Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

[Knightgoblin]

My gaming group has just grown to about 9 to 10 players. My friend finished running two D&D 4e games with this huge group. Some problems ran deep with the ADD (Not A D&D) getting out of hand and the slowness of the story and combat. Very little if any role playing (acting) was done in this game. About four people are new to the group so shyness is bound to happen, but I really don’t think people being shy will be a problem. Right now my friend is getting ready to GM this group in Mutants and Masterminds. I’m cringing in the corner thinking about when I will run my Super Hero Universe (Hero System used) with this group. I really don’t want to slim the group down, because all these guys seems like great gamers and a lot of fun could come from this experience. So, I’m turning to you guys for advice on how to gm a supers game with such a large player turn out. I know on this message board there are many gamers with a great amount of years of experience and wisdom.

[Shaft]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

I strongly suggest you have everybody use the same SPD (4 or 5). It will be easier to track everyone's actions. SPD 4 is best because it divides the turn evenly.

 

Your NPCs can have differing SPDs, with thugs and mooks still having SPDs in the 2-3 range while villains in the same power range can also have SPD 4, with the occasional master villain that can take the group on by himself being SPD 5 or 6.

 

A party that big will probably split up into groups. If you must split the party, I suggest you follow the guidelines in the attached document.

[薔薇語]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

My suggestion is, "DON'T."

 

But if you want a more constructive suggestion I would probably do as shaft pointed out and set some basic spd limits. The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to have a couple of them (the Players) that you like and trust be GM in proxy. Have them take control over two other players for tracking what is happening and the affects that stem from it. They control mooks and villains, and then track all damage taken or given by them. This works best when battle is segregated but it will still hold up in mass combat as well. If done well, this will allow you greater amount of time to monologue for the master villains and keep you from ripping out your hair in frustration.

 

Keeping in line with that, you might also delegate some authority to decide on rules questions to them as well. If the two people are familiar with the rules, they should be able to decide the answer to quick questions easy enough. Then come to you if there is an odd one.

 

Last bit of advice to keep combat flowing is to set time limits on 'stage time.' This is to say that when it comes to a individual players turn they should spend no more than 30seconds (at most) deciding what to do. And if you have delegated out authority you can even have them roll the dice ahead of time and have the proxy keep track of it. This will speed up combat immensely.

 

Those are my only pieces of advice.

 

Best of Luck,

and have asprin handy,

 

La Rose

[csyphrett]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

I think in this case you are going to have to keep things moving no matter what. That will mean having adventure ideas you can put together in the face of such a big cast. Everything will have to be urged forward.

CES

[BNakagawa]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

Try to figure out which characters are going to work together on a regular basis (e.g. sidekicks, siblings or other shared origins things) Make sure they sit adjacent or nearby.

 

It's very loud and disruptive to have continual conversations going across the table simultaneously.

 

With a large group, you can count on simultaneous conversations, at least if they can be quiet sideline affairs, the rest of the table can do its own thing.

[Korvar]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

A friend of mine made me an incredibly useful gadget for tracking Hero combat:

 

Basically, he got hold of magnet-based plastic - apparently you can get sheets of the stuff. Cut up into small strips, with enough space to write a character name, the phases they go on underneath, and a box to put Dex in.

 

Then a steel clipboard, with a sheet of paper held down with more magnets. The paper has boxes for "Active", "Gone", a general parking spot for unused markers, and a Segment Track on the side.

 

At the beginning of a combat (or prepared before), each character gets their name, phases and dex put on a strip, using overhead projector or dry-wipe pens.

 

Then, for each Segment, you can quickly scan the active characters for who's got a phase, sort them in DEX order, and put them in the "Active" box. Then run down the list, moving each marker in turn to the "Done" box when they do their action. If they held an action, the marker was put across the dividing line between "Active" and "done". Lather, rinse, repeat. Within a couple of Turns of combat it was quick and easy, and nobody got accidentally left out.

[Dino]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

I have run several large groups over the years and the one thing I can tell you more than anything else is this: If you want roleplaying to occur (and it sounds like you do) you have to find a way to get your players to interact with each other at least as much as any NPCs you put in the game. My last game group fell apart because the players didn't really like playing with each other. Strange little personal conflicts that never came up outside of gaming took on a whole new life at the table. In the end, it was like trying to run nine solo games at the same time!

 

Use the time you have playing in the current game to take mental notes of how each player interacts with the others and what kind of plots/playstyle interests them. And by all means when it comes your turn to run, get players to give you detailed character concepts long before you do character generation. Look for ways to tie character backgrounds together (the old DNPCs are co-workers/friends plot works wonders) and common goals/enemies that you can use to get groups of PCs working together during a session which hopefully will help motivate the rest of the group.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

A friend of mine made me an incredibly useful gadget for tracking Hero combat:

 

Basically, he got hold of magnet-based plastic - apparently you can get sheets of the stuff. Cut up into small strips, with enough space to write a character name, the phases they go on underneath, and a box to put Dex in.

