How many players is too little / too much?

[Uristocles]

Hi folks—Any opinions on how many players is too little/too much?

I'd guess Journeys probably requires that we need at least 4 characters (some combination of players and LMC if needed).

[Otaku-sempai]

Well, heroes can take more than one role during a journey, so a party of three might be reasonable. Five or six Heroes might be a practical limit for many Loremasters, although I'm sure that some can handle more.

[Terisonen]

4-5 for me is perfect. 6 too many (I cannot answer expectations from all player) and 3 somewhat low in interaction, but still manageable.

[Fenton Hardy]

I currently have three players in my game. Most of the time it works well. One player takes on two journey roles as Otaku-sempai said. Where smaller parties run into trouble is with skills deficits, especially in the earlier stages of their adventuring careers. Larger parties are likely to be more balanced in terms of skills distribution and thus more capable of meeting the challenges thrown at them. My group initially eschewed social skills in favor of other skills and then had a devil of a time during encounters. They have since corrected that problem.Two would be too few unless bolstered by an accomanying NPC. Never having played with more than four, I am not sure what I would consider the upper limit. For manageability and ensuring everyone had a chance to participate, I would guess 5 or at most 6.

[zedturtle]

Face-to-Face I've run eight and that was unwieldy to the point of "I'm not going to do that again". I think six or less is fine. If you have less than three players, I do think you need to structure the game differently. (I'd love to run GE through a solo campaign of a consulting detective based in Laketown and let him get his Riddle on.)

Play-by-Post I have nine in one group and seven in another. The nine is getting very unwieldy, but seven doesn't seem so bad in that format.

[Majestic]

My face-to-face group has 5-6 regulars, plus 4-5 others that occasionally play. Fortunately, most of those in the latter group aren't regulars, as if everyone was present it would just be too many. I think I've had eight before, which to me is just too much. I can manage it; I just think it slows down too much for everyone at the table.

[Falenthal]

4-5 for me is perfect. 6 too many (I cannot answer expectations from all player) and 3 somewhat low in interaction, but still manageable.

The same here. 6 is a number I accept if needed, but I prefer to limit the table at 5.

[fbnaulin]

I like to play with 3 players, but TOR works better with 4.
5 is tolerated and 6 too much, even when 6 adventurers allow you to attack with 2 on rearward.

[aramis]

Hi folks—Any opinions on how many players is too little/too much?

I'd guess Journeys probably requires that we need at least 4 characters (some combination of players and LMC if needed).

I found 5-7 doable. 6 is pretty good. You can go as low as 3 if one's a numenorean. A pair of carefully matched numenoreans could also work. Only a numenorean should be considered for 1-on-1.

[Wbweather]

I think that for the game I run 5-6 is about right. When we are at 4 we seem to be missing something from the game. I think if the game had been run with 4 from the start, that would not be as much of an issue. Part of it has to do with the roles that the players have taken upon their characters. We feel it when someone is absent.