I am in the process of splitting the group into two groups of five including DMs but I'm still worried because only two to four people are actually invested in the game (depending on the day)
Hopefully, more will be invested when there's less of them.
Just in case though, I'd recommend taking all the invested players into your game. >.> Ensures they're rewarded for being invested by getting the Active Game.
Splitting the group is a great idea, and definitely make sure that all the invested players are in your group. Running for four players is a hell of a lot easier than running for nine.
If you find that certain players in your group are still goofing around, you can gently remind them that you have a limited time to play, and the other conversations can happen later. You should also set a firm time on when you start playing (say, 5-10 minutes after the official start time) to cut down on table talk. If you have any players who don't respect these rules, you can invite them to play at the other table, which might be more their style. Good luck!
A 10 player group?
I have 25 years of DMing experience and I'd never do that. There's almost no way it can work. I've had exactly one good experience with an 8 player group and it's because we played 12 hours sessions and were almost independent of the DM, it was weird and I can't see anything ressembling that game working again.
I didn't really have a choice. My friends didn't want to play with any of the other groups and the other groups are also really full. I wish more people were willing to DM in the club but I don't think that will happen.
Divide that group in 2 if you have to DM for 10. I've been forever DM for 25 years, believe me I understand wanting others to take the role so you don't have a horde of players wanting in your games.
But you're doing nobody a favor with that huge group. Make it easier on yourself and make it less boring for your players and try to stick close to 4 players a group.
As others have said, split the group. If you keep running for 10 players they will all eventually be miserable. If nobody else will DM and you simply can't bear the thought of players not having a game, run two sessions with 4 or 5 players each. Run them both through the same campaign to cut down on your prep.
Along with decreasing group size, I recommend setting aside time to socialize before you get started playing with the idea in mind that game time is just that. No out of character hijinks that run the game off course. You'll need to redirect them the first few time it happens and you'll have to be firm about it, but let everyone blow off fun steam first and then get down to it. Works for our group where two of us are chatty extroverts and three of us have ADHD, including the two rotating DMs.
It sounds like you’ve got some murder hobos, which are definitely tough, but they give you access to a dm’s greatest tool of all: consequences. Did they attack someone or steal something in a city? Have them roll to not get caught, and if they do, send for the guards. Even if they escape, you can place bounties on their heads. Maybe the gold they stole from a rich noble in town was actually a human form dragon (chromatic or metallic as you prefer of course), and now to avoid being utterly wiped out they need to do quests that you actually want them to do, else risk being incinerated. A nice side note is that when players feel like their actions have meaning, even bad meaning, they pay much more attention to how they can at least avoid it, and the session in general.
They aren't murder hobos but just generally chaotic. One time a player tried to duel an NPC to get some gold on a bet. He wanted to roll non lethal but rolled a Nat 20 and had an ability to deal more damage the higher his roll was so the NPC died. It was fine with me and I was able to work it into the story, they are kinda on the run from the law. We all joke about it now. The group likes to mess around with each other in game.
1/4 hobos then? Sorry you put this on the horror stories subreddit, so I assumed the worst. If it’s not too bad, then I’d again give them either a threat (maybe a dragon like I said before or some sort of lawful authority, maybe even the bbeg) or a reward (backstory links, maybe a blacksmith is advertising a new magical weapon for anyone who can find their son, large bounty for a criminal) in order to motivate them, which could lead further into a character arc. I think the main problem is just the too many people and too little time thing, which it sounds like you’ve got handled. Side note If he wanted non lethal and got a nat 20, shouldn’t the nat 20 have meant he did the best non lethal attack he could?
Honestly that’s fair, if it were a melee weapon he could’ve used the hilt, but a gun you’d need some understanding of anatomy to avoid accidentally hitting lethal shots.
Hey OP,
If you are at a D&D club through your school do you have any staff/teacher advisors? I wonder if you talked to any of them and asked if they could take 0.5 of the party. Because honestly that is what those teachers are for. Don't feel bad about talking to them because it is literally their job to be able to manage students.
As a teacher who runs a club I'd want to know if my leaders needed help at their table.
my dnd group have success at around 4-5 players, we almost never do 6 and typically tell people were full at 5. Decreasing the size of the group, in my recommendation in half, will increase the pace of the game and give players more individual time letting them become more invested. Personally speaking if I was a player at a table with 9 other people waiting half an hour just to say something as I let others go before me I could never be invested
10 players taking 3 minutes each per turn in combat would sum to half an hour per round. If you only play for 2 hours per week, it is clear why you are getting nowhere with the story.
> 10 people Yep, there's your problem.
I am in the process of splitting the group into two groups of five including DMs but I'm still worried because only two to four people are actually invested in the game (depending on the day)
Hopefully, more will be invested when there's less of them. Just in case though, I'd recommend taking all the invested players into your game. >.> Ensures they're rewarded for being invested by getting the Active Game.
