Experiences What's your ideal group size/makeup?

[welian]

Oh my god, all these threads about post length! Let's talk about group size instead! What's your ideal number of players in a roleplay? Number of characters per a player? Does it matter to you how old other players are?

I'll start:

• I like big groups and I cannot lie. To me, there is something exhilerating about having over a dozen people to choose to interact with, and get to know. Small groups, I can't do them. One person drops out and the thread dies on the spot.
• As a GM, I prefer when players only have like, two or three characters. But as a player, you know... not my circus, not my monkeys. Although, I'd hate to be in a situation where someone gets offended because I can't remember all ten of their characters,
• Player age is just something I threw in because a lot of people have very strong opinions about it. On RPN, I don't think age should ever be a problem, but I've seen in some search threads where people will request only adult or teen players. I personally think it's stupid. Like, what are you planning to write about that IRL age matters? Smut?

 

[ewolf20]

I like something smaller as someone who has a basic interest in tabletop role-playing games. It would be a nightmare to play dnd with a flip ton of players.

 

[official clown business]

I like small groups of about 4-5 people - D&D style - but I mean I haven't done much over here yet so that opinion could quickly change.
I can definitely see the risk that small groups present, though, with one person's departure screwing everything up. But I just suck it up and move on. I've got a five player maximum for a reason.

Having more than three characters per roleplayer seems ridiculous to me, but I guess that's because I personally prefer having fewer things to manage. One character is good enough (if the roleplay involves a risk of death, even better) and two characters are certainly acceptable.

I don't give a shit about how old or young the roleplayer is, unless they're, like, super young or something.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Group : 1x1 roleplay only. Like if there are more than three people I nope out. Mostly because I'm on infrequently so if I try to go a bigger group I get left in the dust easily. So a smaller group allows me to tailor my post schedule to my partner.

Characters : I usually play one point of view character and however many side characters are needed for move the plot along. I can sometimes manage two point of view characters but that's about the extent of it. I don't really police my partners though. You want to play four point of view characters knock yourself out.

Age : I can see why people have an age limit and it has more to do with making sure your partners are at the same point in their lives. Especially in 1x1 when the success of the roleplay is as much to do with you and your partner getting along OOC as it is with pure writing / post schedules. So if I'm sitting there talking about applying for health insurance or getting longevity pay and you're talking about getting ready for homecoming we're at slightly different points in our lives. It just makes it awkward to make friends when your talking about two different things.

 

[BackSet]

I prefer small groups of 4-5 players when I'm gming but as a player I don't mind large groups.

I don't generally have an age limit on my RPs (no point to it) and I very much prefer if people don't swear.

I don't care how many characters someone has so long as their able to manage all of them and give them all the right amount of screen time. If someone has three characters and one of them only shows up once every 15 posts then why does that character exist. For myself I can usually handle three maybe four characters however I prefer only making one character.

 

[hologram]

I prefer 1x1s and usually only do those, but I just started dipping my toes in the group pool again so we'll see how that goes. I prefer smaller more relaxed groups when I do dabble with group RP though because I'm easily overwhelmed. Along those lines, if I'm doing a 1x1 I'll play as many characters as the RP needs but with a group RP I'll only stick to like, one or two characters tops.

As for partner age, again it depends on if I'm doing a 1x1 or a group. If it's a 1x1 RP I refuse to play with anyone younger than 18 but with groups I'm more relaxed about the age of my fellow players. My age requirement for 1x1s boils down to how RPing with one other partner is a lot more personal by necessity. I like to build a rapport and feel comfortable around my partner, something I can't do if I know they're still so young. With groups it's more of a communal thing and not nearly so personal.

 

[myfanwy]

typically, i only really do 1x1 role plays. group role plays are very tricky for me, and i don't like to post every hour or day. writing is a process for me and i like to make sure i think it out.

i (surprisingly) mind age, only because i don't want to have a romance genre role play with someone who's six years younger than i am. it's weird imo. there is only one person who's younger than me by a few years that i will role play with but that's because she's a cool cat and we didn't find out how old we were until we were a few pages in oops

as for a character limit: i say two. even then it's iffy because you can usually see that some people will favour one of their characters over the other and the character development is so uneven and it's cringey.

