D&D 5E Brainstorming on a Duo group campaign (DM + 2 players)

[GlassJaw]

My current gaming group is currently fractured and on hold due to real-life stuff and scheduling conflicts. Just general life getting in the way of gaming. Bleh. Anyway, 3 of us (myself included) still want to play so I've been doing some early brainstorming on running a campaign for 2 players. I'm well-versed in Lankhmar/Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, which would be one of the primary inspirations for the campaign (among others).

Here's are the basics of what I'd like to do so far:

Magic is Rare
Spellcasters and magic items would be much less common than the implied 5E "setting". I don't think I would change the spellcasting mechanics or spell acquisiton but it is an option (having to find or be taught new spells would be interesting). Generally, people know magic exists but most have never seen it and are fearful of the unknown. If the players start using flashy magic in public areas, word will get out.

Gritty, Urban Setting
Life is hard, the streets are dirty, alleys are dark, the gods don't listen, and morals are gray. I'm considering Freeport because I have a ton of material for it and it has pirates, jungle islands, snake people, and some Cthulhu-vibes throw in for good measure. I also want to take some inspiration from Shadowrun and the Thief video game series where the players are probably operating on the outside of the law, networking is extremely important, and combat is usually not the best solution.

Lifestyle is Important
Resources will be hard to come by. I want money to mean something and the primary motivator for adventuring. I also want a player's Lifestyle to have an in-game, mechanical effect as well, perhaps affecting healing rates, chance to acquire diseases, quality of goods, the ability to craft, etc.

Player Backgrounds
I will require the players create backgrounds and decide how they know each other. I'd also encourage a common theme like same race, same class, same background, etc. but I'd ultimately leave that up to the players. I also want them to help create the "world", perhaps creating an NPC contact, a place they know in the city, an important or valuable item, or a favor they can call on in a pinch. I also may have them create a complication for their character; maybe a nemesis that is looking for them a debt they must repay.

Balance and Challenge
I know the balance and setting an appropriate challenge, especially in combat, will be very delicate. I'm considering some kind of Action Point or expanded Inpsiration system that gives the players another resource to manage and provides a way to save their butt. I'm also considering starting the players at level 2 or 3 for a bit more survivability.

So, has anyone run a campaign like this before? What was your experience? What worked and what didn't? Any helpful tips or advice while planning this type of campaign?

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Ages ago I was planning a mega-city Rogue campaign based on Thief for a small group...I'd have to find my notes. I re-skinned a bunch of monsters to make them a bit more steam-punk. I'll have a look and see if I can find my stuff.

 

[FrogReaver]

My current gaming group is currently fractured and on hold due to real-life stuff and scheduling conflicts. Just general life getting in the way of gaming. Bleh. Anyway, 3 of us (myself included) still want to play so I've been doing some early brainstorming on running a campaign for 2 players. I'm well-versed in Lankhmar/Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, which would be one of the primary inspirations for the campaign (among others).

Here's are the basics of what I'd like to do so far:

Magic is Rare
Spellcasters and magic items would be much less common than the implied 5E "setting". I don't think I would change the spellcasting mechanics or spell acquisiton but it is an option (having to find or be taught new spells would be interesting). Generally, people know magic exists but most have never seen it and are fearful of the unknown. If the players start using flashy magic in public areas, word will get out.

Gritty, Urban Setting
Life is hard, the streets are dirty, alleys are dark, the gods don't listen, and morals are gray. I'm considering Freeport because I have a ton of material for it and it has pirates, jungle islands, snake people, and some Cthulhu-vibes throw in for good measure. I also want to take some inspiration from Shadowrun and the Thief video game series where the players are probably operating on the outside of the law, networking is extremely important, and combat is usually not the best solution.

Lifestyle is Important
Resources will be hard to come by. I want money to mean something and the primary motivator for adventuring. I also want a player's Lifestyle to have an in-game, mechanical effect as well, perhaps affecting healing rates, chance to acquire diseases, quality of goods, the ability to craft, etc.

Player Backgrounds
I will require the players create backgrounds and decide how they know each other. I'd also encourage a common theme like same race, same class, same background, etc. but I'd ultimately leave that up to the players. I also want them to help create the "world", perhaps creating an NPC contact, a place they know in the city, an important or valuable item, or a favor they can call on in a pinch. I also may have them create a complication for their character; maybe a nemesis that is looking for them a debt they must repay.

