Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lonestar 11-28-05, 07:32 PM	Come december, I'll be running The Shackled City campaign (it goes from level 1-20), a campaign inteded originally for 6 PC's, for a group potentially as small as 3 people. I know that this is already a difficult campaign with 6 PC's, as I am currently running it for a group that size. I was wondering, if the 3 PCs were kept at 1 level above the curve and made gestalt, would it be balanced and keep the same challange level it would be for the 6 PC group? You don't need to know about the shackled city to lend me advice, anything would be appreciated!
WayneTheGame 11-28-05, 07:46 PM	Come december, I'll be running The Shackled City campaign (it goes from level 1-20), a campaign inteded originally for 6 PC's, for a group potentially as small as 3 people. I know that this is already a difficult campaign with 6 PC's, as I am currently running it for a group that size. I was wondering, if the 3 PCs were kept at 1 level above the curve and made gestalt, would it be balanced and keep the same challange level it would be for the 6 PC group? You don't need to know about the shackled city to lend me advice, anything would be appreciated! Hmm.. having read through that particular campaign (wish I could run it for my group!), even with gestalt your PCs may have a difficult time. Remember that in some adventures the difficulty is purposely higher than normal because of the plot... it's certainly doable with three PCs but you may need to adjust an encounter or two (particularly the really tough ones later in the campaign) to avoid a TPK.
Trarth 11-28-05, 09:05 PM	kill the three of them that are leaving in a horrific yet believable manner dependant on alighnment.
Wizards_White_Knight 11-28-05, 09:46 PM	My Dm ran it for my friend and I. He gave us 35 point buy, AND gestalt. And we got killed by a mimic way too quickly. We are starting again tonight, with 32 point buy, Gestalt and 2 characters each. I strongly suggest you give your PC's a good NPC to tag along, or let them play more than one character. It is definetly too hard. WWK
mythSSK 11-28-05, 10:31 PM	My Dm ran it for my friend and I. He gave us 35 point buy, AND gestalt. And we got killed by a mimic way too quickly.Hey, you guys were the ones who decided to attack it. It was obvious that it wanted to talk rather than fight... --- To the OP: I'm currently DMing the Shackled City for WWK and another dude, so I'll give you my thoughts. It's really rather hard to balance it with a small party. Some battles become too easy if you give gestalt and a high point buy (skulks can't actually hurt/hit the PCs and get hit 100% of the time), and others are difficult because even if you're gestalting, the PC's are still only getting 2 or 3 actions per round while in a full party they'd be getting 6.
Lonestar 11-29-05, 12:46 AM	kill the three of them that are leaving in a horrific yet believable manner dependant on alighnment. That's what's trying to be avoided... most of the time.
Wizards_White_Knight 11-29-05, 08:11 AM	Hey, you guys were the ones who decided to attack it. It was obvious that it wanted to talk rather than fight... And due to the fact that between us, we knew 3 languages, Common, Dwarf and Orc, none of us knowing undercommon... All we knew was we needed the rat, the mimic had the rat, and the mimc spoke gibberish, while gesturing wildly...seemingly wanting to eat the rat.
Lonestar 11-29-05, 11:01 AM	And due to the fact that between us, we knew 3 languages, Common, Dwarf and Orc, none of us knowing undercommon... All we knew was we needed the rat, the mimic had the rat, and the mimc spoke gibberish, while gesturing wildly...seemingly wanting to eat the rat. If that encounter ended up being that lethal, I'm definitly tempted to ask one to play an extra PC, or just try to find more players. From what I've heard, it seems like balancing this will be quite tough. Moltenwing alone is giving me nightmares. :dragon: Spoiler Alert! Moltenwing was that fully grown pyroclastic dragon they fight at a pit of lava. I can't imagine how 3 PC's could survive that encounter. I've heard some scary TPK stories about that sucker.
nihility 11-29-05, 11:37 AM	It's not easy, but here are some options if you want to give it a try: 1) Gestalt. As several posters have already mentioned, this is a good general-purpose way to shore up a small party. It greatly reduces the risk that you'll have a TPK due to poor saves or insufficient spells. As also mentioned, they still don't get the same number of actions as a big party. 2) High point buy. This has also been mentioned, and it's a good way to help ensure that characters can fill multiple roles. 3) The Leadership feat. This is a nice way to bring more characters into the mix while ensuring that the main characters are still the stars of the show. 4) Cohort-based classes. Classes and prestige classes like the Thrallherd can also add more characters into the mix. 5) Save points. If you know the campaign is going to be extremely challenging, you might consider allowing the players to restart from certain points if they experience a TPK. While this might detract from the feeling of realism, some groups will enjoy the chance to approach highly lethal encounters from multiple angles. 6) Socializing. Encourage the players to invest in social skills like bluff and diplomacy, since this allows them to both overcome encounters without fighting and gain allies. Languages are also a must, or the ability to cast tongues easily. I think all of these have been mentioned or hinted at, but I thought it would be good to lay them out.
Mandarbgrim 11-29-05, 11:39 AM	Sounds like a good time to have everyone play two characters...or gestault with cohorts?