I'd value any advice on an irritating problem I have.

I have a steady weekly game session with anywhere from 6 to 8 players. Obviously, the problem is that I am dying to run Dogs but just don't see it being a success with such a large group.

I don't have time to run a side game for a smaller group, and don't want to mess with the big group - we've been gaming together for five years. So any suggestions on making Dogs playable with a larger group would be most welcome!

What if you ran two different groups of Dogs in alternating weeks, and give the major NPCs of the town as pre-gen one-shot characters to the group that's not currently being run? Playing joe random town-steward may not be as interesting as being the Dog in a given scenario, but it does mean that off-night players will still have something to stay engaged.

Later on, perhaps the two groups of Dogs could run into each other, butting heads over the issues of a particular town. Also, it would be interesting to see what being on the receiving end of a Dog's judgement does to the players' own style of justice.

Thanks, that is an excellent idea. I often pull people aside and have them play key NPCs anyway, so they would definitely be receptive to this.