Tabletop RPGs: Team Size
So, for the first time ever, I'm considering writing a tabletop game to be run at a Melbourne con. (I've written team games before, but I've only run them in Brisbane.) The basic plot of the game points towards teams of four players, but I've had it suggested that five players often work better.
Now, my own preference has always been to base the ( Read more... )
I'm pointing this out for a reason. AON doesn't really care about teams. It make allowances for them etc, but basically it handles all the pre-con scheduling. There is no real need for a con to have 4 or 5 players in a room in any given session. However the basic rule of thumb is you need to run enough sessions for about 20 people to play your game.
20 total players more or less covers the cost of the game from the cons point of view (blocks of wood, room hire etc). More than 20 makes a con treasurer happy.
What does this mean for your game....make it for as many characters as feels right for the game. If that's 4, then it's 4. If that happens to be 5, then so be it 5 it is.
Make no mistake the con is there to provide you with the chance to run your game. Not the other way around.
Some people will go on and on about "but a team size is blah." but frankly that's a lot a crap. A team size is the the size of your group of friends when you go to a con. Some times that is just you and one other guy. Some times its a group of six of you.
Anytime you hear that a group needs to be of a given size, it's normally said by people who either don't know any better, or do but want to seem important.
The only factor in how big your group of player should be is how many people do you want to run a game for? It is after all a game. And a game is there to be enjoyed. Anything else beyond the running costs of the event, is just filler, and even those are up to the con orgs to deal with.
Reply
Leave a comment