Adjusting EL/CR

[Brakhdo]

I need advice. Has anybody any suggestions as to how to adjust regular published modules, usually accomodating 4 players to a one player adventure? Effectively there are two characters in play. My player's character is a druid who plays both her character and it's animal companion while in combat. Anyhow, I'm curious if anybody knows an effective method to make play appropriately difficult so she doesn't die to easily, nor to simple that there is no challenge.

Anybody?

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

That's tough--you could try toning down damage and hp, but that still leaves the problem of nasty status effects. The game is really built on the assumption of teamwork between several PCs though, so I don't know how well it'll work out is practice. You might have to resort to getting two or three more players or running some NPC adventurers.

 

[Spatula]

I don't think that there's really any purely mechanical process that you can use to convert CRs for a group of size 1. One character (or even one character + a pet) can't cover all of the assumed bases and is more vulnerable to bad luck in combat, with no one else there to pick up slack from some bad rolls. On the plus side, a properly played druid can carry out most party roles.

I would assume a single foe with CR = the druid's level would be a very risky encounter. Perhaps CR = level - 2 might be a good starting approximation for an "average" fight. Try starting off on the easy side, experiment, and ramp up the difficulty if it's too easy. The thing to watch out for IMO is that fights might be very "swingy" - good or bad luck for the player will produce outcomes that aren't easily predictable, which defeats the purpose of encounter design tools like CR/EL.

 

[S'mon]

An NPC of either 1/2 or 4 below the lone PC's level, whichever is higher, is likely to provide a moderate challenge IMO.

Most monsters are about twice as powerful as an NPC of level equal to their CR, which means effective threat level = CR+2.

So listed CR -6 to get a moderate monster challenge - a CR 14 monster can be a moderate challenge to a 20th level PC.

It varies a lot depending on PC class though. 3.5 Druid + Animal Companion is about the strongest PC you can get, equal I'd say to 2 weak PCs.

So you might often get away with a listed CR 2 levels below the character level. This won't always work though - many times a CR 18 monster can easily trash a 20th level Druid.

At high level, using a CR 4 below the Druid PC's level should often work - CR 16 vs 20th level Druid.

At low level though just stick to CR = 1/2 level, eg CR 2-3 for a 5th level PC.

 

[S'mon]

Hmm, did I kill this thread? Are my suggestions helpful, silly or meh?