Poll and discussion: one PC per player, or many?

[The Hound]

I first started role playing in 1980. Back then, the gaming groups I knew about let every player have several PCs. Often, each player would get a full compliment of classes - I had a fighter, a thief, a mage and a cleric in my first game. I'm not sure whether more classes even existed at the time, at least not in the old D&D books that we were using! Anyway, a small group of four or five players could send a huge party into a dungeon. That situation remained until several years later, when I drifted away from gaming...

Then I got into D&D again about three years ago, after having moved to another city. One difference between then and now is that the current gaming groups seem to use a "one player, one PC" rule, the only exceptions being hirelings and henchmen types (and familiars, if you want to count those).

Is that all a matter of how gaming preferences evolved over time, or is it a regional thing? Does anyone still game with lots of PCs per person? If you've tried both, Which do you prefer? I think I like our old way. Combat rounds did tend to be lengthy, but role playing lots of characters was fun.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Wherefore poll? In 2^nd Edition I played up to four characters when it was just me and my GM. Nowadays, I wouldn't play more than two characters.

 

[The Hound]

How about just a discussion. Over tea perhaps?

 

[IronWolf]

I certainly saw the same thing, in games long since past it was not uncommon at all to see one player playing at least two characters. These days, as a player, I don't like to play more than one character at all. I think back then (at least in my games) it was much more hack and slash, kill things and take their stuff. These days, though it may still be kill things and take their stuff, you like there to be more to the character and the storyline a little deeper. Even if it still boils down to some of the same core ideas.

 

[Haradim]

I've never played in a game where any player had more than maybe two active characters, with the secondary character mostly doing nothing (and generally not capable of much more ), and multiple characters is fairly rare. But I have played in games where there were 8+ players.

Never again.

Four characters can be a handful. 8+ would drive me crazy as player or GM, especially since I know none of them would have more than the slightest hint of individual personality.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

We only play one character per player. One time we did two per player, meshing two games in the same setting together as a transition and it got very confusing. And made worse by the DM's &!*# girlfriend being an attention hog and ruining the game for the rest of us.

 

[Crothian]

One character per player. I heard of others doing elsewise and we tried it for a while, but I didn;'t like it so one character per player.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

And made worse by the DM's &!*# girlfriend being an attention hog and ruining the game for the rest of us.

Wow. That certainly stinks.

 

[Graybeard]

I've played in games where all the players had 2 PCs and other games where the Dm wouldn't allow anyone to play more than 1 PC. In my game, the players all have only 1 PC but then again, I have 6 players so they don't need to. If the number of players were to drop to 2 or 3, I would let them play more than 1 PC.

Chuck

 

[ThirdWizard]

We occasionally try 2 PCs per player when there are only two players available for a game, but its never as fun as a single character per player. So, one to one ratio is the definate prefered by my group.