A Time to Harvest - Reccomended Playgroup size?

[Kyrral]

Fairly new to the Cult, and looking to ultimately run A Time to Harvest for my group within the next few weeks, but despite best efforts I cannot seem to find a recommended player count mentioned at all. I have at least three players that are onboard for an extensive campaign such as this, but worry I may need a fourth. 

How many players did you have? Do you feel it was too many or too little?

[morganhua]

I started with 6 (5 new to CoC 7th),went down to 4 (lost two players permanently by end of Ep 2), and I'm at 5 now (added one new veteran CoC player Ep 3).  But due to random life issues and scheduling, I generally get 4 to 5 players showing up.

I think the sweet spot is 4 consistent players.  If there are no shows, then you'll need to add extra players to fill the roster.

[mvincent]

21 hours ago, Kyrral said:

How many players did you have? Do you feel it was too many or too little?

Balance is not a big consideration in CoC, so group dynamics and play-time is more of a factor. I do not recommend going above 5 players in CoC (including Harvest), even for experienced GM's. For newer GM's I recommend starting with 3 players and working up to 4 (which is often where each player will get the most enjoyment).

 

[Kyrral]

Having not finished going through all of harvest yet, my concern was that there may be parts next to impossible without a bodycount, and I try not to saturate the investigative party with NPCs. The Edge of Darkness, for example, calls for at least four for a reasonable chance at completing the ritual, but it could fairly easily be altered to support less now that I'm thinking about it.

I have three players on-board. I have about 6 players in my "pool" of players, but only three that I think will take serious enough to commit to a campaign like this. I think ultimately I'm going to run with those three plus whoever can make it, then add and remove characters as needed. That way if nothing else, I have a strong core group. Thanks for the advice.

[morganhua]

Number of people needed for a specific ritual is not required in aTtH.  But some of the episodes are potentially deadly and the more PCs the better for some PC survival and continuity.