More players than you care to DM?

[Banshee16]

I've been in that situation before. Not at the moment, but it comes in waves....people want to bring friends in etc. I think the worst was when I ran my first Planescape campaign back in 93 or 94. For a while, I had something like 7 or 8 players...and I think more that wanted to join. But it was really difficult to run a game with that many participants.

At the moment, my group size is just about ideal. We have 4 active players, though there used to be 5. 5 is actually a bit better....because you can have 2 players bail in any particular week, and still run the game. But with only 4, oftentimes, the other 2 will cancel if they find that 2 won't be there. At least, that's my experience.

Banshee

 

[Malar's Cow]

The main difficulty for me is with the Encounter Level mechanic. If you have more than four PC's in a given encounter, you have to adjust each encounter to account for the additional players. For example, an EL 1 combat for a first level party of four characters would be two orcs. But if you have seven PC's you have to adjust the enemy's numbers to account for the extra players, so you have to up the number or orcs to 3 or 4. It gets particularly sticky when there are multiple types of enemies in the encounter. If you have 8 orcs, 2 half-orc 1st level fighters, a 5th level cleric and a 3rd level wizard against a party of 7 second level characters, the math can become daunting.

It was easier in earlier editions, where the enemies were what they were; some encounters would be easy, some average and some were very tough. If you write your own adventures I suppose it's not too hard, but modifying a published adventure can be pretty time consuming.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Sometimes too many, sometimes too few.

Funny thing though-

I currently have a both a waiting list AND people who keep flaking off on game night.

The biggest flake, unfortunately, is my friend of some 19 years, so I can't just boot him.

 

[Hjorimir]

I have too many players that are friends to just turn them away cold. I just made two different groups to play in my campaign. I run one group of 6 on the first Saturday of the month (9 hours or so), and the other I run every two weeks on a Monday night (about 4 hours a session).

Works well and everybody gets to play.

 

[Wonger]

Too many players has become THE premier problem in my gaming pool. We've run three campaigns in the past 11 years with overlap of various people playing in 1, 2, or all 3 of them. Now, those campaigns are primarily done, and we want to start a fourth.

But, now, schedules and such have produced 10 players that want to and can regularly play. All 10 are good friends. All 10 are great players. We can't get together enough to split into 2 groups are we'd wind up running each group less than once a month (we are used to about every other week).

So, right now, I'm taking my time to launch any new campaign, hoping the problem will somehow take care of itself. Some might say "What a great problem to have", but for me It is the worse gaming problem I've ever encountered and I'm stymied to figure out a solution.

 

[S'mon]

I often turn players away. Sometimes long-term players, even. Yet I'm always on the lookout for really good players to add to the group. Kinda "D&D Survivor."

My players love me...

 

[diaglo]

20 is optimal

in ye olde dayes, i never turned players away. i just convinced other friends to start refereeing. i helped start an RPG club at school. on an avg day we had 4 referees and over 30 players.


(in the last 4 years) i don't care to DM the new editions. so i have hooked up others with DMs i know in the area. there are a lot of gamers in Hotlanta. i get or see emails from people all the time. i pass their name along.

the current group i'm gaming with i met over the internet. and 5 of the last 6.

but not all DMs like many players so i've seen some turned away.


i'm still looking to add players to my OD&D campaign if anyone is interested.

 

[Zappo]

Not exactly turn away, but I've told my current players not to invite anyone else. Prevent the problem, if you wish. As with all our "rules", it's more of a guideline, and they very occasionally bring along someone who they think is a great guy. Since, very occasionally, someone quits playing or becomes overwhelmed by study/work, the number of players is broadly constant.

Almost all the players have jobs with unusual timetables or similar problems, so we are never all there. We average 4-5 players in a session, sometimes three, sometimes six or even seven if everyone's there (once, there were 8 players - the whole gang plus a guest). It's not that I can't DM that many players, but it's less fun. There is only so much spotlight to share, after all.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

Haven't had the problem since leaving Chicago; Living in Florida, I don't know many gamers. I do tend to reject players now more because I don't like the "feel" I get from them, but I rarely allow the player-count at my table go above 4 anyways.

By the same token, I tend not to like the idea of someone else inviting someone to join my table; always feels like a horrid breach of protocol.

 

[Darklone]

Had both. At first not enough, then much too many. Then some left... you had a hard time to get one or two new players (who weren't in too many other groups yet)... then suddenly it was queueing again.