CrazyCrab
2016-04-18, 07:37 PM
Hi everyone,
tl;dr I have a tendency to write overly long passages. To summarize it, I'm looking for tips on running an open (people coming and going) and huge (8+ players, one DM) game. I'm pretty good at the 1st thing, bad at the big game thing.
I recently started a new campaign (this week is going to be the 5th session) and while at first I was happy with the number of players (4-6, the usual stuff) the last two weeks have been really tough to DM as we end up with 8+ players.
Why, you may ask. Well, I am DMing for a 'Meetup', the London Dungeons and Dragons meetup, which means that our Saturday games are open - everyone should be able to drop by say hi and play. While I do have a lot of regulars (6+) I also often end up with complete newbies who have never played at the table or, sometimes, never played DnD before.
This means that every session I have to reintroduce the world (sometimes multiple times as 8+ people can be really loud) and then everyone new needs to make a character (another 30 mins) and then they need to be informed of what is going on... ugh. Don't get me wrong, I have made a lot of friends this way and it is fun, but it is somewhat becoming and chore and the people who come here every week are starting to enjoy it less and less as instead of starting at 13.30 we start at 14.45 if we are lucky. We still get things done most of the time, but I can tell that some people have heard my introduction one too many times.
So, here is my first question: any tips on running an open game? I have given it some thought and this is what I am using right now to make things easier for myself:
1 - 'Expeditions' format. An overarching story with small adventures. Usually one session is one adventure. Actually does not work with 8+ players, more on that later. This means that the regulars get to enjoy the politics and world building, while even the new players know what's going on and get to chop things.
2 - 'Alternative Universe' - I set the game in 15th century Europe to make things easy for new people, basing it on my long running EU4 campaign with some ''not so subtle'' changes (A lot of dragons. Can't have too many dragons.), with the players being conquistadores. This way everyone knows something about the world, while keeping the world fresh, as just like the actual conquistadores, the players don't know much about the new world. Also I don't need to explain to must people where France is. I would have to explain where the Kingdom of Kahlgesh is.
3 - 'Easy Experience' - every session you get 1/X of the way to the next level, where X is your proficiency bonus. Keeps things moving along nicely and easy to track. People don't also autokill everyone when they can get the exp anyway. With 8+ players they would never get any experience otherwise.
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My biggest problem is the party size though, and here I am completely lost.
I know that some players are new to roleplaying, but people have such a massive tendency to derail the story that while last week I was worried I don't have enough content we didn't even get 1/4 of the way through. For example, one of my friends is roleplaying an ******* (no other way to put it) nobleman. He kicks beggars, makes people carry him everywhere, etc. He is doing quite a good job at it and most people are enjoying it. Then we get a new player who takes it too seriously and while it's fair that his character doesn't like him, he starts going up to him and just rolling initiative. Then he gets massacred. Ok, so now we need to invent a plot point where he doesn't die (another 5-10 mins so that he does not have to make another character) ensure he somehow stays with the party (even though they don't even know him) etc... Also, more rolling for damage, etc... that takes forever.
And that's just one example of derailing. Another problem is shopping - some players are really into min maxing, treasure hunting, making deadly killing machines. Fair game. They even got into doing some buy cheap, sell expensive at different ports, hoping to make money for new loot. The thing is that most others are not too interested in shopping, yet every time we walk into a city they go straight for the shops... everyone else is getting bored.
Then I can't hear someone so he start punching NPCs so that I do hear him. Can't blame him it's hard to actually do something when everyone else wants to say something, but again, more distractions.
Combat is a painful slug, with 5+ mins between moves. Last fight I just said ''ok he's dead'' as 4 players were discussing the shape of a spell while 4 others were on their phones. I can't blame anyone, it is really boring to sit around for 5 mins without anything to do.
Seriously, I'm losing my faith in this campaign rather quickly, even though I was so, so enthusiastic at first. I made so many maps, characters, quests, everything, sticking to a freeform sandbox style to make sure I can smoothly run these single expeditions every week. The last expedition is going to be 3+ weeks - it takes the party 2 hours to find a boat. There are 2 boats in the port. Yes. I know.
I really need some help. Here is what I am planning to keep things moving along smoothly starting next session:
1 - 'no derailing' - yes, I know its funny, but you cannot voluntarily punch / steal from (with 3+ skill checks) / enslave fellow party members. It makes it interesting for the two of you, but the 6 others are waiting. Occasionally you are free to do this, but, even then, no skill checks pls. That just makes it tedious.
2 - 'you snooze you lose' - if you don't know what you're doing this turn, you're skipping your turn. You will probably still have 2-3 mins to plan your actions even with this rule. If you're on your phone when its not your turn and then need to plan when it is, sorry, but it's too late.
3 - 'MMO Shopping' - I figured this way the shoppers can have their fun. I'll prepare some stores in advance for each of the major cities, with limited stock and some fancy items. I'll give them the lists to study when the rest of the party is doing whatever, representing that they're just left behind shopping while the rest is in an inn etc.
4 - 'initiative tracker' - I'll print out cards with numbers on them. It's your turn? You move. Calling by name is more personal and more thematic ''As the fighter reaches for the monster's throat with his steel-clad gauntlets, you realize that you are once again capable of moving your limbs. What would you like to do, Thorin?'' but it just takes too long. I did this when we had 4 players and it was nice, but it won't work with 8 players.
5 - 'People can see spells' - we've had guidance on literally every single skill check, where nobody would roll a d20 without a d4, so I made it so that the guards are nervous when someone mumbles magicspeech and touches people. It's just a d20 most of the time now.