 

[marshmarrow]

• Six is my favorite number. Six is also the perfect number of people to RP with in a group, but I prefer no more than 10. There's always the odd man out in groups larger than that--the person who ends up not interacting with anyone.
• Per player, a maximum of two characters. And they better not be identical twins with matching personalities and a psychic link. Or the "good" and "insane" side of one character. I am also strongly against the use of NPC's.
• I only judge a writer by what they post, not the face behind the screen. I never do romance-themed or erotic RP, so this is a non-issue.

 

[amdreams]

Personally, for me it depends on whether I'm running the roleplay or just playing.

If I'm just playing then the more the merrier, but I don't really care. But if I'm running, I prefer smaller groups, like max of 5-6 players. Because it's easier for me to run and usually the plots I make are best for small groups anyway.

As for characters per player, again it depends on who's running it. I myself usually have at least 2 main characters and some background. And for anything I'm running, I'd prefer players only have a max of 3 major characters and no limit for background characters. And if I'm not running it, well, who cares.

Age depends not only on if I'm running the rp but also the types of themes and topics present. Most of my stories do contain some rather questionable things, nothing that goes against site rules I hope. I'd probably be more comfortable rping with older players in that case. Though typically I try to tone it down just in case. Or I would say that if I ever got far enough into the rp to reach those things.

 

[ceolsige]

Oh my god, all these threads about post length! Let's talk about group size instead! What's your ideal number of players in a roleplay? Number of characters per a player? Does it matter to you how old other players are?

I'll start:

• I like big groups and I cannot lie. To me, there is something exhilerating about having over a dozen people to choose to interact with, and get to know. Small groups, I can't do them. One person drops out and the thread dies on the spot.
• As a GM, I prefer when players only have like, two or three characters. But as a player, you know... not my circus, not my monkeys. Although, I'd hate to be in a situation where someone gets offended because I can't remember all ten of their characters,
• Player age is just something I threw in because a lot of people have very strong opinions about it. On RPN, I don't think age should ever be a problem, but I've seen in some search threads where people will request only adult or teen players. I personally think it's stupid. Like, what are you planning to write about that IRL age matters? Smut?

I agree with you so much on the group thing, so I won't rehash that, but I do want to add: it feels like with a group, anything can happen. I'm so much less likely to get bored when there's several people involved at the same time.

On the age thing, I guess I do care a little bit about age. I've met some really great roleplayers in the 17-19 age range, and feel honored to get to play with them. For the most part, however, I tend to have more fun with people closer to my age and maturity level. Smut is irrelevant because I so very rarely do it.

 

[MiracleGrazer]

3 to 5 is a good range for me! I find that three is the minimum required for a group dynamic (because two is just partners) and 5 is a good size before it gets to clittered with characters to focus on.

 

[Idea]

Often when I make a group roleplay I prefer to have a bigger assortment of players because I want to share a world I made and I want players to participate in it. However, I do find that it becomes very hard to manage after a while, so I try getting co-Gms and that often still isn't enough. I wouldn't be able to pinpoint a specific optimal size but generally more is better with me.

I usually like to have players have about two non-NPC characters at most, and put further characters behind a trust or paywall (as in some kind of points attained in the RP), allowing me to only give permission to have more characters to those I can trust to be able to keep up with those extra characters. NPCs though, people can have as many as their heart desires.

I don't mind any specific age. In my personal opinion, I think the whole thought of being bothered by how old the other person is shows a lack of proper roleplay conduct, the fundamental distinction between character and player. Not wanting to romance a character who is underrage and on which is an adult is one thing, but not wanting to romance or even roleplay at all because the other PLAYER, anonymous, behind the screen is under 18? C'mon. I suppose my views and current attitude are a combination of both my awareness that there are very childish adults and very mature children with the annoyance it was to find a partner who was just perfect and I was perfect for them until I saw the at least 18 thing which they probably wouldn't even have known I was unless I specifically told them!

Sorry about the rant. I guess I'll keep this post short.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Often when I make a group roleplay I prefer to have a bigger assortment of players because I want to share a world I made and I want players to participate in it. However, I do find that it becomes very hard to manage after a while, so I try getting co-Gms and that often still isn't enough. I wouldn't be able to pinpoint a specific optimal size but generally more is better with me.

