One DM, one PC, and four Henchmen

[caudor]

I know D&D is best played with a group.

But what about those times when you are bored and have an opportunity to play with just one other person. Let's say I'm in the hospital and a visitor has a few hours to burn. A quick game of D&D would be perfect.

Most published adventures assume a party of five players. If I wanted to let my player run one pc and four henchmen...is that even feasible? I know henchmen can be used to fill in for absent players, but are they sturdy enough to survive a short campaign?

Has anyone ever done this? If so, how did it work out?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I've never tried that.

There's two types of henchmen; henchmen and companions. The former are effectively minions, the latter are slightly weaker than PCs but are designed to last entire campaigns (having access to healing surges, etc).

I suppose the only issue is... who controls the companions? The player, or the DM? Maybe each will control two of them. Or something.

 

[Rechan]

You can run an adventure with just 1 PC. I think that the adventure would have to be tailored to the role of the PC, but it can be done (I once ran a few sessions with just a Warlock and TWF ranger).

 

[caudor]

Thanks for the feedback. I suppose the best way to see if this works is to try it myself. I'll let my player choose how many Companions to play (if any) and I'll control the rest.

This will be interesting even if it bombs. I should be able to use the companion characters to add flavor to the story and nudge the PC in the right direction if he gets off course.

The tricky part might be using the companions characters to the best of their abilities, but without stealing the spotlight from the player.

I'm come back and post my experiences if anyone is interested.

 

[S'mon]

I would run it with 1 PC + 1 NPC Companion controlled by the PC, and build encounters as if for a 2-PC group, following the DMG recommendations.

Eg for 2 5th level PCs, you're looking at a 400 XP budget for EL 5. You should use mostly monsters of equal or lower level, ca 3rd level monsters are probably ideal, or 1 5th standard + 4 minions-5, and treat Elites as Solos. You can make big encounters by using much lower level monsters; 2 5th level PCs can handle a *lot* of 1st level goblin warriors IME.

 

[Rechan]

Whatever combination you go with, make the PC character the important one. The one in charge leading a squad of grunts, the powerful mage and their bodyguard. They are more important, story wise and rank wise, than the others. Even if it's a Knight and his squire.

The story is also very much about That PC. It should be about making them feel awesome, since it's just the two of you.

Finally, I think it would be easier if the PC were a striker or controller, as opposed to a Defender or Leader. The Defender is designed to take punches so other people can blow stuff up, and the Leader is just making people fight better; in combat, the spotlight isn't on them often. You'd have to work to make sure they seem like they're in the spotlight.

 

[babinro]

I've run D&D 4E with just 2 characters and the fun factor really did take a hit. This was mainly due to the fact that 4E, really takes advantage of PC's using powers that combine with one another to become a better unit. Playing off your other PC's strengths and filling in for their weaknesses is part of the fun of the game.

The second thing that goes away is the strategic battles. Part of the interest from a battle standpoint is piecing together enemies that can synergize with one another and potentially pull the PC's attention. Fewer PC's leads to less room to work with as far as traps, and non-minion enemies.

The above said, I think you can still play and enjoy D&D 4e with 1 or 2 players. As the above stated the focus really has to be making the player feel awesome and powerful. From a DM, I'd recommend running actual monsters in groups of 3-4 with starting hp at 1/4th normal so you can incorporate some interesting encounters. Alternatively, you can keep them with higher hp but drastically lower damage output for monsters to increase the PC's survivability.

 

[S'mon]

Finally, I think it would be easier if the PC were a striker or controller, as opposed to a Defender or Leader. The Defender is designed to take punches so other people can blow stuff up...

Maybe, and that may be true of most Defeders, but IME Fighters work great as solo or duo PCs. A well-built Fighter can put out near-Striker damage as well as being very robust.

 

[Rechan]

Maybe, and that may be true of most Defeders, but IME Fighters work great as solo or duo PCs. A well-built Fighter can put out near-Striker damage as well as being very robust.

Fair enough. But the defenders' main class features ("Attack me or I will punish you") sort of goes out the window when there's no one there to attack BUT the defender.

 

[S'mon]

Fair enough. But the defenders' main class features ("Attack me or I will punish you") sort of goes out the window when there's no one there to attack BUT the defender.

When I GM'd for 2 PCs it was a Fighter + Infernal Warlock; that worked very well . In my game last night the team was 2 Fighters & a Warlock; the Fighters' marking powers were useful but being able to soak tons of damage and dish it out too was the primary benefit. Strikers would have been a lot more fragile.