Running a group with 7 players?

[dreaded_beast]

Well, it's official. Just found out a while ago.

This Friday, if all the players show up, there will be a total of 7 players and 1 DM, me being the DM.

3 of the players can be considered the "original" group.

The 4th player has gamed in one session, but is unsure if he can make it on a consistent basis.

The 5th player "sat in" last session and did not actually play, but created a character near the end of the session. Although she expressed an interest in playing, I am not sure if she will follow through.

The 6th and 7th player I have not met as of yet, but I have been communicating with them through e-mail and they will meet the group and myself for the first time if they show up on Friday.

Now, the campaign is in the Scarred Lands and has already progressed through 3 sessions. This is actually a continuation of a previous Scarred Lands campaign, which I took over after the DM left. I allowed the original 3 players to keep their characters. As a result, the orginal 3 will have higher levels than the new comers.

The level breakdown is as follows:

Player 1 - Human Rogue 3
Player 2 - Dwarf Fighter 3
Player 3 - Human Cleric 3
Player 4 - Human Ranger 2
Player 5 - Elf Sorcerer 1
Player 6 - 1st level character
Player 7 - 1st level character

This is the first time I will be DMing a group of this size. I doubt I have even played in a group of this size.

Concerns of mine are, as a result of having 7 possible players:

1. Giving enough time to each player without having them feel neglected.

2. Allowing time for role-play.

3. Speedy and non-cumbersome combats.

4. Difficulty of encounters.

Any and all advice/suggestions/comments/warnings are welcome.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Kill them! Kill them all!

Failing that ....


You'll be needing this: http://arcady0.topcities.com/Encounter_Calculator.html

Throw a couple of CR2 encounters at them to get the 1st level guys up to speed. Also, plan for one or two combats per session. That's the best way to make sure everyone gets to do something.

 

[Silver Moon]

A few simple tools will go a long way to helping you here.

1. Miniatures. Extensive use of miniatures helps everyone to visualize where all of the heroes and monsters are and eliminates confusion.

2. Index Cards. Pick up a package of 100 and give around 10 or so to the players at the start of the game. This allows everyone to communicate specfic actions to and from the DM without having to shout over everyone (this is especially important for the quieter players).

3. Food. Have snacks available to give the players something to do when their characters are not in the thick of things to keep them from getting bored.

 

[Gilladian]

It sounds like you won't have all seven players all the time, which is good, but does mean you will need to decide how to handle "absent player syndrome".

To keep the game on an even keel, do the following; assign one experienced player to each newbie to give rules advice and assistance in game mechanics. However, warn them that the newbie needs to make the final decisions.

For combats, be prepared for them to take longer. Give everyone a firm expectation of how long they have to act. Cut the newbies a little more slack, though, especially a spellcaster. We use a strip of corkboard with thumbtacks in it for initiative, with different colors for monsters and PCs. It gets put where we can all see it reasonably well and thus know who is coming up next.

To keep the whole game rolling, you have to enforce discipline. Put the quieter or less expressive people near you at the head of the table. Put the party leader at the foot of the table. Enforce (fairly) rigid rules about no out of character talk at the table. Don't allow people to wander off at any moment to the kitchen. Take a break every hour or hour and a half for drinks and stuff. That keeps everyone from having to wait while first one and then another person toddle off for a soda.

When they ignore you, talk over each other, won't focus, etc... just shut up and wait. Eventually they'll see you sitting or standing there watching them and they'll get the message. Don't turn away and do other things, just sit and wait.

Encourage the group to stay together. Long split sessions get boring, fast.

That's my advice after 25 years gaming; hope it helps.

Gilladian

 

[Shallown]

A few ideas

Team up new players (New to the game) with someone who knows the rules and will tell them options not how to play their character. It takes some of the burden off you and gives them something to do.

Realize if your not use to a group this size that you won't be able to give them equal attention. Appologize and tell them. "Hey I'm learning how to do this as well" It takes a little practice but usually isn't a big issue. Also realize not everyone needs equal time. Their face time should be balanced according to thier needs/wants not some arbitrary fraction of time. I have players who need more face time to enjoy the game but as long as it doesn't offend/upset other players you can get away with it.

DOn't worry so much about different levels. At the point you are at they can catch up and there is nothing like starting 1st and going up.

later

 

[cleavthorn]

Wow. I have the same problem. I have a gaming group consisting of 7-9 people (myself included). We have all played together 14-20 years (depending on the individual). 2-3 can be shaky, occasionally dropping out of the game for several weeks at a time (jobs and life).

Heres what I can offer you:

1). Enforce Players to Check Themselves: What I mean by this is to have them be polite and respectful. If two of them are quietly talking while a third and fourth are trying to role-play, no big deal. If, however, they are at opposite ends of the table yelling and carrying on about their latest Magic cards while you are attempting to describe the serenity of the elvin sacred grove, it is obvoiusly a disruption.
Have the players move seats to accomodate you. If you know Player A and Player B sitting next to each other are a volitile mix, move em! If they give you flak about it, politley inform them you work hard to bring enjoyment for everyone, and that their sitting next to each other can be a disruption, which, while fun for them, may be less fun to other players.

