Burnt Offerings: Few players and lack of experience

[Fletch_Talon]

Hi. So for a long time, I've wanted to get into DnD or a similar tabletop RPG. But its only now, having purchased the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and Bestiary, that I feel ready to actually give it a crack.

Unfortunately there are still some hurdles to overcome. Firstly, I'm not a hugely sociable person, at some point, I'd like to try and con... I mean, persuade, some work colleagues into letting me DM a game for them. However I don't want to force them to endure my stuttering and struggling. So I thought I'd start a game with me, my little brother and my girlfriend, until I get some experience.
Which is my second problem, I'm not experienced enough to confidently create my own encounters.
-Luckily, I found and purchased volume 1 and 2 of the Rise of the Runelords adventure path.
-Unluckily its based on DnD 3.5.
-Luckily I managed to find a link to this.

So here's my question.
With 3 players (including myself as DM) none of whom have any experience, there's a maximum of 2 PCs, 3 if I add a DM controlled character.
3 Characters, I assume, would have a difficult time getting through this AP. However, using the link above (for the PRPG to DnD 3.5 conversion) I notice that the challenge ratings for NPCs is decreased to compensate for the changes.
Basically, if I were to use the stat blocks in the link (as they are without adding levels to restore their original CR) would the encounters be adequate for a party of 2-3?

And as an additional question, what classes would be advised to make things run as smooth as possible? I'm assuming a cleric would be essential for healing but what else?

PS Sorry if this seems confusing. Hopefully you're able to make sense of my rambling.

[Themetricsystem]

No problem at all!

Well given the stat blocks in the AP(Adventure path) it assumes for 4 PC's

One cheap but easy way to tweak things is to reduce all the "zerg" type encounters by 1/4th. On the fights where it hinges more on 1-2 big guys, down their HP by 1/4 and play them dumb.

It's just a cheap way to tweak it, there are big complicated ways of doing exactly what you are looking to do with a higher accuracy for results but as you are new to running games, quick and dirty might work a little better.

As for the party makeup my suggestion is one each in the following.

A healer, hopefully someone who can also take a few hits too.
Cleric, Bard, Pally

A melee type character.
Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Monk

An offensive spell-caster of some sort.
Sorcerer, Wizard, Druid

[Fletch_Talon]

Themetricsystem wrote:

No problem at all!

One cheap but easy way to tweak things is to reduce all the "zerg" type encounters by 1/4th. On the fights where it hinges more on 1-2 big guys, down their HP by 1/4 and play them dumb.

Thanks for the advice and the quick reply. However, I need to point out:

The goblin commando (as an example) in Burnt Offerings is CR 1.
The same commando when converted to PRPG here is CR1/2.

So should I apply your technique directly to the converted goblin (despite its reduced CR). Or should I add a level to it to make it an equal challenge compared to its 3.5 counterpart, then subtract enemies and/or HP to compensate for party size.

Or alternatively, since the PRPG conversion reduces the CR anyway, should I just use them and hope that this (coupled with the extra exp that PCs will be gaining) will reduce the difficulty enough?

[Fletch_Talon]

Sorry for the double post but I still needed a response to my previous question. I also have another question to ask and I figure bumping this is better than starting a new topic.

So as well as the question posed directly above, I wanted to ask something else about CR.

If I have a party of 3 lvl 1 characters, their average party level (APL) is 1. Now to work out an encounter for a group of 3 or fewer, the core rules advises that I subtract 1 from the APL, leaving us with an APL of 1/2.

So, for an average encounter, the CR should be 1/2 giving an XP budget of 200.

A kobold is CR 1/4 and thus has a XP value of 100.
So by this logic, 2 kobolds are an adequate encounter for 3 level 1 PCs. As I said before, Ive never played DnD or any RPG like it, so maybe that's accurate, it just seems odd to me though.

So the question is, do you think 2 kobolds are enough of a challenge for 3 level 1 PCs to fight?

[wakedown]

It will very much depend on the players, their characters and luck.

A solid level 1 paladin can probably solo 3 kobolds by himself as long as the kobolds don't get too lucky on their rolls. A first level wizard could do the same with a single color spray or sleep spell.

You're in luck because Burnt Offerings would probably require a little tweaking to be more difficult for a 4-person Pathfinder party. So a 3-person Pathfinder party might just be perfect.

In the DM seat you'll have a lot of power. Goblins are supposed to be dumb. So if there's 4-5 goblins in an encounter, as written, you're supposed to have the little buggers do silly things, like spend a round trying to eat a ham that's too large to fit in their mouth, or stop to tie their shoes, etc.

I'd recommend giving it a try as printed, but for the first 4-5 encounters as your brother and girlfriend get acclimated, make sure you have the goblins do silly goblin things, and make sure when you describe how they defeat them, you describe it in as heroic manner as possible.

As printed, the stats should be just fine for your 3-person group. I'd go with something classic - 1 fighter with scale male, high HP and maybe a greatsword, a wizard who can use color spray/sleep, and a cleric who can fight and channel heals after combat, as needed.

[Fletch_Talon]

Excellent.
Thank you themetricsystem and wakedown for your great and timely advice, it really is appreciated.

[thegreenteagamer]

I wouldn't run a DM's PC with a first game. There's a few problems with that.

First, it gets complicated. Trust me. You've got your hands full enough playing, heck, running a game for the first time.

Second, there's the inevitable center-stage he will take. You'll try to back him up, but it will sneak out. You can't be telling the story and playing one of the characters without subconsciously favoring yourself. It gets very annoying to most people. If you weren't using a pre-generated adventure, I would suggest the Final Fantasy 4 style of NPCs...a few that pop in and out of the adventure, but don't really stay permanently. That keeps any from really hogging any of the spotlight.

Third, you'd have to play the guy as a mute or something, because anytime anyone asks your opinion, you CAN'T suggest anything, since it would by nature be working with unfair knowledge.

If you need to boost up the party's power, just dump extra loot on them.

[Anonymous Visitor 163 576]

If you want a REALLY simple fix, just go with two characters that are 2nd level. It will do pretty well until Erlirium shows up.

[mearrin69]

You might be set on Rise of the Runelords and that's a fine thing because it's a great adventure path. Might I suggest, however, that for your first time out you maybe try running a couple of Pathfinder Society scenarios or Pathfinder modules?

RotRL is a pretty grand thing, with themes that start up in Burnt Offerings and run throughout. You're going to learn a lot from your first couple of game sessions and might look back and wish you'd done things differently - which is why I suggest cutting your teeth on a smaller "one-shot" adventure or two first.

Just a thought. Good luck no matter what you do.

FYI, I've been running RotRL for a while now (we're going to be starting book four soon) with Pathfinder and have been converting as I go, mainly by feel. Some of it has been done on the fly and some (mainly the more complicated opponents) I do during session prep. It has gone okay. If you keep the details on your side of the DM screen the players aren't really going to notice the difference between a 3.5 bad guy, a native Pathfinder bad guy, or a roughly converted bad guy.
M

[Dosgamer]

I was going to suggest the same thing. Get one of the Pathfinder modules (one that was released late last year or some time this year would be fully compatible with the final core system).

Might I suggest Crypt of the Everflame? It has two follow up modules that can be used as well. You can use the premade PCs in the back of the modules to save time. Maybe each player could control two PCs? Make sure that one player isn't controlling two casters, though. At low levels it doesn't take much to run any single character, and while combat might slow down with them playing two, you should be taking combats slowly to begin with anyway.

Good luck!