Dealing with 7 strong party of new players!

[Ganymede81]

Do like they did in Lord of the Flies. Give the players a conch shell, or any suitable token (a horn, a wand, etc.). If they want to speak to an NPC or otherwise take a turn, they take the conch. When someone else wants to take a turn, they pass the conch.

This helps keep everyone from shouting at once and stepping on each other's toes.

 

[DeanP]

I tend to weave the character's backgrounds into the campaign arc, ensuring that at some point, the focus turns to each player, even the wallflowers. Once the center of attention is focused on the meek player(s), it helps facilitate those roleplaying, character development moments. Since each character has a moment at center stage, the other players generally enjoy supporting the current "star", knowing full well their turn will come or has come in a previous story. Ideally, I build the connections before the first session, and right out of the gate, have something in the story that connects to each character's background that I used to build from and further the campaign plot.

 

[Lidgar]

7 can work fine. Trick is, each needs a background that somehow ties back into a plot thread of the adventure.

For the quiet ones, this is doubly important. Have an antagonist or protagonist tied specifically to their character, so they feel engaged and their decisions have a meaningful outcome on the campaign.

Have fun!

Edit: Just saw the post from DeanP. Yeah, that.

 

[jasper]

Hmm max hp and more monster than the encounter has if using purchased adventures.
PTTTT Init. Bob what are you doing, lidgar what are you doing. Occasionally just decide who has init first then go around the table. Expect game time to run long. And maybe use a 2 minute glass to speed play.

 

[Joe Burkhart]

I had a situation similar to this. Had a group of 6, all brand new to the game. There were 3 players who did 90% of the talking while the other 3 only talked when it was their turn in combat. When there was downtime or some simple role playing, these players just didn't seem to want to be bothered.

What I did was (gently) push these players to be a little more interactive. I would prompt them by saying things like "Well, your armor looks like it could be shined up a little bit player x, would you like to visit a blacksmith?" Simple little things like this will often times open players up to being a little more involved with the role playing element of the game. Some people just don't like to role play and that's understandable, others just need that little nudge to get them going. Larger groups often cause anxiety in these players as well, so don't try to put them on the spot too much. Just give them simple tasks to answer until they get warmed up to the idea.

 

[cmad1977]

Definitely more monsters or max HP monsters if you have 7 players.
Also be a drill sergeant. (Kinda). With so many people keeping them on task is one of the challenges.
If people take too long making a decision(which is unforgivable if there's a lot of time between turns) skip them. Their character defaults to the dodge action and move to the next one. You'll only have to do this a couple times.


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[Schmoe]

My most rewarding and successful campaign had 6 regulars and often one more. Four players feels too small. . Definitely follow the advice to give everyone a chance to provide input. There are some great tips up thread. One other piece of advice I'd offer is to really work on making combat run quickly and smoothly. Find an initiative system that works for you. I love index cards with cyclical initiative. It's quick and reduces my cognitive load. Tell your players that you will be maintaining a quick pace during battles. Everyone gets 30-60 seconds to decide their action, otherwise they Delay. I know there's no Delay in 5e. That's dumb. Bring it back. When someone Delays take them out of initiative order (pull their card if using cards). They can jump back in once they have figured it out, coming back in between turns. That goes for enemies too. If you can't decide quickly, make the enemy delay and move on. That represents the confusion of battle quite well.

If you do the above, combats won't drag. Even with 7 players you will probably average about one turn every 10 minutes, which is a pretty good pace.

Again, make sure everyone is getting a chance to participate. Prompt quiet people during non-combat scenes. If someone has been delayed in combat for a turn or more, remind them that they are on delay and they need a course of action to jump back in. It happens

 

[Motorskills]

Establish a social contract at the start of the next session. It doesn't need to be signed in blood, but everyone needs to agree to be on-board.

No spotlight-hogging, no drowning out other players.


Fast-fast-fast is the order of the day:
Minimal analysis paralysis, have a clear idea what your PC is going to do in advance. Yes, sometimes your plan will need to change all of a sudden.

If you have spells or special abilities, make sure your have notes or cards or text on your character sheet that covers it. These things are great!


No splitting the party without the DM's permission. This is a tough one, and likely controversial.
Yes, it might make tactical or strategic sense, but it can make an already-difficult management situation exponentially harder, and side-line individual players even more.

 

[mrrockitt]

Thanks all for some excellent advice and tips! I certainly intend to use lots of the advice offered. Have told the players today that we will be working to a more strict initiative-based turn order in and out of combat in future sessions. Also plan to give the quieter players better focus and specific tasks/opportunities to roleplay in the next session to make them feel more involved.
Thanks all.

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