What size groups are you most comfortable DMing for?

[maddman75]

4 is about right, but I'll roll with 3 or 5. Even with three, I feel that there's not enough interplay between characters and with 5 I feel like I'm always shorting someone of spotlight time.

 

[ivocaliban]

I fall towards the shallow end of the pool having spent most of my time (about 15 years) DMing for a single player. In fact, I've never ran a game with more than than three players so I find the average group (assuming 4) a bit intimidating.

 

[pogre]

I like 5 to 8 players at the table. Ideal is probably 6 for me. I'm not comfortable with 3 or fewer players - way too easy to TPK

 

[jdrakeh]

3 or 4 is my ideal. As few as one is acceptable for short-term engagements. More than 4 gets a bit crazy for me, as my free time is already stretched very thin as it is.

 

[Gold Roger]

4 is about right, but I'll roll with 3 or 5. Even with three, I feel that there's not enough interplay between characters and with 5 I feel like I'm always shorting someone of spotlight time.

So far I've always seen a rising amount of interplay between character going hand in hand with a falling amount of players.

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

7-8 players plus henchmen is about right for me.

 

[Flynn]

I have run for as little as two players, and for as many as sixteen players, but my preference is the 4-6 range.

With Regards,
Flynn

 

[the Jester]

Any size, but I prefer 5-8.

I vastly prefer 3 or more pcs, so I voted 3 to 12.

 

[maddman75]

So far I've always seen a rising amount of interplay between character going hand in hand with a falling amount of players.

What I mean by that is they reach a consensus faster, not as many people to argue and discuss and so forth, so they go through the plot faster and faster. The more people you have, the slower your game will go.

 

[takasi]

I have run Meetup hackfests for more than 12 people (running Savage Tide). In fact, I personally like doing it. But it's not the same experience at all. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

If you go into a game with 12 people expecting the same experience as a game with 4-6, you're going to be very disappointed. You have to go into it expecting a lot of out of game chatter, introducing yourself to other people and making general hobby small talk while observing the battle that unfolds. You have to expect and enjoy a wargame atmosphere. Would I give it up for a 4-6 player table? Absolutely not. But do I feel uncomfortable running it? Absolutely not.