I usually like to have players have about two non-NPC characters at most, and put further characters behind a trust or paywall (as in some kind of points attained in the RP), allowing me to only give permission to have more characters to those I can trust to be able to keep up with those extra characters. NPCs though, people can have as many as their heart desires.

I don't mind any specific age. In my personal opinion, I think the whole thought of being bothered by how old the other person is shows a lack of proper roleplay conduct, the fundamental distinction between character and player. Not wanting to romance a character who is underrage and on which is an adult is one thing, but not wanting to romance or even roleplay at all because the other PLAYER, anonymous, behind the screen is under 18? C'mon. I suppose my views and current attitude are a combination of both my awareness that there are very childish adults and very mature children with the annoyance it was to find a partner who was just perfect and I was perfect for them until I saw the at least 18 thing which they probably wouldn't even have known I was unless I specifically told them!

Sorry about the rant. I guess I'll keep this post short.

I'm genuinely curious on why you would bother with an age limit in groups? Like how would you even enforce it? Are you going to stalk the person's profile or ask them outright and hope they're telling the truth. I would think it would be much more helpful to ask for like time zone and hours available to roleplay.

Especially since groups don't tend to focus on romance in the same manner that 1x1s do. It's a much less intimate experience so I can't see the issue really.

In 1x1s I can see it for romance purposes if only because a lot of 1x1 romances are self-insert fantasies so obviously your going to be more comfortable playing with self-inserts relatively close to your own age.

Personally as I said I find it more of a compatibility with the other individual thing. Not so much because teens are young but because teens are worried about / experiencing different things than I am.

But even then I don't like police age. If you don't mention it I don't care.

 

[Idea]

I'm genuinely curious on why you would bother with an age limit in groups? Like how would you even enforce it? Are you going to stalk the person's profile or ask them outright and hope they're telling the truth. I would think it would be much more helpful to ask for like time zone and hours available to roleplay.

Especially since groups don't tend to focus on romance in the same manner that 1x1s do. It's a much less intimate experience so I can't see the issue really.

In 1x1s I can see it for romance purposes if only because a lot of 1x1 romances are self-insert fantasies so obviously your going to be more comfortable playing with self-inserts relatively close to your own age.

Personally as I said I find it more of a compatibility with the other individual thing. Not so much because teens are young but because teens are worried about / experiencing different things than I am.

But even then I don't like police age. If you don't mention it I don't care.

I think you may have misunderstood, I said I don't place age limits and thinks it is a detriment to those that use them, not the opposite

 

[Woebegone]

My first time role playing on site was when me and my cousins hosted a fantasy-adventure role play. I believe we had around fourteen people at the time and it was fun! I was able to at least keep every scene action packed and keep the story going.

But alas, that was years ago. I have aged and barely had the time I once had. So, I limit myself to only 6-8 people if I host anything but I don't mind how many if I'm just playing.

As for number of characters? I really don't care how many you play as long as you can balance and extend your character interactions with ease. To tell you the truth, I like it when players make up additional characters - even if it's just side characters.

I also don't mind player ages. Just as long as they can type and write coherently, they're good in my book.

 

[Platypus]

I prefer large groups since that means the rp can survive even if/when two-three people stop responding.

As for player ages, so long as the rp doesn't involve romance or too dark themes I couldn't care less about it.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I think you may have misunderstood, I said I don't place age limits and thinks it is a detriment to those that use them, not the opposite

I was more asking like how they work from a mechanical standpoint.

Like in a group how would the GM enforce this if they did want to make an age limit.

I wasn’t talking you as in you specifically. More the general you as in you the theoretical GM

 

[Idea]

I was more asking like how they work from a mechanical standpoint.

Like in a group how would the GM enforce this if they did want to make an age limit.

I wasn’t talking you as in you specifically. More the general you as in you the theoretical GM

That brings up the question of why ask me then. That said, I don't think the way to establish an age limit, player-wise could be more direct: Simply say people below and/or above a certain age are not allowed into the roleplay in the rules. The most the GM could do beyond trusting the word of their players is to check their profiles but even that isn't really a guaranteed method as one can hide their age.

 

[rae2nerdy]

That brings up the question of why ask me then. That said, I don't think the way to establish an age limit, player-wise could be more direct: Simply say people below and/or above a certain age are not allowed into the roleplay in the rules. The most the GM could do beyond trusting the word of their players is to check their profiles but even that isn't really a guaranteed method as one can hide their age.