What do you think? Are some of these rules too strict? I know that some people love the setting and would like to just keep going, so I really want to make this work.
tl;dr I have a tendency to write overly long passages. To summarize it, I'm looking for tips on running an open (people coming and going) and huge (8+ players, one DM) game. I'm pretty good at the 1st thing, bad at the big game thing.
I recently started a new campaign (this week is going to be the 5th session) and while at first I was happy with the number of players (4-6, the usual stuff) the last two weeks have been really tough to DM as we end up with 8+ players.
Why, you may ask. Well, I am DMing for a 'Meetup', the London Dungeons and Dragons meetup, which means that our Saturday games are open - everyone should be able to drop by say hi and play. While I do have a lot of regulars (6+) I also often end up with complete newbies who have never played at the table or, sometimes, never played DnD before.
This means that every session I have to reintroduce the world (sometimes multiple times as 8+ people can be really loud) and then everyone new needs to make a character (another 30 mins) and then they need to be informed of what is going on... ugh. Don't get me wrong, I have made a lot of friends this way and it is fun, but it is somewhat becoming and chore and the people who come here every week are starting to enjoy it less and less as instead of starting at 13.30 we start at 14.45 if we are lucky. We still get things done most of the time, but I can tell that some people have heard my introduction one too many times.
So, here is my first question: any tips on running an open game? I have given it some thought and this is what I am using right now to make things easier for myself:
1 - 'Expeditions' format. An overarching story with small adventures. Usually one session is one adventure. Actually does not work with 8+ players, more on that later. This means that the regulars get to enjoy the politics and world building, while even the new players know what's going on and get to chop things.
2 - 'Alternative Universe' - I set the game in 15th century Europe to make things easy for new people, basing it on my long running EU4 campaign with some ''not so subtle'' changes (A lot of dragons. Can't have too many dragons.), with the players being conquistadores. This way everyone knows something about the world, while keeping the world fresh, as just like the actual conquistadores, the players don't know much about the new world. Also I don't need to explain to must people where France is. I would have to explain where the Kingdom of Kahlgesh is.
3 - 'Easy Experience' - every session you get 1/X of the way to the next level, where X is your proficiency bonus. Keeps things moving along nicely and easy to track. People don't also autokill everyone when they can get the exp anyway. With 8+ players they would never get any experience otherwise.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My biggest problem is the party size though, and here I am completely lost.
I know that some players are new to roleplaying, but people have such a massive tendency to derail the story that while last week I was worried I don't have enough content we didn't even get 1/4 of the way through. For example, one of my friends is roleplaying an ******* (no other way to put it) nobleman. He kicks beggars, makes people carry him everywhere, etc. He is doing quite a good job at it and most people are enjoying it. Then we get a new player who takes it too seriously and while it's fair that his character doesn't like him, he starts going up to him and just rolling initiative. Then he gets massacred. Ok, so now we need to invent a plot point where he doesn't die (another 5-10 mins so that he does not have to make another character) ensure he somehow stays with the party (even though they don't even know him) etc... Also, more rolling for damage, etc... that takes forever.
And that's just one example of derailing. Another problem is shopping - some players are really into min maxing, treasure hunting, making deadly killing machines. Fair game. They even got into doing some buy cheap, sell expensive at different ports, hoping to make money for new loot. The thing is that most others are not too interested in shopping, yet every time we walk into a city they go straight for the shops... everyone else is getting bored.
Then I can't hear someone so he start punching NPCs so that I do hear him. Can't blame him it's hard to actually do something when everyone else wants to say something, but again, more distractions.
Combat is a painful slug, with 5+ mins between moves. Last fight I just said ''ok he's dead'' as 4 players were discussing the shape of a spell while 4 others were on their phones. I can't blame anyone, it is really boring to sit around for 5 mins without anything to do.
Seriously, I'm losing my faith in this campaign rather quickly, even though I was so, so enthusiastic at first. I made so many maps, characters, quests, everything, sticking to a freeform sandbox style to make sure I can smoothly run these single expeditions every week. The last expedition is going to be 3+ weeks - it takes the party 2 hours to find a boat. There are 2 boats in the port. Yes. I know.
I really need some help. Here is what I am planning to keep things moving along smoothly starting next session:
1 - 'no derailing' - yes, I know its funny, but you cannot voluntarily punch / steal from (with 3+ skill checks) / enslave fellow party members. It makes it interesting for the two of you, but the 6 others are waiting. Occasionally you are free to do this, but, even then, no skill checks pls. That just makes it tedious.
2 - 'you snooze you lose' - if you don't know what you're doing this turn, you're skipping your turn. You will probably still have 2-3 mins to plan your actions even with this rule. If you're on your phone when its not your turn and then need to plan when it is, sorry, but it's too late.
3 - 'MMO Shopping' - I figured this way the shoppers can have their fun. I'll prepare some stores in advance for each of the major cities, with limited stock and some fancy items. I'll give them the lists to study when the rest of the party is doing whatever, representing that they're just left behind shopping while the rest is in an inn etc.
4 - 'initiative tracker' - I'll print out cards with numbers on them. It's your turn? You move. Calling by name is more personal and more thematic ''As the fighter reaches for the monster's throat with his steel-clad gauntlets, you realize that you are once again capable of moving your limbs. What would you like to do, Thorin?'' but it just takes too long. I did this when we had 4 players and it was nice, but it won't work with 8 players.
5 - 'People can see spells' - we've had guidance on literally every single skill check, where nobody would roll a d20 without a d4, so I made it so that the guards are nervous when someone mumbles magicspeech and touches people. It's just a d20 most of the time now.
What do you think? Are some of these rules too strict? I know that some people love the setting and would like to just keep going, so I really want to make this work.