Ten players. One DM.

[Aust Diamondew]

In my experience about half the people I ask to come end up not being able to anyway for real life reasons. So if you're like me you'll have a decent size party of 5 .
I call it the Rule of Halfing (round up). The rule doesn't apply if you only recuirt three people, in which case you will surely get all of them.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

20 is optimal.

Don't you mean "02 is optimal"?

 

[StupidSmurf]

Our current Realms campaign has 11 people. The most I've ever run in a continuous, sustained campaign was 17 in an AD&D campaign back in college. Here's my observations:

1. Make sure the phrase "So, does everyone agree on this?" is used a LOT by you.

2. If you're creating your own adventures, make sure each monster/NPC entry has fully listed stats to cut down on look-ups.

3. Put together a "Master Player Tracker"...mine has: Player Name, Character Name, Class/Level, Alignment, AC N/FF/T, Saves, Important Skills, Stats, HP, and Notes (Spell Resistance, Cloak of Displacement, Immunities).

4. Using said Tracker, keep track of hit point damage done to party members by your beasties.

5. Get a party leader. Might also be nice to have a co-leader so as to dispel the idea that the party's become a one-person show.

6. Appoint one person to keep track of loot and kills.

7. Invoke important rule: "Do NOT speak while I'm describing the situation. If you miss something, it's not my fault."

8. Invoke important rule: "Act and speak on YOUR turn, stay alert on other's turns."

9. Assure each player that he/she will get a chance to do something in the round, and it's not a "Speak up all at once or you're hosed" situation.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Alot of workable group size also has to do with the reason for the players to be there...

In my time as a DM, I have successfully ran a game that fluxed from 6 players to 13 based on how broke the drinkers were.... when at max numbers the goal was just to have lots of fights and sillyness. No real plot or character deveopment needed. I was running ToEE, so that worked well. When we were down to 6 I played out plots and NPC interaction.

I played in a SW game that had a Core of 8 players and fluxed upwards of 18 at times... game store shop that accepted pretty much any new player. The GM made sure the new players were involved and the Core players pushed the plot forward regardless.

In Paranoia... well, that really doesn't count

My current game is more of a social gathering than a game. So we intersperse actual game play between silly references to "Illithid Affairs" and the homophobic Half-Elf Monk's purchase, and subsequent gifting, of a very nice set of leather wrist wraps {with jingly bells}.... to the only gay Half-Elf in town Still get chuckles out of that one.. Techically we have 8 players, altho usually 4 or 5 show up.

Anyway.. just an echo of the above suggestions, with heavy emphasis on avoiding ruling debates. All the succesful large group games I have seen, the DM's rulings were unquestioned... at least during play.

 

[Palaner]

Reading your comments have given me more confidence to go ahead with this. If I may summarize:

- Keep it fast-paced and action-packed.

- Make it more about the story and the group than individuals.

- However, don't be afraid to reward someone if they shine.

- Appoint a party leader. Keep things organized on your own part.

- Don't worry about constant rule-checking.

 

[Garnfellow]

I'm wrapping up a long-running campaign with 10 players. It's been a joy for the most part, but as the group approaches 16th and 17th levels, sessions are really bogging down despite our efforts to keep it moving. Each character just has so many options.

Here are a few things that have helped immeasurably (in addition to the good advice already provided):

1. Do most, if not all, game housekeeping offline. Don't waste precious session time as a character picks a new class, feats, skill points, etc., buys equipment, or makes items. Email is a great tool for resolving mundane issues and setting up the session. I try to send an email out a few days before we play describing the current situation. This lets the players prepare and discuss strategies ahead of time, so that ideally they arrive at the session ready to play from the get-go.

2. Carefully manage the social aspect of the game. All the players in my group are good friends, so it's important to allow time at the start of the session for chit-chat and such. Trying to start a session too early is self-defeating, because chit-chat will happen one way or another. (And the whole point of gaming is to have a good time in a social environment, anyway.) But once it's time to start, you need to run a tight ship. It's not unlike managing a business meeting or a classroom.

3. Try to offload to the players as many in-game responsibilites as you can. For example, I have players run all cohorts, hirelings, familiars, animal companions, summoned monsters, etc. as if they were their primary character.

4. Consider making item cards for magic goodies, with short summaries of important in-game information. This is a lot of work for you out of game, but saves tons of time in-game. I have my players make item cards for any items they craft.

