What is the optimal number of players (excluding the GM)? Two? Three? Four? More? Does it vary according to system?
Number of players
Charles Bell
Eli Long
yaciretá
Levi Lopez
The general answer would be 4. with that the main roles can be filled: dps, healer, tank, control. Can freely change to lower or higher, the design of the campaign greatly affects this stuff too. + - 2 is also the average deviation from 4, 6 people is doable but it starts to get a bit chaotic, 2 people can be hard to fill at the skill needs. (combat role needs aren't the most important really.)
Aaron Wright
3-4 though I personally prefer 3 as it keeps the game quick and fluid. That being said even a group as large as 5 is good as long as the players are experienced and don't need to ask about the rules every few minutes or hold up the game thinking about what to do on their turn.
Justin Edwards
0.
The perfect game contains no players as they're the cause of all game related problems.
Dominic Reed
4-5 including the GM. I can stretch to 6, any more than that is an utter clusterfuck.
Luke Davis
I prefer 4, but 3-5 is good.
Colton Walker
It depends on what module or situations the players are gonna face.
From my experience, 3 or 4 players and a GM is optimal.
Evan Green
Honestly, some of the best games I've been in, were 1-1.
Smaller is usually better.
>Challenging as hell, you know no one will save your PC
>You can easily set the tempo of game, not get bogged down, or moved past anything because the other PC's didn't care/cared
>Treasure? All that shit is yours
Not knocking a good group of 2-5 players, but 1-1 is my favorite.
Isaac Ortiz
I prefer going with five.
If you have a four man team and one guy dies, everything is often screwed. Usually, a small party will have specialized roles so losing a single man will ruin everything, but with five you can double up on medics or people with a specific and necessary skill. Six people is just too many to manage.
I use this as rule of thumb, but as you said, different systems may change the optimal number. This is also more "how many players do I like playing at once". I like to have more players so people can drop in or out. Either that or I'll make a stock of NPCs to assist them which the players can choose from.