What would you say is the max number of a party?

[mummi]

Me and my mates are playing this weekend with 8 players and on GM ofcourse. I am pretty sure that it is way to much since only 4 of us know the system pretty well and have been playing a bit the last few months. while the rest of the group have not played at all for about 6 years or so.

How big are your groups ingeneral?

[frogspawner]

Six or less, generally. More can drag. (Mind you, less can drag too, unless you're pretty strict and/or well-organized).

[rust]

As the GM I try to keep all characters active and to give each character his

moments in the spotlight, and in my experience six is the maximum number of

characters I can "juggle" and still enjoy the game.

[Claybor]

I prefer a bit tighter game, normally no more then 4 PC's. Much easier to keep under control and keep all players involved. If they are experienced with the game and mature [not refering to age ], I could see stretching that # to 6.

[Trifletraxor]

3-6 players is the range I'm willing to game, with 4-5 being the preferred numbers.

:beetle:

[Nightshade]

Are we talking characters, or just players? I don't think a player group larger than 4-8 is typically workable (and the lower end is probably better) but we used to consistently have people play two characters back in the RQ days as the risk of a character death or disablement was sufficiently high we wanted to make sure someone wasn't sitting out the game, and we found it manageable.

[pulpcitizen]

No help here, as I think it depends on a few factors, such as how well the players game together, knowledge of the rules being used, time for game sessions etc.

I have enjoyed games with as many as eight players and as few as one (solo and GM). I currently play with five (four players and GM) which works well for 3-hour once weekly games.

[Byron Alexander]

GMing myself I tend to go for:

2 players minimum (I don't run solo games).

4-6 players ideal.

8 players maximum.

So I'd say you're right at the top end of my spectrum but, tbh, I've seen GMs that struggle with more than 4 players and GMs that can handle 10 so it really is a case of personal mileage.

I don't think the rules issue will be a problem, though, as BRP rules are pretty easy to pick up imo. As long as the GM knows them well it shouldn't be an issue if the players are a bit shakey on them.

[Harshax]

During the height of our RQ3/Griffin Island campaign, we had 6 PCs, 3 or 4 NPCs (including a talking baboon), and a gaggle of mooks for muscle.

[Al.]

Wussy answer:

It depends.

On GM, Players, mix of Players, venue, system, plot, style of game for example

I like 6 as a an absolute maximum. I personally prefer 4. I've run with 8 who were prepared to share spotlight time.

But I played in a long Dragon Warriors campaign as one of 15 players. It worked fine. The plot was simple, the fights needed lots of peeps in the party and we were all (most of the time) happy to shut up and let one person talk at a time.

Al

[Arch0n]

I work for a game company so when word of an RPG campaign gets out, everybody wants in. I haven't run a game with a group of less than 6 in years. Groups of 13-15 have been not uncommon for me. My current group is 7, and I have people bitter they didn't get invited. :-\

[soltakss]

Our current game has 4 people - 3 players and a GM.

I wouldn't want a campaign with less than that.

I have played in games with 8 or 9 players and they were long and cumbersome.

3-6 players works best for me, with each player playing 1 PC at a time.

If you have more than one PC per player simultaneously in a session you get bogged down in numbers and in players getting confused about who they are playing at that moment.

[Shiba Homer]

1 guy, plenty of chicks.

[RMS]

I prefer small groups. My two most successful RQ campaigns have had 3 (regular) players and the last one ended up moving down to just 2. Both worked great. I even run games for one player and had tons of fun. The 2 player game was after characters were fairly powerful and had followers, etc. so worked out very well with each player handling 5 characters mechanically (between allied spirits, companions, associated spirits, etc.).

I never was successful in putting together the "ideal" D&D groups with 6 regular players and when I've had that number it's always bogged down for me. I do think games like BRP lend themselves to jack of trades characters, so there's no missing niches missing in a campaign with a small number of characters, unlike D&D where you really need X number of characters to even be viable.

[cjbowser]

I prefer a group of 4-6 players for BRP. The lowest I've had is 2 players plus a GM, and while it worked, I had to be very cognizant of the challenges I was throwing at them. One small misstep and everybody was gone...

As for the largest group, I have a 12 player con game I run. The game scales well from 2-12, but is at its best when there are 12 players, each playing a different member of a SWAT team sent to investigate a mysterious office complex.

[NickMiddleton]

No smaller than 2, but ideal minimum is 3 - there needs to be a couple of players for interactiosn between them to be rewarding. No bigger than 6, and ideally not more than 5, as it becoames increasingly hard for either the GM to giove enough time to each player, and for each player to get as involved as they'd like.

I've seen peopel run extended games with A lot more players than that - but funilly enough, the actual number of players in the room engaged withthe GM and game never got above 6...

Cheers,

Nick

[ORtrail]

I always found that four players and a GM was just right, though five players usually worked fine. More players than five and someone is going to get lost in the shuffle or never really have a chance to shine during the game.

[Kloster]

My personal preference goest to 5-6 players.

Our current RQ3 campaign has currently 10 players, but most sessions have only around 6 players, as age and family considerations are taking their toll.

Runequestement votre,

Kloster

[sdavies2720]

I'm having trouble engaging / answering this question. If it's a new GM, they should try to have around 3 players -- enough for player and character interaction and capability without getting too bogged down.

If the GM has run before, they should know roughly how many they can handle and how many players they like to handle.

If the question is about BRP versus other systems, that's more a more specific question (and more interesting).

Steve

[Agentorange]

Generally 3 to 6 players. If at the lower end then two characters each as it's very easy to die in RQ/BRP games. If you've got 5 to 6 players then one character each and hope for the best

[Atgxtg]

Like others have said, it depends on the GM, game, genre, players, and how focused everyone is. The more the group focuses on characters, and roleplaying the smaller the group should be.

Overall, I think 3-4 PCs is probably the optimum amount for an RPG, if the players are actually roleplaying. If they are just rolling dice and killing things, 6 is better.

A GM can kind of cheat on this a little if the PCs pair off somewhat. THen the GM can kinda treat each team as a PC to interact with.

THe main difficulties are keeping everyone occupied while still giving special attrention to characters when needed, and dealing with the effects of "crosstalk" as those who have nothing to due usually socialize with each other. Crosstalk can be fine in, say, a generic fantasy setting, but can really kill the mood if the GM is running a horror adventure. But then, large groups just don't work well in that genre.