Has anyone tried to play this game with a large group? (6+ players + GM) I feel it lends itself very well to that, since the game generally plays pretty fast, and the party can split up because of that.
Has anyone tried to play this game with a large group?
Has anyone tried to play this game with a large group?
It plays best with 4 players or less. I’ve been in a 5 player group that was still fine.
Every game plays best with 3 or 4 players in my experience 😉
I ask because I’m going to run a game on my birthday, and I could probably easily go for 7 or 8 players. I just wondered if there’d be anything I should consider. Or maybe just play a gigantic game of Microscope instead 😉
I tried with 7 players, and I’ve felt that the game suffers a bit, for the obvious reason that each player has less airtime.
Players who are inexperienced and shy are the most harmed. I had a inexperienced player with a very inquisitive attitude, and she was fine, but another one was pretty much just watching (she made 2 moves, and all in response to threats she couldn’t ignore).
Played in a group of six characters, and while flow is sort of fine, be aware that it can overload the GM having to jump from scene to scene, and as you get more players, there’s an increased chance of collisions as players try to interject themselves into the narrative at the same dramatic opportunity.
I’ve played it with 7 players, and though it was fun it was quite difficult to keep everyone invested. The group was split up many times that day!
5-7 is a sweet spot to be sure.
Josh Mannon “Sweet spot”? Really? I didn’t expect anyone to say that 🙂
It is the size I prefer to run at.
So, what are your experiences with that? How does it impact the game?
It moves things along quicker and with better focus, that many bonds in play gives excellent reasons for everyone to move together.
I think it depends on the scope and theme of the game.
For me, a “simple” dungeon crawl works fine to up to 6 players. 7 players is starting to push it.
For a continuous campaign I prefer 4 to 5 players, everybody can participate enough to feel meaningful to the story.
3 players is sub-optimal for me, there aren’t enough ideas flowing around, but it’s still acceptable.
I’ve played apocalypse world for several months with a group of 6 players and it was cool, but now that I’m playing Dw I’mt trying to stick with 3 or 4 players (at most).
I feel that Dw runs better with fewer players, while In a Aw for me a large group means more fuel for the game.
But maybe it’s just a matter of perception.