D&D and AD&D - 10 Players?

[galaga88]

I've been picking up several old modules for D&D and AD&D with the possibility of running them perhaps with Castles & Crusades. One thing I've noticed, is the large number of PCs many of these modules recommend. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks recommends 10-15 PCs, although it says you can make do with less if they're of a higher level.

Did these modules seriously require that number of players? I know things were more hack 'n' slash back then, and many of the modules were conversions of tournament modules, but I can't imagine how I'd get that many people together and have a cohesive session. I suppose it was just de rigueur to have each player handle multiple PCs?

 

[diaglo]

as the referee you can modify the modules.



20 players was optimal for OD&D(1974)

 

[JamesDJarvis]

My old AD&D campaign had as many as 14 players, some folks had two or three PCs but they didn't all go on the same adventures together. We played every 2 or 3 weeks for 7 or 8 years.

 

[DM-Rocco]

A lot of modules, like the Tomb of Horror as an example, had many instant death traps, non of this reduce your Con by 1d4 junk. Also, back in D&D and AD&D you didn't have feats and skills that could push your Strength over a 100 or exceed damage over 1,000 hit points a strike. If you have a +3 sword, and that was a lot, you did Strength bonus damage, +3 for the sword and weapon damage and that was it. Also, if you weren't a fighter you only got one attack and couldn't get a bonus to damage from a strength score over 18 and couldn't get a bonus from con from a score over 16. Fighters didn't have four plus attacks, they had 2, 5 attacks every 2 rounds if you were using Unearthed arcana. You didn't have meta magic feats to push damage to the max and empower spells beyond the original intent.

So, yes, a lot of thos modules were designed for a higher number of players, usually around 6-10. In 3.0/3.5, you could run the same module, once converted, with about 3 or four characters if they don't have tons of magic items and the players had half a brian in them to avoid traps.

 

[jasper]

To reply to question No. Most groups had people who could handle two pcs.

 

[howandwhy99]

Well.. yes. There are that many players in a group. The earlier editions can more easily accommodate mass numbers of players. Most play single PC's, but with followers, hirelings, henchman, and more, the number of characters in the party can easily get over 20.

I think, back-in-the-day, if you could only round up 4 or 5 players, then each really needed to play 2 or 3 PC's. This isn't anecdotal evidence on my part though. (I was a little young then) It comes from listening to Gary's stories. Ask him.

 

[Bloodstone Press]

Yeah, bigger groups and multiple PCs per player were more common back in the day. The first group I joined had 7 players and all of them had at least 2 characters.

 

[TerraDave]

From Col Pladoh's postings, he could have 20 players, or 2 (and it was only a small number of PCs that saw a lot of the action)

I would guess that early modules where based on the experiences of conventions and wargamer clubs where you would have a lot of people together that could play. I would also guess that a lot of those early modules where actually played with (far) fewer PCs.

OD&D/AD&D was more about guidelines then rules (a few Dragon op-ed peices not withstanding)....

 

[Gentlegamer]

Don't forget to factor in henchmen . . .

 

[Glyfair]

Yeah, bigger groups and multiple PCs per player were more common back in the day. The first group I joined had 7 players and all of them had at least 2 characters.

IIRC, the assumed party size during the AD&D era was typically 8 players. During the 3E period, it's 4 players.

Personally, my favorite party size is 6 players. It's enough to cover the bases and have some flexibilty for oddballs, from a D&D character standpoint.

From a player standpoint, 6 players is just enough minds so that you'll usually come up with the solution to a puzzle or problem. It's not so many that players get lost in the shuffle. It also allows the group to split up, and still have interactions (group A is resolving their situation while group B is interacting regarding their situation).

I've been in games with upwards of 20 players (not D&D, though - Melanda, actually). I wouldn't do that again without stellar players (those who interact without needing DM involvement).