Only 2 PC's - DM run character class should be ___?

[Gargoyle]

I'm fortunate enough to be running two 4e campaigns. One is a large game with six or seven players, the other and the other will just be two players.

The large one won't be a problem, but I'm considering running a character to help out the 2 player group. They are running a human ranger and an eladrin wizard...what race/class should I run to help them out?

I'm considering a human cleric with some sort of multiclass feat. Above all I want to help them survive.

 

[Revinor]

The large one won't be a problem, but I'm considering running a character to help out the 2 player group. They are running a human ranger and an eladrin wizard...what race/class should I run to help them out?

I'm considering a human cleric with some sort of multiclass feat. Above all I want to help them survive.

I would suggest paladin. Defender is probably more important that leader and paladin can do some healing if needed. No idea about the race.

Have you considered giving them kind of henchmen controllable by them instead? Maybe not full PC class, just monster-like thing, with few basic abilities? Depending on your campaign, those could be even some kind of golem/automaton/blood bound/thrall/whatever things to explain total control, in other case, just not very active NPCs.

There are benefits to this solution. You will be free of temptation of 'playing' your NPC too much in the party, you will not have to plot against yourself inside combat, players will be more in control, etc. Plus you can add 2 extra guys this way, instead of one.

 

[Gargoyle]

I would suggest paladin. Defender is probably more important that leader and paladin can do some healing if needed. No idea about the race.

Have you considered giving them kind of henchmen controllable by them instead? Maybe not full PC class, just monster-like thing, with few basic abilities? Depending on your campaign, those could be even some kind of golem/automaton/blood bound/thrall/whatever things to explain total control, in other case, just not very active NPCs.

There are benefits to this solution. You will be free of temptation of 'playing' your NPC too much in the party, you will not have to plot against yourself inside combat, players will be more in control, etc. Plus you can add 2 extra guys this way, instead of one.

I'd rather not go the henchman route, because one players is new to the game and I don't want them controlling too much. I may give them control of the character I run after a few sessions. I plan to make this character fairly stupid and very much a follower...I doubt I'll be tempted to overplay him...the challenge for me will be to remember he's there.

Paladin sounds like a fine choice.

 

[rkanodia]

Try scaling down the encounters first.

 

[Nifft]

Defender and Leader, both with Warrior of the Wild so they can take down the "boss" monsters.

Dwarf Cleric
Dragonborn Paladin

Cheers, -- N

 

[Gargoyle]

Try scaling down the encounters first.

The problem with that is that a few bad rolls is still a TPK. Even with 3 PC's I'll have to scale down encounters in published adventures quite a bit.

 

[Kzach]

Paladin is good, but fighters are very tough if you want them to be.

A fighter built to soak damage is incredibly resilient. I have a human fighter that can do three healing surges per battle, two as minor actions and one as part of an attack, plus he starts with 36 hit points and yet he still manages to dish out decent damage.

That's what I'd be going for. A front-liner who can keep the targets on him whilst the striker strikes and the controller controls.

 

[Toriel]

Personnaly, unless they hate each other, I would try to have 2 people from the group of 6-7 to switch to the group of 2. This will make both groups a more manageable size and solves the problem. More experienced players with newbies is always a good thing. You could even arrange a meeting before starting to see if everyone gets along.

 

[Blackeagle]

Definitely a meat shield of some description or another.

 

[Xethreau]

Ideally, I would either ask some guys from the many person campaign to go to the small one, or I would let each person in the two person campaign run two characters.

The 4e DMG has something to say about multiple characters for one player. Mainly, avoid overloading a player, avoid awkward "talking to self" sequences, and don't let one player shine over the other.

But, if you insist on a DMPC, then I would recomend any Leader, with a special focus on ally support. Any Warlord or Cleric focused on healing/buffing/giving actions would suffice. The worst thing for a DMPC to do is steal the glory.