Question about adapting a module for fewer players (Emerald stay out!)

[MerakSpielman]

I'm going to be starting a group through the Sunless Citadel tonight. I've read through the adventure and it seems find and dandy, except that the encounters are balanced for the "default" party of 4.

My new group is only 2 players - and one of them is a complete (but very enthusiastic) newbie. The newbie is playing a paladin and the other is playing a rogue.

I know that, given time, the XP awards will add up and they'll level up faster than the members of a 4-person group will. The power level won't be too far off after a few levels.

But until then, I have the annoying dillema of keeping them alive. I don't like fudging rolls - I want to keep this game as legit as possible.

How should I tone down the adventure to compensate for only 2 players? There is a place in the adventure where they can rescue a 2nd level NPC who will join them, and that will help a lot, but I'm still afraid they'll die before that. I was thinking of halving the number of enemies or something...

Many of you will say to send NPCs along. I hate doing that. It always feels wrong having the DM play half the party, just so they have enough firepower to make it through the encounters.

 

[Buttercup]

Way back when, I ran this for a party of newbies. It was lethal. Of course, I was a new DM too, so that contributed to the problem.

I don't think the paladin will have a problem staying alive, unless the player does stupid stuff. But when I ran it, the 1st level rogue rapelled down into the cavern while the rest of the party stayed up above. The dire rats almost killed him.

If I were to run it for a party like the one you describe, I would probably reduce the numbers of creatures in each encounter, and I would have injured monsters run away instead of continuing to fight. I also might have the monsters use crappy tactics. This module was the reason why I decided to give PCs max hit points at second level as well as first. I still do that. With a party of two, I think it would be an even bigger help. (Please tell me the rogue doesn't have a low CON score!)

 

[MerakSpielman]

Well... she's an elf... so... um.... yeah...

One of my thoughts was to gift them with a Wand of Cure Light Wounds pretty early on. Or would that make it too easy?

 

[Joshua Randall]

Agree with Buttercup - have the monsters run away; have the dumb ones use crappy tactics. (No bullrushing the PCs off the cliff; monsters don't go out of their way to flank PCs; monsters don't use readied actions.)

Sprinkle healing potions around liberally, and hope that your PCs actually use them. (My players like to hoard them for "someday" - and then wonder why I am exasperated when they die with 3 potions of cure moderate wounds in their pack.)

Give the PCs somewhere safe to rest. They can withdraw from the dungeon, or find a single-entrance room and spike the door shut. Don't punish them for this, either. (That can wait for when they start abusing rope trick.)

You could try an idea from Neverwinter Nights: on its easiest setting, no monster can ever confirm a critical hit on a PC (but PCs can still confirm crits on monsters). Believe or not this makes a huge difference, especially at low levels when a single crit from a greataxe or greatsword can kill a PC.

If you want to be really thorough, re-do all encounters so the EL is about 1/2 to 3/4 of what it should be for a standard party of 4 PCs. However, this can quickly get to be a pain in the butt, so I usually just make changes by gut feel. ("Six kobolds and two dire rates listed, eh? Well, four kobolds and one rat seems about right.")

 

[Ranes]

It's only a slight variation on 'Send in the NPCs' but could one or both of the players handle multiple PCs? I ran this module for a single, enthusiastic newbie who role played four characters very well. We both had a blast.

Otherwise, I think Buttercup's advice is right on the money.

 

[MerakSpielman]

The noob is so into her character I doubt she could maintain enthusiasm for more than one... She is totally new to RPGs. Just remembering which dice to use at what times is still confusing for her (we went through some practice combats), let alone the class abilities and feats.

I won't be too hard on them. I mean, realistically, once the kobolds/goblins knew an adventuring party was nearby, I could use the resources described in the module to make their positions practically unbeatable. I'd probably do that for my regular gaming group. As it is, there are plenty of empty rooms that the mod describes as good resting places. I do want to stay out of the one fight rest one fight rest pattern.

You've been a great help!

 

[d12]

Try any or all of these.

Give the players better gear like one masterwork weapon each. Make sure the paladin has good armor like a Breastplate, scalemail, maybe even half-plate.

Give them a third party member run by you. Make it a big dumb fighter that does exactly what the PCs say.

Freeform xp at first. Let them level to 2nd level halfway through the adventure. Then start keeping track of xp normally.

 

[Breakdaddy]

I might consider going with buttercups method of 1st and 2nd level full HP for each character, and maybe even start both characters at level 2 at the beginning of the game. I find that starting PCs at level 2 doesnt detract much if at all from most players' enjoyment or attachment to their characters. YMMV.

 

[DiFier]

I'm currentlly in a 2 player game. We started with the freeport trilogy. we were 3rd level rather than 1st level. we also both multiclassed. Me fighter1/wiz2, the other charachter was a rogue2/fighter1. made us more rounded out but we also had a deal with the temple of the merchant god for 25gp off on a pack of 6 cure light wounds.

-edit- we went through so many clw potions that my charachter developed a resistance to them, No matter who rolled to see how much damage is was cure of they'd roll a 1, 2 or 3. while others had a more bell curved distribution of rolls.

 

[BSF]

Having never read the Sunless Citadel, I can't offer specific advice. For more generic advice, scale back the quantity of creatures. Especially with a completely new gamer. You will also want to play the creatures as a bit more naive than you are accustomed to. Stuff like moving the tougher creature into a position where the paladin and rogue can flank it. Nothing too obvious, but enough that they get the impression that they are not fighting seasoned combatants.

Later on, you will be able to use smarter combatants, but you will probably still need to be scaling back the quantities of critters.

If the paladin has a decent Charisma, you might think about coughing up a Cloak of Charisma +2 at a relatively early date. This will make the smite a little better, improve saves and will offer scalable lay on hands. For the Rogue, you might consider Gloves of Arrow snatching. Both are high powered items for low level characters. But, they offer something neat for each character to do that might improve survivability without just lumping armor bonuses into the mix.