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Message: <blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 386887" data-attributes="member: 463">Hi Zander & Tallarn - the Gencon game wasn't 100% successful in that I didn't get the scenario finished (in the 5 hours we played - finished it with my regular group the next week, they rescued the Margravine and captured Gysshk!) but I certainly had a good time and I think most of the players did also.  The scenario had been designed for 8-9 players BTW, 14 was obviously a stretch.  Some points:1.  I always have one of my players keep track of initiative order; likewise players are responsible for keeping track of their spell durations.  Where possible, players also keep track of allied NPCs' hp etc in combat, although I will usually determine their actions (except for cohorts).  2.  At the GenCon game I was very reliant on Beholderburger to keep track of things, some people (his regular players, I think) even started giving their PC actions to him not me  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f631.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":eek:" title="Eek!    :eek:"  data-smilie="9"data-shortname=":eek:" /> In order to get through 14 player actions/round I started being quite Sergeant-Majorish and shouting "NEXT!!!!" very loudly each time we went to a new PC.  Also I discovered that even _talking_ to a player out of turn created confusion, so I had to be a lot more formal than usual.3.  The advice on upping monster durability is good, especially for mooks.  I used 3rd level hobgoblin warriors & 2nd level goblins from Jamis' NPC generator, they had 20 hp & 9 hp respectively AIR.  I also used a 2nd level Troll barbarian with elite (3/4d6) stats, but only because it was a convention game and I wasn't worried about killing PCs - he killed 3, actually. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />A single monster that can challenge a party of 10+ is almost bound to kill some of them, so don't do this too often.  Allow chances for heroic single combat though - Lars'(Dispater on ENWorld) barbarian Sigurd got to battle a hobgoblin chieftain and got great satisfaction from personally hacking him down and stealing his woman!  (Human woman, if you were wondering...)4.  Generally speaking, I'd say fewer, longer battles is inevitable if you want to challenge a large group - eg average 2 battles/session instead of 4, taking about twice as long.  XP per PC per encounter will work out the same, so they'll level up about half as fast as DMG standard, which ought to be ok.5. I always use minis these days, I think they're vital for 3e given how the combat rules depend on positioning.  Also they give everyone something to focus on.  No way in hell I could tell where 14 PCs were without them.  Admittedly, with 14 PCs, 11 of which were new (we actually had 2 of my regular players there, Andrew & Lars/Dispater, plus Upper_Krust who'd played a session at my house the previous Sunday) I had trouble remembering just which of the several plastic elves & dwarves represented which archer or gnome/halfling PC!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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