Scaling adventures that will include a higher-level NPC

[wayne62682]

I'm getting ready to DM an Eberron campaign soon and I'm going to be heavily modifying the adventures Khyber's Harvest and Seekers of the Ashen Crown. The theme for my campaign is very similar to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - the PCs are starting at 2nd level but are going to be "niche celebrities" and have been brought together in Sharn by an enigmatic individual.

I want to tie in some of the developments in Seekers of the Ashen Crown so I am pretty much scrapping the entire plot of Khyber's Harvest and rewriting it. However, I want to introduce an NPC that later turns traitor in Seekers as an aide for the party and as part of their group (basically, he's playing the role of Dorian Gray in LXG) so they're familiar with him; however, this means that for Khyber's Harvest he needs to accompany the party. The problem is that, in Seekers he's a Level 6 Skirmisher; the party is only 2nd level.

I'm not sure how I should go about handling this... should I lower his levels, or throw more creatures into the adventure?

 

[hailstop]

I'd either reduce his level or 'fake' what he does. Remember that the PCs are the heros, and while he's an 'ally' he's in a supporting role at best.

 

[Dreadite]

If you're using him as a monster, I'd just scale him up as you go along. Choose a level 3 template (so his HP are high, but his damage is only moderately competitive) and just scale him up a level when the party levels until you want them to "catch up" as it were. Then throw in an extra monster of his level.

Ultimately, this'll make the players try to hide behind his HP sponge though, as pretty much ANY NPC companion will end out doing. It works well for a first adventure though if you're wanting something to reduce the deadliness a bit.

I'd warn against including anything that's outright higher level than them. It's perfectly acceptable to have his "npc companion" self be less effective than when they fight him as a boss, it's cinematic license.

 

[Derulbaskul]

What about making him a higher level minion? That way his defences are going to be difficult for appropriate level monsters to hit but his combat effectiveness will be negligible. When the story supports him taking a more active role (ie, turning traitor) just modify him into a normal, elite or solo monster as appropriate.

The great thing is with the new monster builder is that you can convert the existing character into a minion with a few clicks and still have the "actual" version saved on your PC for when you need it.