I’m planning on running a game for some of my coworkers and it ended up generating a lot more interest than I expected. I was wondering how difficult it would be to run a game with more than 5 players? The recommended number of players for a game according to the book is 4-6 but I have 8 people interested. Does anyone have any experience running a game this big? I don’t like turning people down from playing but I’m afraid I might have to as this is my first time running the game, and a crew that big may become unwieldy. Thoughts?
I’m planning on running a game for some of my coworkers and it ended up generating a lot more interest than I…
I’m planning on running a game for some of my coworkers and it ended up generating a lot more interest than I…
is there something preventing you from running more than one game?
My very first experience role-playing was as a player in open D&D table that averaged 8 players… and miraculously I stuck with the hobby anyway!
I’m in a game that has a larger crew (number of players), but only some attend any given session. So we keep sessions to 4-6 players, but there are more like 8 people who have characters, and that works out okay. I agree that 8 people seems like too large a crew for any given session.
The only thing you have to be more careful about with this style is making sure that you should make sure to have the break between sessions line up with the free play between the Downtime after one job and the start of the next Job.
First thought: split into two groups! You might run both games, or just one if there’s a set of potential players who have some RPG experience.
Second thought: assuming your coworkers are newbies, play a slightly more simple game to give them some insight into what roleplaying games are like! Someone posted a Blades hack of World of Dungeons a while back – that’d be a good way to introduce everyone to both Blades and RPGs generally.
Third thought: be prepared to move the spotlight frequently, and to throw out more obstacles and complications to handle the hugely increased shared stress pool of the players.
I’ve run for groups of 7-8 fairly often. It does work, but in a given session some people will miss out on spotlight time. This is ok, but it does require you to be on the ball to keep things moving. Don’t let people dither, keep rotating amongst players so everyone gets to do something, and consider a rotating cast after the first session. The only mechanical issue is the coin rewards for missions should be rebalanced for a larger group. That said, it might not be ideal (no rpg is with 8), but it works and can be lots of fun.
The main reason I can’t split into multiple groups is I just don’t have the time. But if I did, I totally would. The group is made up of people with tabletop experience, so I’m not too worried about that. My main worry is that group cohesion and ease of play might suffer from having so many people and in my mind I’ve always thought that heists/scores should involve a slight smaller crew? If that’s not the case, then I’d like to know more about the best ways to handle that large of a group.
What ended up happening for me is that there would be 2-3 simultaneous threads going on at a given time. It wouldn’t just be breaking into a mansion, it would be breaking into a mansion while there was a fancy ball with nobles dueling. It wasn’t just attacking the Red Sashes, it was attacking the sword school after having cut a deal with with Strangeford for his men with some characters pulling his job, some ambushing the Red Sashes leadership, and some leading the assault. That sort of thing. Split the party.
So first off, playing with over 6 players is totally doable, but the game will need some minor tweaks for it to work well and you’ll have to be on the ball to have everyone have some time in the spotlight.
So first change: add a couple of hours to your usual sessions. This way, you have more time to share the spotlight around on a score.
Second change: double up on consequences. The reason for this is that your group will have twice as much stress to resist with. So instead of a single consequence on a failed or partial roll, give out 2 and ask if they want to resist one, both, or none. This lets them burn more stress so that they’re not invincible.
Normal Game Example:
Bill: OK I wanna shoot the guy!
~Rolls a 5~
GM: You do it, but not before he gets a shot off himself. Take level 2 harm.
Bill: I’ll resist that.
~Rolls Prowess~
Extra Large Game Example:
Bill: OK I wanna shoot the guy!
~Rolls a 5~
GM: You do it, but not before he gets a shot in of his own. Take level 2 harm as a bullet tips through your shoulder. The loud bang has alerted some nearby bluecoats, you hear their whistles being blown as they come for you.
Bill: I’ll resist that.
GM: Hold on, this is 2 consequences. Do you wish to resist both, one or none?
Bill: I’ll resist the harm. The bluecoats can come get me if they can!
Tim: I’ll deal with the coats then. I’ll use the Protect teamwork action and resist that for Bill.
Bill: Oh sweat! Thanks man!
And so on…