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<blockquote data-quote="Burnside" data-source="post: 8020847" data-attributes="member: 6910340">I just finished a Lost Mine of Phandelver campaign with 7 players last night and will be taking them through Curse of Strahd next. It's not ideal (I actually prefer 3-4 players) but it's not THAT bad.&nbsp; I normally would not want to run big groups, but so many people are desperate to play during the pandemic and I don't want to turn people away (I do cap at 7, though). The two main things I've learned:1. Combat has to have a timer or it will take forever. I try not to be a fascist, but if a player takes more than 20 seconds to decide what they are doing on their turn, I then start a 30 second timer which always gets them to pick up the pace.2. Absolutely make an effort to include hooks and opportunities for every player, but also recognize that with 7 players, depending on the length of the session, it's quite possible that not every player will get a standout moment in every session (just try not to let that happen to a player for two sessions in a row).3. Allow the players to solve some of the pacing and focus issues themselves. If you can tolerate a rough session or two, the players will learn from themselves that analysis paralysis will grind a session to a halt. As a DM, I can become impatient when players spend 45 minutes or an hour trying to plan something, because I know that whatever complex plan the players come up with won't survive first contact. Planning and decision making can be even more tortuous for a larger group. But most players will notice this is, and in the long run the dynamic will be more successful if you let the players solve it rather than imposing a &quot;solution&quot; on them.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Burnside, post: 8020847, member: 6910340"] I just finished a Lost Mine of Phandelver campaign with 7 players last night and will be taking them through Curse of Strahd next. It's not ideal (I actually prefer 3-4 players) but it's not THAT bad. I normally would not want to run big groups, but so many people are desperate to play during the pandemic and I don't want to turn people away (I do cap at 7, though). The two main things I've learned: 1. Combat has to have a timer or it will take forever. I try not to be a fascist, but if a player takes more than 20 seconds to decide what they are doing on their turn, I then start a 30 second timer which always gets them to pick up the pace. 2. Absolutely make an effort to include hooks and opportunities for every player, but also recognize that with 7 players, depending on the length of the session, it's quite possible that not every player will get a standout moment in every session (just try not to let that happen to a player for two sessions in a row). 3. Allow the players to solve some of the pacing and focus issues themselves. If you can tolerate a rough session or two, the players will learn from themselves that analysis paralysis will grind a session to a halt. As a DM, I can become impatient when players spend 45 minutes or an hour trying to plan something, because I know that whatever complex plan the players come up with won't survive first contact. Planning and decision making can be even more tortuous for a larger group. But most players will notice this is, and in the long run the dynamic will be more successful if you let the players solve it rather than imposing a "solution" on them. [/QUOTE]

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