4E - How Many Players at the Table (DM + ?)?

[Mark]

4E - How Many Players at the Table (DM + ?)?


I made the poll multiple choice so people could show what range they might prefer.


Feel free to explain your answer or discuss the dynamics that shift with different numbers of players.


What PC combinations are best at each of your choices?

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

4E - How Many Players at the Table (DM + ?)?

Campaign in which I'm playing:

1 DM, 5 players - Cleric, Warlock, Rogue, Wizard, Ranger

Campaign that I'm running:

1 DM, 7 players (when everyone turns up, but with 7 players it's reasonably likely that one of them can't make it!) - Fighter, Paladin, Paladin, Cleric, Wizard, Warlock, Ranger

 

[Umbran]

The balance is between the richness of the player interactions vs the DM's ability to manage it all well. I personally prefer working with 6 or fewer players, with the best being 5 or 6.

 

[satin]

We're at DM+4 right now. Personally I would prefer DM+5. At the moment the cleric's a DMPC, it would be kind of nice to have another person playing that role. (Yes, it's possible to play without a cleric, but I think we're happier all around with the one we've got).

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

My preferred number of players is 3 or 4, even if 3 players in 4E isn't really recommended (missing party role and all that).

AR

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

4E - How Many Players at the Table (DM + ?)?


I made the poll multiple choice so people could show what range they might prefer.


Feel free to explain your answer or discuss the dynamics that shift with different numbers of players.


What PC combinations are best at each of your choices?

Damn, I should have read the entire post - I only picked an answer for the current actual fact - we usually have 3 players plus a DM. We would prefer 4-6 players.

 

[Daniel D. Fox]

I find that myself plus 4 players works best, since we have a lot of "spotlight" roleplaying. Our game typically is 90% roleplay (with skill challenges intermingled) and 10% combat.

 

[knightofround]

It depends on the style of campaign. However, I think the "sweet spot" for D&D is 6 people. This is more than I would say for most RPGs because D&D (especially 4E) requires more teamwork than most other RPGs imho.

I've found its really hard to do D&D with 4 or less people, unless they choose the exact right mix of classes and specialize appropiately. With an extra 2-3 people you can fill the gap of someone "not wanting to be a healer" or something.

 

[Lanefan]

I voted once for each group I'm in right now: DM + 3, 4, and 6. Over the long run, however, I've most often found myself in or running DM + 5.

More than 5 on an ongoing basis gets problematic unless some of them aren't as involved. Less than 3 also gets problematic though I've been in some quite good DM + 2 games.

Let it be known, however, that in these parts 'n' players does *not* mean an 'n'-character party! We often run two each, never mind party NPCs, henches, and the like. Average party size is usually about double the number of players, when all is said and done.

The dynamics don't necessarily depend on the numbers. More relevant is who those players are, how well they get along in general, and what sort of characters they're playing at the time...an example is one player who is in both my current groups; in one group his characters are somewhat sensible, rational NG/LG types, while in the other they're borderline insane CN types. That changes the dynamics far more than the number of players does.

Lanefan

 

[brunswick]

Whilst we have yet to start our 4th Ed game (10th October), we will have DM(me) plus 5 players. It was originally supposed to 6 players but one player cant commit to a semi-regular game and I think that its actually better with DM +5, so I'm happy too!