Whats the biggest group you've DMed for?

[S'mon]

Most I've GM'd for at once was I think 17, at Gencon UK 2002. Started with 14 but some more arrived.

 

[tx7321]

Q: "11 people, but just once...man, 30 people?!?!?!"

Yep, the good ol' D&D club. When they first announced the club we figured there'd be at most 10 people show up...nope (and after I left the group surged to 50 members and had 3 tables going at once, all in a school with only 350 students). The thing about running this group was that you couldn't mess around with any NPC (in game) talking, and assigned callers were a must (it would be impossible to deal with that many people talking at once). Also, the other biggy was the time it took to deal with battles (just passing the dice). So, it probably was a pretty crappy experiance for the newer players not getting to experiance what the game was all about.

 

[philreed]

12.

 

[rossik]

Q: "11 people, but just once...man, 30 people?!?!?!"

Yep, the good ol' D&D club. When they first announced the club we figured there'd be at most 10 people show up...nope (and after I left the group surged to 50 members and had 3 tables going at once, all in a school with only 350 students). The thing about running this group was that you couldn't mess around with any NPC (in game) talking, and assigned callers were a must (it would be impossible to deal with that many people talking at once). Also, the other biggy was the time it took to deal with battles (just passing the dice). So, it probably was a pretty crappy experiance for the newer players not getting to experiance what the game was all about.

yeah, i was wondering about the talking and fighting problem...
with 11 people, i had the same problem, only that i didnt assign anyone to talk or anything.
a total mess!

still, nobody died..eheheh

 

[diaglo]

i helped found a group in school. we had 40+ members. there were 3 other referees.

most i ran at one time was 14 at my house.

 

[Shieldhaven]

10, in a decidedly bloated (but still fun) 2e campaign. 10 in the first session, after which several dropped out due to incompatible personalities. Then a few other people started joining up, and a few more, and suddenly I was back up to a completely different set of 10. Several were highly unreliable, though, which was effectively to my benefit.

Haven

 

[Ant]

9 regularly for about a year and a half. A lot of fun and a lot of work!

 

[Zander]

Most I've GM'd for at once was I think 17, at Gencon UK 2002. Started with 14 but some more arrived.

I was in that game! You did a great job, the moreso considering the numbers involved. I think it was a lot higher than 17 BTW. Between goes, I had enough time to leave the con, go to the pizzeria across the street, order a pizza, bring it back, eat it - and still have time to spare.

 

[Crothian]

16 back in college

 

[tx7321]

yeah, i was wondering about the talking and fighting problem...
with 11 people, i had the same problem, only that i didnt assign anyone to talk or anything.
a total mess!

still, nobody died..eheheh

Well, I did cut their number down to 6 PDQ. It was interesting to see all the things people attempted to do in their first battle (against a bunch of goblins and wolves). The funny thing was that it really did pan out that the experianced players were the ones that made it...even with nuetral DMing. The biggest game I played in as a PC was 12. It was a bunch of guys from different groups getting together at one guys house (a giant dining room table). Each player rolled up their PC in private. As it turned out 10 of the 12 (including me) were either pure or part assassin (thinking themselves the only one in the group). The other 2 PCs were a NG halfling thief and an illusionist. We had no fighters and got chewed up quickly. So another pathetic experiance.

After years of playing 1E I think the perfect number is 5 players 1 DM.