So, I finally got Infinity the RPG, and man is it gorgeous. I'm trying to parse through the rules, and am wondering how the game does with large groups. For reference: my Saturday night group has between 8-13 players depending on who shows up (work/real life is funny that way). Normally we run mini-friendly systems like Iron Kingdoms RPG and HERO/Champions based games. Its pretty much a necessity, to be honest. Is Infinity okay with that many players? And minis are okay?
8-13 players! You have yourself a full military squad without any NPCs! I can't say if the system can handle that many players but from what I know about the rules it's not impossible. It will come down to how you want to GM the game in my mind. I can think of some campaigns where it would be hard with that many players and where it would be very easy. The RPG isn't miniature dependent but you can definitely use them.
Yeah, it’s a real trick in IKRPG where we can at least steal from the wargame. Our group has taken out Colossals and 75 point armies... So I’ve got a lot of tricks for non-combat encounter goals (Kind of have to), but we do like straight up fights too. My trick is deciding whether or not I want to use the system as is or use HERO and use the book for the lore/setting. Have I mentioned the book is gorgeous?
I run a game currently with six players, doing lunch break games of 1 and a half hour per week. All but one are semi-experienced DND players. The system takes a moment to get used to at first but once everyone understands how to roll, combat goes fast enough and it's quite fun, though I will warn that the system is meant for your players to mown down a lot of the trooper type of enemies. I did the mistake of putting too few of them and the bad guys didn't even get to act. As such, make sure to plan plenty of troopers or couple them with the stronger types. Especially with your group size. The one thing with the system that I personally don't use is the movement. It works on a range and zone idea that doesn't work too well (in my opinion) with minis for a RPG. I modified it to use a similar system as DND, using a number of squares to determine each range. Reach is point blank and melee. Close is up to two squares away. Medium is three to six squares. Long is seven to ten. Extreme is eleven and up. Note that I mostly use these in combat I also adjusted the gear acquisition system a bit as it's rather overly complicated. Now my players just buy stuff with assets and cashflow. I don't use the messy calculations. Beside that, I find the system to be pleasant and work well for my group. I imagine with more time and adjusting things for a larger group, it would be just as fun.