 

Then a steel clipboard, with a sheet of paper held down with more magnets. The paper has boxes for "Active", "Gone", a general parking spot for unused markers, and a Segment Track on the side.

 

At the beginning of a combat (or prepared before), each character gets their name, phases and dex put on a strip, using overhead projector or dry-wipe pens.

 

Then, for each Segment, you can quickly scan the active characters for who's got a phase, sort them in DEX order, and put them in the "Active" box. Then run down the list, moving each marker in turn to the "Done" box when they do their action. If they held an action, the marker was put across the dividing line between "Active" and "done". Lather, rinse, repeat. Within a couple of Turns of combat it was quick and easy, and nobody got accidentally left out.

 

And if you would rather buy something already setup for this you can see it here.

 

 

[quozaxx]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

Give each person his time in the spotlight for roleplaying purposes.

 

Try to move quickly from one person to the next. Asking them "What does (enter name) do."

 

You can only focus on one person at a time. Some players bore quickly. Be a lookout for those players. They tend to get up, walk around, and miss part of the conversation.

 

Get to know the PLAYER"S personality.

 

And if you can. Get a co-GM. 1/2 of the team can be with him/her and you can GM the other 1/2.

[Tech]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

My suggestion.... RUN! Run for the hills and you might survive! Ruuuunn!

 

Seriously though, if you have that many players, I suggest a few ideas:

 

a) Split the group up for two different times if possible. It can be difficult to run that many at once

Before starting the session, inform everyone that off-topic discussions be kept to minimum. Players love to chat to other players during games, which is normal. However, it causes distractions and will bog the game down. Enforce it. It will also help everyone to pay attention to the game.

c) If you have to pause several seconds here and there to find sheets, game notes or anything else, it will slow the game down. Have everything ready and accessible.

d) Keep the flow of the game going. I ran a rare 6 hour game with 8 people recently (not for the beginning GM to try) but kept it flowing - everyone didn't notice the time slipping by and had a great time. How do you do that? Have descriptions ready for each scene. If someone doesn't understand what the area is like their character is in, it's less exciting and prone to off-topic discussions to occur.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

Physical location becomes pretty important. If possible, having the GM central, rather than at one end of a long table, works better as there isn't someone down at the end who can't hear. We used a structure with the GM at a small table, the map table in front of his with space for him to walk between the two, and two tables, one on either side of the map table. Players were then in a "U" along the sides of the two "player tables" and the front of the "map table" so no one was too far away from the GM.

 

The comments on side discussions and distraction, especially if the group splits up, are dead on.

 

Where possible, do things that don't involve everyone between sessions, ideally by email.

[Karmakaze]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

I strongly suggest you have everybody use the same SPD (4 or 5). It will be easier to track everyone's actions. SPD 4 is best because it divides the turn evenly.

 

Your NPCs can have differing SPDs, with thugs and mooks still having SPDs in the 2-3 range while villains in the same power range can also have SPD 4, with the occasional master villain that can take the group on by himself being SPD 5 or 6.

 

A party that big will probably split up into groups. If you must split the party, I suggest you follow the guidelines in the attached document.

 

If you do want to allow different speeds, I've been ok with having all 3's and 4's, those numbers still break down neatly (as does 2, but few players are willing to take a SPD 2). If they really can't stand being slower than 4, make it 4 and 6. Basically, numbers that are evenly divisible into 12 tend to be more intuitive.

 

The few times I've done large parties, I've gone with arena-type combats. That is, either the PCs are in some sort of arena/danger room setting or (in some one-shots) part of the team is mind-controlled. This reduces the need for having to track NPCs as well as your 10 PCs. This won't work for every game, though.

 

If the party splits up, try giving NPCs to the players who are "off camera".

[CTaylor]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

My advice would be this:

 

Run two games. Have one be the "high power" game where cosmic adventures happen, restrict it to 5-6 players. Have one be the "low power" game where its street level adventures, restrict it to 5-6 players. Have the two intersect and interact in terms of storylines and rare team ups, but mostly have them be separate. When godzilla attacks your city, the heavy hitters deal with it while the low level guys deal with looting, street level problems (those collapsed buildings, for example) and investigating why and how it showed up.

 

I've done this before in a game and it worked quite well.

 

You can also suggest someone else help you run the game as well; a co-GM can handle all the mechanics and die rolling while you handle the other stuff.

[Marcus Impudite]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

As others previously stated by others, for groups in or near the double digits, you'll need someone to co-GM. Based on personal experience, a group larger than 12 players is not recommended.

