Red Hand of Doom with 2 PCs - advice?

[Teemu]

How would you handle running RHoD with only two players?

I've been thinking of gestalt classes, max hp per level, action points as per UA, and probably an NPC in a support role (bard? dragon shaman?).

Any suggestions?

 

[Nyaricus]

(1) Let them either run two characters at once, or (2) get them to run two gestalt characters which have attributes which play off of each other. For example:

Paladin/Sorcerer. Charisma out the ying-yang, Good Fort/Will, good BAB, d10 HD, I think the only area lacking is skills.

Archivist/Wizard. Int makes this character a literal Spellbeast, and he's unlikely to run out of spells. Kinda weak in other areas, save for skills whcih would be quite decent.

Ranger/Scout. This Reflex and archery-based character would have a hay-day out in the wilds. Good BAB, d10 HD, tons of skills and 6 SkP/level and so many archery goodies it'd be hard to keep up.

Knight/Fighter. These two classes work in cohesion to shore up each others weaknesses. Good Fort/Will, d12 HD, all weapon and armour profs, tons of feats and other assorted goodies from the knight side. A true tank if there ever was one.

etc.

That's my advice, anyways. Just remember that while gestalt can do more things, they can't do more all at once. I'd definitely add in another gestalt cohort in there to help.

cheers,
--N

 

[Rechan]

Paladin/Sorcerer. Charisma out the ying-yang, Good Fort/Will, good BAB, d10 HD, I think the only area lacking is skills.

Only problem here is that they can't cast spells in armor.

The true problem with Gestalt is that, while you have the best parts of two classes, you still only have one action per character. So if you're fighting a mob of monsters, or your standard Box of Hit Points, it's going to be a hard fight.

What I would do would be to subtract 1 or 2 enemies from an encounter with multiple opponents. Gestalt, Max HP, 35 point buy and Action Points should cover your bases. However, you might find that they do TOO well, or just can't be scratched, so be careful.

I think a Dragon Shaman/Artificer or Cleric/DS gestalt cohort would go a long way.

As a side note. What I suggest you should do is make a copy of the PCs sheets, and run some mock battles by yourself against the opponents in the module. See if the PCs get their clocks cleaned. For the first session, see how well they do.

You might also want to give them a "Save your bacon" item. A cloak of the Montebank, a "Rope Trick" item, etc. If they realize they are overwhelmed, then they should retreat and hide.

 

[QuaziquestGM]

Really man, you'd be better off just playing 3 way Magic until you can recruit more players. That module is mass combat heavy.

The only way I can see running it for 2 pcs is to let them be higher level than the module is designed set. Let Rambo and Merlin stock up on healing potions and face the army. Let it be a mook stomping fest with the occational difficult boss fight.

 

[Bagpuss]

Let them both have Leadership feat for free.

 

[serow]

The only way I can see running it for 2 pcs is to let them be higher level than the module is designed set. Let Rambo and Merlin stock up on healing potions and face the army. Let it be a mook stomping fest with the occational difficult boss fight.

Nice idea

 

[Klaus]

How would you handle running RHoD with only two players?

I've been thinking of gestalt classes, max hp per level, action points as per UA, and probably an NPC in a support role (bard? dragon shaman?).

Any suggestions?

Instead of 5th level, have the two PCs start at 8th level. Give them access to Action Points. There are several NPCs that are cohort-material throughout the adventure, so encourage Leadership.

Even so, be sure to tailor the encounters to the PCs' strengths. A party with a Fighter and a Rogue can't handle dozens of mooks (let alone dragons).

The module has very little in the way of traps (3 or 4, and mostly in the last chapter) and undead (only in the undead-heavy chapter), but has very tough fights.

 

[Bagpuss]

Two characters are likely to have problems with the number of hell hounds and other AoE creatures, as they are more likely to get over lapped by two or more in one round as they get ganged up on. If you up their levels and they have a decent AC and damage the melee mooks won't cause too much trouble but there are a lot of creatures with AoE attacks from my experience.

 

[an_idol_mind]

My general formula when running a module for fewer players as designed is to increase the party level by two levels per character they're short on. So a 5th-level module would become a 9th-level adventure when played with only two characters. It's hardly a perfect system, and still requires some tweaks, but it seems to work well in my experience.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I'm in the exact same situation right now. I'm running the Age of Worms adventure path with two players and each of them is playing two characters. It works great and the synergies of having two characters played by the same person really speeds things up. I think I like 2 players each with 2 PCs better than 4 players.

It's important to start at low level though, otherwise players may be overwhelmed by all the powers and abilities of two characters. But when you organically "grow" the character, it's a lot easier.