D&D 5E (2014) Tips for dm'ing larger groups

[redrick]

A bunch of the players for my regular group are on vacation, so this week, we decided to invite all the friends who'd expressed curiosity about D&D to us and do an "open house." (Short 1session adventure with pregens.) The response was a little more than I expected, so we'll have 5 guests in addition to the 2 regular players.

I usually dm for groups of 4 or 5 and once of 6. I'm a little nervous about keeping a group of 7 engaged. What are things you do differently when playing with a group of that size?

I will plan on using a loose "turn" system for rp and exploration. Basically, I whip around the table and ask somebody to tell me, very broadly, what their character will do. Then I go back and resolve/narrate/follow up on the various actions individually. That helps to keep a few vocal players from leading all the role play.

Also worth adding that I like role play and exploration heavy adventures, so I won't just be running a string of combat encounters.

 

[Giltonio_Santos]

My advice for running big parties is what I call the "Dragolance approach": try to keep the percentage of warriors (and other classes that will be mostly attacking during combat encounters) at a minimum of 70%. Why I do that? In my experience, out of combat encounters provide opportunities to keep everybody engaged most of the time, as long as players want to. Combat encounters, on the other hand, can become a drag if each player takes a lot of time to act, and it's hard to keep players engaged when a lot of time will pass before they get to act again. By making sure that most player actions will be "I attack" and distributing my opponent actions so they affect the whole party, I've reached a lot of player engagement in long combat encounters with big parties. Hope that helps you.

 

[hejtmane]

I have a large group now I skip initiative roles it waste so much time and it bores the crap out of me and the players and it over values the dex stat and does not involve strategy. I use what they call a popcorn method. I pick a player to start the course of action; they can strategize amongst themselves on attack sequence. They can pass their tun to the next person then come back to them; if they take to long a monster may pop in attack. This gets rid of man I have to always wait to attack. Basically the players work out the attack squeeze each time it is their turn. This was the biggest win for me and the players loved it.

Just my suggestion for large groups I went to this method and way more engagement in battles because now they can interact on the fly and make decisions themselves.

 

[redrick]

I have a large group now I skip initiative roles it waste so much time and it bores the crap out of me and the players and it over values the dex stat and does not involve strategy. I use what they call a popcorn method. I pick a player to start the course of action; they can strategize amongst themselves on attack sequence. They can pass their tun to the next person then come back to them; if they take to long a monster may pop in attack. This gets rid of man I have to always wait to attack. Basically the players work out the attack squeeze each time it is their turn. This was the biggest win for me and the players loved it.

Just my suggestion for large groups I went to this method and way more engagement in battles because now they can interact on the fly and make decisions themselves.

Good suggestion. Personally, I like initiative (we re-roll every round), because I love random and hate strategy. That being said, I'll probably start with side initiative, and, if things feel smooth, try introducing a more granular initiative as we go. (Or not.)

Not sure that we'll have any large set-piece battles anyway, though I have a couple in my back pocket in case it needs to go that way.

 

[redrick]

My advice for running big parties is what I call the "Dragolance approach": try to keep the percentage of warriors (and other classes that will be mostly attacking during combat encounters) at a minimum of 70%. Why I do that? In my experience, out of combat encounters provide opportunities to keep everybody engaged most of the time, as long as players want to. Combat encounters, on the other hand, can become a drag if each player takes a lot of time to act, and it's hard to keep players engaged when a lot of time will pass before they get to act again. By making sure that most player actions will be "I attack" and distributing my opponent actions so they affect the whole party, I've reached a lot of player engagement in long combat encounters with big parties. Hope that helps you.

That second suggestion is very well taken. I hadn't really thought of spreading the damage around as a way of engaging multiple players, but it definitely is.

(And yes, definitely planning on pushing as many non-casters onto the new players as possible.)

The next concern is that it's hot as hell here in NY right now and I don't have an AC in the living room, but you guys probably can't help me with that.

 

[the_redbeard]

Lean on your regular players a bit. Ask them to help you, especially in helping the newbies along. That's pre-game.

