D&D 5E Scaling Lost Mines of Phandelver for 1 or 2 PCs

Gecko85 · Feb 2, 2015

I've been thinking of the best way to run LMoP with just 1 or 2 players. One idea is to have the one (or two) players role-play an entire party (using the pre-gens). I don't think I like that option, though, so I've been thinking about scaling the encounters.

Here's what I've come up with so far (starting the PC/s at 2nd or 3rd level), for Part 1:

	1 PC (2nd Level)	1 PC (3rd Level)	2 PCs (2nd Level)
Goblin Ambush [Hard]	1x Goblin [Easy] or 2x Goblin [Deadly]	3x Goblin [Hard]	3x Goblin [Hard]
Goblin Blind [Easy]	1 x Goblin [Easy]	1x Goblin [Easy] or 2x Goblin [Medium]	2x Goglin [Medium]
Kennel [Medium/Hard]	1x Wolf [Easy] or 2x Wolf [Deadly]	3x Wolf [Hard] or 2x Wolf [Medium]	3x Wolf [Hard] or 2x Wolf [Medium]
Overpass [Easy]	1x Goblin [Easy]	1x Goblin [Easy]	1x Goblin [Easy]
Goblin Den [Deadly]	2x Goblin [Deadly] or 1x Goblin + 1x Goblin Boss [Deadly]	4x Goblin [Deadly] or 2x Goblin + 1x Goblin Boss [Deadly]	4x Goblin [Deadly] or 2x Goblin + 1x Goblin Boss [Deadly]
Twin Pools Cave [Medium/Hard]	2x Goblin [Deadly] or 1x Goblin [Easy]	2x Goblin [Medium] or 3x Goblin [Hard]	2x Goblin [Medium] or 3x Goblin [Hard]
Klarg's Cave [Deadly]	1x Bugbear + 1x Wolf [Deadly]	1x Bugbear + 1x Wolf [Deadly]	1x Bugbear + 1x Wolf [Deadly]

Thoughts? Suggestions?

iserith · Feb 2, 2015

I prefer to leave things as-is. If the players want to fight, they'll just have to figure out a way to do that on terms that will end up being favorable for them. The key thing to remember with that approach is to let players know that there is no expectation of an even fight in all cases.

Another way to deal with it is to make the conflict about something other than one side killing the other by default. For example, I made the first encounter about the goblins stealing mining equipment from the wagon and escaping with it. They only attack the PCs if they are unable to get to the wagon and get some loot. This greatly reduces the chance of things going wrong and ending in PC death, but maintains the difficulty (or enhances it).

koga305 · Feb 2, 2015

I like it! Honestly, this seems like just about the right way to run it for a small party, particularly because the pregens that come with it make leveling up pretty easy. The third level solo character looks a lot better than the second level one, though.

Cernor · Feb 2, 2015

I agree with Iserith that leaving the encounters as they are is the way to go: if you're concerned about the smaller group running into problems, then make each PC more powerful. Not only does it save you time (because you don't have to rewrite every encounter in the book), but if your players still struggle you can then go ahead and reduce the power of encounters anyway.

The two options for increasing PC power that immediately come to mind are either starting your PCs at an increased level (starting with two level 2 PCs or one level 3 PC sounds about right), or giving them each a weak magic item. If just giving the items away seems too arbitrary, "hide" the items somewhere that your PCs would likely find them: maybe a Cloak of Elvenkind being used as a sleeping mat in the Goblin Den, or a +1 weapon buried in the trash in the Kennel.

Gecko85 · Feb 3, 2015

Thanks for the replies. I'm a little reluctant to leave the encounters as-is for fear it'll lead to avoiding combat 100% of the time (or very near that). Some of the encounters, yes...

I think I'll start one PC at 3rd level, adjust the first encounter per my previous table, and see how it goes. I can re-adjust from there.

Astrosicebear · Feb 3, 2015

Gecko85 said:
Thanks for the replies. I'm a little reluctant to leave the encounters as-is for fear it'll lead to avoiding combat 100% of the time (or very near that). Some of the encounters, yes...

I think I'll start one PC at 3rd level, adjust the first encounter per my previous table, and see how it goes. I can re-adjust from there.

With 2 PCs I would just NPC a character for the 3rd. I ran LMOP with 3 and it was fine.

Blackbrrd · Feb 3, 2015

I ran a session with just two players. We ended up using a on screen NPC controlled by the players (a fighter) and an off screen NPC (cleric) controlled by the DM for healing purposes. This worked out very well, and I didn't change any encounters. This was a bit into the module, at level 3 though. At level 1 this wouldn't have worked (one hit can easily take down a PC).