Strange predicament: my wife's group recently disbanded just short of the climax of 3 Faces of Evil. Since I, too, wanted to run the AP, we've decided to continue the adventure just the 2 of us, with my wife playing her character from the abruptly ended campaign plus 3 made-over characters from campaigns past. We made them over at 5th level with 36 point buy, incorporating as many of the current rules set to reflect the characters' abilities and personae as possible. The result is a fascinating mix of unusual characters, but I wonder if they have the firepower to progress far in this killer campaign. What are your impressions (keeping in mind the unusual limitation of one player playing all 4 characters)?
They are:
N female half-drow Archivist 5 (the divine caster/researcher)
CN female half-elf Warlock 5 (the blaster/archer/secondary melee combatant)
CN male half-elf Beguiler 5(the expert/arcane caster)
N male half-orc Barbarian 5 (primary melee combatant/secondary archer)
I ran the characters through the encounter with the Ebon Aspect and they survived, though just (I started the encounter with 20% of hp and resources (spells, etc.) depleted to reenact the point at which the old campaign ended). They are about to see to a proper denoument for Dourstone and Smenk before accompanying a friendly Allustan to Blackstone.
My group is 3 maning it with a dwarf barb. human Wiz, and Half elf druid. The dwarf died once and the cohort they got died 3 times in one adventure. Im sure if they use smarts they can do it with minimal deaths.. BTW, we are at part 8 now.
I am currently DMing a group of two players in the AoW Adventure Path. One is playing a Cleric of Wee Jas, the other is playing a Paladin of Hextor. They have just completed the Whispering Cairn Adventure after 5 sessions! While they have had a difficult time, almost dying a number of times and having to go back twice to battle a couple of foes, they have managed to overcome all of the obstacles. While 1 player is a little small (I would suggest adding a 2nd just to get more of a mix of ideas) small groups tend to have better tactical reponses to situations and with good team work can overcome difficult odds. I am however encouraging them to each take the Leadership feat in order for them to survive some of the higher level challenges. Oh and I also started them out at 2nd level, giving each of them a Racial Paragon level (from Unearthed Arcana). I really like the Paragon levels because they make their characters more round and interesting. Oh and I also followed one of the Players in house rules from the game he was a DM for, in giving the players 2 extra skill points a level for knowledges to make them more interesting and well rounded.
Anyhow good luck and watch out for the TPK.
Yes, it's the TPK that worries me. However, I am instituting the Action Points system (a la Eberron), which should help in a pinch occasionally. I'm more worried about the single player scenario (problem solving becomes harder as tactics become easier) and the lack of wizard/druid type firepower at higher levels.
Let some characters roll for clues and answers.
That way it refects the characters strengths rather than
the one player's strengths and weaknessess.
It makes more sense to have the Barbarian use intimadate
and the casters to use diplomacy.
Some people insist on acting conversations out without dice.
This will not work in this case unless you award the win to
the best actor involved.
If you have the casters amp. and enlarge the fighter enough
you should be OK.
The group as it is should be fine (if well played) until the Spire of Long Shadows adventure. The deadliness of the adventures rapidly ramps up at this point.
To maximize survivability, the group really needs a dedicated (single class) cleric and mage. Multi-classes that delay the advent of higher level spells will be the undoing of the party. You will NEED those higher level spells. Alot.
Casters that are nerfed spellwise by dipping into classes or prestige classes that interrupt spell progression will pay dearly for those choices once you hit Spire of Long Shadows.
Black Moria,
The Archivist has the same spell progression as the Cleric (at least with regard to spell level gained/level). And she's considering Spontaneous Healer for her 6th level feat.
My big fear is whether or not the Warlock (Eldritch blast) and Beguiler (versatile spellcaster, full progression as Sorcerer but Charm and Illusion spells) can match the firepower of a Wizard or straight Sorcerer.
I think a Warlock is 'too light' for the latter third of the campaign, unless very well equipped, especially if the Warlock is considered the primary 'big gun' for magic. I could be wrong on that but my personal experience with a Warlock is that they lack the versatility and raw 'knock 'em dead' power that a single class Wizard or Sorceror provides. YMMV.
Not familiar with the Beguiler at all but if the focus is Charm and Illusion, then that is a potential problem as many of the Kyuss spawn in the latter adventures are specifically immune to mind-affecting spells.
Black Moria confirms my creeping suspicions about the necessity of raw firepower for the latter stages of the AP.
Does anyone have suggestions for how to deal with this? Have you faced similar situations in your own campaign and dealt with them by altering certain encounters, encouraging the use of certain feats, adding in a particular magic item or two, etc? I'd hate to doom the quest to failure just because the player has tried to make full and interesting use of the options available....