classic question.
I know most people prefer 4 but I’m running an online game (Waterdeep Dragon Heist) and was curious how bad a six person online game might be?
Nah, you just need to be upfront about what is expected from players during combat.
You need to make it clear that it is up to each player to stay engaged when it is not their turn, little things like cheering their party members go a long way to staying involved when it’s not their turn.
They need to be considering what they plan on doing before it’s their turn. Part of that you the DM can assist with by announcing whose turn it is and who is next.
6 player combat can be a slog if these are not adhered to.
not all players are well seasoned I’m a little worried they won’t be able to do that
Might be worth discussing turn timers at session 0, see how they feel about it and make it clear it’s a big group and this is something you all need to consider.
In my experience the biggest problem with large groups us the amount of time it takes for combat rounds. Compound that with people being distracted while online, and I think 6 players will be a bit much. If you have everyone prep their turn, and streamline the enemies’ turns, it might be ok.
wow great point. with more players combat would have to be more difficult as well. i also tend to run high magic games and with magic items, six players and a ton of mobs it could drag in combat
For my in person game, six is ideal because typically a rotating cast of two can’t make it each week and then I can DM for four, which is the best number to actually have at the table.
In my experience, 6 players is doable but pushing it. Turns take a long time, and balancing is hard because there is so much overlap in strengths and they can focus so much damage that significant monsters/enemies don’t stick around very long unless you fudge their health pools.
I’m currently running with six. It is manageable and still fun, but I would not add another. 4-6 seems to be the sweet spot.
With six, you do have to make an effort to ensure that everyone is being included. To speed combat up, I make sure to let the next player know when their turn is coming up next so they can prepare.
6 can be done but it gets difficult for everyone to feel heard. I often times had to specifically ask everyone what they were doing in non combat scenarios, otherwise it was easy to blast past them. Some people also hog the spotlight.
I think it comes down to the DM, and the players ability to be respectful, know their characters abilities, states, etc. I’ve headed a table of 10 before, they were well organized and knew their stuff. But I’ve also DMd tables with 4 players who didn’t pay attention, never were ready on their turn, and had to look up the simplest things every time.
5 has always been my favorite number personally. It allows for a lot more interesting dynamics, players can break off into small groups to have more intimate conversations without leaving one person alone. Also from the standard Tank+Dps+Caster+healer it allows there to be a wildcard as well.
I’ve ran many games with 6 people, several with 8. It’s definitely doable, and you need to find a way to involve everyone. It helps if you take the ‘you do that thing’ mentality, which is where don’t fight them too too hard of they want to do something, like adding a lot of checks and such to show them down. Keep it flowing, and you’ll need to use the ‘well what do you think player-who-is-quiet’.
