Experience as a Dungeon Master

I started playing D&D eight years ago. I have mainly been a Dungeon Master for my friends and for other groups I have bee a part of. I’m not the most experienced player because of this. I do not believe this is a problem because I love doing it. At times I feel there is a disconnect between what I think should happen and what should happen when I do manage to be a player character. This probably happens to every Dungeon Master. While I do not fully grasp being a player, I think I have a general understanding of what is expected as a Dungeon Master.

When I first started out I had to figure out what worked and what did not. One of the first problems I ran into was the issue of group size. How many players should be in a group? Does it matter what classes the players choose? At the time I didn't think it mattered all that much. There were times when we had seven, eight, nine players.  Looking back, I realize how wrong I was, group size is an important factor when determining almost everything in the game. It changes the challenges, the interactions with NPCs, the adventure as a whole. I've settled on having a maximum of five players when I run games, this is mainly to limit the amount of talking, but also to encourage story progression. What I discovered through trial and error was that when groups are smaller they are able to focus more closely on the game.

I remember asking other Dungeon Masters what they thought about group size. Most agreed what I had been doing was foolish, others still tell me that it doesn't matter as long as it's a fun experience. With Fifth Edition being out for a few years now, an issue I had with 3e-3.5e doesn't happen as much. I use to think certain classes were needed for a party: the classic Fighter, Wizard, Cleric, and Thief Combo. I no longer believe this is necessary for D&D current form. Having a healer is always nice, a front line sure makes some fights easier to handle, and having someone who can open locks and find traps sure makes dungeon crawling possible. However, I do not think it is necessary to always have these in a party now. With so many diverse character options in 5e, groups can be comprised of any number of class combinations. A full party of Bards would actually be a lot of fun. If I had said that a few years ago when I was mainly engrossed in 3.5e, I would have laughed at myself.

I've had groups that have lasted, fallen apart, disbanded for one reason or another. I've had players get into arguments with one another, in and out of character, causing one or both to leave the group. Truthfully this is just something I have learned to deal with. It causes fractures in how we continue games and that can cause trouble with storytelling and how often the group meets. I like to have at least one game every two weeks, it helps keep the story fresh in the player's minds and it allows the players to dwell on what happened the previous game.

Ending notes: I think four to five players is optimal when running games. Party classes don't matter as long as the players are smart and can improvise. Running games is rough but it is a ton of fun. If you are having trouble and don't see why you should continue then I suggest you sit down and think about what is going wrong, how can you fix it, what do the players want from your game. Are you interested in the story you are telling? If not, then change things up! Maybe what you had in mind isn't how you imagined it when it came to fruition. World creation is difficult and sometimes you need to change things on the fly instead of making sure an event happens.