Campaign for two... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Campaign for two... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Lore333
10-15-05, 09:28 PM I have a slight problem. I want to run a new campaign using published adventures, but I currently have only two players. The adventures are all designed for 4 players, so that leaves with two options that I can figure. One, I can have two NPCs tag along, or two, I can fudge with the encounters. I hate both of these ideas. They give me more work. So I was thinking of a third- simply raising the two players' levels. The question is, what should I raise them to? Raising their levels so that there is a "total character level" agreement seems unbalanced (e.g., two 8th level players for a 4th level adventure...?)

Any ideas?
allenchan
10-15-05, 09:33 PM You could try using the Gestalt rules from Unearthed Arcana (similiar to 2e dual classing). It is made basicly for instances such as yours, allowing each character to fill two roles.
Rocketboy13
10-15-05, 09:56 PM :thinks: Editing the adventure would be the best course of action.
Making sure each of the encounters does not possess some threat they can't counter (a bunch of undead with damage reduction can demolish a pair of rouges). :ghosted:
Giving a little more magic items rather than just coins and art might give them a bit to much of an edge, but it is an edge they could use. :fight!:
Giving them a companion that takes no time to make (a gaurd dog, or blink dog, a small good creature that does not steal the spotlight). :dragon:
You might want to increase their levels a little, but the difference between a lv4 wizard and a lv5 wizard is a lot of explosive power which renders most monster groups obsolete. :mage:

I don't think I have been that helpful, but then I tend to have the problem of to many players (6-7) rather than to few. Sorry. :)
strumbleduck
10-16-05, 04:24 PM Increasing a character's level by two ought to roughly double their power. The exception is 1st-level characters -- 2nd-level characters are about twice as powerful as 1st-level ones.

You don't need to do anything special with the experience points. Just use the standard system and they should maintain their two-level advantage. In fact, if you started running any adventure with two people and used the normal system for experience, they would naturally gravitate towards being two levels ahead.

If you go with this option, be very careful with monsters that grapple, and in general with monsters that can disable one of the characters. The party will be killed every time one of them is grappled, paralyzed, stunned, nauseated, etc. In general, even without a character getting disabled, it will be much easier to accidentally TPK a two-person party.

Another option would be to let each player play two characters. We've had a lot of success with this approach in my group. I suppose it tends to cut down on role-playing and in-character discussion, but it makes the battles a lot more interesting.

If you don't want to do that, you could just make sure that they both take the Leadership feat. They'd each get a cohort with level = their character level - 2. This only works for characters of at least 6th level.

Finally, it might work well to have one of the players play a druid, since they would get an animal companion.
Lore333
10-16-05, 04:42 PM Thanks for the advice everyone, it's really appreciated.

Strumbleduck: I will take your advice and go with the +2 average level. And the leadership feat is an excellent idea (though I can't force them to take it...)

Having them play two characters is an interesting thought as well. I'll have to run that by them and see what they think.

This will be an interesting experiment. I've never had the problem of too few players before, and time constraints and inherent laziness prohibit me from writing my own adventures for this campaign (well, that and I've been really itchin' to run a couple of published adventure paths). ;)
Imaginary_Zero
10-16-05, 06:43 PM I'm probably going to be running in a campaign with two party members pretty soon. We're probably going to use Gestalt rules, although now that I read this thread I'm considering just using +2 level characters. I'm not sure.
Add to that the fact that I have no experience DMing before now and it promises to be an interesting campaign.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lore333 10-15-05, 09:28 PM	I have a slight problem. I want to run a new campaign using published adventures, but I currently have only two players. The adventures are all designed for 4 players, so that leaves with two options that I can figure. One, I can have two NPCs tag along, or two, I can fudge with the encounters. I hate both of these ideas. They give me more work. So I was thinking of a third- simply raising the two players' levels. The question is, what should I raise them to? Raising their levels so that there is a "total character level" agreement seems unbalanced (e.g., two 8th level players for a 4th level adventure...?) Any ideas?
allenchan 10-15-05, 09:33 PM	You could try using the Gestalt rules from Unearthed Arcana (similiar to 2e dual classing). It is made basicly for instances such as yours, allowing each character to fill two roles.
Rocketboy13 10-15-05, 09:56 PM	:thinks: Editing the adventure would be the best course of action. Making sure each of the encounters does not possess some threat they can't counter (a bunch of undead with damage reduction can demolish a pair of rouges). :ghosted: Giving a little more magic items rather than just coins and art might give them a bit to much of an edge, but it is an edge they could use. :fight!: Giving them a companion that takes no time to make (a gaurd dog, or blink dog, a small good creature that does not steal the spotlight). :dragon: You might want to increase their levels a little, but the difference between a lv4 wizard and a lv5 wizard is a lot of explosive power which renders most monster groups obsolete. :mage: I don't think I have been that helpful, but then I tend to have the problem of to many players (6-7) rather than to few. Sorry. :)
strumbleduck 10-16-05, 04:24 PM	Increasing a character's level by two ought to roughly double their power. The exception is 1st-level characters -- 2nd-level characters are about twice as powerful as 1st-level ones. You don't need to do anything special with the experience points. Just use the standard system and they should maintain their two-level advantage. In fact, if you started running any adventure with two people and used the normal system for experience, they would naturally gravitate towards being two levels ahead. If you go with this option, be very careful with monsters that grapple, and in general with monsters that can disable one of the characters. The party will be killed every time one of them is grappled, paralyzed, stunned, nauseated, etc. In general, even without a character getting disabled, it will be much easier to accidentally TPK a two-person party. Another option would be to let each player play two characters. We've had a lot of success with this approach in my group. I suppose it tends to cut down on role-playing and in-character discussion, but it makes the battles a lot more interesting. If you don't want to do that, you could just make sure that they both take the Leadership feat. They'd each get a cohort with level = their character level - 2. This only works for characters of at least 6th level. Finally, it might work well to have one of the players play a druid, since they would get an animal companion.
Lore333 10-16-05, 04:42 PM	Thanks for the advice everyone, it's really appreciated. Strumbleduck: I will take your advice and go with the +2 average level. And the leadership feat is an excellent idea (though I can't force them to take it...) Having them play two characters is an interesting thought as well. I'll have to run that by them and see what they think. This will be an interesting experiment. I've never had the problem of too few players before, and time constraints and inherent laziness prohibit me from writing my own adventures for this campaign (well, that and I've been really itchin' to run a couple of published adventure paths). ;)
Imaginary_Zero 10-16-05, 06:43 PM	I'm probably going to be running in a campaign with two party members pretty soon. We're probably going to use Gestalt rules, although now that I read this thread I'm considering just using +2 level characters. I'm not sure. Add to that the fact that I have no experience DMing before now and it promises to be an interesting campaign.