Ideal number of runners in your games?, Too many, too few, or just right... Options

[Cantankerous]

I just ran a 4 runner table with 300 bp and those dice pools are SMALL. My players were visibly upset that the biggest dice pool they could scrape together was 9.

It was fantastic.

It's like the street level game we are getting ready to do now. One hundred point (3rd edition style) builds, no starting (unmodified) attribute or skill above five, not more than Y90k starting resources, it's to the point that we have one guy who is toying with the idea of a human with no skill in magic, and no cyber or bioware; a skill monkey. THAT is such a rare animal in Shadowrun that the idea of seeing it done in our game actually has me grinning.

Isshia

[DocTaotsu]

Don't get me wrong, I still love running your "normal" 400 bp game (I like big explosions like everyone else) but 300 bp really seems to make people focus on how utterly average their character is in comparison the rest of the world. A handful of mook guards are a viable threat again and a mob of street people can easily overwhelm them. At the same time they're just

Blue Planet is a hard sci-fi setting so there isn't any magic, I also capped weapon avail at 4, cyber at 8 (with case by case exceptions for things like cerebral boosters and the occasional cyberspur), and left most other things open for purchase (if they want to blow money on a rating 6 survival kit I'm all for it). I uh... basically forced them to buy skills and we ended up with a bunch of well rounded characters with a focused but diverse skill set.

I also liked having lower power characters because it meant each character was more important in combat. We only have two guys with an extra IP so it's important that EVERYONE do something useful in combat. No more shall I hear "Hide behind the damage troll!" as the rigger sends in his 20 LMG totting drones and the aforementioned troll lays down a wall of lead.

[eidolon]

Fave number players: 4 + GM
Minimum: 2 +GM (not into one on one, really)
Max: 6 + GM (and I wouldn't enjoy it as much)

[fistandantilus4....]

I like 3-4, because it lets you focus a bit more on the individual characters. But I have had a game with 9 players, and it was a hell of a lot of fun. Chaotic, noisy, and just plain nuts, but it was cool. It has to be for a special type of game I think though. It's not something I'd want to do on a regular basis though.

[pbangarth]

3 players. It forces the players to think outside the box to solve problems that their skills don't address, and their outside-of-the-box thinking forces the Gm to be on her toes.

Peter

[Stahlkörper]

There should be no more or less than 1 runner per player (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif) and there might be as many players as possible. You may just have to adjust the gm staff. 1 gm per 6 players works best but Ive already gmed a sixteen player single-master game without any complications.

[overchord]

P&P: 4-5 + GM's good. I've done up to 8, but everything slows down a tad too much. I've always preferred to have 3 or more players, one or two players just seems to limit the great diversity of skills and archetypes that you find in SR - IMO.

But i'm just launching an online campaign, and its a lot different....Generally speaking the live IRC sessions will mostly be 3-5 players, but because people are scattered over time zones, using email as well opens it up, so probably around 8-10 runners in total in the campaign. Keeping time lines synchronized is going to be the biggest pain (IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif)