2 person party adventures - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

2 person party adventures

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
codworth
Jul 01, 2008 10:18:20 My group is starting small untill the on-line dungeons tool comes out, so I'm going to be making mini-adventures designed for 2 (mabey 3) people + a DM.

The encounters will need to be forgiving in regards to classes (no must-have-a-controller) and skills (no find-the-trap-or-lose). 2 or 3 encounters will be optimal per session, with an emphasis on role-playing rather than power-gaming. Obviously some encounters will become trivial with certain class make-ups, and almost impossible with others, but thats the challenge.

Any suggestions, maps, hooks, ideas will be greatly appreciated. My favorite setting is Dark Sun, but anywhere will be fine. Start with level one, and feel free to link further adventures after the completion of your idea. If I come up with anything I'm happy with, I'll post mine here also.
#2
locke_kant
Jul 01, 2008 13:39:41 Simply remember to stick to your XP budget on your encounters. If you stick to this then you should be able to keep yourself from accidentally overwhelming the PCs. An example for a standard level 1 encounter is to budget 100 XP per PC. Party of two gives you 200 XP to work with.
Use a decent amount of minions to keep the encounters from feeling "weak".
So you could use up about half of your budget getting 4 minions then save the rest for something else like a controller or brute.
Try to alternate between the various encounters. Something that is fun and can feel challenging to your PCs is the complete use of minions for one encounter. With the 200 XP budget you could create an encounter with 8 minions which helps to make your PCs feel heroic and helps them to become familiar with tactics and party strength.
Eventually they will get used to their characters capabilities and be able take on more challenging encounters.
Hope this helps.
#3
danmarlok
Jul 02, 2008 10:10:52 Aye, I've run a couple of 2 player encounters using a budget of 200 and 250 experience points at first level. four minions plus 1 regular monster and 2 minions and 2 regular monsters. Both times the players came out fine without having to use Daily powers. They did have to healing surge of course but in both cases they just had to use their Second Wind to do it, they didn't have a cleric with them.

If there is zero healing options other than Second Wind then a healing potion (50gp) or two per character would help with that and they're not too expensive especially if you throw them at a couple of scouting parties, 4 minions and a lurker for instance first, then let them sell the equipment or just have a healing potion as a treasure on the regular mob in each encounter then you can move them up a bit in 'danger'.

I wrote a little play test module prior to getting the rules so it's not 'right' but it goes something like this:

Party consists of 3 players (add a DMNPC fighter if only two players). Party is performing community service by using a magical widget that cleans the built up gunk from sewer walls. "Apparently he had a very good time." - Warden Gad Hassan

During the course of their 'adventure' the module has them encounter a rat group fighting over the corpse of a dog. A skill challenge to get a stuck purse that was 'ditched' into the sewers from above by a pair of thieves as the party passes underneath. An encounter with a kobold raiding party that's kidnapping people younger women mostly, (campaign continuance hook for side questing) for a 'dark master' that's actually a slaver using some tricks to make them think he's their god returned. A skill challenge to capture the leader of the party if it manages to institute a hot pursuit through the sewers. Then they'll break into an old old tunnel system that predates the town above by some centuries where they'll, probably knowing players the way I do, manage to set free an old but very weakened evil (recurring villain that will turn into a BBEG later) and run into a unique elite (Tainted dire rat) and some constructs along with some traps to help the rogue shine if there is one but that can be 'survived' without one.
#4
ramses_iii
Jul 02, 2008 15:56:08 With a party as small as 2 or 3 players you can really go heavy on RP challenges and skill challenges. I would recommend using at least as many noncombat challenges as combat challenges, as long as your players are the type that get into story and RP. As another suggestion for combat challenges, if you're running a game for a 2 person party then an elite monster can basically play as a substitute for a solo against a larger party, so if you want to do a combat against a single monster then an elite is perfect for your purposes.
#5
Winterhaven_Regular
Jul 03, 2008 11:07:02 I am running a 4E campaign for 2 players. First encounter, I just threw 8 minions at them (200 XP). The wizard went down, it was almost a TPK. Definitely consider the class combo. My players are using a rogue and a wizard - and it's not a good mix.

In the end they decided to take on an NPC ally (a town guard - member of the winterhaven regulars from keep on the shadowfell), and that has helped a lot. They share XP with him.