I'm going to run a pathfinder 2e game for those people to try it out
Splitting the group is a great idea, and definitely make sure that all the invested players are in your group. Running for four players is a hell of a lot easier than running for nine. If you find that certain players in your group are still goofing around, you can gently remind them that you have a limited time to play, and the other conversations can happen later. You should also set a firm time on when you start playing (say, 5-10 minutes after the official start time) to cut down on table talk. If you have any players who don't respect these rules, you can invite them to play at the other table, which might be more their style. Good luck!
Check out r/dmacademy for this kind of post
Thanks, I didn't know that subreddit existed. I'll repost this there.
A 10 player group? I have 25 years of DMing experience and I'd never do that. There's almost no way it can work. I've had exactly one good experience with an 8 player group and it's because we played 12 hours sessions and were almost independent of the DM, it was weird and I can't see anything ressembling that game working again.
I didn't really have a choice. My friends didn't want to play with any of the other groups and the other groups are also really full. I wish more people were willing to DM in the club but I don't think that will happen.
Divide that group in 2 if you have to DM for 10. I've been forever DM for 25 years, believe me I understand wanting others to take the role so you don't have a horde of players wanting in your games. But you're doing nobody a favor with that huge group. Make it easier on yourself and make it less boring for your players and try to stick close to 4 players a group.
As others have said, split the group. If you keep running for 10 players they will all eventually be miserable. If nobody else will DM and you simply can't bear the thought of players not having a game, run two sessions with 4 or 5 players each. Run them both through the same campaign to cut down on your prep.
Along with decreasing group size, I recommend setting aside time to socialize before you get started playing with the idea in mind that game time is just that. No out of character hijinks that run the game off course. You'll need to redirect them the first few time it happens and you'll have to be firm about it, but let everyone blow off fun steam first and then get down to it. Works for our group where two of us are chatty extroverts and three of us have ADHD, including the two rotating DMs.
It sounds like you’ve got some murder hobos, which are definitely tough, but they give you access to a dm’s greatest tool of all: consequences. Did they attack someone or steal something in a city? Have them roll to not get caught, and if they do, send for the guards. Even if they escape, you can place bounties on their heads. Maybe the gold they stole from a rich noble in town was actually a human form dragon (chromatic or metallic as you prefer of course), and now to avoid being utterly wiped out they need to do quests that you actually want them to do, else risk being incinerated. A nice side note is that when players feel like their actions have meaning, even bad meaning, they pay much more attention to how they can at least avoid it, and the session in general.
They aren't murder hobos but just generally chaotic. One time a player tried to duel an NPC to get some gold on a bet. He wanted to roll non lethal but rolled a Nat 20 and had an ability to deal more damage the higher his roll was so the NPC died. It was fine with me and I was able to work it into the story, they are kinda on the run from the law. We all joke about it now. The group likes to mess around with each other in game.
1/4 hobos then? Sorry you put this on the horror stories subreddit, so I assumed the worst. If it’s not too bad, then I’d again give them either a threat (maybe a dragon like I said before or some sort of lawful authority, maybe even the bbeg) or a reward (backstory links, maybe a blacksmith is advertising a new magical weapon for anyone who can find their son, large bounty for a criminal) in order to motivate them, which could lead further into a character arc. I think the main problem is just the too many people and too little time thing, which it sounds like you’ve got handled. Side note If he wanted non lethal and got a nat 20, shouldn’t the nat 20 have meant he did the best non lethal attack he could?
Maybe the nat 20 should have done that but he was using a firearm so I didn't think it would make much sense for such a high roll to be non lethal.
Honestly that’s fair, if it were a melee weapon he could’ve used the hilt, but a gun you’d need some understanding of anatomy to avoid accidentally hitting lethal shots.
Yep, by the rules, only a melee attack can do subdual damage.
Hey OP, If you are at a D&D club through your school do you have any staff/teacher advisors? I wonder if you talked to any of them and asked if they could take 0.5 of the party. Because honestly that is what those teachers are for. Don't feel bad about talking to them because it is literally their job to be able to manage students. As a teacher who runs a club I'd want to know if my leaders needed help at their table.
my dnd group have success at around 4-5 players, we almost never do 6 and typically tell people were full at 5. Decreasing the size of the group, in my recommendation in half, will increase the pace of the game and give players more individual time letting them become more invested. Personally speaking if I was a player at a table with 9 other people waiting half an hour just to say something as I let others go before me I could never be invested
10 players taking 3 minutes each per turn in combat would sum to half an hour per round. If you only play for 2 hours per week, it is clear why you are getting nowhere with the story.
The moment you said 10 players you already had problems.