D&D General Ghost of Saltmarsh Player Max

[CEK]

Hey, I'm new to dnd and have never played. My friends (who also haven't played) and I are starting a campaign of Ghost of Saltmarsh, but here's the issue. We have a total of 8 players, while the campaign recommends 5-6 players. At this point, I am not willing to kick anyone out, and I've already purchased the book, so is there any recommendations to make it more fun, such as a upscaling guide for encounters? Anything you have will help

 

[CEK]

So my friends and I have never played any TTRPGs at all, but we wanted to get into it. So I said I could learn how to DM and picked up the Ghost of Saltmarsh book and some dice. But here's the issue I figured out after ordering the book. It has a recommended player count of 5-6, and my friend group is 8 people. I'm not willing to kick anyone out atm, and I'm really down for playing a seafaring campaign, so any recommendations on how I should approach this? (IE upscaling encounter guides or how to deal with high player counts?) also, as I am new, I still don't have a grasp on the rules too well, so if you have a longspan video explaining how to play everything from the perspective of a DM, that would also be great. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

 

[el-remmen]

In my opinion, Eight people is a lot to run even for experienced DMs. It is not impossible, but it can be difficult and slow, especially if you are not used to it. That is not say you shouldn't try. . . but just to be aware. I honestly would recommend breaking the group up into two groups of four and running separately for each.

But even if you do have that huge a group, if everyone is newbies, consider running the first session or so's encounters with the number and kinds of opponents as written. It may turn out to be "too easy" but it will let the players warm up and get used to what their characters can do. Later you can pump up the HPs of solo monsters to 3/4s of max or max and/or add 1 to 2 opponents per PC above 5 for groups of lower CR creatures. Just be aware that adding on additional opponents can be more deadly for some kinds of monsters than others. It is easier to slowly ramp up to get a feel than to go overboard from the beginning and try to reel it back.

I don't have a video to recommend, but hopefully someone else will pop in to help with that.

Oh, and welcome to the boards.

 

[niklinna]

In my experience, most roleplaying games get awkward fast past 5 players, and that's with experienced GMs and players. Keeping everyone involved & engaged is difficult, and playing combats in a fun & efficient manner, in particular, takes a bit to learn. You haven't said whether you'll be playing in person or online, and that's also a big factor; online can be significantly more challenging as number of players goes up.

Particularly since you're all brand new to the game, I feel you should scale down your number of players at any given session, rather than scaling up the difficulty of encounters. You can rotate players through sessions (admittedly easier said than done, depending on the adventure), and/or have some folks be DM helpers, playing NPCs/monsters and whatnot. You could also run two groups in parallel, with 4 players in each group.

 

[Mort]

Echoing @el-remmen ,

8 is a lot of people to start with, but it can certainly be done (the work will primarily be on you).

I would also suggest running the encounters "as is" initially. Sure it might be a bit easy, but since everyone is new that's not a bad thing and will let everyone ease into their characters and the game.

As for a video, I would suggest the first Critical Role campagin. Mercer runs 7-8 people, many of whom are clueless on the rules REALLY well. Or you might just want to search youtube for a Ghosts of Saltmarsh runthrough and watch a couple of those.

 

[niklinna]

Hey folks, the OP seems to have double posted. The one getting replies is https://www.enworld.org/threads/ghost-of-saltmarsh-max-player-count-recommendations.700388/

 

[Umbran]

Duplicate threads merged.

 

[Stormonu]

Though it might be infeasible, can the DM possibly split the players into two play groups that play at different times? I know scheduling can be a hassle, but the smaller group size might make the DM's job a little easier, at least at the start. As the DM gets more experienced, might be able to join the group back together - as long as one group hasn't gotten too far ahead of the other.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Bah, I'd just double the number of monsters when there's 1-4 of them in the encounter, and I'd double their HP and give them twice as many attacks if there is 5+ of them and just go for it. 8 is a LOT, like everyone says, but it's nowhere near impossible. I once had 13 players for 2e back in highschool. Just make sure you keep things moving along!

 

[CEK]

In my opinion, Eight people is a lot to run even for experienced DMs. It is not impossible, but it can be difficult and slow, especially if you are not used to it. That is not say you shouldn't try. . . but just to be aware. I honestly would recommend breaking the group up into two groups of four and running separately for each.

But even if you do have that huge a group, if everyone is newbies, consider running the first session or so's encounters with the number and kinds of opponents as written. It may turn out to be "too easy" but it will let the players warm up and get used to what their characters can do. Later you can pump up the HPs of solo monsters to 3/4s of max or max and/or add 1 to 2 opponents per PC above 5 for groups of lower CR creatures. Just be aware that adding on additional opponents can be more deadly for some kinds of monsters than others. It is easier to slowly ramp up to get a feel than to go overboard from the beginning and try to reel it back.

I don't have a video to recommend, but hopefully someone else will pop in to help with that.

Oh, and welcome to the boards.

thanks for the suggestions. I'll think about splitting the group, but that's quite a large time commitment. Also, with the combat encounters, thanks, I hadn't thought of anything like that.