5-6 player PbtA options?

#1

Hi Team,

I was just doing my first prep for a Brindlewood session with friends I’ve been playing Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective with.

Started with the Session One instructions, only to see for the first time

Avoid playing BRINDLEWOOD BAY with five or more players.

This was the first I’ve seen of a player limit - totally on me for preparing too late.

Do you recommend any PbtA that are good for 5-6 players?
Is the limit because Brindlewood doesn’t play well, or because PbtA doesn’t play well, at that size?

Thanks!

#2

Imo, most pbta games are fine with 5-6 players. It’s a little harder to share the spotlight around all the players than with a smaller group, but not really any more than it is in trad games. I’ve run Brindlewood Bay one-shots for a group of 6 before without a problem.

You might find you need to go a little harder on giving them conditions, because you want the characters to rack up conditions to push them to engage with mechanics like Crowns and the Vulnerable Move.

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#3

Thanks @Sandy, much appreciated. I did decide to blast through and see how it turned out - I’m expecting at least one or two players to drop out - we are a board game group and I don’t know that everyone will make the transition.

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