chris_havoc Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Hey guys so I just got the books for my birthday on Saturday. What is the best number of players for a session? I am planning on running with a pretty big cohort of players and am going on the assumption that 3-5 players is about the most you can have before there are too many players. On another note is it allowable for a player to manifest Triggers instead of magical powers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterDisaster Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 Ignore me! Thought this was to do with Malifaux rather than TtB. It's too early in the morning for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordZombie Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 I have ran a group of 3 all the way up to 6. It really depends on the fact if you as a FM can keep everyone interested. In larger groups, I try to make sure not too many player split up, this makes for a boring session for the other players. So it is really up to you and what you can handle. As for a manifested power, I guess you could as there it really no limit to what can be done, but that really seems like a hinder to the player to make a trigger. They would really limit the use of that power, but if fits the character, I don't see why not. Never let the rules stop you from doing something fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_acolyte Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 I might be running one with my gaming group and I am capping it at 4 for now, that is about 20 games to go through everyone's fate as well as my story... Think long and hard about how many fates you want to juggle and if you want to work them into a coherent story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrotherPaulos Posted December 3, 2014 Report Share Posted December 3, 2014 I'm currently running two groups of five. I prefer odd number groups as it can easily breK Amy deadlocks. Both groups have the same fates was my only compromise. 5 character fates is quite enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad1 Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Our group is eight Fated. After talking we decided to use two fate decks and we just 4 players 'locked' to each deck. That way it doesn't get shuffled too often meaning we would get an extraordinary amount of cards for our Twist hand. Is an attempt to maintain game balance. Our core group has been gaming together since the Monday Patch night for EQ back in 1999 we just change the system we play and a few players drift in and out. But because we've been together a long time we respect our GM/FM/DM/ST and make sure we are ready to go on our turn and give players room to get involved when we can. We talked about focusing on getting a Destiny step finished each session and to do so our FM uses a basic TV serial framework to do so. Three acts with a brief intro (Our Prologue via email) and do our Epilogue via email as well. We recently added a social game between each Destiny step so we can interact with each other, our environment and local NPC's I believe it comes down to what the FM is willing to write for and the organisation of the group. But then again you asked for "best number of players..." I'd say 4 and 1 FM. Four gives a solid group dynamic, broad range of skills and should get through a fate deck of cards once or twice a night. Enjoy TtB. Regards, Ad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oistene Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 I just got my TtB, so I can only speak from my general roleplaying experience - but four players seems ideal. With more players, everyone gets less 'screentime' and very active players can make sure that the more passive players get next to no time. System gets harder to handle and everything gets bogged down, and play between players is sure to leave someone out. Three players can work, but with just two the game becomes a bit limited; it will always be things nobody knows how to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuroraZ Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 The group I'm playing in has 6 fated, and because our characters are all so diverse we sometimes find ourselves playing sessions where one or two players are not doing much at all. I like playing with everyone in my group, but if we do another campaign I'd rather stick with 4 or 5 fated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowchikawowers Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 My group started with 5 fated, one of them got hit over the head with life stuff and had to disappear for a while, so we've been a group of four fated with one FM. 3-4 works pretty well if you're new to running a role playing game of any sort, like I was when we started. (It's got a surprisingly shallow learning curve, and it's FUN!) Add in too many more than that though and you can get lost trying to keep a RP group on focus. We have lots of "lanterns"* as we call them, which lead to distractions and total "I forgot we were even gaming" moments. *My group spent 15 out of game minutes trying to figure out how to light up a sewer so they could see, before doing a notice check to see that there was a whole wall full of lanterns right next to them. it was pretty hilarious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishmael Lazarus Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 So eleven would be insane? Not being sarcastic; I'm serious about eleven players. Albeit one is me, for when I want to take a break from villainy, but I had wanted to include a large group of friends. Ten of them. So is eleven too much? Should I split them into two groups of five? Two groups of five and I can make my character a lone gunman looking for a fistful of soul stones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirial Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 So eleven would be insane? Not being sarcastic; I'm serious about eleven players. Albeit one is me, for when I want to take a break from villainy, but I had wanted to include a large group of friends. Ten of them. So is eleven too much? Should I split them into two groups of five? Two groups of five and I can make my character a lone gunman looking for a fistful of soul stones. Do you regularly play RPGs with 11 players? If you do, you'd make it work with this, too. I wouldn't want to, though. In time, I got hesistant to play with 5 players plus GM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucidicide Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Eleven players is absolutely too many. Players flip from a communal deck of fifty four cards. The ratio is totally off eleven players. There are ways around it (multiple decks), but I absolutely wouldn't do eleven rules as written. And keep in mind that it's a narrative game (not a hack and slash), and there a reason ensemble casts are hard to pull off. Can it be done? Of course. But you're way better off with two Fatemasters, two decks, one plot and the ability for players to hop between groups Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 I ran a game with six players, and I think that pushed the boundary of what was workable. Once you get that many players, it becomes really difficult to make combats that are meaningful and last more than two rounds, unless every fight is a sprawling street fight. With 11 players, you've got more players on one side of a combat than most games of Malifaux! It also makes it difficult for the players, as you lose some of the narrative elements when you're just a face in the crowd, instead of a protagonist. At that point, I'd recommend just breaking the game down into two separate games. I'd do that for any RPG that big (not just Through the Breach). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Shine Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 I like 3 to 4: Keeps deck from depleting too quickly and the players have an easier time talking to each other to discuss what they want to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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