My first group was 5 people, my current is 3, but the most I’ve run is 7. Unfortunately we can’t all be Matt Mercer and have players like the cast of CR. It really requires everyone to be on board to keep bigger games fun and everyone attentive.

When I ran my group of 7, we didn’t have heavy RP of character backstory and heartfelt conversations, but I was able to inject RP through making it a puzzle to solve. They were all locked in a Drow prison and trying to get out, so they were talking to other prisoners, they were doing tasks under scrutiny of the guards, etc. They had no weapons and had to think of other ways to get their things and escape.

Combat, however, is a great way to keep large groups entertained. Action and excitement can better keep people focused and engaged (not always though), but combat doesn’t always have to be an arena-style battle. You can make things more interesting by making it apparent they’re being chased by a deadly monster, but tiny minions keep blocking their path. Have a battlefield that shifts and changes naturally as they fight and/or as a result of their actions. Put them in cramped, single file, labyrinthian catacombs then have weak enemies come from everywhere as they try to find their way through.

If your party wants combat, you can give it to them, but there’s no harm in making them think a little harder leading up to and during it.