D&D 4E 4E with a party of two?

[Hawke]

I've been playing my recent game with two players. They also have a magical hound that is pretty good at tripping (to provide some crowd control when needed) and I've learned how to scale baddies a bit to try and keep things a bit balanced. While I plan on trying to expand the party (regain some friends who will likely prefer 4E to the complexity of 3.5) it may end up that I'm starting the 4E campaign with 2 players.

Anybody have any thoughts or suggestions on how this might work with 4E? One option would be simply to remove some monsters from combat but with only 2 classes and 4E fairly new to me I'm a little bit more worried about my ability to eyeball what combination might be too much.

Another option that would be nearly impossible in 3.5 that seems MUCH easier in 4E is running multiple characters. With the hound in our current game I've stripped down the possible actions and usually the gladiator character handles him while the cleric worries about her spells. Anybody run multiple characters in a 4E preview game?

Any third options available yet?

I wonder how much the DMG has about playing with smaller parties and suggestions for doing so.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

It shouldn't be to hard to eyeball the amount of monsters in a fight given the way the new Encounter System works.

Since you got two PCs, say they are level 1. That means a balanced encounter would be up to 200 XP (100 per PC). So you could have 1 elite, 2 normal, or 4 minions at level 1.

So all you need to do is some quick math to determine how high the XP value of all the monsters are compared to the Encounter XP for the PCs and your good to go.

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

Avoid multiple characters, it kills roleplaying.

Defenders are the lynchpin of the party IMO, so as long as one of the two PC is a fighter or a paladin, you should be able to simply send any monster you like as long as their total XP is a match of their level (200 XP at level 1).

If they have no defender, then some combination of monsters, even if they total 200 XP, will be too deadly.

You don't want to send a single Elite Brute against a ranger and a wizard, for example. Their odds of survival will become entirely dependant on the ability of the wizard to inflict a special condition on the monster every turn in order to hinder him. A few bad rolls and the Elite brute will squish the ranger who wasn't designed to hold the line against this kind of opposition and then the wizard has to run for his life. Very swingy scenario.

 

[Jack99]

Since you got two PCs, say they are level 1. That means a balanced encounter would be up to 200 XP (100 per PC). So you could have 1 elite, 2 normal, or 4 minions at level 1.

8 level 1 minions actually. Aside from that, you are correct.

I personally think 4e will turn out to be the easiest edition to run with fewer players.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Woops! Your right, my mind skipped to 4 Minions per PC.

 

[Zelgadas]

Once they've gained a level or two, you can start sending larger numbers of lower-level monsters after them, so that the combats still feel dynamic and exciting but aren't quite so hard. Also, multiclassing might help some. A high-damage, greatsword-wielding fighter with the ability to use hunter's quarry once per encounter might make a striker less necessary. A half-elf wizard with a poached warlord or cleric power and the appropriate multiclass feat might be able to fill the leader role reasonably well, especially given the leaderish flavor of some of the half-elf's racial abilities and feats.

Another thing you can do to make encounters a little bit easier is to make sure that there are hazards and terrain features that the PCs can make use of to gain an advantage. Allow your PCs to set ambushes and traps. In general, a difficult encounter can be made easier by giving your PCs the advantage of forewarning and planning. It also might not be a bad idea to try and make use of the skill challenge system frequently.

Finally, bear in mind that the amount of treasure a party receives doesn't seem to scale with party size; this means that a two-player party will have more gear per member than a four-player party. Assuming four magic items per level per party, that means that each character will be getting two magic items instead of one, making them individually more powerful. If you make sure that most of those items complement their existing abilities, then those items become even more of a counterweight to the party's small size.

 

[NebtheNever]

I think the only difficult part is working solo monsters into the encounter. In order to fit in the XP budget for two PCs, solo monsters will have to be a couple levels lower, and the greater the disparity of levels between PC and monster, the screwier the math gets.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I'd think a Defender + Leader combo would probably be pretty good. Say, paladin + cleric, or fighter + warlord. Basically, go for durability and the ability to grind the waves of the enemy down.

Brad

 

[Hawke]

I guess right now I'm leaning against multiple characters. Maybe I could get some non-committing friends to control a friendly NPC character for big important boss battles but it does seem like it will scale easier than 3.5 the more I think about it. Probably would be useful to pick some classes that may allow more skills to make various skill challenges easier on them with only 2 characters. Just trying to think of all the angles.

My hope is to get the former players on board with the idea that running their character will be easier with the options more clearly laid out for them from the start.

 

[Blackeagle]

I think the only difficult part is working solo monsters into the encounter. In order to fit in the XP budget for two PCs, solo monsters will have to be a couple levels lower, and the greater the disparity of levels between PC and monster, the screwier the math gets.

They've said there will be rules for converting regular monsters into solos and elites. It seems like you could use those rules in reverse to convert a solo into an elite (which would be a level appropriate encounter for a 2 person party).