Balance and Challenge
I know the balance and setting an appropriate challenge, especially in combat, will be very delicate. I'm considering some kind of Action Point or expanded Inpsiration system that gives the players another resource to manage and provides a way to save their butt. I'm also considering starting the players at level 2 or 3 for a bit more survivability.

So, has anyone run a campaign like this before? What was your experience? What worked and what didn't? Any helpful tips or advice while planning this type of campaign?

I've played in many low player campaigns. So I know a bit how they tend to work.

A few thoughts:
"Magic is rare and using it will cause word to get out...." sounds cool but it doesn't play well given 5e's breadth of spell casting options. It's a good trope to have when mundane people aren't nearly as powerful as the caster, but in 5e the mundane fighter and the wizard and more or less balanced. I hope you drop this idea.

Instead for a low player game I would find a way to embrace magic items as they can really help round out low person parties by giving them interesting things to do in all pillars regardless of the class they chose.

Perhaps self casted magical effects like magic missile and fireball are rare because all people that could become wizards instead devote their time crafting magical items as that is one of the most lucrative, respected and safest careers.

Be prepared to add in a DM PC to keep things rolling smoothly. They may need either a tank or healer to keep combat running smoothly so be prepared to grant them that.

For out of combat tasks they can hire non-combat focused NPC's or purchase magic items to fill in the gaps.

Instead of having lifestyle keep players from disease etc, I would instead just tie it into how lucrative of jobs they could get. If they spend all their time with the rich and powerful then they open up more interesting jobs that pay better etc.

I would start them off at level 3. That will allow them to fight about on par with a 4 man level 1 party.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Make your life easy: use Kobold Fight Club to build encounters. It will do all the math for you, including weird multipliers and adjustments for sheer numbers.

Also, in my experience the most effective way to make a setting feel "low-magic" is to remember that common people are TERRIFIED of magic. NOBODY trusts a magic user, no matter how benign said caster is or intends to be.

 

[Ymdar]

I am running a solo campaign for my wife, it is going really great.
Indeed you need to run a (few) DM PCs to keep things smooth but then you need players who are not getting bored when you are rolling dice for minutes if a combat ensues. With low number of players I’d suggest them to really flesh out details of their characters (‘orks killed my family’ background is banned) and you can throw them plot hooks deeply involving their past. My experience is if there are recurring allies whom they befriend or recurring non cliche villains that they might need to ally with makes a great game. Again with a low number of players you can really expand on the motivation of allies or enemies.
While Kobold fight club is ok, you really need to be careful with monsters that punch above their CRs on low levels.

 

[CTurbo]

Pets, familiars, and companions are even more valuable in 1 to 2 man parties as it's much harder to be surprised.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Rather than running DMPCs, I prefer to create one or two simple NPCs that can accompany the group using a stat block from the back of the MM. Kind of like the old school hirelings idea. The player gets to decide what the NPCs do and rolls for them. If they treat the NPCs well, I don't have to step in with a morale check.

 

[GlassJaw]

Great stuff everyone - thanks!

Some really good ideas on how NPCs can help/enhance what the players are doing. I certainly don't want to run DMPCs to assist with balance; I want the focus to be on the duo, not something that must be worked around. I do like the idea of a pet or familiar

Instead of having lifestyle keep players from disease etc, I would instead just tie it into how lucrative of jobs they could get. If they spend all their time with the rich and powerful then they open up more interesting jobs that pay better etc.

It can certainly be hand-waved a bit as you described, but I prefer to go different route. I want the players to be concerned about putting food on the table as it were. I want them to track money down to each coin. Cash is hard to come by and the class and economic divisions are wide. I also like it because it really sells how crappy living on the streets is, especially if living in squalor is disease-inducing.

Side note: Does anyone know of any DMs Guild products that flesh out Lifestyle expenses like I'm describing?

 

[clearstream]

My current gaming group is currently fractured and on hold due to real-life stuff and scheduling conflicts. Just general life getting in the way of gaming. Bleh. Anyway, 3 of us (myself included) still want to play so I've been doing some early brainstorming on running a campaign for 2 players. I'm well-versed in Lankhmar/Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, which would be one of the primary inspirations for the campaign (among others).

Here's are the basics of what I'd like to do so far:

Magic is Rare
Spellcasters and magic items would be much less common than the implied 5E "setting". I don't think I would change the spellcasting mechanics or spell acquisiton but it is an option (having to find or be taught new spells would be interesting). Generally, people know magic exists but most have never seen it and are fearful of the unknown. If the players start using flashy magic in public areas, word will get out.

