How many Players in your game?

[pogre]

I have 8 players, but almost always one guy cannot make it. I prefer playing with six, although I have had as many as ten in this campaign. I have a hard time saying no to good players, because for a short time a couple of Summers ago we played with only three and could not find a regular fourth. However, since that time I have had to institute a waiting list. I just wish I had time to run a couple more groups!

 

[dren]

Currently 5, as someone had to drop out because of scheduling problems a few weeks ago. As a DM, I like 6-7 players because it gives the group many options, plus if 1-2 people can't make it, we can still game on the weekend.

 

[Ovinomancer]

6, but I've run as many as 8. More than 6 seems to be a little much, though.

Nice bell-curvey-ness to the poll though...

 

[StalkingBlue]

I currently play in one RP-focussed game where I'm one of two players, and until recently played in another, combat-heavy game with up to seven players (seven when everyone turned up, a rare thing).

The group I DM Midnight for currently has four. I'm happy with that for my game - it's about the maximum I'm comfortable with when I offer roleplaying-heavy stuff, OTOH it's probably the minimum number of players needed for the kind of challenging wargame-style combat we enjoy. Fewer than four players and the frequency of PC deaths increases dramatically - more than four and the quieter players tend to fade into the background when there's talking, persuading and investigating to be done.

 

[The_Universe]

The all time most I've had in a group was 23 (rarely had a full-showing) and the least, ever, was 5.

THIS group started at 9, dropped to 7, and then dropped to 6.

 

[Arnwyn]

In a number of ways, EN World is clearly not representative of the gaming population. The majority of the gaming population don't hang out on gaming-related message boards. The majority of the gaming population is also far less well informed on products and happenings in the RPG business than most EN World folks. Just those points mean quite a bit when considering us as statistics.

Uh... didn't I say that ENWorld isn't representative? And I do agree with that theory, for what it's worth. (But, until I see clear market research that makes a definitive distinction of what the "majority" is, the word "supposedly" stays.)

Oh, and I realize I didn't answer in the thread: my group has 5 players and 1 DM.

 

[Henry]

We typically have 4 to 5, but have had as many as 8 in the past year.

A few years ago, we had as many as ELEVEN playing in one particularly popular Forgotten Realms campaign. Eleven is just too many for any roleplaying to occur, without coordinating DM's or a single DM manifesting the Schism psionic power. 6 is about the maximum I can handle and still actively involve most of the players.

 

[iwatt]

We typically have 4 to 5, but have had as many as 8 in the past year.

A few years ago, we had as many as ELEVEN playing in one particularly popular Forgotten Realms campaign. Eleven is just too many for any roleplaying to occur, without coordinating DM's or a single DM manifesting the Schism psionic power. 6 is about the maximum I can handle and still actively involve most of the players.

I agree with this. My current campaign started with 4 PCs, necxt session they were 5. After that it'sd been downhill (7 plñayers is abit too much) I'm lucky to run 2 or 3 encounters per session. Even less if I get them into town

 

[diaglo]

Eleven is just too many for any roleplaying to occur...

wimp.

my OD&D campaign had 11 on a regular basis. 14 was the most i think we had @ one table.

it isn't too hard if everyone is there to have fun and stay focused.

i mean it does go all of the tracks when someone cuts loose with a mean bean and chili one.... but hey... everyone needs to get up and stretch their legs once and awhile.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I've got ~6 players now (varies a touch since several retired characters show up from time to time) and ran a group of 12-15 for three years. My subconscious is now capable of parsing 5 simultaneous conversations and letting me know who I should focus on. Go-go gadget audio processors!