I've DMed for 11, though it was for a simpler game (Castles and Crusades). I had some 7 player groups in 3.0 and regularly did 6 in 3.5.

In contrast to the 'popcorn' suggestion, I think you'd do better to _control_ the flow and make sure people, especially the newbies, don't get left out. Even in noncombat situations, go around the table, "what are you doing?", "and you". Do it quick after one player is done to move to the next. If the newbies are confused, ask them questions or give them simple (but real) choices. Let them ask questions of the veterans, but also DON'T let the veterans just tell them what to do (that's usually a fun killer, again, chat with the veterans before hand).

But it sounds great that you've got more people interested and speaks well of you as a DM and your group. If you have enough new players, consider setting up a new regular session, maybe with one of your other players as the DM.

Edit to add: if the players start to argue, take a second, explain the choices before them, and then go around the table to let each express their preference (keep it short). Then, ask one player that is closest to the consensus of the group to MAKE the decision. Back in the day, one of the players was actually "the caller" that would make decisions for the group. (And I'll repeat) Get buy in for this from the veteran players before hand. While we all love to have our say and get our way, nothing is worse than interminable arguing.

 

[the_redbeard]

That second suggestion is very well taken. I hadn't really thought of spreading the damage around as a way of engaging multiple players, but it definitely is.

(And yes, definitely planning on pushing as many non-casters onto the new players as possible.)

The next concern is that it's hot as hell here in NY right now and I don't have an AC in the living room, but you guys probably can't help me with that.

Rogues are good, people like sneaking. Make sure you've got some chances for them to fast talk and lie as well; getting away with stuff is fun.

The heat: you're absolutely right. Borrow fans, have cool drinks.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I run for a group of 8 fairly regularly. I have moved to using cards for initiative based on a recent thread here. It has been awesome. Make sure everyone gets asked what they want to do in non-combat situations, and remember to relax.

 

[Henry]

Yep, 7 is big but not too crazy - i've DMed for groups of 9 before.

1) have them roll attack and damage dice at the same time. It does save time.
2) be sure to involve everyone at the table as best you can - even if it's like the "spreading damage" suggestion.
3) this is a bit old school, but think about it - have them designate a "party caller." Be clear that he or she is NOT the leader - that person is just the person who gets it straight what each person is doing in non-combat situations so that the duty is not yours. it's amazingly better than trying to listen to 8 people at once when there's no initiative.

And Good Luck! Sounds like a lot of fun.

 

[Wik]

I DM for 6 every week. I've done larger. The worst I ever did was around 15-20, and I'll never do it again. Not fun. At that size, it's just a matter of looking at the clock and trying to find any excuse to get the hell out of dodge.

Anyways, for 6 or 7, it's not really a big deal. I'd suggest being less free-form, and keeping things in an order. Party goes into a situation, you ask everyone what they're doing - start with one guy and go clockwise, and next time, start from someone else and go counter-clockwise. Don't be a tight-butt with players that hesitate for actions, but ask everyone to keep up with pacing. If people are going slowly, ask them again to hurry up for everyone else. This usually works.

Break up your fights into larger groups. One monster isn't gonna cut it. You're better off with three ogres instead of one hill giant, for example. But that's a mechanical issue, and not a practical "how do I do this?" sort of thing. Something to think about, though - if you can split any combat up into several smaller, simultaneously running "mini combats", you'll keep players more engaged.

I like to think about team deathmatches in first person shooter computer games. It's two teams killing each other, but as a player, you only know what's going on around you, and your closest team mates. And that's where you're going to focus on when you tell your "war stories" later on. And most of the people in that same deathmatch will have had a completely different experience. If you can foster that in play a little bit, you'll keep your players more engaged.

You do this by making sure that the challenges they face have different aspects, so that the party is forced to split up while everyone's in initiative order. So one group is trying to hold a hallway against a wave of goblins, while two PCs battle an angry ogre, and a third group of PCs are trying to stop a siren from singing her song... or whatever.

Finally, use your players as free labour. Get one player keeping track of initiative. Another is in charge of monster hit points and status effects. A third is your spell looker upper. And a fourth manages all of your NPCs. Seriously, this works great.