First time dm for a group of eight players

[Meepwizard]

As the title says, I'm very determined to make this work, but my real hope is that you all have advice on what to do. Three of the players have played before, but in either a different system or several years ago. I have a session -1 planned where I can discuss with the players the general tone, what kind of game that they want, and lay some ground rules, and we can use it to make their characters Ground rules being:
1. If you find fun in ruining others' experience we'll have a talk, but I won't tolerate it for very long
2. Since I'm the dm to our similar aged group of 4 girls and 4 guys(all of which are 14 and so am I) I don't want to play out anything really romantic because that'd be awkward for me and them(I'm friends with everyone here). The most you'll get is flirting and if it goes farther I'll say "and we cut to black" also "the duke wakes up to see a pant less man sprinting away from the noble woman's bed chambers early in the morning. He then goes back to bed being too tired for this".
3. While I won't ban summoning spells, but I'll discourage minionmancy, they'll all act on your turn, do the one thing you command, and you roll once to see if you hit(five of the players has expressed wanting to be a full spell caster)
4. Combat: everyone is given 30 seconds to decide on their turn, if you don't do anything, then most likely you'll take the dodge action unless it makes no sense(the character with arachnophobia will sprint away, not just stand there)
I'd like any stories about dming a large group, any advice, and especially advice on how to incorporate the whole group into the story( so far the thing that unites the group is that they are the "order of the rings", rings being magic items that scale with character level and each have some thematic ability, but erased their memories/backstory because eight back stories are a lot, and then everyone will focus more on their personality and character growth, also I can add some memory vision if I feel like for a plot hook)

We're playing 5e

[Scyrner]

So the thing that's going to take the longest is almost always going to be combat, as you've correctly identified. Encourage the players to consider their turn on the other players turns, since they've got such a long time between their own chance to act. I'd recommend working with the spell-casters to make sure they're on top of what their spells do, as that's another thing that would take time up. Personally, I wouldn't try to put a hard limit on how long everyone has for their turn, but I'd encourage speed. Putting a hard limit on it will be difficult to enforce and can lead to frustration and negative feelings, especially since you've quite a few new players.

My biggest tip for incorporating the whole group are a) keep the story arcs fairly short and b) work with the players.

If you keep the story arcs fairly short then you can have a short arc focus mostly on a single character without the other players getting bored.

The players are also your best resource for getting them involved with the story: Listen to what your players talk about liking and target that.

I'd also really seriously recommend setting up a Discord channel for the group, or something similar. With such a large group, you might find it difficult to get much time at the table for RP without boring other players, so having a text medium for that will provide the players with the chance to do that, if they wish.

I've run campaigns and sessions with 8+ players. It's do-able. Table management will be quite important.

Good luck!

[Grod_The_Giant]

I would actually caution against combat timers, especially for a group of newbies. It's a harsh, adversarial, brute force solution to a problem that really doesn't address the main sources of slowdown. If you're concerned about how long things will take, my two main tips are:

• Make sure everyone knows their abilities. This is, by far, the most likely thing to slow you down. Make sure everyone has their attack and damage bonuses calculated ahead of time, make sure everyone has a cheatsheet with what their various spells and class features do-- and heck, what the various common combat-actions involve-- and, ideally, have the full text of everything on hand. Make personalized cheatsheets for them if you have to.
• Use a map. Theater of the mind sounds nice in concept, but it gets difficult even with a small group. With eight players and probably as many monsters on the field, it'll get hard to keep track of things even with a reference. It doesn't need to be fancy-- a big sketch pad or a dry erase board and some loose change is all you really need (Get a bunch of nickles and label 'em with wet erase markers; works like a charm). Just have something to drop in the middle of the table so that your players can know most relative details without having to ask you every turn. At the same time, don't be a slave to the grid. It really, really doesn't matter if someone moves a little farther or shoots a little bit around a corner. Give ranges a rough eyeball and move on.

Strange as this may sound, I think your biggest problems may fall outside of combat. Eight players is a lot of people to fit into a conversation or exploration scene. Make sure you're ready to bounce quickly from person to person and to deal with multiple people trying to talk at once.

You also really, really don't want to leave things too open. I know pure sandbox games are this forum's one true holy grail of gaming and any sort of linear plot is tyrannous railroading, but... players can and will argue for hours before trying even the simplest thing, especially if they feel like they're in over their heads in an intrigue-heavy campaign. You should definitely offer some choices, and you should absolutely have multiple ways to progress through adventures, but... give them clear goals. Nothing stalls a game faster than a whole bunch of paranoid players arguing about what direction is safest.

[Meepwizard]

Thanks for your input! Combat will be long, but that's a gurantee with such a big group . I think what I really need is to make sure everyone knows about all this stuff, maybe at session 0ish the players can help me world build and hopefully feel more involved in the world. Maybe we can keep a campaign journal for everyone to enjoy

[Meepwizard]

Again thank you! No combat timer for sure, and I guess in this case railroading isn't completely horrible. In a group of three I once played with( everyone was my brother irl) it took forever to decide on anything

[Honest Tiefling]

1. If you find fun in ruining others' experience we'll have a talk, but I won't tolerate it for very long

Good. I'd paraphrase it to be 'don't be a jerk', since that covers many different situations. I think having a discussion on PvP rules is important, as people might try to do it without realizing that others aren't on board and not expecting it. That's something you really need to address in session 0, since you can't have a quick discussion in-game as easily.

