DM Thoughts: Grisly Murders and Sojourns

We got a little side-tracked by the grisly murders. I introduced rumor of a brutal murder (not magical or anything) originally as a way to build up the city and warn the players that “Sharn is a dangerous place.” The players apparently thought that sounded way cooler than the other quest hooks I had been tossing out… and so we ended up here, confronting a crazed and twisted former party member.

Dungeons and Dragons is pretty rad.

The rub with all of this, however, were new players. Comfort was new, and I had planned for her arrival and integration, but as things came to a head with these murders, the night before the session I received two messages; two more guest players would be stopping by… which would bring our player count to 8.

Not wanting to derail the story, I tried to roll with it and press on with the showdown. We did ok.

In a combat-lite session, (like any of our previous investigation-sessions) I think I could handle 8 players. In combat heavy… it’s doable, and these two sessions gave me a lot of ideas for future large games, but I will endeavor to make these rarer events. We did well, but it was a bit of a grind.

Given our unusually large player base, and number of outstanding plot hooks, for the next few sessions, I’ve artificially split the party. Two distinct groups will be out and about on their own to tie up some loose ends.

The split will help newer players learn the game mechanics with less pressure; as well as let us tie up a few things while we amble back towards the main plot. As a bonus, we should have some good RP and storytelling when the players meet up later (I won’t post the recaps here until after the reunion).