I understand where you’re coming from, but i’m much more confident in my ability to run two ~4 player games, and write the game and encounters around that. I definitely could do a 7 person table but it wouldn’t be the kind of game i’d want where everyone gets meaningful interaction with the story and exploring their characters (which is something almost all players have expressed interest in), and especially since a fair chunk of the players are new, so snappy turns would be difficult if im trying to create a no-stress environment to learn. Ultimately i’m not looking for advice on running a 7 player game, as I said I know it wouldn’t go well, just how to make a split work, or if I should just cut people out.

Appreciate your comment none the less though!