five players and one GM?

Torchbearer An Adventurer's Essentials
1

I read that five players and one GM is not the best mix for Torchbearer (even though the kickstarter video has five players and one GM!). Is it a big deal or a small deal to have five players instead of four? Anyone know what kind of impact might it have?

Thanks.

2

I ran a game for five players and killed them all so it’s not a case of being “too much help.” But for speed/ease of play and to make sure everyone gets to shine in a four hour game, four players is ideal.

3

I think that Mouse Guard is the game where you really don’t want five players, because it scales poorly.

4

It plays just fine with five players. Four is ideal but five is not bad.

5

Thanks for all the replies. Helpful info.

6

MG plays fine with even 6 players… but the MG mission structure is vest with 3 or 4, so everyone can earn checks on a planned/semi-planned encounter. Adding extra GM turn encounters lengthens the MG session, and allows larger groups to work well.

For MG to have the 2 to 2.5 hour advertised sessions, it really needs 3-4 playrrs, 2 planned encounters and two twist encounters, only one conflict, and being literal about the check awards. Oh, and players who are neither laconic nor verbose. …