Starting a campaign for two players

[EntropyDecay]

I'm going to start a D&D 3.5 campaign for an extremely small group of just two people. This seems like a perfect opportunity to include some rule changes out of Unearthed Arcana.

My goal: Running the Dungeon adventure path series "The Shackled City" without needing to heavily modify each adventure. Focus on character development and roleplaying, minimizing character death because of bad dice rolls. Battles fast paced and action loaded. The characters will be legendary heroes whose abilities surpass that of other mortals of their time (to counter a bit the effect of small group size).

Rules I'll be using definitely
- Gestalt Characters: This seems perfect for my group since they'll be able to cover all aspects a normal D&D party has (battle power, magic ability, healing, skill usage,...). NPCs use normal D&D rules, but have the advantage that encounters are built for a normal party of 4-6 players. Fits into my "legendary hero" concept.
- Action Points: Should work great to counter bad luck with the dice. Important NPCs will get action points, too. I'm hoping to make everything more cinematic by including these rules.

Rules I'm still unsure about
- Allowing re-rolls with action points: A single failed Save-or-Die spell is much harsher for a party of two players. I'm thinking of allowing to use an action point to get a re-roll of a single die roll (similar to the Luck domain). Don't know if this would be too powerful.
- Point Buy: I will use point buy rules for character creation, but I haven't decided how much points the players get. Since gestalt characters have a greater number of important ability scores than normal characters and the "legendary hero" concept, the number of points shouldn't be too small.
- Paragon Classes: Would fit into my planned campaign mood. I don't know if they work with Gestalt characters.

The players will start the first adventure path module as 2nd level gestalt characters. The module is built for 4 normal D&D characters of level 1 who would together have an EL of 5. Two normal 2nd level characters would be EL 4. But since gestalt characters have a +1 LA, my groups EL will also be 5.

Any ideas, suggestions, tips,...?

 

[BiggusGeekus]

No matter what, the duo will have a hard time when facing a large number of opponents. Just something to bear in mind.

You may want to adjust the rules for action points to boost Armor Class. If the PC has been hit, tell that to the PC but don't tell the player the exact result. Allow the player to use an action point to boost his AC. Sort of like Neo going into "bullet time" or whatever.

 

[Felix]

Instead of action points (a system under which I have never played) my DM provides a feat called Luck of Heroes; it's the same as the clerical Luck domain power. If you want players to be able to aviod the Save-or-die, but still keep them believing that death is a possibility, then you might give them the feat for free. And they will only have themselves to answer for if they misuse their re-roll.

As for the other stuff, I've not read UA, so I'll just be quiet now. Good luck!

 

[mikebr99]

I'd recommend 36+ point buy for gestalt characters. YMMV


Mike

 

[Pandion]

I'd still suggest adding at least one NPC to the group to make sure your duo isn't overwhelmed. If your group is anything like mine it would be best to make at least one healer type NPC.

One thing I really like about smaller groups, especially 2 people groups, is that the roleplaying is generally better and more in depth. This allows the DM to spend more time on story and NPC interaction without having to worry about player boredom or interference from situations which normally occur in larger groups.

 

[Darklone]

Think about allowing some AU feats from Monte like Rapid Strike... extra attacks/actions are really worth it.

 

[jmucchiello]

The players will start the first adventure path module as 2nd level gestalt characters. The module is built for 4 normal D&D characters of level 1 who would together have an EL of 5. Two normal 2nd level characters would be EL 4. But since gestalt characters have a +1 LA, my groups EL will also be 5.

First, party EL is a meaningless stat. Don't look at it, don't think about it. Even so, Gestalt character have +0.75 LA, not a whole level.

2 characters, even gestalt character have 1/2 as many actions per round as 4 characters. When thinking about the EL of an encounter remember that ELs are based on 4 characters each taking actions each round.

I would have left them at 1st level and just halved the number of kobolds and goblin in each encounter. They are going to earn XPs very fast compared to a party of 4. Even at 2nd level, you might consider cutting the number of enemies by 1/3rd.

 

[kilamanjaro]

I'm in the exact same situation. Two players going through the Shackled City path. The only changes I've made have been the action points, gestalt classes, and the reserve hit points options all from UA. NPC don't get the benefits of any of these options. We're just nearing the end of Flood Season, so far so good, but it definitely helps that my players are cautious.

 

[EntropyDecay]

I'd recommend 36+ point buy for gestalt characters. YMMV

Hmm, sounds a bit on the high side for me. My last campaign (which had 5 players) used a 28 point buy. But I never tried gestalt chars.

I'd still suggest adding at least one NPC to the group to make sure your duo isn't overwhelmed. If your group is anything like mine it would be best to make at least one healer type NPC.

If possible I'd like to avoid additional party members even if they're NPCs. Perhaps adding some more healing potions to the treasure could be an option. One of the players already mentioned he is thinking of building a cleric/xyz as his gestalt char.

One thing I really like about smaller groups, especially 2 people groups, is that the roleplaying is generally better and more in depth. This allows the DM to spend more time on story and NPC interaction without having to worry about player boredom or interference from situations which normally occur in larger groups.

Last friday those two players and I met for a small one-evening adventure of CoC d20. We had a great evening with much roleplaying & character development. So I'm really looking forward to this D&D campaign.

Think about allowing some AU feats from Monte like Rapid Strike... extra attacks/actions are really worth it.

Neither I nor the players have AU. Perhaps I could allow to spend an action point to get the effects of Haste for a few rounds.

First, party EL is a meaningless stat. Don't look at it, don't think about it. Even so, Gestalt character have +0.75 LA, not a whole level.

2 characters, even gestalt character have 1/2 as many actions per round as 4 characters. When thinking about the EL of an encounter remember that ELs are based on 4 characters each taking actions each round.

I would have left them at 1st level and just halved the number of kobolds and goblin in each encounter. They are going to earn XPs very fast compared to a party of 4. Even at 2nd level, you might consider cutting the number of enemies by 1/3rd.

I just used the party EL calculations to get a starting point for my further thoughts. Gestalt levels alone might be too weak, that's the reason why I added other things to my list like action points and a nice amount of point buy... uhm... points. All that plus the starting gear of a 2nd level char should be worth something.

 

[EntropyDecay]

I'm in the exact same situation. Two players going through the Shackled City path. The only changes I've made have been the action points, gestalt classes, and the reserve hit points options all from UA. NPC don't get the benefits of any of these options. We're just nearing the end of Flood Season, so far so good, but it definitely helps that my players are cautious.

At what level did the characters start? Did you use point buy at character creation? Did you add new options to the action point rules? How hard were the battles? Anything to be especially careful about in the first module when run for a party of two?

BTW everybody, good ideas and suggestions in this thread so far. Keep 'em coming.