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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jaelommiss" data-source="post: 6409303" data-attributes="member: 6775925">I just finished running the first episode of HotDQ for a party of two. They were a druid and ranger. By the end they were level three. I think that cure wounds was only used once, and that was by the ranger to heal Governor Nighthill.The very first thing I did was give both of them a pair of healing potions. One of the players was proficient in alchemy supplies, so I justified it as he made them on the road. They saved them from death more than once. Second, I gave the enemies loot that would be immediately useful. I stuck mostly to scrolls (fireball and inflict wounds specifically) to help them conserve resources.I scaled encounters down by roughly 40% and had the enemies assume that the PCs were mercenaries and allies. Giving them a surprise round was often enough to even the odds. I also had the NPCs run away if they started losing too badly. A couple of times I skipped random encounter rolls because they played intelligently.Perhaps the most important change I made was giving the players two missions at a time. For instance, I ran the sally port mission and the dragon attack mission at the same time. Each time I merged missions I would give the players an extra hour to rest. In the end this worked out to two short rests. It wasn't much, but it allowed the players to at least spend hit dice and operate at full power. I made sure to allow rests on my terms instead of letting them plan for them. That way it was a pleasant surprise for them.By the end of the adventure they were taking on encounters at full strength and even ended up giving Cyanwrath a run for his money (they agreed to a draw when both were almost down). It is worth nothing that they were only able to stay alive because they did all they could to avoid fighting on their enemies' terms.</blockquote>

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