Large Group Size

[Falkus]

Well, my recruiting for Pathfinder Zeitgeist here in Montreal has gone extremely well. Enthusiastically, even. I've found myself with eight players.

So, I'm just looking for a bit of advice in scaling up the encounters in Island at the Axis of the World, since this will be my first time DMing a Pathfinder game.

Now, just so you know where I'm coming from, I'm no stranger to large groups in RPGs. Indeed; I've run with eight players before, and I'm doing it right now with my Dark Heresy campaign, so that's not a problem for me.

 

[benfromidaho]

I'm sure Rugult will be better at suggestions in terms of scaling up, but, if I remember correctly, Pathfinder is built so that groups of 4 or 5 are the standard. Any chance you can split the 8 into two groups of 4?

 

[Falkus]

I'm afraid that's not really an option for me; schedule-wise.

 

[KainG]

My Pathfinder group has varied from 6 to 8 in the past, so I've learned to do a bunch of different ways to make encounters more challenging for the party.

I usually add more "mook" level enemies, at most doubling the number listed in the adventure. Sometimes, when that doesn't fit with the story (and if I have time), I add levels to the enemies, or apply the Advanced template on monsters. Depending on the encounter, I might do a mix of both.

One thing I've learned is that one enemy alone against a party size of 6 or more goes down fast. Where I can, I try to add minions or a strong partner.

Depending on the players, I'm not afraid of changing the tactics or setup of the encounter, making the foes use smarter tactics and strategies, or if I have time, swap some feats or abilities for a more optimal build. Altering the terrain sometimes works to make things more challenging as well.

Hope these help, and looking forward to the game!

 

[RangerWickett]

Spoilers.

[sblock]In the first scene, more dockers.

In the second scene, it's hard to justify sneaking more baddies onto the boat, so maybe scale them up a tad. Or perhaps have one or two traitorous sailors who come down from the deck when they see the party go down.

In the cave, maybe more miners survived.

Sea wall, more guards.

Hold the lighthouse, more enemies per wave (the module gives suggested numbers, I believe).

Gillie Dhu, maybe add some spare soldiers, or a fey drake or other critter.

Top o the tower? Hmm. Maybe increase the guy's HP? Really, I'd just run it so he gets a few licks in, puts the fear of god in the PCs, then goes down on the first solid hit.[/sblock]

 

[Falkus]

Cool, thank you for the information! This'll be very helpful

Edit: Also, Kain, best you avoid RW's post in this topic due to minor spoilers.

 

[Rugult]

^ See RangerWickett's post above for suggestions.

As a note for everyone else. The adventures are written for a standard party of 4-5 players. For every player beyond 5, the rules would state to increase the CR of the encounter by one.

Increasing the CR by 3 for each encounter could be VERY brutal for a low level party if you're re-jiggering individual stats... On the whole, the idea of 'more' is probably better to follow. Just realize that combats might take longer if there's more PCs involved.

Also, be sure to increase the number of successful skill checks required for the skill challenges. More PCs means more chances to breeze through otherwise.

 

[Falkus]

Thanks! I really appreciate the help in scaling up the encounters! This is going to be my first time DMing the Pathfinder system, and while I've only heard good things about it, I'm a little leery about modifying things until I've got a good feel for running the system.