Need help with DMing a large group [3.5]

[GreatRobo]

I am starting a DnD campaign with my group of friends. Originally only four people were interested in playing but as time has gone on and I have gotten closer to the launch date more people have wanted to join. I have a weak conviction and felt bad saying no so now I have a six person party.

This party consists of
- A wildshape Variant Ranger
- A Pathfinder Switch Hitter Ranger
- A Soulbow
- A Psion
- A Crusader
- An Artificer
All of them are seventh level

Of these people the only person with a great deal of experience is the psion. That having been said he also helped the rest with their charecters so the party will be fairly optimized. The major issue I have is how to make encounters for six people without
A. Crowding the battlefield with a couple dozen enemies
B. Sending them up against something that only some of them can hurt?

Thanks for your help and any further insight into DMing larger groups would be a great help!

[CKorfmann]

I have seven in my party now and I'm a first time DM.  There is one player on the fence whether he'll stay or not, one who wants to start when he can rearrange his schedule and four more who are possibilities.  That could be 12.  Not sure how to make that work, but I don't want to say no to anyone either.  Especially considering that when there were only three of us that had the idea to begin with, we didn't know if we'd have enough players at all.  Most of these players are new.  I think they're going to fight a pack of wolves or two three this week.

[sirpercival]

I've had up to 12 in a weekly campaign before.  It can be tough keeping everyone interested; my suggestion is to have a Co-DM.

[RobbyPants]

A. Crowding the battlefield with a couple dozen enemies
B. Sending them up against something that only some of them can hurt?

Thanks for your help and any further insight into DMing larger groups would be a great help!

Well, the nice thing about using multiple enemies is that it limits the chances that some people can't affect the one thing they're fighting. If they can't hurt monster X, they can move onto monster Y. Also, you'll want to avoid using single monsters due to action economy. With a group that big, the players will be getting six actions to its one. One of two things will happen: they'll murder it, or if it's strong enough to survive, it will likely murder them.

Also, just for sake of sanity, avoid or seriously limit a few things:

• PCs that summon more miniatures on the board (looks like the group won't be doing that, anyway).
• Splitting the group up.

If PCs are summoning too much, it will really slow combat down. Splitting up is sometimes unavoidable. This is where Sirpercival's suggestion of a Co-DM comes in really handy (I've never run a big enough group to try this, personally).

Also, make sure you're up on any special rules that might come up in a particular adventure (if you know they're going under water, make sure you know how Swim and drowning work) to save time of you looking up rules. Try to encourage the players to think about their next action on other player's turns. With six people a round thinking about and giving actions, all that decision time can really add up!

Good luck!

[Llyendar]

Having your wild shape Ranger use creature cards (or additional character sheets even) for his most common wild shapes will help to simplify combat and keep it from being slowed that way. They may already be doing this but it is a suggestion worth noting.

Having the Psion know his powers or keep a list of what page each can be found on also helps to keep combat moving. As far as 'not hurting' goes. This guy should be pretty flexible as psionic powers can deal different types of energy damage.

The Artificer should also be able to make wands, scrolls, etc as well as magic arms and armor without much difficulty for himself and/or the party dependent on the maximization route he takes so, as a DM you could try throwing enemies out that this guy can work around the DR of. On a second note he can also be a pretty good party buffer.

The Crusader can be complicated if you aren't familiar with ToB. Just remember that his manuevers and initiator levels work like spells and caster levels. Have him keep a page list of where his manuevers can be found for quick reference and with his divine abilities maybe try to introduce magic weapons. This guy seems like he'll be the party meatshield.

As for the soulbow and the Pathfinder ranger those I'm not too familiar with. But you may want to make the Energy Bow accessible at least to the soulbow. If you feel it is too strong for the campaign at current then introduce as a stringed version. (When string it acts a +2 composite longbow and can fire normal and magical arrows, but doesn't add it's force damage.) Then when the campaign catches up you can roll out an event to reveal it's actual nature. This bow alone gives any archer a lot of versatility in damage types.

[Sjappo]

The Crusader can be complicated if you aren't familiar with ToB. Just remember that his manuevers and initiator levels work like spells and caster levels. Have him keep a page list of where his manuevers can be found for quick reference and with his divine abilities maybe try to introduce magic weapons. This guy seems like he'll be the party meatshield.

Or have him print and laminate the maneuvercards found here. Also very handy for tracking readied and spent maneuvers.