Ideal number of Adventurers, Adventurer niches or experts

In most Role Playing Games there seems to be an ideal number of characters for the Adventuring Party. The weekly Wednesday Encounters from WotC assume a minimum of 4 player characters and a maximum of 6.

Okay then, four to six in an adventuring party.

Does that number feel right to you?

In the groups you have played in or GM-ed - what has been the number that was just right for everyone's comfort level?

Whats too many?

Whats not enough? (to run a decent adventure)

In these adventuring situations - what the ideal or preferred mix of classes or archetypes within the adventuring group?

Could this work :

1 Wizard
1 Cleric
2 fighters
1 Scholar/scribe type
1 paladin

Or is there a better mix that you've found?

In Science Fiction/Space Travel games - What is the ideal mix of specialty character types?

1 Pilot/Navigator type
1 Starship Engineer/Mechanic
1 Doctor or Medic
1 Negotiator/lawyer or mouthpiece character
2 ground fighter /Bodyguard /soldier types

....with one of the above also being a researcher or info oriented type of character.

What has worked out best in your game groups?


-Ed C.

while I'm sure there is an "Ideal"
you just have to go with your players

some of our best games in our Star Wars occured because we DIDN'T havbe the "right" character and we had to work it out amongst ourselves

our crew has no jedi, we have 3 soldiers a scout, a gun fighter and a Noble doubling as a medic and so, many of the encounters we've played (Pregenerated and other) have been fun on our own terms

would we have been better off if a soldier took the medic role?
should we have had a jedi; Probably but they didn't and the road less traveled has made all the diffrence- as they say..

I've found in all instances for myself: Playing, GM-ing or taking over for an absentee GM that more than 6-8 people is Too Much