One of the best things about Savage Worlds is that PCs assume control of NPC. My players love it. I remember one amazing evening that we played Gangs of London like scenario. Rather than playing one “gang”, they assumed the control of an entire Family. Depending on situation the action rested on a single character to a 4 – 5 crowd. Sometimes they have to play the leader, sometimes the rookie, or the assassin…
There are some days that you like to play your character, one specific role on the game. But SW opens a lot of ways of managing an adventure. What we did was instead of one character sheet, they created his 5 character Extras and a Mob sheet, which reflected some Edges and Hindrances of the Gang and could level up its status, money, arms… based on drug dealing, prostitution, money laundry, etc. The best part was when another powerful gang entered in play, which i controlled, and they had to join together to face it.
There is a warning in the Rulebook about Artificial Inflation and is true, but if GM knows how to adapt extras on each situation the results are a blast. I think the number is not the problem, the problem is how do you manage that number to keep SW being Fast, Furious and Fun. If i have to say one number i think 4 is handy in every situation and Extras can have more weight than a mere footman.
savagemind 