Because you brought up that you had seen it in groups and I was just curious on how it had been added in the groups you had seen. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

 

[Idea]

Because you brought up that you had seen it in groups and I was just curious on how it had been added in the groups you had seen. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Yeah, you misunderstood my post. I never said I saw it in groups, though I maybe should have been more clear that I was talking about it in 1x1s.

 

[Shuusuke]

5 players seem like the minimal amount to me, any less and it feels constricted. With 5 you can somewhat comfortably choose which character you want yours to interact with, making it less likely you'll start to enjoy the RP less. I don't have a maximum amount in mind, as long as a sensible pacing is established to acomodate everyone. My main issue is that the more players join, the higher are the chances of unpleasant surprises. If I were the one to create the RP, I'd probably settle for around 6 other people, then be more cautious about increasing that number.

As for number of characters, I don't like it when a single player creates multiple ones, especially if they're somehow related (childhood friends, family, lovers, etc.). The main reason for that is that I'd get exhausted quickly if I tried to RP multiple main ones and the quality of the posts could be compromised, so I can't help but project that into other people. Another one is that I'll be suspicious that said player will be more interested in RPing between their characters than with others, and if it's going to come to that, why even RP with others? That's excluding side characters, don't really have any reservations about those as long as they're not the focus.

Regarding the player's age, it's a non-issue for me if they can RP decently. Even if they make a self-insert and take it personally, nothing I can do about it, it will still be a character-to-character interaction. If someone joins an RP which involves mature themes, I'll assume that they're also mature enough to handle them. If it looks like another player is getting any questionable ideas regarding the way a relationship involving an underage character will progress, I'll warn them and regardless of whether they actually listen or not, me and my characters are not going along with it. If they end up breaking the rules, I'll just inform someone who's in a position to take care of it. I don't do romance nor 1x1 RPs anyway, which hopefully lowers my chances of running into that kind of mess.

 

[yanastyboi]

What's your ideal number of players in a roleplay?
Idea number for myself is 4. I understand the risk/fear of the game dying when you loose a single player, but I like the structure and flow of a group of 4 players. The RP paces best with 4 players and as a GM it is easier to manage over a larger group. I never liked large groups because there was a lack of structure and someone always got left out or people try to one-on-one / move away of the group. I hate the mess that a large group creates, I prefer a more turn-based, structured, controlled para-RP environment. I max at 6 players and even that is to many most times. 5 isn't so bad, but still less keen on it.

Number of characters per a player?
I prefer multiple characters. A minimum of 2 and no maximum. I tend towards 5 - 8 characters myself in a group RP (more where needed). I don't expect ALL the characters a player has to be written for each post, I would never ask someone who has 8 characters to play all 8 at the same time. I run multi-scene games so characters get split up and divided and focused on differently per scene. Some players end up playing more characters at one point and less at another depending on the scene.

Does it matter to you how old other players are?
When I was younger it didn't matter at all. Now that I am almost 30 (and this started around when I was 25ish) setting a minimum age restriction is important to me as an adult RPer. I don't RP smut all that often, but as an adult I am more and more uncomfortable RPing with anyone under 18 regardless of subject matter. It's a combination of legal risks and simply being able to comfortably engage my partners/groups characters intimately (whether simple romance a kiss, hugging, tender fluff stuff, or sexual if it happens). I like knowing I am safe as an adult to RP scenes that may or may not lead to more, without risk to my person or emotional well being. I like knowing I don't have to walk on eggshells while I engage in a hobby I love.

Honestly I am 30 in May, I don't want to even think about cuddling up to someones character knowing that the player is 15 and half my age. It's so uncomfortable.

 

[Fable]

I don't RP smut all that often,

Here is the obligatory reminder that smut isn't allowed here on RpNation. welian y u do dis?

 

[welian]

Here is the obligatory reminder that smut isn't allowed here on RpNation. welian y u do dis?

I thought the sarcasm was obvious! Apparently I learned nothing!

 

[BackSet]

I thought the sarcasm was obvious! Apparently I learned nothing!

It's inportant to remember that everybody thinks your serious in the Internet despite sarcasm being one of the internet S top exports.