Running two Teams at once, Or: How to cope with huge player groups Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Eurotroll]

Guys, I'm in need of some brainstorming help.

My introductory SR group has grown, through inattentiveness of my own, to a humongous nine (9!) players plus myself as GM. That is of course far beyond the optimal size for any RP group, but unfortunately at this point in time, splitting the group is not an option -- we're playing SR4, and I am the only one with even an inkling of the rules of the game.

The situation will likely rectify itself over time, as people drop out for time constraints or other reasons (we run a set bi-weekly schedule), considering that most of us are students or have only recently graduated. However, for the time being, I need to cope with the group as is, giving them stuff to do as a whole while not keeping the spotlight on a particular character for too long. (This, as the GMs among you will be well-aware, is of course The Tricky Thing about running any game.)

The characters are such that there is a more or less even split between offensive combat chars and sneaky/non-combat types: a Sam, two Riggers (one specializing in drone, the other in vehicles), a Weapon Specialist as per the template, one Bear-spirited Eco-Shaman, a Hermetic Mage following Artemis (Moon Maiden), a Gunslinger Adept, a Techomancer, and a former Cop turned face with combat paralysis and no ranged combat skills whatsoever.

This sort of distribution made me think that it might be possible to run two teams at once -- essentially doing traditional Distract & Enter type of runs, only with the difference that my players will be playing both the full-frontal assault and the backdoor rob-them-blind operation the former is there to distract from.

That sort of setup requires some serious GM-Fu, however, and I'd be happy to get some advice and/or ideas as to how, exactly, to manage action in two places at once without neglecting either side. Thankfully, technology in the Sixth World is such that I won't need to take one party out of the room to run with the other; but should I run both in a sort of Jagged Alliance mode, where combat rounds determine movement for both parties once one of them is embroiled in combat, or a more traditional approach where I run them sequentially by group rather than by Initiative.

tl;dr: help my players are going to gang up on me! :eek: