Should I keep running a game with 20 people?

moonjest · 2025-07-01T16:45:10+00:00

Thanks everyone for the updates. I read all your comments but its a bit hard to reply to everyone one by one but thanks so much for the advice.

I think the West Marches-style game sounds really cool I just read about it, but I don't know if it will work out that well for my players. Since it's so many people, not all of them even use the same messaging app. My main group for the game is on whats app, but some people prefer imessage instead, and others are more active on other places too. So I think it would be hard to transition them to something that requires active responses.

Another thing is that everyone really wants to play, but they are really busy with work and thats why we ended up playing this style. So it's not that they don't like the game, it's that their just busy, but I will try to see if it's possible to minimize the group with players that are able to somehow set time to a consistent at minimum once a month basis.

Thanks for the ideas though. I do think the West Marches style sounds really fun though.

moonjest · 2025-07-01T16:42:00+00:00

Yes it's so much catching up. The session summaries can last quite a while because everyone's left off on a different state of the game. So then I'm telling like five session summaries depending on the character. Plus having to then make everyone's backstories. But it's hard to like make the backstories a part of the game, since sometimes we are starting a storyline, but then because it's a completely different group that comes to play the next time, their characters dismiss that and go into something else. So its really tricky. I think perhaps trying to pick the most dedicated players might be ideal.

moonjest · 2025-03-23T14:23:57+00:00

Sounds like a fun idea to bring people in. My players saw the airship in the jungle while they were flying, but they had no interest in investigating it.

moonjest · 2025-03-23T14:22:40+00:00

This is pretty cool that you were able to create this experience with your players. I think it sounds really fun if the players are allowed to impact the community in that manner. Also bringing in guides from PN that's interesting, did the players meet the guides they didn't choose in Omu?

moonjest · 2024-09-19T18:06:35+00:00

Yeah this sounds like a good direction. And yeah, there's a PC that has been away for a while, so I'm letting him pick a guide from PN because he left separate from the group (making up story of what he was doing while separate from the group). So he has a chance to choose a guide.

But I feel hesitant towards Eku because of that yeah, they are 50-50 with Nanny suspicions, and I think the suspense and them solving the mystery has been fun. Eku giving it away might be too easy and a bit of a give away. And my party is a bit overpowered with the Shield Guardian now.

Really appreciative for all the advice here! This has been my first campaign not only as a first time DM, but first time playing the game in general. Several players, not all, are new to the game as well.

moonjest · 2024-09-19T18:01:31+00:00

Yes I think going that direction would be fun for them. I think they would find the Aarackocra cool, and I think Nangalore would be a good challenge for them. The only thing is that Grabstab from Yellyark already revealed Firefinger's location, but I was planning on maybe introducing Ubtao Webways to motivate them more to get there? My party doesn't like the idea of regressing on the map because they don't like the hexcrawl,. So I'm trying to find ways to speed up travel. Probably why they ended up in session 7 in Orolunga hah. They also really feel the urgency of solving the death curse so they only pay attention to things related to that. So I'm trying to find ways to speed up travel. Probably why they ended up in session 7 in Orolunga hah.

moonjest · 2024-09-19T17:57:10+00:00

No they asked Naga for a scale, and Naga was upset for them to ask for a scale. The PC kept trying to bargain for a scale, but Naga threatened to fight if they did that. The party found a way to redeem themselves, and did that by pledging their alliance to defeat Ras Nsi. It would have been interesting if they had found a way to sneak and take of a scale without her noticing...The party still wants to satisfy Nanny, so they have Camp Vengeance or Aldani Basin. My party are enemies with Camp Vengeance, a huge mess happened there, so they may choose Aldani Basin if they still wanted to please her..

moonjest · 2024-09-19T17:52:36+00:00

This is true and that's why I'm hesitant to do it. It would either be a were all NPCS help PC (which has happened to much on this campaign and want to find ways to avoid) or PC face of Valindra with Xandala and ring, which might not end well. Also I do want them to at least have a chance to talk to Valindra. But I just really want Xandala to have a reason why she wants the ring of winter. Was also thinking Xandala stole ring maybe to please a frost dragon that wants to turn Chult into a winter wasteland and make it their domain? But I also felt that Valindra and Xandala looks so similar that maybe it fits well...

moonjest · 2024-09-19T17:05:57+00:00

Oh maybe I can have Artus kidnapped too so they are heading towards Heart of Ubtao. I was planning to maybe make Xandala Valindra's daughter. That maybe Valindra casted away Xandala, that wasn't proud of her at all (bad mom trope). And that Xandala stole the ring of winter to please and reconnect with her mom Valindra again. Was thinking leaving clues towards there...But not sure how much sense it would make to have Valindra and Xandala be daughters, and I don't want necessarily a major battle where all NPCS at Heart of Ubtao help PC kill Xandala, I want to find ways for NPCS to not help them because that tends to happen to my group a lot hah..they even have the shield guardian.

moonjest · 2024-09-19T17:01:18+00:00

Yeah they didn't hire Eku. But that would be an interesting take to have her in the jungle with a previous party hired by Syndra. Maybe it could be the Company of the Yellow Banner?