Also, any adventure with a dragon is probably a bad idea. A scaled-down level one dragon destroyed them when they were level two!
#6
codworth
Jul 03, 2008 15:54:02 cool replies !!!!

Definatly watching the xp budget. Definatly mixing in a good amount of skill challenges (but not the do-or-die variety).

4 minions + 1 normal, then 2 normal units for the first two combat encounters.

I'm using several non-lethal traps (one swinging door trap to "split up" the party, and one falling block trap for damage) to use perception and problem solving if/when they get triggered.

I also want to use a few area where optional skill challenges can provide information, loot, or xp. Examples are streetwise / diplomacy / intimidation during the "hook" phase. Wilderness lore during the "travel" phase. Dungeneering during the "exploration" phase.

The hardest challenge I want to pose is the "kobold tribal carvings" on the rock walls. A History check possibly? Kobold Lore? These carvings might need to be transcribed and brought to an expert, leading further down the adventure.
#7
locke_kant
Jul 08, 2008 0:01:20
I am running a 4E campaign for 2 players. First encounter, I just threw 8 minions at them (200 XP). The wizard went down, it was almost a TPK. Definitely consider the class combo. My players are using a rogue and a wizard - and it's not a good mix.

In the end they decided to take on an NPC ally (a town guard - member of the winterhaven regulars from keep on the shadowfell), and that has helped a lot. They share XP with him.

Also, any adventure with a dragon is probably a bad idea. A scaled-down level one dragon destroyed them when they were level two!

