What is the typical party size in practice?

[Lord Zardoz]

4th Edition assumed a baseline of 5 players + DM at the table, and all adventures and encounters were balanced accordingly. Assuming the DM made appropriate adjustments to the encounters for the number of players that actually showed up, this worked ok.

I m wondering though what the actual party size in practice is for most peoples games. I have a pool of 5 players available, but I run with a 'rule of 3'.

If I can get 3 players to commit to show up, game on. The absent players are just absent and no in game acknowledgement beyond the crudest joke I can come up with to account for the absence is made. I adapt to the number of players at the table.

Most of my games run with 3 or 4 players present, and each player runs only one character.

What about the rest of you? Do you think 5th Edition should assume a 5 PC baseline?

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Thalionalfirin]

Throughout the various editions, I've played in sessions which had anywhere from 1 to 25 players.

(The 25 was at a convention with two opposing teams going through a dungeon).

I am hoping the new edition can accomodate any number of players.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I have had a group of 3 players and a DM for some time. It's a great size.

I ran with two players for a while but it wasn't as good. I had up to ten once and it was chaotic and unfocused.

So I think 3 is great. So many dramas are based around the idea of three. Four is nice; you can cover all the classic archetypes if you want. Five is probably workable. Anything larger than that is a large group, playable perhaps but not the "typical" group. I think in terms of 3-5 players. Given the history, assuming 4 makes the most sense to me.

 

[Aramax]

Throughout the various editions, I've played in sessions which had anywhere from 1 to 25 players.

(The 25 was at a convention with two opposing teams going through a dungeon).

I am hoping the new edition can accomodate any number of players.

I ran a 20 player Call of Cthulu game that was so intense when players died they layed down in the 'airplane'some as long as 1 hour and a half.
but in my regular game I run 3-4 and have become quite accustomed to it.

 

[SKyOdin]

I think most of the campaigns I have played in have had four to six players plus the DM, usually leaning on the upper end of that range. I have tried a one-on-one campaign a couple times, though.

 

[GM Dave]

I game PF regularly with 8 or 9 players and as many as 11 plus a GM.

It takes some doing even if the group is at 8 to keep them going on target and sharing the spot light.

Still, it is good as the more experienced players help the newer players or the players who only want to roll a d20 and not really bother learning the rules in detail.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Like you, three was my minimum. We usually had 4-5, though 6 was my preferred number. I refuse to DM for more than 8 -- too hard to keep everyone engaged with a larger group.

 

[Roland55]

Outside of a special gathering, I don't believe I've ever run or seen run any session with more than 9 players. The average for me has been 4 players.

I don't expect that I'm typical.

 

[howandwhy99]

42 was my vote. But you'd need at least 2 DMs or it would almost certainly get out of hand.

I'd say 12 is right where it really starts to hum and shine.

 

[Crothian]

In our Pathfinder game we have 4 Players with one character each.

In our 1e D&D game we have 4 players, but they have 7 characters total.