What to run for my two friends at Gen Con?

[Noumenon]

Last year my friend TPKed us with a beer bottle (representing a giant troll). This year, it is my turn to DM in our hotel room at Gen Con. I have a ton of awesome 3.5 adventures I've run before, but we are going to be doing 4E instead. So, how many encounters can we run, and which adventure should I choose? And how will I balance things for only two players?

I downloaded the free adventure Raiders of Oakhurst- Reloaded from this site. I like it a lot, I like the town stocked with rumors and relationships, I like the nonlinear way you can visit each adventure site... but it's huge. No way will we finish it in 2-4 hours, unless I can abridge it somehow.

I browsed through the "Dungeon Delve" book at Barnes & Noble, but it didn't scream out coolness to me. Is there anyplace else to look for a three-encounter adventure?

I asked my friends if they wanted to run two characters each, or one plus a cohort, but they'd rather run just one. Is there a rule of thumb, like two level 4 characters equals four level 1s?

Any other advice on making a good one-shot would be appreciated.

 

[Noumenon]

I'm bumping this just because I posted it on the 4th of July weekend, it fell off the front page before Monday and I don't see any other reason why this would be the only thread I've ever posted that nobody had any ideas about.

 

[Jack99]

I do not know of any published 3-encounter adventures for 4e, but if it is only 3 encounters you want, why not make them yourself?

Start off with some minions and a trap, move on to an elite + skill challenge and finish by a dynamic combat with a solo (which can be tricky though).

Do you have any thoughts about level, theme, anything?

 

[Jack99]

I fail at reading.

Regarding the 2-player issue, you balance the combats around an exp budget. So, for example, 2 level 4 players have an exp budget (for an encounter of the same level) of 350. If the encounter is level +3, it would be worth 600 xp.

In any case, I would be careful with 2 players. Use minions a lot, and for the love of god, forget about solos

Also, with only 2 players, fights should be very quick (are you guys familiar with 4e or will this be the first time?), and you should be able to do quite a few more than 3 in 4 hours.

 

[Noumenon]

if it is only 3 encounters you want, why not make them yourself?

I think the first time you run something, you shouldn't design, but should try to get a feel for how it's supposed to work. You can focus on just executing the shifts and recharges and things that are built into the encounter that you wouldn't have known to put there yourself.

Besides, I am terribly indecisive at homebrew and it would take me until August to even decide on three fun encounters, much less translate them into mechanics.

 

[Noumenon]

Regarding the 2-player issue, you balance the combats around an exp budget. So, for example, 2 level 4 players have an exp budget (for an encounter of the same level) of 350.

So what I can do is just take Raiders of Oakhurst Reloaded and subtract out 350 xp worth of monsters from each encounter, then divide the remaining monsters into that many minions. That should be easy!

 

[Jack99]

So what I can do is just take Raiders of Oakhurst Reloaded and subtract out 350 xp worth of monsters from each encounter, then divide the remaining monsters into that many minions. That should be easy!

I wouldn't do it exactly like that. Heading out soon, but if no-one has given you a better idea, I can make an example using Raiders tonight, if you want. Might make my ramblings clearer.

 

[Piratecat]

Three encounters? I suggest you take a Dungeon Delve, add more roleplaying elements to it along with a fun plot, and run with that!

 

[Noumenon]

I knew Dungeon Delves was an option, and I also thought it might have terrain I could steal, so I picked it up in Barnes & Noble and read through about seven delves while my nephew played with the tank engines. I wasn't excited at all. Maybe I'm judging them by the wrong standard, since they're probably designed to be fun to play, not to read. But reading well is important, see Harley Stroh:

my intent as an author is always to get a game master to fall in love with the adventure. If the GM is passionate about the adventure, he or she won’t take a backseat — they’ll own the adventure in the best sense and ensure that it is exciting for the players. The theme will guide the GM through improvisation, even if the actual text falls short. If an adventure doesn’t capture a GM’s imagination, it permits the to GM get lazy and run an adventure by rote. link

Even though we all enjoyed the RPGA's delves last year and would probably have plenty of fun with the Dungeon Delves, they just don't make me want to run them like Oakhurst: Reloaded does. So I'm hoping jack99 comes through with the conversion tips.

 

[Jack99]

Okay, here we go. This is just a few quick ideas on how to scale the adventure.

I would probably make them 3rd level, just for that added utility and encounter power, as well as a feat and +1 to AC, defenses, to hit etc.

Assuming you are okay with that, it will leave your players with an exp budget that looks as follows.

n-1= 250 xp
n = 300 xp
n+1 = 350 xp
n+2 = 400 xp
n+3 = 500 xp

Going from there, we take a look at the encounters in Oakhurst - Reloaded.

A10 - Ubler farm
Supposed to be very easy, remove Rok, and have there only be 3 minions, for 75 xp.

C1
leave as is

C2
Change to 2 skeletons, for 300 xp budget

C5
Supposed to be extremely hard, xp budget should be around 600 xp. Best way to do this would to de-level the tomb guardian to be a level 7 elite

D5
Leave as is

D6
supposed to be easy, just use Gye and Gaxx, for 200 xp budget

D7
Use Krusk + 1 hobgoblin soldier for a 250 budget

Raiding Party
Exp budget should be around 375 xp. I would use 1 hobgoblin, 1 goblin and 5 minions, making the waves = 3 minions, then 1 minion + goblin and last but not least, 1 minion + hobgoblin

E2
Exp budget around 300. Use Ichi, Pik + 4 minions.

E4
use 1 choker for 175 xp

E5
Make it 4 minions

E6a
Use Morro, Klik and Thonk, for 375 xp

E7
Use as is - this will make it harder, but given your time frame, you should have more than enough.

I hope the above made some sense, else feel free to let me know.