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The two campaigns I'd been apart of that went really well had 3 players and 4 players. Our group typically ran with 8 and it was a bit unwieldy, 6 was better. So over 6 I would say is too much.

I personally won't run a game with more than five players, but it's up to what the DM can handle. I have seen people with assistant DMs running bigger games before, though.

I've run seven man Dark Heresy games and eleven man DnD games. Only a handful of my players ever want to roleplay, so I didn't really have a problem with noncombat encounters. Combat encounters took forever with DnD, but I think the abysmal monsters in the first Monster Manual had a lot to do with it. For DH, I tended to split the group during investigative sections, but the aforementioned lack of roleplaying kept things okay when the whole group was together. Combat wasn't ever a problem with Dark Heresy.

Ok seeing as I am going through an issue with my current RPG group I will attempt to impart whatever knowledge I may have.

Too many players can be as few people as three, or as many as twenty, but it all depends on a few distinct things.

1) Location, and size of said location. You may have to rely on having someone host the game at their house or apartment, like my group does. A small apartment may only allow a few players just so they can all be seated comfortably, a storefront however will give you space for numerous players, but you are confined to a select few hours in which you party has to be actively engaged with the game. Also consider the travel time it takes to get to your location.
2) Ratio of new players to returning veterans. New players generally need to be given a little extra attention so they get an understanding of the rules, which can detract from the time your veterans get to play, in addition, new players ask a lot of questions, so unless you do like my DM does and has the veterans help the newcomers expect that to be an addition strain.
3) TFG. Face it, you will always have one, it is a law of physics, someone will literally hold up a game because it is not going their way, or because they cannot be or do something, and I know for a fact TFG can simply just murder your game right from the start, so if you are the guy thats running make sure you have left and right limits that are set in stone. Your Story, Your Rules.
4) Number of Distractions. I know for a fact that when you get anywhere from four people in one room together it is nearly impossible to have one hundred percent time in character, if you let the players to do whatever, a DM can have quite an issue on his hands, especially if his or her better role players decide to bail, because others are doing anything but play the game.

I have two examples that can closely follow something that fails along these lines.

Game 1: Werewolf: the Apocalypse
This game there was only one session.
1) Location: Storyteller's house, easily fits four players and the storyteller, about 15 minute drive.
2) Player Makeup: This is about a fifty-fifty split, but it is only me helping out the new players, so getting players started takes three hours longer than it should have.
3) TFG: Shows up buzzed, demands that he gets to play a hunter, more interested in smoking and taking over the barbecue grill that has been cold for two hours.
4) Distractions: People are constantly on their cell phones and using the host's internet connection to look up stuff on youtube, and drawing on MS paint.
Verdict: Rather angrily at the end of the game, the storyteller and I do the whole "don't call us we'll call y'all" bit.

Game 2: D&D 3.5 Game DM has additional character generation stipulations.
1) Location: Friend's apartment, kinda cramped 30-45 minute drive depending on the traffic of the installation.
2) Group Makeup: Four veterans, three beginners, so eight people in a two bedroom apartment.
3) TFG: Pretty much all but the storyteller, myself and a friend I brought along because I knew I needed an actual PC to interact with. Other players are constantly drunk, or playing computer games, toying around on their cell phones, losing their character sheets, the list goes on and on.
4) Distractions: Anything that held still for more than fifteen minutes, or was not an alcoholic beverage.
Verdict: We had three games with the entire group, the first session was the best, but only because they had no internet access that night and thus, had nothing online that was more pertinent. The DM took the three players that actually wanted to play and we continue off and on.

Or just read the tl;dr bit, find TFG get rid of that individual and try to keep people who are actually interested in playing in your games.

I generally run very roleplaying/Character heavy games. I like it to be between 4-5 players. I think 4 is really probably the sweet spot.

Ive played D&D, Robotech, Marvel, Vampire, Werewolf, and several other RPGs...many very OOP (late 80s-90s). Ive been in games with 6 or more players (plus the GM) without any problems. IMO you really need at least 3 or 4 PCs to get good variety and interaction going.

Mad4Minis wrote:Ive played D&D, Robotech, Marvel, Vampire, Werewolf, and several other RPGs...many very OOP (late 80s-90s). Ive been in games with 6 or more players (plus the GM) without any problems. IMO you really need at least 3 or 4 PCs to get good variety and interaction going.

I have to agree with this, simply because two players is hard to work unless you have a very creative GM, but I do know of Game Masters that cannot run more than two people at a time, because they play favorites.

I've been in several games and played under several DM's, and I've got to say that 4 players and DM is a perfect group. Any more than that and things start to drag down. I'll play in a group of 5, but if it hits 6 or more I'm not even going to bother

Right now im running a path finder game with 8 Players plus me as the GM, its a bit too much, id;e say 6 players is a good limit

Allow me to create an easy chart.

Skilled DM? Yes Skilled players? No
3 people max

Skilled DM? Yes Skilled players? Yes
6 people max

Skilled DM? No Skilled players? Yes
3 players max

Skilled DM? No Skilled players? No
3 players max

Done.

Being a DM is a huge responsibility and some are better at it then others.

Everyone should try at least once, but they should be prepared.

You learn through experience and if you liked it, get advice on how you could get better.

A good DM will teach you how to DM while you play as a character.

Make mental notes as to what they do, why they do it, and what you feel because of it.

Was the adventure fun? Were you involved in the quest? Any fond memories?

Its easy to tell who is a good DM and who is not.

I'd say the point of no return is 8. 7 can be manageable but I've never seen 8 go well.

4-6 players is ideal for D&D 4e, anything higher or lower is just too hard to work with.

More than 6 is too many. 5 or 6 is a good number.

In my experience three to five players is ideal, six is do-able and it starts getting slower and slower beyond that.

You can handle more if the game system is simpler, especially during combat, but you need to think about player involvement in the plot.

Small numbers of players can be supported by NPC assistants of various types if required.

Of course it depends on the game system and classes/character types and skill divisions. A strongly differentiated game like D&D pretty much relies on have a wizard, a cleric, a fighter, etc. whereas in a system like RuneQuest everyone can fight and use magic to some degree.

2-4 for me.

I'd say five, but maybe six.

CuddlySquig wrote:Just what the title says. How many people can play D&D, 40k Roleplay and so on. before there's so many players that the game is too encumbered? I played D&D for 18 hours on New Years with 8 people and I felt I had to save time during combat by having more than one person roll at the same time. What are the factors?

All depends on what you want to achieve in your game. If your goal is the 4th ediiton D&D super speedy resolution of as many combat encounters in a night then your numbers will be lower if your goals are a more laid back storytelling kind of gaming mode. My current D&D 4th game has 9 players when everyone shows up to play at once. If things get hairy during combat then I make everyone script their actions for the turn to avoid the "oh what's happening, what should I do" delay from people who aren't paying as close attention as they should. For my shadowrun campaigns the story is the key so most sessions are just roleplaying anyway and more people doesn't get in the way of that in the least.

Skriker

My group that I gm is 6 people, I specifficaly said that we wont be getting any more people in because its simply to much trouble for me to deal with 7 excited teens. Especially when one or two can't physicaly keep there mouth shut.

Wait that doesn't answer the question does it. Ideally 5-6 people. Just make sure they wont interupt to much and go off on a tangent. to much.