Gritty, Urban Setting
Life is hard, the streets are dirty, alleys are dark, the gods don't listen, and morals are gray. I'm considering Freeport because I have a ton of material for it and it has pirates, jungle islands, snake people, and some Cthulhu-vibes throw in for good measure. I also want to take some inspiration from Shadowrun and the Thief video game series where the players are probably operating on the outside of the law, networking is extremely important, and combat is usually not the best solution.

Lifestyle is Important
Resources will be hard to come by. I want money to mean something and the primary motivator for adventuring. I also want a player's Lifestyle to have an in-game, mechanical effect as well, perhaps affecting healing rates, chance to acquire diseases, quality of goods, the ability to craft, etc.

Player Backgrounds
I will require the players create backgrounds and decide how they know each other. I'd also encourage a common theme like same race, same class, same background, etc. but I'd ultimately leave that up to the players. I also want them to help create the "world", perhaps creating an NPC contact, a place they know in the city, an important or valuable item, or a favor they can call on in a pinch. I also may have them create a complication for their character; maybe a nemesis that is looking for them a debt they must repay.

Balance and Challenge
I know the balance and setting an appropriate challenge, especially in combat, will be very delicate. I'm considering some kind of Action Point or expanded Inpsiration system that gives the players another resource to manage and provides a way to save their butt. I'm also considering starting the players at level 2 or 3 for a bit more survivability.

So, has anyone run a campaign like this before? What was your experience? What worked and what didn't? Any helpful tips or advice while planning this type of campaign?

Resting
I'd recommend using something like the slower rest rules in the DMG to accommodate the natural pace of a grittier campaign. Note the consequence of longer rest times on magic - the big casts become rarer! It becomes easier to know why the high-level cleric hasn't just revved and healed everyone: they have far more limited casts by calendar time. Powerful divination magic becomes similarly limited. I agree with the poster above actually that "magic is rare" doesn't work out as well as one imagines, but I think this change is a workable step in the right direction. Where the most powerful casts are rarer, and therefore have a high, sometimes even strategic, value.

Character Gen
Also "3d6 positive" stat arrays (3d6 six times, keep if modifiers before race increases would net positive, arrange as desired) rather than 4d6+1 or points buy. The slightly lower probable net modifiers will make the world feel slightly more challenging.

Tougher Encounters
Additionally, I would adjust the Encounter Multiplier factors (for size of encounter) so that 3-6 is 1x, scaling in either direction from there. That will make Hard encounters feel hard. I'd probably use only Hard and Deadly thresholds, with a mix of 2-3 hard to 1 deadly on average, per "adventuring day" (time between long rests).

Reduced Coin
I would follow a 5x tier on tier increase in horde size, rather than the DMG 10x. That can be achieved by leaving tier 1 as is, halving tier 2 roll results, quartering tier 3, and one-eighthing tier 4 (so roll the horde as usual then take only one-eighth or whatever). This will make coin matter and still support the lifestyle costs in the PHB and DMG. It will make those costs meaningful.

Revival
I would allow revival magic to play a distinct role, as you have two players and if you want the world to feel rightly dangerous, they'll need to be able to die and sometimes come back. I would add a "caster" cost to the component costs. Maybe coming to half-again the cost. Again, this will pinch coin and make it feel important.

Training
I would use the DMG training suggestion, albeit make costs something like 2/d, 10/d, 50/d, 250/d by tier, keeping the days as the book has them. This will again make coin valuable, it will also create relationships with dear or fractious teachers, and it will ameliorate the pace of the adventurer's career against calendar time.

 

[clearstream]

Class-equivalence
Oh, and I would think about the ratio of unskilled to skilled, and class-equivalent NPCs at each tier. For me it works to say about 1/4 of tier 0 are skilled, 1/100 are tier 1, reduced by an order of magnitude per tier (so 1/1000 are tier 2 etc). One might increase that by up to 10x for centers of excellence or settlements on a war footing. When you work through the numbers, even on the Sword Coast you end up with a pretty tolerable world. Really powerful individuals are pretty rare, but a Queen can have a decent sized cadre of elite knights and rangers, a few serious clerics and a powerful wizard or two, etc. I find that for the world to offer a good degree of resistance to characters, from the start there needs to be a structure of powerful NPCs in existence. This supports a gritty feel because there are people to respect and fear at every tier. Yet at the same time, they are markedly rarer at high tiers.