How do you organize large groups?

[Hurske]

Hi everyone, so the question of the day is, how do you organize your large groups. I currently have a 8 player campaign, usually 7 players show plus me the DM.

What tips do you all use to have a more smooth play session?

One thing I'm learning is to definitely not let the party split up, or having scouts go out of their way to do their job, of scouting, while good, makes me keep track of so many things, I want to bash my head against my desk.

[LordEntrails]

IMO, keeping the game moving is one of the keys. If it takes too long between turns, people loose interest. One way to encourage this is to give a +1 bonus to players who are ready to act when their turn starts. i.e. if when it becomes a players turn start they know what they are doing rather than have to figure it out, they get a +1 on their attack, spell DC, skill save or whatever.

[Ardem]

7 is the largest I have run, however my general number is 6. The important thing is to make sure everyone is busy, players like being the centre of attention so if you have people taking a long time on something, say I will come back to you and focus on a player that has not said anything or contributed.

Also with large groups make sure you are organised and using FG with maximum preparation, so you can copy and drag those possible statements to the player or players rather then using teamspeak, this is fast way to deliver information for you and give the players something to look at and analyse. Also be honest with your players if they are not efficient in their turns, then the RPG session is not going to go good, so you need snappy decisions not umm and arrs for 10 minutes, especially when they had 5-10 minute to think about it while someone else had something to do.

[damned]

Sometimes with large groups I will ask the next two people to act. The most prepared one opens his mouth first :) Many times they can then get their rolling happening and can voice their actions as soon as the other stops. If Im playing something with more loose initiative I will type in chat and ding the next person while the current actor has the stage.

7 is a tough game...!

[Phystus]

I always announce character's turns, rather than rely on the players watching the combat tracker (though most do). And I also announce who's next. So I might say something like "Darkthorn is up, Amalina is on deck" just to alert the players to get ready to act. When players get really slow for several rounds I have been known to skip them after a minute or so of waiting. It tends to get the message across.

I love the idea of the +1 bonus for having their act together though. Also on a more positive note, I try to schedule regular breaks (every hour to hour and a half) so that players won't be as likely to wander off to grab a snack or take a bathroom break.

~P

[Ellspeth]

I can't answer this for myself, I haven't run enough games to decide what works for me. However I play with many GM's and one is noteworthy in his means of keeping the pace going and the game moving, and I am sure he won't mind my sharing. When I first started in his group he was running Dragonlance in Savage Worlds with the full compliment of characters, most days could be 8-10 players. In all his games during the game if you want to speak or respond to another character he requires us to x up in the chat channel. This smooths out players talking over each other and such. When our turn comes up we better have a plan unless things changed radically on the map just before our go. He then asks, and if no response he pauses, then starts counting down from 5, if you don't answer he puts you on hold and moves to the next, you can play your turn at the end of the round if you are on hold. He runs a tight game and they are always fun, even the day his mother's favourite character was killed in game. Tip to GM's if your mom is in your game remember you eat her cooking when the game is over.

[Black Hammer]

I usually discourage any sort of RP while split from the party. You want to go off ahead and scout or go shopping for some bauble? Roll dice, here's what happens. It allows people to still benefit from investing character resources in such things, but also minimizes the rest of the party wondering why they showed up to sit through Ranger Rick's Exciting Woodland Adventure All By Himself. It does goes against some people's preference for everything being roleplayed out, and has an unpleasantly narrative air to it.