So, running a 2 person party in 4th Ed - Anyone Do it Yet?

[Stomphoof]

So I have 2 people who play DND With me. I DM and they of course get to play. Right now they each control a PC, and a "Minion" which is basically a PC whose sole purpose is to be there for combat. I am running them through KotS and intend to continue past that point with my own plot, eventually having them challenge Orcus (the big End Game quest) I also run an NPC with them

However, I find it sorta clunky with them each using 2 PCs and only Roleplaying 1. Its slightly confusing and sometimes a bit much.

Has anyone tried doing a 2-3 person party with only that many PC's and if so, how hard is it to run? Is it still fun?

Also, how would you even use a "Solo" monster with a party that small, or would it not be possible?

 

[almagest]

It actually runs pretty well with 2 people, you just have to make sure not to give them any encounters with more than the XP limit for their level+3. Level+4 seems a little hard, unless they have some sort of advantage.

 

[Stomphoof]

Since I dont have a DMG or MM yet, what do you mean "XP Limit"?

I havent really dont encounter building in 4th Ed Yet so you can give me a quick and dirty explaination that would be nice.

 

[Norhg]

Since I dont have a DMG or MM yet, what do you mean "XP Limit"?

I havent really dont encounter building in 4th Ed Yet so you can give me a quick and dirty explaination that would be nice.

Encounters are build around the assumption that each added character equates to a linear increase in challenge.

As such, a level one encounter for a six person team would be a 600 xp encounter. For two persons it would be a 200 xp encounter.
For two persons, a level 5 monster is a good challenge, as is 4 level one minions and one level 1 soldier. You need thrice the opposition for a 6 person team, or a higher challenge monster such as a 600 xp dragon.

 

[Stomphoof]

I am assuming of course that the amount of XP changes based on level?

It sounds like a level 1 PC is worth 100 XP of Monsters. Do I have that right?

 

[Cirex]

I am assuming of course that the amount of XP changes based on level?

It sounds like a level 1 PC is worth 100 XP of Monsters. Do I have that right?

Correct. A level 3 PC is worth 150 XP, in example.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Right now, I only have one definite player for KotS, with a potential two other players. There are a couple things I'm going to do in order to alleviate this problem

1. Run a PC - I don't like doing the "DMPC" thing, but with such a small party I think it's necessary for me to fill in a hole.

2. Adjust encounter size to the appropriate ratio for my players - the module assumes 5 PCs, so I'll need to adjust the XP budget accordingly based on the DMG. If I do end up with only 1 PC, this will be a significant difference and will basically require that I go through each encounter on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes I might have to drop a lot of minions, sometimes I might have to remove a controller or two. It'll depend on the party's makeup

3. Adjust Elite/Solo HP and Damage - Solo creatures, I'll simply divide HP by the number of missing party members. Damage will likely also get shaved down as well. I still want elites to have more HP than a normal version of the monster, but maybe only +50% rather than +100%. That could lead to some weird situations where an elite might have more HP than a solo! Again, I'll have to do some things on a case-by-case basis.

The XP budget seems to be a great system for creating encounters. Unfortunately if I follow the rules strictly to the letter, most of my encounters will only have 1-3 enemies! Not very dynamic or exciting. I want to keep that dynamic of lots of enemies on the board without overwhelming my player(s). I have a feeling I'll be using lots of minions as well!

 

[Alkiera]

I'm probably going to be in the same position, of running with 2, maybe 3 PCs. Minions are great for mantaining appropriate numbers of NPCs in an encounter without going over your XP budget. Take out the excess big-XP skirmishers and brutes first. An Elite is probably equivilent to a Solo for 2 people.

I'm considering playing with the rules a bit to beef up my small party to take on tougher challenges; one idea is to basically make PCs 'Elite' by applying a class (or other) template from the DMG. It ups their defenses, hitpoints, gives bonuses to saves and an extra action point, and gives them a 3.x-style multiclass aspect (1 more encounter/daily at low level). It's admittedly a pretty drastic solution; and I'm a bit concerned that that the action economy will mean fights drag a bit, but hoping additional action points will help.

Heck, I'd add action points even without the template thing. Give your players one every encounter in a small group, it'll let them pull off the Awesome more frequently, which may be needed in a small group.

 

[SDOgre]

I run a game with three players. I decided to run an NPC to round them off to four. I try to make the NPC a dependable damage dealer, meaning he doesn't do things too crazy and is fairly competent in combat. That way they don't feel like he's taking over or not pulling his weight. But in non-roleplaying situations he's useless. I made him an arrogant Eladrin.

I did something I'd never do in previous editions. I made the NPC a wizard. In the past the wizard was the most complected character with the most choices and potential for problem solving. Now he's simple. In fact he has the least decision making of the characters they chose. (fighter, cleric, warlock)

I still have to take out monsters in Keep on the Shadowfell. It's made for 5 characters. So yeah, I remove about 100xp worth, depending on how hard each fight is supposed to be. I'm really taking out about 1/5th of the xp from the bad guys.

So far it's working like a charm. When we ran the pregens they got slaughtered.

 

[Palladion]

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=231586

This was a thread someone posted, asking about small party size games. There were some good suggestions in there as well.

Hope that helps...