Letting players run 2 PCs each

[TheYeti1775]

When I first started there were 3 players (including DM).

It was in the originial TOEE module. The one guy ran it as the DM, and us other two each ended up with 6 PC's each.
Even in 2nd Ed I've run multiple characters without a problem.

In 3.x Ed I've run up to 3 at once in the same campaign but never more than 2 at the same time. It gets a little hectic around 10th level and multiple characters.

Yeti

 

[scourger]

I did it recently for a 3.5 D&D game in which I thought there would beonly 2 players regularly, but it turned to be 3-4. 4 PCs for 2 players would have been fine. 6-8 PCs is too many. It slowed the game down too much, especially combat.

Savage Worlds has a great distinction between Wild Cards and Extras that makes it much easier for the players to have many allies that are effective but don't bog down the game. We've enjoyed it much more.

 

[Hairfoot]

4 PCs for 2 players would have been fine. 6-8 PCs is too many. It slowed the game down too much, especially combat.

And that's my main concern. It might be better to weaken the monsters and/or buff the PCs a bit for the next adventure.

 

[TheYeti1775]

As was said 4 PCs for 2 players isn't much of a hassle. Perhaps just bargain with the players if more players would join, then to essentially choose which character might have 'something to do'. As we all know in life various commitments pop up in our lives. If ever the players drop back down, they could be brought back in easily enough with the ol' 'walking down the street you see .... '. This is especially helpfully in long campaigns, and ones where the PC's can't trust too many outsiders.

Yeti

 

[Tetsubo]

I allowed this in an old 2E FR campaign. Each player was allowed to run on caster and one non-caster. Usually it was the main PC and a follower or hireling. It worked out just fine in 2E. I don't think it would be a problem in 3.5...

 

[TheYeti1775]

Did have one Spelljamming Campaign in 2e that there were 8-10 players with most of us having 2 PCs each. DM had the old countdown rule for solving combat decisions, you had 30 seconds during combat to decide your actions.
If you were casting, we used the casting times, you were asked on your original initiative what you were doing. You then wrote the spell down on a pad in front of you, and told the DM how long it was. He had a nice mishap table if you were distracted or something during the castings. Most of the time you lost the spell, but a small percentage of the time it had some disasterous effects. Randomly fired fireballs are a lot of fun with that many people.

Yeti

 

[Janx]

I do think letting players run multiple PCs would cause one PC to take center-stage and the other would be treated like a cohort.

As a DM, I don't have a problem with that. Aside from when a PC qualifies for a cohort (which effectively adds another PC to the party), I would only allow players to run 2 simultaneous PCs when I have a game with few players. The extra PCs are there to increase the party strength, not to provide additional role-played characters.

For example, if I had 2 players, I'd let them both run an extra PC. I wouldn't go out of my way to write story material that incorporates the extra PC's background. Maybe something will come up, but I won't work too hard at it. Nor would I expect the players to do much dialogue for the extra PC. It might happen, or there might be scenarios where it is advantageous for that PC to speak (wizard talking to wizard enclave). Those extra PCs are there so I can get a 4 character party, and have less work rebalancing encounters. That's it. The primary PCs are the focus of the adventures.

In a game I played in, my half-orc barbarian got a minotaur fighter for a cohort (I had been planning on getting a cleric cohort, but it just sort of worked out that way). Both characters were uber-strong and had similar combat styles. The result was, I effectively doubled the number of attacks I got per round. It was very easy to deal with. In fact, a fighter probably makes the best secondary PC, as they are the easiest to play usually, thus requiring less work.


Janx