some quiet ones (as usual in role-playing games of course), however, with 7 players this is magnified! The quieter ones don't get a word in as others tend to shout them down. This makes it difficult for subtle roleplaying to happen obviously.

So basically, after our first 3 hour session and in preparation for the next one, any advice on the best way to manage a party of 7 players (of varying ages, personality and gender) so that all can fully enjoy the game!

Cheers

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iserith · Jul 5, 2017

I have 10 players in my game, but I only allow 5 to play at one time (minimum 4). So I put out a call to play at a certain date and time and it's on the players to work out who gets the seats that week. Oftentimes, some portion of the players will have other obligations and can't make it which means there's rarely a session where anyone gets shut out. Plus the players are kind enough to work out who among them gets the seat based on who has already played a lot recently. Sometimes players who didn't get a seat but aren't doing anything will just observe.

The other upside is that, as long as the DM can play, there's a game. No scheduling headaches to deal with or sessions that get cancelled due to not enough people.

mrrockitt · Jul 5, 2017

Thanks. To be honest I was hoping that a few would drop out before the game but all 7 turned up!

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robus · Jul 5, 2017

The burden is definitely going to be on you to provide space for the quieter players to get their chance. One thing to do is to disallow strategizing during combat. Just state that players are going to get to make their own choices about what their character does and everyone else should just back off. It's the heat of combat, no time for armchair quarterbacking. Narrate the combat clearly so that the focus is directed to the player in question. If the player asks for advice that's fine, but, again, make sure it's kept short.

Outside of combat make sure, once the noisy people have loudly proclaimed their actions, that you make a point of asking the others what they are doing.

If alpha players continue to dominate then you may have to take them aside and ask the to chill out directly.

Good luck!

Tony Vargas · Jul 5, 2017

mrrockitt said:
Hi all. My first post and need a little honest advice

After 15 years off I reluctantly agreed to return to DM'ing for Lost Mine of Phandelver for 6 new players and 1 experienced (all between 18 and 30 years of age).

We had our first session tonight and, although most seemed to enjoy it, it was a little chaotic unsurprisingly!

Well done.

Actually, IMHO, you described a near-ideal scenario, there: an experienced DM introducing new players to the game. That's the best way.

I know what you will all say, 7 is too big a party and I agree!

Nah, I've run for as many as 12, in a 2-hrs Encounters slot.

However, this party included 6 new people to D&D and I naturally wanted to bring on new players to the game I love so did not want to exclude anyone.

I'm sure they'll whittle down before too long.

So, the reason I'm posting is, how do I manage the adventure well enough to allow all 7 party members to fully enjoy it?
We have some outspoken players and some quiet ones (as usual in role-playing games of course), however, with 7 players this is magnified! The quieter ones don't get a word in as others tend to shout them down. This makes it difficult for subtle roleplaying to happen obviously.

Leverage that the game is turn-based. Not just in combat, where initiative takes care of it, but anytime everyone should be involved. Just going around the table can work, or you can base it on something (order of CHA in a social encounter, marching order in exploration, whatever). When one player starts doing everything, don't assume everyone else is just watching, ask what they're doing in the meantime.

mrrockitt · Jul 5, 2017

Thanks for good advice guys. I might try the going by stats order such as Charisma idea in some situations, that might help a lot sometimes.

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ad_hoc · Jul 6, 2017

As you said, it just doesn't work well.

One thing to keep in mind is that you will need to double the difficulty of the adventure to keep up.

If I absolutely had to run a game with 7 players I would make everything turn based. I would do that by narrating what happens in downtime, set up the next scene, then ask each player what they are doing.

Or in other words I would treat the social interaction and exploration pillars similarly to the combat pillar. This leaves little room for players to dawdle or derail the game and ensures that everyone has a chance at the spotlight and to contribute.

discosoc · Jul 6, 2017

In terms of encounter balance, I've found it's a good idea to have enemy HP be max rather than average. This helps prevent a couple of good player initiatives from screwing up the action economy, which is the real problem.

Outside of combat, you'll probably want to get into a good RP format that allows everyone a chance to offer input rather than a couple of outspoken ones. What I do is simply go around the table asking what each person is doing as soon as someone starts taking control. For example:

DM: You guys make it through the gate and see a couple of guards nervously approaching you, hands on hilt, clearly concerned about the...
P1: I draw my sword!
DM: ... OK. Um, it looks like P1 is starting to draw his sword. P2, anything you would like to do? P3? [etc..]

At first, it might be weird for the first player to have his action sort of stalled all of a sudden, but the group should start to understand the process soon enough. I use this method for everything from setting up an RP encounter to letting players search the room after a fight. Even for actual dialogue between two characters, I try and make sure to ask the rest of the group if they want to interject at all every few moments (most don't and at this point I don't even have to ask -- I just make eye contact with each player).

Zardnaar · Jul 6, 2017

Good luck its about 2 to many, most i have run with is 9 thank the gods I was not DM.

Quickleaf · Jul 6, 2017

[MENTION=6879847]mrrockitt[/MENTION] Look on the upside: they're all showing up for your game, so you're doing something right

I've run 5e for 7 players, and it's totally doable. Some tidbits I can share...

1. During adventure prep (or just 5 minutes before play), jot down "spotlight" moments for each PC. These can be things based on a specific PC's background/class/race or a type of challenge that player particularly enjoys. If you don't get to everyone's, that's ok, just try next game to hit the "spotlight" moments for those you missed last game. Eventually, this becomes second nature and you won't need any notes/prep/

2. If (younger) players are jumping the gun, talking over others, or trying to steal the spotlight all the time, step up your game with enforcing initiative order until they regain more semblance of self-control. Honestly, that kind of enthusiasm is great, and I try to encourage it so long as it's not being disruptive for others.

3. For your "wallflower" players, don't directly try to involve them with "Jessica, what do you do?" There's usually a good reason why they're being "wallflowers." I take what I know about that player's likes and try to weave their interests into the game so that they naturally start to come out of their shell. Takes some sensitivity and getting to know the person, but I've had great success with this approach.