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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 5287639" data-attributes="member: 177">My first thought is that there's a logic error above:&nbsp; roles are specializations.In my own experience, the game actually doesn't have much to do with party size.&nbsp; The upper bound is set by how well and quickly the GM can keep different balls in the air.&nbsp; Most GMs (again, IME) seem to prefer working with six or fewer.&nbsp; The ideal lower bound is a bit musher, and seems to me to be more about how many interesting interactions you have.&nbsp; One GM can play the roles of a bazillion NPCs, but he or she can't handle most of them in great detail - they are usually more like character sketches, with depth reserved for a few key NPCs.&nbsp; The PCs, however, each have an entire person dedicated to rendering them in full detail, so usually if you want good rich and interesting interactions, the other players are where you want to look.&nbsp; So, think about this as you would a TV show - how many main characters do you usually want to have?&nbsp; Three to five?&nbsp; More and you're starting to talk about an &quot;ensemble&quot; cast...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 5287639, member: 177"] My first thought is that there's a logic error above: roles are specializations. In my own experience, the game actually doesn't have much to do with party size. The upper bound is set by how well and quickly the GM can keep different balls in the air. Most GMs (again, IME) seem to prefer working with six or fewer. The ideal lower bound is a bit musher, and seems to me to be more about how many interesting interactions you have. One GM can play the roles of a bazillion NPCs, but he or she can't handle most of them in great detail - they are usually more like character sketches, with depth reserved for a few key NPCs. The PCs, however, each have an entire person dedicated to rendering them in full detail, so usually if you want good rich and interesting interactions, the other players are where you want to look. So, think about this as you would a TV show - how many main characters do you usually want to have? Three to five? More and you're starting to talk about an "ensemble" cast... [/QUOTE]

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