Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 userZynx_name Sep 25, 2015 2:51:16	Hello!   A am a ralatively new DM, and my group will be finishing up the Lost Mine of Phandelver campaign found in the D&D 5e Starter Pack. The party currently consists of 5 players. Once we are finished with it, we will be moving on to Princes of the Apocalypse, and we will also be adding 1 or 2 more players. I am unsure of how to adapt the encounters in the book, or if I should at all. Adapting the encounters to accomodate for the bigger party will allow for more balance in the long run, but will be more effort overall. Not adapting the encounters will make them easier earlier on, but because it would reduce the overall XP gain of the party, it would make later parts of the adventure more difficult, however, there would be much less effort involved.   My other alternative is to look for another player and start running 2 groups, and at the moment, this is the solution I am most hoping for.   If adaptions can be done, thanks for the help in advance.
#2 DM_HEEGZ Sep 25, 2015 15:29:20	Hello! Glad you asked, and have no worries. Your plan to switch from the starter set to PotA is a great one, and IMHO an ideal way to start off DMing a group in 5e. You should be able to run a party of 6-8 PCs with very little extra effort. Personally I prefer DMing groups of 3-4 PCs over larger groups, but running PotA with 7+ people is entirely possible. Here are the suggestions from WOTC regarding increasing difficulty of encounters in PotA:   "Adjusting on the Fly"   "To make adjustments to encounters while you play, you can increase the number of monsters. This approach works best for encounters with four or more monsters (equal to or greater than the optimal party size of four). Start by adding one monster to an existing group of monsters for each additional character in the party. Be careful if you find yourself doubling the number of monsters in an encounter. Many creatures—even low challenge monsters—become much more dangerous in large numbers. In the event that you feel the need to increase the number of monsters in an encounter drastically (for example, if you have a large group of 3rd- or 4th-level characters starting the adventure), you should instead use the Dungeon Master’s Guide or the D&D Basic Rules to calculate XP budgets as you rebuild the encounters."   "Rebuilding Encounters"   "The Dungeon Master’s Guide and the D&D Basic Rules provide guidelines for creating balanced combat encounters. If you have time before you play, use these guidelines to calculate the appropriate XP budget for your party and increase the number of monsters in an encounter as appropriate."   You can download the D&D Basic Rules at the following link, and the information referenced is on p. 56-58.   http://media.wizards.com/2014/downloads/dnd/DMBasicRulesv.0.3_PrinterFriendly.pdf   Good luck, and don't hesitate to run the adventure for a large group!
(Reply to #2) userZynx_name	DM_HEEGZ wrote:
#4 DM_HEEGZ Sep 25, 2015 23:29:32	As a DM, I would always prefer to have two groups of four instead of one group of eight. I will never DM that many people at once again. 3-5 is my ideal range.
(Reply to #4) userZynx_name	DM_HEEGZ wrote:
#6 DM_HEEGZ Sep 25, 2015 23:46:09	It wasn't terrible, but a learning experience. I DM'd a group of 8 for about 3 months or so, and it was okay. Just the game took much longer as far as pace, and I had lots of issues with bored players waiting their turn, and then not being ready on theirs. It kinda sucked, and dropping down to 2-4 players in my current campaigns has completely resolved the issue. I would prefer two groups of three over a single group of six. . .
(Reply to #6) userZynx_name	DM_HEEGZ wrote:
#8 CCS Sep 26, 2015 12:43:32	Challenge wise Just adding a few monsters will suffice in most cases. You can also simply assign max HP to several monsters in lieu of more monsters. Makes the creatures present stick around a bit longer in the face of increased attacks from Team PC. Most useful later on since early monsters such as goblins or etc are fairly weak even buffed. Or a combination of the two. Your bosses should absolutely have max hp. Maybe even an increase in lv/abilities. . On DMing larger groups: Don't worry too much about the game slowing down. Worry about each session being fun. Because there's no magic amount of progress you need to make per session. Ex: I play in a 1e game that has 7 players + DM. I DM a 5e game for a different 7 players. I also play in an occasionally running Pathfinder game with only me & 3 long time friends from ages past. All the games are FUN. But there's sessions where the 3 person game acomplishes significantly less than either of the 7 person games plot wise.... In larger groups it's IMPORTANT to learn to shift the spotlight time around the table fairly evenly. (In ages past I had a little timer with a blinking light/no sound behind my DM screen. I'd set it for about 6 minutes. Everytime it went off I'd shift to the actions of another player. Even if that meant putting the previous player on "hold". Kind of like watching TV where the scene shifts back & forth.) . Another thing to consider with the larger group is: WHY are you all together for this particular game? Are you friends looking to game together? Or are you just out to play D&D regardless of the who you do it with? For my groups? We're playing these games to play with our friends. And the times we can all get together are limited by real life. Wed rather have a slower progressing game than exclude each other. If we were to split either of the 7 player games in half? Well, we'd be missing something vital because we're not playing D&D JUST to play D&D....
(Reply to #8) userZynx_name	CCS wrote:
#10 DM_HEEGZ Sep 26, 2015 14:12:15	Something I realized this year, with my smaller group of 4, is that I care most about finishing the story and plot. I was overly concerned last year about running the published adventures properly. Now I am more concerned about finishing the narrative and having conclusion, than I am about difficulty of the game. To help achieve this I am using the minion rules of 4e, and the massive damage rules from the DMG to ensure that enemy creatures die more quickly. We spend less time in combat, and more time revealing the next step in the narrative. I also have quit pulling punches, and things are more rapid and deadly in the combat front. Also, some combats are over very quickly, but still keep the narrative moving right along.
(Reply to #10) userZynx_name	DM_HEEGZ wrote: