Tips for Adventure Path campaign with two players?

[Steven Marsh]

My wife and son recently played through the Pathfinder Beginner Box (with me serving as GM). It was our first time playing, and we all had a good time. Of course, the heroes found themselves somewhat hampered by the lack of character types, but they were surprisingly balanced (my wife played a cleric and my son played a thief).

We all had enough fun that we want to move to the "big leagues" of full Pathfinder RPG (core rules), ideally running through one of the Adventure Paths. (I'm considering Legacy of Fire, Mummy's Mask, or Kingmaker, since those all seemed like they would be appropriate for a nine-year-old.)

However, I still fear that they'll be hampered by the fact that there are only two players, one of whom is a nine-year-old (albeit a fairly smart one). They were already knocked to the ropes a few times during the Beginner Box adventures, and I don't want to make things too challenging for them. I don't want to adjust the adventures too much (since I don't have enough experience with the system to know how to appropriately scale something for two heroes); I'd rather, if possible, beef up the heroes a bit.

I'm currently considering the following:

• Assume each hero rolls the maximum HP when leveling up.
  
• Start with Epic Fantasy point-buy attributes.
  

Again, the goal is to beef them up enough that I don't need to radically alter adventures, but not so great that there's no challenge (although if it's a smidge easy they'll probably be happy). I don't want to add an NPC party member or have any players run multiple characters (since I think they have enough on their plate to think about already).

Does anyone have any insight, or see any problems or pitfalls with my plan? Has anyone tried anything similar? Is there anything cool or different I should be doing instead to achieve the same goals? (Ideally something easy, since we're all still learning the system?) :-)

Thanks in advance!

[Just a Mort]

Ask them to play 2 characters each and you get a full party. Not a problem. Easiest solution.

Kingmaker building rules are a tad complicated, but its an easy module to add NPC help to. Legacy of Fire I think you can also get some NPC help.

I recommend against Mummy's mask, I think the later parts have some rather disgusting cults.

Jade reagent might be a good one(if you're willing to buy the AP), but take out caravan rules.

That said for true solo play, here are my two cents:
I tried giving myself a 20 point buy, gestalt, so I ended up with oracle/summoner. The animal companion had the damage output, but not the survivability, the eid had the opposite. DR was an epic pain. That being said, it was very hard to cover all grounds expected of a party - ranged, swarm removal etc, as you're only a single character. At higher levels saves were a pain as both eids and animal companions do not have full progression,

That being said, I tried another route, by buffing my defences. I played as a synthesist/paladin gestalt, it went alot better as I had sky high AC, hp of a raging barbarian and swift action heals on pally. Those smites were really helpful with DR, aswarmbane clasp got rid of swarm problems. The only irritation were dragons flying circles around me and using their breath weapons. Actually picked up rapidshot to deal with that >.<

That being said, gestalt is only useful if you know how to optimise. If you pick classes that don't mesh well, I.e, ranger and fighter, it will not increase your power level much.

[TheCelticCircle]

I have also GMed a game with only two players, and what I did was make sure that the players they were always two levels higher than the suggested advancement track. So for, it has worked well, I haven't had to change the difficulty of the encounters and the characters have survived through the first 5 books of Rise of the Runelords. Also, with the increased level, I did not have adjust the difficulty of the encounters. I think they only got close to dying in one or two encounters.

I think maxing HP is also a a good idea that should drastically improve their survivability... although in the long run it might prove a bit to much.

[Just a Mort]

With less players, combats are very swingy. I.e a well placed hold person can take out half the party. Also, you have less skill coverage, so you might be missing some parts of the story.
You'll need to adjust to the party too, i,e if no one takes dusable device, removed all locked chests from the game. If no one has no AE effects, please do NOT throw a worm that walks at them. If no one is a spellcaster, do not send incorpreals after them.

[Meraki]

Just a Mort wrote:

Ask them to play 2 characters each and you get a full party. Not a problem. Easiest solution.

This would be my recommendation, assuming they're comfortable playing two characters at once. It might be a bit much for them if they're beginners, but if it's something they wouldn't mind trying out, it's the easiest way. (My partner and I have played through multiple APs this way, except there's only the two of us, so one of us is GMing as well.) Playing two characters can be a lot to keep track of, so that is something to be aware of.

You could also have some NPCs go along with them if you're worried about the numbers/limited skill sets. Jade Regent in particular has a lot of NPCs that can accompany the party as needed, though you can always invent some if the AP you go with doesn't have ready-made ones.

[Steven Marsh]

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

As I mentioned earlier, I'd really rather not have anyone run more than one character. My wife and son were having a hard enough time keeping their abilities straight when running one character each using the fairly straightforward Beginner Box options; I shudder to think what'd happen if they start having two characters to keep track of. (I think my son's going to play a dragon-blooded sorcerer in this campaign, and from the get-go it seems like it'll be a mental handful for him.)