[Checkmate]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

My advice would be this:

 

Run two games. Have one be the "high power" game where cosmic adventures happen, restrict it to 5-6 players. Have one be the "low power" game where its street level adventures, restrict it to 5-6 players. Have the two intersect and interact in terms of storylines and rare team ups, but mostly have them be separate. When godzilla attacks your city, the heavy hitters deal with it while the low level guys deal with looting, street level problems (those collapsed buildings, for example) and investigating why and how it showed up.

 

I've done this before in a game and it worked quite well.

 

You can also suggest someone else help you run the game as well; a co-GM can handle all the mechanics and die rolling while you handle the other stuff.

I had an adventure in 4th ed that had parts for a Street Hero party, Science based hero party, and Magic based hero party, and all three groups got together for the big finale. I can't remember the supplement, but the bad guys were villians from another dimension and one of the villains was Mistress Stormbriar (there was a Bronze Tiger like villain, and a conquisitidor looking villian in armor, someone help me out here). If you could get your hands on this, and were able to split your group into 2 or 3 groups, I think this would be a great way to do it.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

My advice: Don't. Split the group into two five-man groups and run them on alternating sessions, possibly in a shared universe so you can have crossovers and one group affecting the other and vice versa.

 

10 players is WAY too big for any game, IMNSHO.

[CTaylor]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

I agree, anything over 6 starts getting unwieldy and stressful, people start getting bored and distracted, etc.

[yamamura]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

Try a week herding cats. If you can do that, then you are ready for that many players.

[薔薇語]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

Try a week herding cats. If you can do that' date=' then you are ready for that many players.[/quote']

 

I have trouble herding my 1 cat, does this mean I shouldn't GM? If so then I will say that next time I'm asked to.

 

"Rose, would you GM a game for us?"

"Sorry. I can't herd my Cat."

"WHAT?!":nonp:

 

La Rose

[yamamura]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

I have trouble herding my 1 cat, does this mean I shouldn't GM? If so then I will say that next time I'm asked to.

 

"Rose, would you GM a game for us?"

"Sorry. I can't herd my Cat."

"WHAT?!":nonp:

 

La Rose

 

LOL. Sorry meant for there to be a My Bad:D

[Matt the Bruins]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

If you're going to have a recurring set group of non-master villains in the game, ask for volunteers to play the villains rather than their own heroic characters. It'll keep you from having to determine the actions of eleventy different NPCs, and the hero-villain rivalries will take on a more three-dimensional quality with one-on-one interaction between opponents.

[Korvar]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

And if you would rather buy something already setup for this you can see it here.

 

That's amazing! I had no idea those already existed! I must tell my friend, he'll be so annoyed

 

Anyway, based on using the home-made bodged-together version, it's really useful and fast.

[mattingly]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

My home group ranges from 8 to 12 players, depending on who shows up on a given week. We've been running at this size for years. On top of the large player base, on of the former heroes was a duplicator (with the duplicates being completely different, even DEX and SPDs), and one of the current players is a multiformer with five forms.

 

Here's a column I wrote for Haymaker with a few tips on how to run large groups.

[The Main Man]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

I'm of the persuasion who would split the group up and have a co-GM.

 

 

The co-GM should be the most experienced player, who should probably wrangle the experienced players while you run the rookies so that they can learn to play first.

 

 

Regardless of how you go about it, treasure having so many players* and good luck.

 

 

 

 

*I'm no slouch at a total of 8 when everyone is there, but its usually about 5-6 every week.

[Utech]

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign.

 

Assuming you go forward with this large group, I'd suggest that you step out of the way as often as possible. A couple ways you can do this:

 

1. Let them plan. Prepare an opening scenario for the evening that indicates several different avenues of investigation. They might need to break into an office to retrieve something; interview someone important; or locate someone. Prepare maps and briefs on the characters they will need to meet. Hand them out. Let your players pour over the information you've provided and their character sheets and come up with their own plans. They can divide themselves any way they like. Get involved in these discussions as little as possible. Ask your players to make a list of the Skills, Powers, what-have-you they think they will need. Listen carefully and make your own notes about what you'll need to do to make the story interesting. By the time they've stopped talking, you should be ready to go.
   
2. Let them run NPCs for you. When the big group has split into smaller groups, be ready to hand over NPCs (even villains) to players whose characters are not active at the moment. Quickly tell those players what they need to know about the NPC's character and motivations and let them go. You may be surprised at how hard your players are on each other!
   
3. Pre-roll as much as possible. Make a long list of d6 rolls. Whenever you need to make a roll (To-Hit, Damage, Opposed Skill, whatever) just check off as many rolls as you need rather than rolling dice. If it's a quick roll, have another player do it for you.
   

 

In short, get yourself away from center stage as much as possible. Ideally, your total talking time should be no more than any other person at the table.