Was the wizard new or something? All the wizard needed to do was scorching burst action pointing into a second burst and they should have been fine. If the wizard didn't have the scorching burst then he made a character poorly made for a 2 man campaign. The rogue should have been a fighter or paladin, probably a dragonborn Paladin to give a strong mix to the wizard.
#8
tcrowemagnon
Jul 08, 2008 8:58:36 Another way to accomodate 2 players without making the encounters overly anemic is to allow the players to identify and occupy terrain that gives them a tremendous defensive advantage. A good peak tension moment in the early lives of your characters could be a mini-thermopylae type scenario where they are holding an extremely defensible pass against an otherwise overwhelming force of low level humanoids. 4e maximizes the importance of environments and terrain, use them to your advantage!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 codworth Jul 01, 2008 10:18:20	My group is starting small untill the on-line dungeons tool comes out, so I'm going to be making mini-adventures designed for 2 (mabey 3) people + a DM. The encounters will need to be forgiving in regards to classes (no must-have-a-controller) and skills (no find-the-trap-or-lose). 2 or 3 encounters will be optimal per session, with an emphasis on role-playing rather than power-gaming. Obviously some encounters will become trivial with certain class make-ups, and almost impossible with others, but thats the challenge. Any suggestions, maps, hooks, ideas will be greatly appreciated. My favorite setting is Dark Sun, but anywhere will be fine. Start with level one, and feel free to link further adventures after the completion of your idea. If I come up with anything I'm happy with, I'll post mine here also.
#2 locke_kant Jul 01, 2008 13:39:41	Simply remember to stick to your XP budget on your encounters. If you stick to this then you should be able to keep yourself from accidentally overwhelming the PCs. An example for a standard level 1 encounter is to budget 100 XP per PC. Party of two gives you 200 XP to work with. Use a decent amount of minions to keep the encounters from feeling "weak". So you could use up about half of your budget getting 4 minions then save the rest for something else like a controller or brute. Try to alternate between the various encounters. Something that is fun and can feel challenging to your PCs is the complete use of minions for one encounter. With the 200 XP budget you could create an encounter with 8 minions which helps to make your PCs feel heroic and helps them to become familiar with tactics and party strength. Eventually they will get used to their characters capabilities and be able take on more challenging encounters. Hope this helps.
#3 danmarlok Jul 02, 2008 10:10:52	Aye, I've run a couple of 2 player encounters using a budget of 200 and 250 experience points at first level. four minions plus 1 regular monster and 2 minions and 2 regular monsters. Both times the players came out fine without having to use Daily powers. They did have to healing surge of course but in both cases they just had to use their Second Wind to do it, they didn't have a cleric with them. If there is zero healing options other than Second Wind then a healing potion (50gp) or two per character would help with that and they're not too expensive especially if you throw them at a couple of scouting parties, 4 minions and a lurker for instance first, then let them sell the equipment or just have a healing potion as a treasure on the regular mob in each encounter then you can move them up a bit in 'danger'. I wrote a little play test module prior to getting the rules so it's not 'right' but it goes something like this: Party consists of 3 players (add a DMNPC fighter if only two players). Party is performing community service by using a magical widget that cleans the built up gunk from sewer walls. "Apparently he had a very good time." - Warden Gad Hassan During the course of their 'adventure' the module has them encounter a rat group fighting over the corpse of a dog. A skill challenge to get a stuck purse that was 'ditched' into the sewers from above by a pair of thieves as the party passes underneath. An encounter with a kobold raiding party that's kidnapping people younger women mostly, (campaign continuance hook for side questing) for a 'dark master' that's actually a slaver using some tricks to make them think he's their god returned. A skill challenge to capture the leader of the party if it manages to institute a hot pursuit through the sewers. Then they'll break into an old old tunnel system that predates the town above by some centuries where they'll, probably knowing players the way I do, manage to set free an old but very weakened evil (recurring villain that will turn into a BBEG later) and run into a unique elite (Tainted dire rat) and some constructs along with some traps to help the rogue shine if there is one but that can be 'survived' without one.
#4 ramses_iii Jul 02, 2008 15:56:08	With a party as small as 2 or 3 players you can really go heavy on RP challenges and skill challenges. I would recommend using at least as many noncombat challenges as combat challenges, as long as your players are the type that get into story and RP. As another suggestion for combat challenges, if you're running a game for a 2 person party then an elite monster can basically play as a substitute for a solo against a larger party, so if you want to do a combat against a single monster then an elite is perfect for your purposes.
#5 Winterhaven_Regular Jul 03, 2008 11:07:02	I am running a 4E campaign for 2 players. First encounter, I just threw 8 minions at them (200 XP). The wizard went down, it was almost a TPK. Definitely consider the class combo. My players are using a rogue and a wizard - and it's not a good mix. In the end they decided to take on an NPC ally (a town guard - member of the winterhaven regulars from keep on the shadowfell), and that has helped a lot. They share XP with him. Also, any adventure with a dragon is probably a bad idea. A scaled-down level one dragon destroyed them when they were level two!
#6 codworth Jul 03, 2008 15:54:02	cool replies !!!! Definatly watching the xp budget. Definatly mixing in a good amount of skill challenges (but not the do-or-die variety). 4 minions + 1 normal, then 2 normal units for the first two combat encounters. I'm using several non-lethal traps (one swinging door trap to "split up" the party, and one falling block trap for damage) to use perception and problem solving if/when they get triggered. I also want to use a few area where optional skill challenges can provide information, loot, or xp. Examples are streetwise / diplomacy / intimidation during the "hook" phase. Wilderness lore during the "travel" phase. Dungeneering during the "exploration" phase. The hardest challenge I want to pose is the "kobold tribal carvings" on the rock walls. A History check possibly? Kobold Lore? These carvings might need to be transcribed and brought to an expert, leading further down the adventure.
#7 locke_kant Jul 08, 2008 0:01:20	I am running a 4E campaign for 2 players. First encounter, I just threw 8 minions at them (200 XP). The wizard went down, it was almost a TPK. Definitely consider the class combo. My players are using a rogue and a wizard - and it's not a good mix. In the end they decided to take on an NPC ally (a town guard - member of the winterhaven regulars from keep on the shadowfell), and that has helped a lot. They share XP with him. Also, any adventure with a dragon is probably a bad idea. A scaled-down level one dragon destroyed them when they were level two! Was the wizard new or something? All the wizard needed to do was scorching burst action pointing into a second burst and they should have been fine. If the wizard didn't have the scorching burst then he made a character poorly made for a 2 man campaign. The rogue should have been a fighter or paladin, probably a dragonborn Paladin to give a strong mix to the wizard.
#8 tcrowemagnon Jul 08, 2008 8:58:36	Another way to accomodate 2 players without making the encounters overly anemic is to allow the players to identify and occupy terrain that gives them a tremendous defensive advantage. A good peak tension moment in the early lives of your characters could be a mini-thermopylae type scenario where they are holding an extremely defensible pass against an otherwise overwhelming force of low level humanoids. 4e maximizes the importance of environments and terrain, use them to your advantage!