2). DM Has Final Say (sort of): In my gaming group, we have 5 DM's. This sounds like a lot of DM's in a group, and it is! The problem with having 5 DM's in a group is that some of forget they aern't the DM right now.
I dont know how well this is going to work in your game, but what we are trying is if a player has a grievance about a rule, they will have 3 minutes (including time to look up rules) to give their point of view. Now, the players only get ONE grievance for the night (with 7 players, thats 21 minutes gone from play if everyone brings up a grievance).
After their case is made, we vote. everyone gets ONE VOTE, including the DM and the player making the grievance. If the majority of the vote is in favor of the Player, he gets the ruling. If the majority of the vote is for the DM, he gets the ruling. Ties go to the DM.
NOW, the DM has final say. He can decide that his ruling is the ruling that is going to be used, regardless of the votes. There are cases when the DM has to say that this is his world, and things just dont work that way. There are two potential problems with this if used too often, however. First, the DM needs to be consistant. It is unfair and foolish of the DM to change the rules at whim. Second, the DM runs the risk of losing respect, players from the game, and possibly even friends.
Grievances cannot be banked, brought over to the next session, etc... Once the game is done, all the players get one new grievance at the start of the next session. Players who have used their grievance CANNOT make a new one (or "borrow" someone elses grievance) for the evening. The wisdom behind this is that they should know when something is dire enough to stop play for everyone and make their case. If they waste their grievance, too bad!

These are 2 major rules we use to speed up play, have fun and try to enrich the quality of our gaming experience. I hpoe they work for you!

 

[spider_minion]

I frequently play in a group with 6 or 7 players. Here are my tips:

Speed up combat. Encourage players to decide there actions before their turn. Roll the damage dice along with attacks. Get the players to list all their combat modifiers for common attacks, so they don't have to count modifiers during play. On higher levels, you might want spellcasters to roll damage for their spells ahead of time. We also use a dry-erase board so there is no question where each PC is.

With a lot of people, there can be really long waits between turns. In the campaign mentioned above, at one point I was waiting anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes between my turns. Ugh. Of course, everyone and their cousin had to have a cohort, and all the spellcasters were hasted (3.0 ed) so things really dragged on. Combat can be really fast, if the players are on the ball.

Go around in a circle when PCs decide actions. I've noticed this can be effective, since the players can tell when they will be ready to act, and can have their plans ready. Also, you won't skip over quiet players.

Regarding rules questions, encourage the PCs to look things up themselves, rather than always asking the DM. My players ask me tons of simple questions, and it can get quite annoying (especially is something important is going on).

I guess the last thing is to diversify challanges, so each PC can show off their individual tricks (traps, turning undead, tracking, whatever).

Given a low level party, DMing shouldn't be too hard. Battles can be tons of fun, 'cause its like there's a war going on. Since the players have so much firepower, go ahead and throw 50 goblins against them. See what happens.

 

[satori01]

I am DMing a group of Nine players, it has been an intresting experience, in a positive way.

• With new players know your stuff. Have them describe what they want to do, and you translate back into D&D terms, like charge, AOO so on and so forth. With a lot of new players in my group I have to be a lot more enganging and proactive as a DM, which overall has improved my style.
• Encourage your players to work out how their characters know each other. Even if this means at the begining of a season just assigning 30 minutes to this,(with snacks), you might even consider leaving the room. I have seen intresting alliances form from this and people get a sense of how other characters relate to them. Cliques withing the group can also be helpful, as instead of 7 players wanting to split up and do their own thing, 2 cliques will have their own agenda.
• I would reccomend starting all characters at the average party level, not at first. Overlarge parties are hard plan encounters for at first level. While a seven person party is double the power, a CR 2 or CR 3 monster often hit with more damage than a 1st level character can take. From personal experience when characters hit 2nd and 3rd level, the formula seems more solid.
• Create multi layered encounters. With a large group not every one has to be fighting the monster(s). While some are keeping the monsters busy, others can be picking locks, climbing ledges to reach archer characters, helping companions out of traps and pits, so on and so forth. I tend now to run less combats, but deeper and better designed combats with environmental challaneges. This lets all various character types to shine, and is fun to design, it also forces party cooperation and coordination.
• Healing is a concern for larger groups. Roughly a cleric can heal for about 3-4 people, so a single cleric wont get it done for a larger group. Be prepared to put in a lot more healing potions/wands into treasure to account for the larger number of players. Overall I have doubled the amount of potions and scrolls I give in treasure,(in effect I have cut scrolls and potion costs in half), and reduced other magic treasure in half. This also has the side benefit of not having player squabbles over magic items, as everyone will have a couple of potions.

 

[frankthedm]

hordes of orcs.

 

[Privateer]

Monte Cook has some articles concerning DMing large groups of players on his website, www.montecook.com , probably in his "DMs Only" section.