So 'm going to start an AP soon, but I'm only going to have 2 PCs. While I have no issue with balance and such, I'm not sure what to do with XP. I know I can just drop it and level them up when the book says so, both me and my players want to try counting out the XP this time around.
My issue is now I don't know if I should use the medium advancement track or the slow advancement track. If I go with the medium track, the PCs will be at a higher level than what is suggested for the book, but I feel like that is balanced out by the fact that there are less PCs than usual, but I am unsure if that's the best idea. So has anyone on here ran an AP with less than 4 players? If so, how did you level up?
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You could add an NPC (Bard is a good choice for this for buffing the other two); three characters often can cope with the game without too big a need for significant rewrites. (Also use Hero Points and perhaps make it so one Hero Point can be used to prevent death instead of two.)
Don't worry about them being one level higher. The fact there are fewer characters fighting will balance things out (lower action economy). Besides, when they reach level 7, they'll probably take Leadership and get a pair of secondary characters to help balance things out.
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I always run for just 2 players.
I either allow them to run two characters each, or one runs an extra and I have a DM NPC. I make sure they always have a party of 4.
If there are only two players, then the AP should be run APL-1 with the CR adjusted accordingly. If you feel that they'll outpace the module on the medium track, then let them do it. You won't have to adjust the APL that way. Once you get into the bush, you'll get a feel for whether or not they're being challenged properly or just blowing through it and can make adjustments then.
Add an NPC, either a bard wanting to follow the heroes, or a cleric of Irori who wants them to be the Best They Can Be -- in both cases very definitely support characters, GM-healbots or something of that sort, who don't WANT the spotlight.
Reducing the encounters can be done, but with only two players it's very tricky, because a single failed save can halve the party strength, or a single good enemy attack knock out one player.
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We're nearing completion in Mummy's Mask, and I added a melee character GMPC to augment the rest of the 3 player party. I played him very passive, and with low tactics unless the group pointed him into something clever. I kept his gp purchases reasonable, and tried not to make him standout, as to not overshadow the actual PCs.
I would also suggest you post in the appropriate game forum for your AP to get some advice on existing NPC's that could join the group. Mummy's Mask, for example, has a few NPC's who fit easily into a join the party role (and indeed has one more than likely join you for all of book 4).
Spoilerish suggestions for Mummy's Mask:
Book 1 to 2.5: Generic Adventurer (secretly a FP cultist)
Book 2.5 on: Ptemenib (cleric)
Book 3.75 thru 4: Tetsura (monster / druid)
Book 6: Tef-Naju (magus)
Other AP's also have quasi-essential NPCs that can be shoehorned into the group. Runelords has all those Sandpoint townsfolk. Carrion Crown has Kendra Lorrimor, Beast of Lepidstadt, and maybe even a bad guy seeking redemption from book 3. Keep up with the NPCs' levelling, but hand the sheets to your players and let them run them.
Gestalt for the two players, suggesting very strongly that one of those be a 'pet wrangler' of some sort for each of them. Advance them on the Slow XP track. They'll generally be at or slightly ahead of level, they won't suffer as badly for action economy and they'll be incentivized to spend gp on kitting out their 'pets' (depending on the specific pet).
I've had this situation for the Mummy's Mask which actually played into the background well. I have two players and once they had generated their own characters the two PCs got to try to recruit from various NPC adventurers in town for the lottery but without an established party yet.
I let the players run the NPCs they recruited in fights but as GM I run them outside of combat.
The NPCs were not created equal - many had varying personality quirks, backgrounds or objectives that might be good or bad fits with the PCs, some I noted as good or bad at their chosen profession (translating to good or bad stat arrays, how well chosen their skills and feats would be if the party accepted them and they needed stats) and/or what sort of persuasion they would take to sign up.
So they rejected many candidates, such as the Ifrit Chef who needed a new job after a fire at his last employer's inn, an overweight scribe who had joined the church of Irori as part of his new determination to get fit, a so called priest of Thoth who turned out to follow Hastur and the Varisian Slayer who was clearly running from the law.
Of the ones they did recruit, so far they have discovered that the paladin has a pesh habit... of the other 2 NPCs they aren't certain if they chose wisely or if their disadvantages haven't come out yet.
This was an unusual situation given the campaign background, but I would recommend a tweaked version of it to any GM with a small party - make it clear to the players that recruiting NPC help is a sensible option but make that process part of the game - there's huge roleplay potential both in choosing allies, persauding them to help you and keeping them happy as the story progresses.
Julian
I've had a few decades of experience DMing, and so I've found that what works best with the least amount of adventure tweaking is to:
Since primary spellcasters are harder to run than the other classes but are very necessary, you should spread the load. Have each of the two players run 2 PC's, one of which is a primary spellcaster, like a Wizard, Cleric, Druid, or Sorcerer. The other should be either a martial class (fighter etc) or a skill monkey (rogue, bard etc).
Then treat them as a standard group, distributing treasure and xp 4 ways.