Collectively, our group of gamers seems to like it large. What I am speaking of is party size.
Historically I have not had an issue with large gaming groups. I now consider it the norm. The Tuesday game originally started over 20 years ago with 10 players and a GM. I have always had a problem turning people away. There is a social aspect to the game that cannot be denied. We get together to socialize and to have fun. Not being able to participate is not fun. I have also found that group size tends to fluctuate. Sometimes we have what seems like too few players and other times we have what seems like too many.
There are certain pitfalls that come with a large group of gamers. At the top of my list is keeping everyone’s attention. I have found that this is very difficult. When it is not their turn to act, players can tend to zone out, get distracted and talk amongst themselves. Players that are not fully engaged need to be prompted and reminded constantly. This slows down game play which in turn feeds the situation which allows the players to be distracted in the first place. Phones, laptops and various reindeer games compound the problem.
With party sized being so large, I have recently noticed that the combat map seems to be getting clogged. With so many characters on the board it gets harder and harder for PCs and NPCs to maneuver. Size and physical features of the encounter area are proving very restricting. This seems to lead to longer actions and in turn longer combats. Sometimes players are left with no action other than waiting for an opportunity to act when a space opens up. This is acceptable upon occasion but it seems like it is becoming more the norm rather than the exception.Using my current Pathfinder games as examples:
- Tuesday – 7 players
- Saturday - 8 players, 1 follower and 2 pets
- Sunday – 5 players, 2 followers, 2 pets and many summoned monsters
- Play-By-Blog – 6 players and 2 pets
I think that larger groups may function better at lower power levels. Fewer options means faster player turns. Faster player turns means faster combat rounds. The whole game speeds up. I think that is why Pathfinder Society games can be run in so short a time period. There is a hard cap on the number of players and the characters and NPCs are less powerful and more vulnerable.
I have been looking from this from the GM perspective. Maybe the players are seeing it differently.
A bit on my gaming history. I come from a slightly different gaming background where small groups were the norm, and game boards were rarely (if ever) used. 2 players and a GM, or 3 players on a good night. I think our group maxxed out at 4 one time; when a player left, we didn't seek to replace them. It was a tad chaotic at 4, and distraction was a problem. We overcame it (somewhat) with discipline. Be ready, have a plan, or you're gonna get heckled. 3 people shouting "GO!" at the top of their lungs can make an impression (not that I'm recommending specifically that with this group) :) Perhaps an "on deck" token- when you have it, you should be planning your move and be ready to execute.
ReplyDeleteTo the extent that the problem couldn't be 'fixed' we came to an agreement that we were there to hang out and have fun, not to finish the game. If you bring friends over to paint a room, the room needs to be painted at the end of the night. That's not always the case with RPGs, though its nice when it happens.
As for board crowding, my only proposed solution is one that's not really fair to the players who earned the extra NPCs they're playing. The GM needs to look at an adventure path and say "Hey, there's only room for X number of characters on this path, how are we going to make this happen? Either the NPCs go, or Brad goes. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, I run out the door sobbing. :)
All kidding aside, some maps may NEED constraints to provide structure. I'm actually a bit surprised to find out that isn't something that these adventure paths suggest (the total party should not exceed X characters, or have creatures with size over X) I realize I say that as a character with nothing to lose, so take it with a grain of salt.
Allright, I used up my word limit on the internet today. I hope I didn't offend anyone with my suggestions, I'm just throwing my opinions out there in the name of peace, prosperity, and great justice.
No offense taken. This is just a place to discuss topics.
ReplyDeletePathfinder adventures assume a party of 4 characters. I realize that the party sizes we play with are considerably bigger than that. I have been occasionally making some modifications to maps but I do not wish to expand maps to a ridiculous proportions.
We do an on deck countdown now but an actual physical object might help.
I find Brad's post immensely offensive and nazi-like in nature. I move that we should poison his condom. Or make him eat candy corn.
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing Christian go to town last Sunday game, I'm probably going to ban most players from playing a summoner in my game.
ReplyDeleteI think PF/D&D was really designed for 5 players (DM+4 BMFG). And by "5 players" I mean "4 characters and whatever the GM puts on the board."
The gamers I play with are too scatterbrained even to make an On Deck token work. Even if there's only 4 of us.
KGB...
ReplyDelete