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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JoeBlank" data-source="post: 2495682" data-attributes="member: 1806">Although it seems like the best solution, my players hate NPCs and henchmen. If I try to give them some help that I think they will need, they avoid it at all costs. If I force an NPC on them, they ditch him as soon as possible.I DM for an average group of 3 players. We have a couple of players who rarely are involved, so it almost never gets up to 4 players. In fact, we were beginning to miss too many games because of schedule conflicts, so I offered to try to make it work when only 2 players are available. Like Grealis, I decided not to force things. It is the job of the players, and the PCs, to be aware of their shortcomings and lack of overwhelming numbers and to plan accordingly. That said, in any module you run there will be certain encounters that are required to accomplish the goal. I try to modify these down to the point where they are reasonable for 2-3 PCs.Some people like the gestalt rules (I think from Unearthed Arcana) which let each PC advance in 2 classes at a time. My players would call this munchkin and refuse it. For my current campaign (World's Largest Dungeon), I set up character creation to make them above average, such as using 32-point buy. Of course, not all my efforts to help the PCs were accepted. I went with high standard HP per level, not thinking they would like the idea of just using max HP. For instance, a d12 hit die gives you 10 hit points, a d10 = 8 HP, etc. The cleric and the barbarian PCs actually choose to roll instead of taking the standard. They lucked out this time, but the law of averages is bound to catch up to them. DMing for only 2-3 players can be very fun too. It is easy to let everyone have their time in the sun, and not worry that someone is getting left out. I also play in diaglo's OD&D game, which often has 8 or more players present, and I don't see how he does it. But he does a great job, and actually seems to like having more players.</blockquote>

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