silentspace
First Post
Liquidsabre said:Basic Info:
Forgotten Realms
Sea of Fallen Stars Campaign
7 Players (5th level)
Recently my campaign I run on the weekends has evolved into a rather large group of swarthy beings. Normally I do not allow so many in a game but circumstances were such that it sort of just happened.
They are a great bunch but how are DMs suppose to run such games so smoothly? The game runs moderately well IMO but I realize that character development is something that actually hinders enjoyment of all when not all are present or when an encounter is roleplayed out and not all PCs are there. I prefer to roleplay as much as we hack so this bothers me a bit. Perhaps I must incorporate multiple PC development issues instead, if anyone cares to comment on NPC plot-weabing with multiple PCs please share.
Second, I had also not realized that the PCs must be uber-cooperative with each other to maintain the enjoyment of all as compared to smaller games. For example, I've had Wizards sit out most of the game when scribing scrolls in town while the rest of the party goes and do things in town. I found this to be quite disturbing as the party was in the middle of an active adventure (plots running amok and NPCs upset at them for their actions, waiting to strike back or bargain) and other PCs had planned interactions with other NPCs as well. Naturally this lead to complaints on the Wizard's part. But I told them they had to choose their actions as did the other PCs and that I was not responsible for them. It is the responsibility of the players to decide what and how to do things as a group or not. As DM I will not be held accountable for player actions. Is this wrong? I plan on going back and talking to the entire group next game about the need for certain meta-game concessions and realizations concerning player enjoyment and will leave it at that I imagine. We are a mature group (read 20-30 somethings) so that should be all I need to do but I'd still like to hear about other management stories and such for other experienced DMs in case other problems that I haven't forseen do occur.
Well, I can see now that the smaller problems in smaller games grow exponentially larger with the growth of the number of players (go figure). So I'd love to hear how others handle larger groups (especially roleplaying and character development) and the techniques that other DMs might have uncovered that could help my game run a bit smoother in the future to the enjoyment of all.
Thanks!
Your first issue is less roleplay. On the one hand, there is less time for each player to individually interact with NPCs. On the other hand, the interaction between players should be greater, not less. So yes, there is less roleplay for you, the DM, but there really shouldn't be less for the players.
Your second issue seems to be really about managing 'downtime'. This is very easily solved. If someone wants to take time out (for scrolls, etc), he has to communicate this clearly to the other players, so they won't do things that require the PC to be around. Or you could just say that everyone took the same time out and skip forward in time. Or, if there are time constraints in your adventure such that players really shouldn't be taking time out, then make them pay for it! "Sorry, while X was scribing scrolls the deadline passed and the hostages were killed. Now the Duke is really pissed."
