Hi, I am new to DMing and would like to ask a couple of questions.
1) How is APL calculated in situations where is fewer players than 4. (Specifically 2 players)
2) How would this corrolate to CR of encounters.
3) What sort of CR would be appropriate for 1-2nd level characters in a scenario with 2 players, and what level of BBEG would be appropriate as a final boss?4) Any hints you could give me about DMing in general and frequent problems encountered while DMing for the first time?
Thanks Danny.
1. Two players equates to APL-1 (any party with 3 or fewer PC's).
2. An average encounter would be APL-1, challenging would be APL, etc.3. Not sure I follow exactly. But if you're asking about what is appropriate for two PC's who are 2nd level (APL = APL-1 or 1 in this case) then a hard encounter (BBEG territory) would be CR 3. If you want to make it potentially very lethal, go for an epic encounter CR 4. In any case make sure it's not the only encounter they have that day. Run some low CR stuff to warn them up (at least one other encounter, probably two).
4. With only two PC's who are both low level, you can probably get away with running a lone BBEG rather than a BBEG with minions. Even better would be a BBEG who has access to animal companions or "pets" or such. Good luck!