Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Wymarc 11-05-06, 07:37 AM	I am starting an Eberron campain in a week, but I have only 2 players and we are all new to the game. As I am new to the game I don't have any idea what would be good encounters for 2 players. My plan is to have the party accompanied by npcs until they know the rules well enough to play 2 characters each, but I don't want the npc's to rain on the player's parade. I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas? (p.s. - They are a kalashtar druid and a half-elf ranger)
malakaiunseen 11-05-06, 08:42 AM	Its not eberrron specific, but check out this usefull thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=471897&pp=30)...
CharlieRock 11-05-06, 08:55 AM	Using DMPCs is kinda tricky. First of all realize it is not your character in the sense your player's characters are your players. They are simply NPCs allied with the PCs for whatever reason (I.e. no 'god mode'). Second, use them only to fill out the parts our team needs but hasn't the player available for. Another consideration would be what exactly they 'need'. Try not to tip your hand too much (having a ton of Rogues kinda makes it obvious there are tons of traps up ahead).
cog_and_taz 11-05-06, 08:58 AM	gestalt them, perhaps?
malakaiunseen 11-05-06, 10:11 AM	The thing about having other NPC's traveling with a party that I have found to make things easier to manage, is giving the players the benefit of choice. try to make a game where just two PCs can survive, maybe give them some friends who they can call upon, or who invite them along on adventures, -if they want to. Just like most fantasy novels are written with only one or two main characters, a DnD game doesnt NEED to have four or more in the group. I have run 1 player games that worked really well. Once I let the player design 4 PCs. At any one time however he only played two. One was back at the group's shop, and the forth was being NPC'd by me. This gives the players the choice of which role they want at the time. It allows them to get stuff done without worrying about it in-game, "here's 10sp, take this message to the shop named "underworld curios" in Silverport." message reads "Hans, we need you to come quickly, bring holy water and stakes!" IT can be a lot of fun like this, and it also gives new players a good way to realise that not every character can be played the same way, and lets them try out a couple of classes in one game. Also, if they have a meeting with the mayor, his daughter could be a [party's needed class] character of [party average level -1 or 2] and could want to go with the group, but the mayor will only let her if the group insists that she does, and promises to take good care of her. This way its on their back if they have her there or not. But then you also have license to make a couple of encoutners a bit harder. The trick is to let the characters decide what goes on. Don't force them to travel with NPC's except rarely. On teh other hand, try to use realistic examples of why it is better to travel with friends. -make them want an ally or two. Lastly, I would reccomend sticking completely to core, and making some straight forward plots. Something in teh wilderness seeing as they are a druid and a ranger...
alecthemad 11-05-06, 11:56 AM	I had the same situation with two players in an Eberron campaign in sharn. I kept the combats to a minimum so the players felt they could spend more resources in each fight. This seemed to level the playing field. I kept opponents at 1 CR less than the to characters but once they realized they could throw a lot of resources in one fight they were really quite effective. But they still had some close fights. Neither one of them was a cleric so healing was a problem and in one fight they had to appeal to the people nearby (busy street) for some help. In the end I had a fighter NPC that showed up once in a while to help them. At 6th level one of them took leadership and made him their cohort. You just need to be careful and don't make the enemies too ruthless.
Thubby 11-05-06, 12:15 PM	a druid ranger team doesnt relay NEED more people, to be honest, im not saying they are uber powerful, but their skill sets dont leave any real gaps. the ranger is a fighter/rogue type. and the druid can cast healing, and attack spells. the 2 animal companions are going to be more front liners. if your going to have these npcs anyway, try to avoid teh decision maker position, so avoid bard and paladin. make sure they dont have big ideas of their own "hey, lets go left instead" is a bad thing for these npcs to say.