Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Elfcrusher Jul 01, 2015 21:33:02	I'm going to be running two players through Ravenloft (I6) that a fan updated for 5e.  The players are my nephews, ages 9 and 13, and they're enthusiastic but not necessarily expert players.  (I have such fond memories of playing Ravenloft when it was first published...)   The author says it's nicely balanced for 6 players of 5th level, which I assume means that Strahd toys with the heroes for a while instead of actively trying to kill them (or there's something else at play, like he's irrationally afraid of facing them all at once), because surely he could TPK a bunch of level 5's.  But, anyway...   Two questions: 1) Assuming 6x5th is accurate, what level should only two players be? 2) What classes would you recommend?  I'm going to create the characters for them, as I don't want to waste our limited time making characters, and I also want to make sure they're somewhat optimized for the adventure.     In some ways the more sensible option would be to give them each two characters, but I've never liked playing with multiple characters per player.  I could also give them an NPC, I suppose.   Thoughts?
#2 Elfcrusher Jul 01, 2015 21:47:25	Oh, and what Proficiency would relate to knowledge about Undead?  Arcana?
#3 Danny_Montanny Jul 02, 2015 4:14:34	By using the encounter builder, a medium encounter for 6 5th-level PCs is 3,000 XP. That's about the same XP budget for 2 11th-level PCs for a medium encounter. Ever other difficulty is about the same as well, within a few hundred XP. So I think your options are to create the two characters at 11th level, or create them at whatever level you feel and scale back and rework all of the encounters that could potentially lead to combat.   I'd say normally undead knowledge would be from Arcana, as that's how most undead are created. Not 100% sure what Ravenloft's take on it is though.
#4 iserith Jul 02, 2015 4:29:40	1. A vampire (CR 13) versus six 5th-level PCs is Hard (5,000 XP). To make an encounter of the same difficulty, two PCs would need to be 18th or 19th level. (These calculations are based purely on the guidelines for CR and XP budget with the usual caveats.) If one imagines that there will be a way for the PCs to get items or the like that can even the odds, I figure about half that perhaps, putting the PCs at 10th level or so.   2. Maybe some kind of Dex-based (read: sneaky) characters with a range of options (including healing) between them and complementary skills. Multiclassing is probably the thing to do.   3. A straight Intelligence check will do or Intelligence (Religion). Consider that if horror is the order of the day, not being able to roll a die to glean knowledge about the supernatural forces arrayed against them is better. I think it's better if they have to engage in exploration or social interaction to find the information they seek.   There are lower-level Ravenloft modules out there that would be a lot easier to run for two kids. I recommend The Created (though it needs some work to update its design in my view). I especially recommend placing a creepy ventriloquist dummy in one of the chairs at the table during play.
#5 xanral Jul 02, 2015 8:11:22	2.  I'd probably make them classes that refresh many of their abilities on the same type of rests.  So a moon druid and fey warlock might complement each other well or a barbarian and cleric etc.
#6 BadMeeple Jul 02, 2015 8:28:58	iserith wrote:
#7 Ranthalan Jul 02, 2015 8:44:05	Elfcrusher wrote:
#8 Ralif_Redhammer Jul 02, 2015 12:00:31	One thing I experienced with Ravenloft is that Strahd can cast fireball. Depending on how they play it and how well he rolls, that could easily take out a significant number of PCs.   As far as class recommendations, I’d say the classic cleric, fighter, thief, wizard combo would be good, along with a paladin.