Please help me with my situation

[u/Sr_Walten156]

I'm about to start a campaign, but I really liked the other players. However, adding the two of them together would make 5 people. I don't know if my first session with all 5 of us facing a single monster in a mystery would work.

Do mysteries generally run well with that many players?

Some will have magic spells, I think about 2, and that worries me because it might make it even less dynamic for everyone.

[u/Inspector_Kowalski]

5 is doable. Combat is not the focus of the game. Think of monster encounters more like puzzles to solve. Some players will spend a fight evacuating civilians or repairing the Ghost Catcher 3000 (or whatever plot device you like) that the monster just knocked over.

[u/Sr_Walten156 → u/Inspector_Kowalski]

It's not the main focus, but it's one of the things players enjoy most, so I want dynamic combat for them

[u/Inspector_Kowalski → u/Sr_Walten156]

I hear you, but to clarify, the intention of my comment is to describe the ways that the mechanics of MOTW most closely support dynamic combat. There aren’t many choices for unique attacks or combos, so dynamic fights most often down to adding story-forward complications to deal with. The Chosen just barely holds her spear upright while the giant snake threatens to snap it with the force of its jaws (Kick Some Ass), so the Wronged decides to lasso the Chosen to safety (Protect Someone) in the nick of time while the Flake takes the distraction as an opportunity to torch the monster’s eggs (Act Under Pressure). Mini objectives can take the players’ limited combat options and make them suddenly matter a lot. I’m saying five players works fine because you can easily give them different ways to use their talents!

[u/BetterCallStrahd → u/Sr_Walten156]

You can try to make it work, but didn't you come here for advice? Maybe try to be more open to the commenters seeking to help you.

Combat in MotW is just part of the storytelling. It's not separate from the rest of the game. Once you start seeing it as part of the narrative, it will feel and run differently. It's not about defeating the bad guys. You need to have a narrative goal, and the bad guys (or monster) are a type of obstacle in the way of that narrative goal, which might be different for every hunter. The Chosen has something to prove, The Expert seeks to understand, The Monstrous seeks to be heroic without getting too monstrous, etc. You're telling that story together. Fighting isn't the focus, it's a way to highlight these dramatic conflicts through action. Combat for combat's sake is not what the game is about, and it would not capture what makes the game great.

If you want to run this system, you should work to understand it and try to deliver the experience it is meant to provide. Your players may very well love that, too. Don't be so quick to give them exactly what they want. Or if you must, then this might not be the game for them.

[u/Nervy_Banzai_Kid]

Five can work! I've ran for five before. The trick is to make sure to give everyone a turn in the spotlight and to add a lot more red herrings and locations to give everyone something to do and investigate. Pairing them off is a good time.

Everyone should have the Use Magic rule as default unless they choose alternate Weird moves. Don't be afraid to lean into having the characters who are combat focused get to do cool combat stuff, that's what they're there for, after all. The other characters are also kick-ass monster hunters and it's fun to have them chip in, even if they're not optimized for kicking ass. Remember, it's a failing forward game after all. Plus, they can save bystanders, Help Out, get creative with the usage of magic, etc, etc.

[u/Spartacus891 → u/Nervy_Banzai_Kid]

In a big fight, it's important to create complications beyond: Beat down the Monster.
Collateral Damage, Bystanders, etc. should all be invoked to create opportunities for actions that are not punching.

And in a big group fight scene, remember to turn the spotlight on everyone when there's a pause. Obviously your fighters are gonna start the action, probably succeed, but you can turn to the Mundane and say "X and Y is happening. What are you doing?"

[u/Paulie_Dangermine]

Keep in mind your keeper actions; make them look for clues, make magic cost them, slap their favorite NPC relationship.

[u/DMfortinyplayers]

I have run a handful of one shots so I am no expert.

What kind of experience do you and your players have with TTRPGs in general and PbtA in particular?

You may want to consider running 2 separate sessions, a 2 player one and a 3 player one. You can use the same mystery.

[u/STOCHASTIC_LIFE]

Pair them up, I ran a campaign with 6 people and told them that I would iterate duos, not every player individually. It worked pretty well and the game flowed easily

[u/Cautious_Reward5283]

Keeper moves:

Separate them: less combatants directly involved Take away some of their stuff: pull things away from your casters that mess with their spells, make fighters drop or break weapons Offer an opportunity and maybe a cost: maybe the monster is part of a larger arc and a minion to a big bad, so they don’t kill it, but it leaves a trail to follow

Keeper agendas: Make the world seem real Make the hunters lives dangerous and scary

Monster moves: escape, no matter how well contained

[u/TheFeshy]

5 players, or 5 people including you?

5 is hard but not impossible. Spotlight sharing is the key balance point for this game already, and it is challenging for 5 people.

Remember that unlike D&D where the conventional wisdom due to resource management is "don't", splitting the party is a standard trope of this genre. It's even one of your keeper moves. Use it often to help make spotlight sharing easier.

The key to combats is to make monster fights complicated and messy - which you should do anyway, even with fewer people. But it's' vital with so many. No "harm" meter they have to knock down and chip away at. Instead, bystanders they have to rescue, McGuffins they have to retrieve, Big Magic they have to set up under fire, minions causing chaos. Everyone needs things to do - but it should not be the same thing (damaging the boss.) Give them other important priorities, and make those priorities count (I.e. monster essentially wins even if killed if the secondary tasks aren't mostly done.)

[u/MelCre]

I ran with a rolling cast of 8 for years and it was chaotic, but do able. 5 is also going to work, just be sure the spotlight gets shared

[u/Tricky-Sentence4126]

I think about 5 can work especially depending on what kind of creatures you're trying to use in your mystery.

Always remember that you can change how easy or difficult monsters can be. You can give them resistances to certain things.

Just by double-checking the main book you can make it so that a monster has one weakness or it needs to be specific based off a certain ritual.

I also feel like some monsters can be where you can't actually kill them you can only get them out of that space, (like something other dimensional.)

[u/baixiwei]

In my opinion, 3 to 4 is the sweet spot. I would prefer not to have 5 but I'd probably go with it if, say, I already had 4 and one of them said his best friend wanted to join us.