I'm also less-than-enthused with having an NPC in the party, because 1) I'll have my own stuff to keep track of (again, it's my first Adventure Path if I go through with it), and 2) I don't like the idea of Captain NPC swooping in and doing something heroic that should rightly be their victory.

[Just a Mort]

Maybe have a stone to summon a spirit NPC rogue and NPC cleric. Those followers will never take damage from enemy attacks but cannot block enemies nor use any harmful spells on enemies, including no summons as well. The NPC cleric will be limited as per standard cleric of their level in spells(we assume that NPC starts with 18 wis, 14 cha and selective channel). If they run the npc cleric out of spells and channels, its their problem.

You don't need to track much on the npcs since they will move at any party members init, and can only make skill checks/heal.

2 people cannot take on a AP meant for 4, epic fantasy point buy or not. Even less possible when you're thinking of new people - who won't know how to optimize, and HARD(I might be able to manage it - but I haven't tried that one yet). Gestalt only will help if you know how to optimize, which I don't think they do. You'll still need to buff them up somehow - maybe by letting them start 2 levels higher.

Basically these are the grounds that the party needs to cover as a whole(assuming a standard AP):
Melee
Range
Arcane Casting (Mainly for Crowd Control)
Condition Removal and someone to use the CLW stick (mostly divine classes do it, but alchemists, witches can do it too)
Way to deal with Swarms
Knowledge Checks (So you know how to bypass DR)
Talky-talky
Sneaky-sneaky (can cheat using magic)
Trapfinding (can cheat using magic- Aram Zey's focus)

Last 2 are more..optional.

There's a LOT of ground to cover. While they're trying to cover that, they need to work on their defenses (good hp, AC and saves), since taking out 1 member of the party will halve their power.

I believe in party planning and all that but yeah I know that not everyone agrees with my views.

[taks]

Why not try the one on one adventures instead of a full AP? They typically have advice for increasing difficulty for additional players and they are easier for a newer GM to run than a full AP. I started my 13-year old son on the rogue path with Gambler's Quest. It was quite fun.

[Kaladin_Stormblessed]

I'd agree with the gestalt suggestion - even if it's not a sole fix to power issues, it'll always be at least somewhat of a buff to PCs, lets players cover a little more different roles, and gives them more fun things.

[Declindgrunt]

First off I'd like to highly recommend the rise of the runelord adventure as its great fun for beginners, second I don't recommend gestalt as it will be way to complicated for your players, I'd suggest either you create an npc to join them a fighter type, or use the lol bumps. But if you just end up playing with just the 2 of them and no npc type character be wary of any enemy tactics that might incapacite them that way you don't run into situations where one is held and the other has to fight them all off by his/her own

[Just a Mort]

Rise of the runelords has some sick stuff in book 2 and 3, if not toned down. Does not get my recommendations. Problem with fighter type/damaging NPCs is they steal the spotlight from players. Animal companions are fine fighter replacements at low levels, but once after 10, or earlier if DR is plentiful, they start to fall behind,

[Dysphoria Blues]

Hey, Steven Marsh:

If you're looking to run a published Pathfinder AP for only two players I recommend checking out Jade Regent. It is centered around your PCs traveling with a caravan of highly-skilled and character-rich NPCs that could be easily substituted in and out where needed. They come fully-statted along with biographies and personalities (so your family wouldn't have to roll up any additional characters). Plus, the NPCs are an integral part of the overarching story so they're woven right in!

Especially if they just completed the Beginner's Box, I wouldn't burden them with gestalt characters or multiple characters - the game can feel intimidating at first with the volume of books, choices, and rules. As others mentioned, Rise of the Runelords is another great choice for an AP (plus, it's a loose "prequel" of sorts to the AP I suggested above - Jade Regent).

[Valandil Ancalime]

I am in a similar situation with only 2 players, except mine are experienced. Here is the advice I was given http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2t3fh?two-player-party#9 .

I would advise;
- no gestalt, it's too difficult for a beginner and doesn't solve the biggest problem, action economy.
- no Rise of the Runelords, books 2 and 3 are not kid friendly without toning them down
- Kingmaker is a good path for a smaller group. One of the biggest complaints is that there is usually only 1 encounter per day and that let's groups "nova" encounters. The low encounters per day helps small parties. Also, after they have become leaders it will seem natural to have minions. The building rules can easily be hidden behind the scenes.
- I would recommend 1 npc, a simple cleric/healer or warrior/tank type (depending on what your wife and son play). Someone to pickup needed skills and take hits. If it's simple enough it won't steal the spotlight and will be easy to run. Make him/her a follower that will advise, but not really plan.
- let them buy a couple of war dogs and horses. At low levels they are quite effective.
- Start them at 2nd level (maybe have the npc start at 1st). Try to keep them a level ahead of where they should be.
- Early on their patrons can provide some support (potions, scrolls, a wand of clw perhaps) while later their settlement/kingdom can do the same.