[DitV] With more than 4 players?

[Mencelus]

I posted this over on RPG.net as well, but thought it might get a better response here.

My group has recently decided to play Star Wars, and we've decided on DitV for the game engine.

My group, as it stands, has four players in it, and two more people are considering joining for the Star Wars game (mostly because it uses DitV).

Everyone's really jazzed for the game and I don't want to turn anyone away. According to the book, the party isn't supposed to have more than 4 players, plus the GM. But I want to.

So the question is, why does the game warn against having more players (I can only see a dice problem for the GM maybe) and what to do about it if there is such an issue? Or other issues?

Also, has anyone played with larger than 4 in DitV? How did you manage whatever problems there are with that?

[Glendower]

I did in fact play with Six players.  The writeup is here.   It was a madhouse, and to be honest, I'd advise against it.  There's going to be one or two people that are just going to be sitting there, doing very little. 

If you can, split it to two groups of 3.  Three players for dogs is all kinds of awesome, it creates a neat dynamic, and everyone gets their chance to contribute. 

[Glendower]

Oh, one more thing.  If you are still hellbent on getting six players to play, use the Afraid rules for Group conflict, absolutely.  It stops a lot of dice running out problems.

Go here and run a search for "Group conflicts".

[Mencelus]

Hmm..interesting thoughts. I will have to think on it. My PLAYERS, more than me, are hellbent on using DitV for the resolution mechanic (they were just awesomed wowed with it, really). So, presents some issues, to be certain if I decide to change things.

Like I said, don't want to really turn anyone away here, so, I might be just hellbent on it. I'll have to figure something out. Hmm.

Thanks for the thoughts.

[lumpley]

Occasionally circumstances require me to run the game for five players. I always know that that means running the game for three players while two sit and watch and maybe get a few minutes of real play, just because of how assertive they are and where they choose for their characters to go and how the game paces itself. I have to resign myself to that.

My advice, and I've done this at cons too, is to strongarm one of your potential players into GMing. Split the group, run two games, share space and compare notes afterward. You can even play "in the same world," you can even swap players with their Dogs between the groups sometimes.

If you try to run the game for six players, two or three of them will be disappointed.

-Vincent

[WildElf]

Okay, so I've got a group of 5 and a 6th person is really interested in DitV.  Its a really new group, but people have been good at sharing the spotlight, and everyone has been friends for years.  Some are okay with watching roles too.

So, what I'm posting for is, knowing more than 3 or 4 is going to leave some out, what are some ways to avoid that without splitting the group.  Or rather, splitting the group in creative ways that still allows for everyone to play, even if its not as often.

Like, some ideas my girlfriend and I have been bouncing back and forth include:

• Some players can play NPCs, either as a GM assistant, or in between playing their dog.
• Alternating scenes in either two separate stories occuring in the same town (or nearby towns) where the Dogs split up, but always have the option to meet up, compare notes, or switch "teams"
• A combination of above two.  Mini stories with a "rotating cast" where some players are Dogs in one story and then play NPCs in the other as the other players play Dogs.

We also usually play for a good chunk of time, so there's likely enough time to handle everything in a session, depending on the scope of the "episodes."  But usually we play 6-8 hours.

Outside of two GMs or splitting the group, what are some other options?

[lumpley]

I dunno.

Maybe, if you make really big, ugly towns, and everybody's good about sharing, and you play for 6-8 hours a go, maybe that'll be fun.

Let us know!

-Vincent