I've started a game with the player characters being a Cardassian captain, a chief engineer, and a navigations officer. A total of 3 people. With that few players is there still a chance for a good game or do I give up now? (any good story arcs are also welcome)
Actually, I almost prefer the smaller groups as it allows everyone to shine in more episodes. I have 9 regular players who at least thankfully get along with one another but I DO run into the occassional "table three, I'll take your round two actions now" situations.
By no means give up on three or four players. Take a look thru the posts for good adventure ideas.
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Man is to man a god when he recognizes his duty.
Most of my games are either solo, with just my wife playing (be it D&D, Star Wars or Trek), or occasionally with 3 players and me (another couple we're friends with).
On rare occasions (once or twice a year), we actually get a whole 5 people around the table.
Let me tell you, you don't need a big group to have fun!
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"Every atom in our bodies was forged in the furnace of ancient stars - it is our destiny to return home..."
My current group consists of me and three players, works pretty well. I'd use it to form a nice triangle of core characters, much like the Kirk-McCoy-Spock relationship of TOS.
You can even get along with one player IMHO. Some of our best games just consisted of a GM and player. I find it forces a PC to become self sufficient no matter what genre you play in.
The one thing you have to remember with running a small group is that, unless you let the players play "more advanced" (read higher point) characters, you may well be missing skill sets that could become necessary for some adventures. "Darn it, nobody has Medical Sciences (Psychology), now we can't diagnose the "crazy" guy and figure out what's been driving the crew mad."
[as an aside, I'm well aware of the discussions on "Should Psychology be it's own skill, or at least be separate from Medical?"]
In Icon Trek, this isn't as much of a problem as in some games, because you at least have the base skills to work with. So even if you don't have the right specialization, you can make the attempt at the skill. In my above example, someone could still have Medical Science, and still make the attempt.
You may want to encourage the players to make their characters more rounded, rather than specialized.
You also may want to lower the Target Numbers a bit, or award more Courage points. But that depends on the characters involved and their competency.
Melbourne, Australia. Winner of the First Trek Survivor Trivia Show, and Bearer of the Steve Long Pink Elephant Stamp of Learning. :)
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By all means, a small group is worthwhile. It means the players have to work harder for their rewards (XP, promotions, etc...) and they end up enjoying themselves more. A small group means that all of the players are always involved in the action, as opposed to the GM having to try and come up with something that all 6 people can get involved in...so a small group can work for both sides.
Don't let it throw you...run with it!
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"...and more controversial than Oolon Colluphid's trilogy of philosophical blockbusters Where God went Wrong, Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes, and Who is this God Person Anyway?"
- The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (dec.)
I'm in total agreement with everyone else on this subject. You don't need a huge group of players to have a memorable campaign. The best campaigns I've ran and played in have had a small number of people involved in almost every gaming session. One thing that I like about this is the fact that PC characters get to be developed deeper than they are with large groups. It's a little more work for the DM, GM, or Narrator, but ends up being a more meaningful game in the end. Relationships between PCs and NPCs develop better, and friendships in RL can be strengthened too.
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Captain Scott Taylor
U.S.S. Guardian
NCC-1738-B
"No, no! I'm chaos. He's Mayhem!"
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/startrekgamersstation
I been playing in Star Wars campaign with only one other player and a game master for 3
years now. It has been the most fun ive been in yet. Ther is a lot more cooperation with smaller groups than larger ones in my opinion
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"What do you mean We are in the Neutral Zone? This is BAD!!" -Captain Jordan Macallister, USS Daytona
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New TNG narrator, few players
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