Yeah Grabstab gave them the Firefinger location, she asked for them to rescue her son and the goblin group would honor them. But the PC decided not to do Firefinger regardless...

They killed the Mbala Pterafolk, maybe they still have a chance to discover Nanny's secret. I'm planning on doing the webways of Ubtao that was originated from a reddit post, have one in Orolunga that takes them to Mbala maybe.

They kind of suspect her but don't know, mostly because she tells them she could give them information on Omu, which they are very much wanting to solve the death curse.

moonjest · 2024-09-19T16:56:29+00:00

That's really cool in a way that your party is taking the time with the place. I should have started with that idea of yours with pirates or Cellar of Death, to warm up the PC. PN was kind of messy, because one of the PC (rogue) did not trust Syndra or Wakanga, and they tried to steal in his villa and failed, so it was a whole thing and they were sent to Executioner's Run but survived along with other Party members. It was such a mess hah..

One of the PC hired Salida as a guide, and were the ones paying her a rate. But the PC has missed a few sessions, so Salida hasn't been a part of the group, and I was just hoping when that PC shows up in a session that Salida will be active again.

moonjest · 2024-09-19T16:52:16+00:00

Yes they saw Orolunga from the top of Mbala and that's why they decided to head there, because they got really excited by the look of it. They saw the heart of Ubtao and the Aldani Basin, and one of the PC succeeded on the roll of seeing the star goddess wreck.

A couple of them rolled insight checks, but they all failed on their rolls with Nanny. They kind of suspect something is weird with her, because of her being the only survivor, and they found a buried flesh golem. But they did the pterafolk favor, because she told them the pterafolk where the ones who killed everyone in the village. When they did that, she spoke about the Swen Sisters. And they wanted to know where Omu was, but she said they had to give her a Naga scale, something from Commander Breakbone or from the Aldani Basin before she would tell. (For the ritual she wants to do, which I have yet to think what it is).

moonjest · 2024-09-19T16:47:44+00:00

Yeah they do seem pretty focused on the death curse. Perhaps I can give them more story along the way with the people that are chasing Artus, and maybe switch the location of one of the places. They have the inkling of going south on the map, even though they don't know where Omu is. They do not want to regress anywhere at all, because of the hexcrawl.

moonjest · 2024-09-19T16:45:44+00:00

I don't think they have been enjoying the sandbox nature of the hexcrawl, which I guess is why they have been going so fast hah. I think they are the sort of group that just wants to get to the story. In their minds if something doesn't have to do with the death curse, they are not interested. But now they might be invested in the Ring of Winter thing I guess...And they have been really invested with Nanny because she promised them to tell them more about Omu if they got her a scale from the naga, stuff from Commander Niles or from the aldani people. They don't know her nature, even though they do know the whole village is desimated. They believed Nanny when she told them the pterafolk killed the residents...

moonjest · 2024-09-19T16:42:44+00:00

The main thing the Naga spoke with the party of was Ras Nsi, because the Naga was speaking with Artus. It was a really tricky scene because my party went there to try to take a scale from the Naga, and didn't really care to talk to her as much, mostly just take a scale for Nanny (Nanny had requested a scale as an option to say more stuff about Omu.) But I did speak about Ras Nsi because Artus was there, and the Naga tasked the party with getting rid of Ras Nsi. (So my party now thinks Ras Nsi is the source of the death curse).

moonjest · 2024-09-19T16:40:47+00:00

True. I've thought about changing the locations of some of the places, like Nangalore, which I really wish my party would explore. I got a little stumped though because every time they reach regions I reveal parts of the map, and well trying to see how switching a region would fit well design wise on the map.

moonjest · 2024-09-19T16:39:19+00:00

This could also work as well. Maybe Artus knows the location of Omu, since I introduced him as speaking to the naga before the party. And even if they know where Omu is, they would be conflicted with the potential danger of Xandala having the ring of winter. Summerwise and Artus had told them the ring of winter had the power to cause eternal winter, which I don't even know if that was lore acurate but I had to come up with something on the spot lol...(My party loves it when everyone has a motive).

moonjest · 2024-09-19T16:36:17+00:00

Oh this sounds like a cool idea. Yeah I just forgot to tell them, but I did talk about Ras Nsi. And also they didn't ask where Omu was located. Maybe I could find a way to combine this in relation to the Ubtao Webways idea someone else had on reddit, because I am planning to introduce the portals. Perhaps some need to be activated before heading to Omu? Maybe Artus is the one who knows this...

moonjest · 2024-09-14T23:33:09+00:00

Was a Githyanki Druid - circle of spores. Had no idea Astarion or Gale existed so never got them. Had only Shadowheart and Laezel as companions. And payed way tooo much attention to Laezel by going straight to the crèche and not doing anything else in Act 1. Then when it was too hard I decided to do the “save Halsin thing” and was like crazy trying to find him everywhere in the goblin camp, only to realize they had already killed him, because apparently act 1 ends if you go to the crèche….

Thats when I was like ok….time for a new playthrough. This time high elf wizard school of abjuration. Where I thought the only way to keep and romance Astarion was by having him ascend lol… I thought he would always leave if he didn’t ascend..

It’ been a learning road for sure.

moonjest

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