2. Since I'm the dm to our similar aged group of 4 girls and 4 guys(all of which are 14 and so am I) I don't want to play out anything really romantic because that'd be awkward for me and them(I'm friends with everyone here). The most you'll get is flirting and if it goes farther I'll say "and we cut to black" also "the duke wakes up to see a pant less man sprinting away from the noble woman's bed chambers early in the morning. He then goes back to bed being too tired for this".

Don't give an explanation. If you don't want to DM that, don't freaking DM that. I think that's all you need, you don't need to justify your comfort level.

3. While I won't ban summoning spells, but I'll discourage minionmancy, they'll all act on your turn, do the one thing you command, and you roll once to see if you hit(five of the players has expressed wanting to be a full spell caster)

I don't know your system, but I suspect a general rule of 'Keep it in lines, guys and gals, I know you're really smart and can break the system in two, but let's not do that and tone it down'. Might be beneficial, as there could be other issues with your chosen system. Perhaps warn them that you might need people to cooperate toning down characters if issues arise.

I also suggest a bit of a bribe. Let people use BALANCED but exotic races that aren't always available (tieflings, warforged, aasimar, etc.) as a carrot to obey the stick.

4. Combat: everyone is given 30 seconds to decide on their turn, if you don't do anything, then most likely you'll take the dodge action unless it makes no sense(the character with arachnophobia will sprint away, not just stand there)

I'd add a rule that unless it is your turn, don't offer advice. If a player is stuck on what to do, they can ask advice from 1 player of their choosing. Don't abuse it, get 1 minute, use it once a combat. Of course, this is assuming some are newer players, but I find that some people get too excited and often try to play tactician...Which is fine, for smaller groups!

I'd like any stories about dming a large group, any advice, and especially advice on how to incorporate the whole group into the story( so far the thing that unites the group is that they are the "order of the rings", rings being magic items that scale with character level and each have some thematic ability, but erased their memories/backstory because eight back stories are a lot, and then everyone will focus more on their personality and character growth, also I can add some memory vision if I feel like for a plot hook)

Some ideas:

• Give a benefit, even if it is as simple as 50 extra starting gold or some scrolls, to those who link their characters together. I think using the mechanics some systems have might get cumbersome with the number of characters, but suggest they form bonds quickly.
• Have some NPCs ready! It'd suck if all of your friends are playing and you are out because of an unlucky roll. Having some characters they can quickly jump back into the action with can't hurt in most situations.
• Reward and encourage off-screen roleplay! It might get those who want to roleplay one-on-one to get that out of their systems while not clogging up DM time. I would discourage too much one-on-one with NPCs, and tell them to involve other PCs depending on scheduling.
• Consider delegating tasks. Have one player write a journal or summary of sessions. Have another be in charge of initiative. Another could keep track of NPCs, such as writing down who they are and the like.
• Having stuff online (such as Obsidian portal or Roll20) might help things as well.
• Don't do work you don't have to! Ask players to e-mail you plot hooks they wish to see. They'll be happy for the plots, and you know where to nudge them if you can get them to cooperate.

[Ionsniper]

Something to help speed up large group combats is have the enemies move at set initiative. Such as take 9 kobolds. Have 3 move on 15, 3 move on 10, and 3 move on 5. That way the field is always changing and keeps players engaged. Do this for minions only and have bosses and big creatures roll Initiave like normal.

[Darokar]

Unless you're playing with very mature players, I recommend doing turns even out of combat. I've been a player in a campaign of 8 players, and the moment the dm says what do you do, its just screaming about random things. Turns out of combat is helpful to keep the order.

[Meepwizard]

So basically everything will take forever... now I can extend out a single adventure hook longer just by giving something to do if I have to

[Glorthindel]

I find taking control of the seating plan immensly helpful.

- seperate the people who are more likely to sit whispering away to each other, or showing each other things on their phones.
- position the more quiet or shy players closer to you, so you can easily spot (and hear) if they want to say something without them being drowned out.
- position the players you can trust most to stay focussed and intrested furthest from you - with a standard circular table, these will then be opposite you, so you can easily spot if they need something without them having to shout up (they will quickly get used to waiting til your eyes settle on them to try and get your attension)
- Whenever you have finished addressing a player directly, always take a moment to glance around your players in order (I do it clockwise around the table). If players know you will be checking with them before moving on, it will drastically reduce the amount of times players are talking over each other to get heard.

[Psikerlord]

I would seriously recommend cutting your group in two, and just GM for 4 at once.

Also, I recommend the 5 finger rule - after you tell a player it's their turn, they get a 5 second count (on the fingers of one hand) - if they dont declare their turn by then, they lose their turn (or if you want to be a bit more generous, they dodge). Combat will be faster but also more dangerous, since the party's actions will be less optimised.

[Darokar]

There will be times when the group gets chaotic, so remember to put the foot down and tell them to quiet down from time to time. The moment you let them go and make decisions, there will be lots of people saying what they want to do, or at least from my experience.