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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hastur_nz" data-source="post: 7090185" data-attributes="member: 40592">Smaller groups (3-4 players) run faster, and often have better group role-play as there's more available "screen time per person".  The down-side is that smaller groups are more "fragile" in combat, as if even a single PC drops the combat can seriously swing towards TPK territory.Large groups (say 6+ players) can take forever to get anywhere, as combats are bigger and more people need to make decisions, wait for ages before their turn, and generally there's just more chances for people to drift off and not pay attention which wastes even more time.Personally, I've played and DM'd from 2-6 players, and as a DM I really like sessions with 3-4 players but with only 3 players combat can be tricky to keep balanced, but generally I do prefer around 4 players and I try to keep around 5 people on the assumption that often one person is off sick etc.  As a player I feel more people can mean more cool ideas, but with 6 players you do have to be careful you keep things moving or people can get disconnected.For many years now, I've always hated the idea of having one or more NPCs attached to the party if they are controlled by the DM, i.e. "DM PC".  I've had a few DM's who have done this, and I've never enjoyed it, you sit around watching the DM play the game by themself.  When I DM, I try to minimise the amount of NPC involvement, as the whole idea of D&D is that it's the players story to run as they see fit, not the DM just telling the players a story.  If I do have NPC's involved, for example Curse of Strahd has many NPC's who might join the group at various points, I keep them in the background as much as possible, offering help when asked but not too much, and in combat I very much try and have a player run them so the players are always rolling their own side's dice.  In my experience, the idea that the players need an NPC to help them comes from DM's who don't trust their players' competence, and/or have control issues, neither of which is conducive to a good gaming experience.</blockquote>

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