5. Spellcasters can be the single biggest pain in the rear. Require each spellcaster to have picked out their spells ahead of time (which is possible if you follow advice item #1, and circulate a session set-up ahead of time), know their spell's DC, as well as all important spell effects. I have players draw out areas of effect on the grid and rely on them to understand how a spell works. Ideally, you should only have to adjudicate exceptional situations.

6. The "Players Roll All the Dice" variant rule from Unearthed Arcana is very helpful in speeding up combats.

 

[JamesDJarvis]

When running large groups:

Have other players run a PCs cohorts, animal companions and familiars.

This often causes you to have less cohorts, animal companions and familiars to deal with.

Allows for those companions of a charcetr to have a more developed personality.

When PCs split up plenty of players are still likely to be involved in the action.

 

[werk]

Break the group into two. Twice the gaming twice the fun.

This is what I thought without even reading the OP.

Get either a volunteer DM from the players or recruit one. You can easily run concurrent games and intermingle periodically if you like.

 

[smilinggm]

Over the years I have ran several games with 8 or more players at a time. Here are a fiew tricks that will help the game keep moving.

Use the round robin initiative rule: Ie Use the groups init vs the monster init. So either the Group or the Encouter starts first then the action proceeds around the table. When I do this I usally rotate who gets to roll init so each player will get to role init ant the combat starts with the player who rolled.​

Make a rule that each player knows what his action is going to be when thier turn comes up. Have them roll all thier dice at once per attack and If they do not know their action give them a 10 count. If by the end of the 10 count the player has not stated thier pc's action, then tell that player that his pc is Dazed for that round and move on to the next player. Do not back track! The players should quickly learn to have an action ready at when it comes to their turn.​

If their action involves spell casting have the player in question have the required info ready on their turn so they do not have to fumble for books and waist time. This also goes for any spell effect of any type. If one of the casters is a summoner require that that player have all of the info on there summond monsters at hand. Ie have the player stat out their summond monsters before the game begins. Have the player run the summoned monster in most encounters. If for some reason the PC looses control of his summoned monsters, have the player hand you the relivant stat blocks and move on with the fun. This also applies to animal companions and familars.​

A tool that you as a DM can use on you side is to have all of the combats prepped befor the game starts. Have the relivant combat stats on cards infront of you. Use the format that you know and understand the best but keep the format brief. This should not be the full stat block, just a combat reference. If combats are realy bogging down Compute the average damage of each attack and use it consistantly. This way you keep the dice roling that you are doing to a min. This can speed up combat alot.​

Do not uses random encouters period!!! In a game with 8 or more players this can realy slow the game down. Plan out each encounter before it happens. This way you can still set up supprise situations and you can be prepped for each combat. If you absolulty need to have random encouters be sure to have them ready just like any other encounter. In a group this size I strongly recomend that you do not use them at all!!!​

A drastic rule that I have used before in groups of this size and larger is to ban all books at the table. Require that the players have any and all info for thier characters on their character sheets. This includes all spells, magical effects, companions, favorite combat tactics, ect... In a group of this size you are going to be limited on space any way. Keeping to books off of the table will free up space. Eliminate a distraction. Require that the players know their characters better, and it will help speed up the game. THIS also applies to the DM!!! You should know your adventure, know your NPC's and monsters, and have your combat encounters planned out on notes. This does not mean that you cannot use A Dm's Screen and A Dm's Notebook. The point of this is to have the Players and the DM preped for the game. If someone needs to crack open a book thats fine. When you do so stay focused on the required rulling, look it up, close the book and get back to the game!​

During your pre-game prep work remember that most published modules make the assumption that you are running their adventure for a balanced party of 4 characters. This is the assumed norm in D20. You are running a group that has 2 to 3 times that power and resourses. If you do not look at and adjust your encouters your party may very easly cake walk the adventure. You as the DM will have to scale the adventure to adjust for this. Some times this can be as easy as doubling the amout of creatures in the encounter. Sometimes you will have to bump up the stats on each monster. This can be done by advancing the monster, adding class levels or by adding templats. Or you could change the encounter to something simular just tougher. A tool that I use is here at this link:
http://www.enworld.org/cc/fiend_factory/elc/encounter_calculator.htm
This will allow you to put in your party size and average level to vs the number and cr of the encounter. It computes how easy or hard the encounter should be. Very usefull in scaling encounters.​

Games of this size can work and can be alot of fun. The key is PREPERATION!!!

 

[Jdvn1]

Tinner, Mishihari Lord, and Garnfellow have the right ideas compiled, I think.

And have players pre-roll everything.