9 players. Help.

[jasper]

knock 4 over the head and ship them to me. Especially the cute ones.
Ok if you don't let another player track intit keep a stack of posted its. Each combat write down the init rolls and add the monster ex. 25 23 19 monster 15 monster 2 , 9, 3, and follow the 5 second rule.

Create a dm sheet which has name, various acs, etc I have a word doc somewhere of mind.
IF you don't mind wasting paper have a combat sheet for each encounter. My combat sheet lists monster 1 ac 20, hp 4 and has column below it.
Don't worry about a big group as some will lose interest and others will not always make to the game.

 

[Darmanicus]

I'd say keep the books limited therefore the options of PrC's, spells and feats to a minimum. There's nothing worse than allowing your players a free fer all rummage thru every published piece of cr@p that's out there.

I think that making the magic system that which is available to sorcerers and favoured souls is also a better idea than letting characters have access to all and sundry. This'll help both of you out because when they cast they're able to reel off effects and rolls quickly whilst you won't have all your best plans screwed up when the wizard goes I'll cast that spell that'll f**k up yer plot, f**k up yer plot blah d blah.

Get an idea of roughly what your characters are wnating for their characters later in their careers. This way you can plan for PrC options and plot hooks. Some GM's ask for all players to create some sort of background; hopewfully if you do this you can cross some of these over to create plot hooks that affect the players together but in different ways.

With regards to PrC's I have noticed several that are linked or could possibly be linked which will help later and not leave players feeling too left out or just along for the ride because they have involvement as well.

Make sure they all get their moment each session. It's far too easy to let big mouth or charisma bob get all the attention because they are loud or really well liked.

 

[Darmanicus]

Btw, the 5 sec rule is a BAAAAD idea, you have several players who haven't even played D&D before and this could very quickly alienate them and leaving them feeling worthless because they don't know as much as the rest of you.

Make quick ref combat cards which have the various maneuvers on them and give them to the relevant people who can use them. This will help speed combats up and I'm sure you don't have 9 PHB's.

 

[Sidereal Knight]

In really large groups like this, the biggest challenge would be to keep everyone involved. It would be easy to forget about one or two of the characters, particularly if the player(s) are the "quiet type".

I would suggest trying to handle a lot of the single character-DM interaction via email. This could include bookkeeping for levelling up, character-NPC interaction, etc. Keeping most of this stuff on email allows you to have a "paper" record, and doesn't keep the other players waiting during a session.

 

[Particle_Man]

I suppose to REALLY simplify magic you could have Warlocks only as pc magic using types.

 

[Eltern]

Simple magic....yeah...did I mention we're using Elements of Magic? Yeah.... The only people who are playing magic users are people who have played before, though, and they're taking to the system well. Creating spells is entirely their responsibility, so it gives them something to do during everyone else's turn.

Interesting ideas so far. I've contemplated having an "X second rule" before. Maybe I'll try it, and be more lenient with newer players.

As for the Crater Ridge Mines of RttToEE: That's what I'm replacing the Banewarrens with. This will -greatly- reduce the biggest logistical nightmare in the original Return to the Temple, I hope.

All of the players have told me what their character plans are, and many are just sticking with a base class for the whole campaign (namely the magic users). I'll also look into how to delegate more aspects of combat and whatnot. I'm leery of giving opponent NPCs over to players' control, but maybe I'll change my mind.

I'll see if anyone wants to be an Assistant DM, but I somehow think that won't fly.

Any other suggestions?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

The five second rule doesn't work, alas, unless you have an overhead projector or a huge battlemat.

I have a large group that I'd like to pare, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon. (The group is too big for one campaign and too small for two.)

We generally use graph paper to keep track of stuff, as that makes the game go faster. However, it takes so long for the graph paper to go around the group that by the time it reaches a player, they have no idea what went on during the round. They have to scan the map and see where the NPCs have moved to, etc, and then start deciding what they want to do.

This problem became obvious two sessions ago, when only four people could show up. The game went really fast. It was easy to hold the players' attentions long enough for players to keep up with the action and decide what they want to do - and their memories held up, too. The DM also used a lot fewer NPCs because of the size of the group, which meant his turn went by quite quickly as well. (The DM controlling characters is the weak point. Something like twelve NPCs takes a long time to run, and of course without a huge map the players can't see where exactly the NPCs are moving.)

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

We have been running at 9-11 players for 20+ years now. We've tried a number of methods to handle this and each has its strengths. I am currently running a campaign with one of my 10 players acting as a co-DM. He is not privy to adventure details, but handles initiative, some NPCing of monsters, etc. Sometimes the party splits into two groups to investigate two different things and he handles the other group.

I like the idea of the 5 second turn mentioned above- I think I will try this.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I've run large groups almost exclusively for the last 15 years; the smallest was 5 with the largest at 13. The big group actually had the most newbies.

X-second rule: I use it religiously but I make some exception for newbies by suggesting the most common actions "Bob, you're up. Do you want to hit the bugbear, move around it cautiously, or something else?" I tell them in advance this is "hind brain" advice, the kind of obvious reflex action that may not be the most best/safest/efficient thing to do but is something typically done.
If I get told "Ummmm...." Then I tell them I'll skip to two other people while they get some basic advice from a player I trust not to metagame and come back.

Having 2-5 rounds of actions for NPCs is a great thing, especially with creatures who have spells, unusual feats, or special abilities. Sometimes I try to make little football-play diagrams to show where the baddies intend to be at different parts of the maneuver but I save that for flank-happy types like rogues.

Use a combat map. I prefer miniatures and a battlemat but for the love of all that is visually-oriented thought processes, at least use some spare dice or bottlecaps. I personally prefer to use small candies like hershy kisses as bad guys to give people some visceral pleasure in defeating foes. "You killed the giant, eat the cookie." "Mmmmm, giants taste like peanut butter."

Make a habit of scanning the faces of your players; eye contact keeps them involved and it lets you know if someone is becoming bored or feeling ignored. Try to keep everyone in the action. RttoE isn't a big city encounter where they are likely to split up but make sure that NPCs address more than the party leader. Sometimes they will seek out the Cha6 half-orc either because they intend to play up the "hey, I'm an outcast too" mindset or because they think the half-orc will be likely to betray the party.


Play act a bit when meeting NPCs. Changes in accent, mannerisms, and voice can help keep things lively. You don't need to keep doing the voices during the whole encounter and they don't need to be great; just long enough for their imaginations to engage. And keep notes on the NPC's mannerisms! If you protray someone as a hunchback, you need to do it again in future sessions or else the players will become confused.

Keep a game log. Get a Yahoo! group, set up a blog/wiki/web page, but after every game session make some write up that identifies the NPCs by name/race/age/description for both your use and the players.

 

[kenobi65]

In order to make sure that the players stay engaged from a role-playing standpoint...

Yeah, trying to engage each player / PC over the course of the session is a good idea.

I've DMed for a group of 7-9 players for 8 years. The other trick I have is to make sure that every player / PC gets a session / adventure that really puts them in the spotlight. Unfortunately, this doesn't help with the idea of "keeping them engaged every time", but it does help make sure everyone feels like they're an important part of the campaign.