I would like some advice from anyone that plays in *small* groups or has had experience in such.
7years ago when I started playing we had an extremely large group made up of 10the pc's and one dm. Over the years the group has dwindled down (due to moving away/edition wars/reliability issues/growing out of gaming etc.) to myself, my original dm, and one other that was added to the group a few years back. We all enjoy playing and get together when ever scheduling allows. Each trading off dm duty keeping things at low to mid level characters.
My problem is that with only 2 pc's whomever dms almost always is forced to play a character as well to pad the group and give a little character variation. Not always a bad thing but I will be cling the next game starting in a few weeks and im looking for ways around this.
Things I've come up with is
1 putting the group against lesser cr's; the problem with that is they wouldn't gain near as much experience
2 getting the players to play 2 characters each; we've never done this before so if any one has can you tell me how that experience was?
3 giving the group a higher pc gold rate; one of the others always does this in his game but it always makes us completely over powered
4 gestalt(sp?) characters.... i have no problems telling you I am scared of this option.
Has any one tried any of these options or knows of a different route to solve my problem? All help is appreciated.
I would vote for #2
Custom adventures or beef up the characters. Where do you want to put the load?
Controlling 2 characters is fun to try out for a limited time, but overall it detracts from the role playing.
I'd say you have the right idea in modifying the difficulty of combats. Honestly though, were I in your place, I would place an ad and try for new players.
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1. This I dont worry about since I dont use xp anymore ever. Sorry I wish I could be more helpful.
2 I actually prefer this option to DMPCs or Gesalt. Sometimes I had to step in and role-play one of the characters so the person wasn't role-playing with them self it wasn't perfect but it can work.
3. I dont think giving them loads of gold will make up for lack of PCs.
4. Problem I had with Gesalt is you still only have two PCs and not a party. Instead you just have more powerful PCs. We found an issue during combat with a lack of options even though all bases are assumed covered. As a GM I found making encounters a nightmare.
I would explore option 2. Good luck.
I played option 2 for a long time. Mature players can breathe life into 2 characters, no problem. It was a blast.
All of our adventurers are custom, we may pull basic ideas from the books but everything from the npcs to the dungeons are made up on the spot and the monsters are just randomly pulled from the monster manual, what ever looks like the right cr and would be in the place at the time.
Problem with trying for new players is that we play at my house and I have 4 young children, not alot of people are willing to game around that AND I'm not too keen on the idea of inviting strangers over to be around my kids.
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Joegoat try something like meetup.com. Chances are there is something in your area going on to help you find a player or two. With meetup you can go somewhere like an FLGS or a diner and meet other gamers. Your group can preview them before asking them to join. Also you can get to know them before inviting strangers over. Or else try Pathfinder society. I use PFS as a preview of the local community. I get to see what gamers I want at my tables and who are the incompatible with my style players in town. The combination of these two ideas has lead to stable and enjoyable gaming groups for several years now for me.
Anyone else have any suggestions?
i would suggest not using xp. Set up modules, or whatnot and every time they complete one, award a level.
IE they are tasked with obtaining the gem of uber awesomeness from a local group of bandits. (they might have to fight through 6 groups of guards and a wondering monster and bandit lord, or they might manage to stealthily bypass some of the guards and talk their way into the uber gem) When they do it POW level up. I like this because it also allows for them to bypass encounters if they are clever and not be punished for not fighting.
i am also a big fan of giving the pcs a couple npc classes to run. give them an adept and a warrior to tag along with them
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Play a Master Summoner and a Druid.
Now you have more figs on the mat than you know what to do with.
Edit: The rules say bypassing a challenge gets you exp...so even if you encounter a dragon in a cave and you run past him and survive then you get that credit. Its all about overcoming the challenge...whether its done with brains or brawn.
i would suggest not using xp. Set up modules, or whatnot and every time they complete one, award a level.
IE they are tasked with obtaining the gem of uber awesomeness from a local group of bandits. (they might have to fight through 6 groups of guards and a wondering monster and bandit lord, or they might manage to stealthily bypass some of the guards and talk their way into the uber gem) When they do it POW level up. I like this because it also allows for them to bypass encounters if they are clever and not be punished for not fighting.
i am also a big fan of giving the pcs a couple npc classes to run. give them an adept and a warrior to tag along with them
That's not a bad idea at all, I might try this one out.
And ossian666, that kindof move would be up to the dm, even if it specifically stated that would work for exp. I as dm would have to rule zero on that and say simply running past him isn't sufficient enough to gain the xp, the dragon is still there and still a threat you just ran away from the fight
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i would suggest not using xp. Set up modules, or whatnot and every time they complete one, award a level.
IE they are tasked with obtaining the gem of uber awesomeness from a local group of bandits. (they might have to fight through 6 groups of guards and a wondering monster and bandit lord, or they might manage to stealthily bypass some of the guards and talk their way into the uber gem) When they do it POW level up. I like this because it also allows for them to bypass encounters if they are clever and not be punished for not fighting.
i am also a big fan of giving the pcs a couple npc classes to run. give them an adept and a warrior to tag along with them
That's not a bad idea at all, I might try this one out.
And ossian666, that kindof move would be up to the dm, even if it specifically stated that would work for exp. I as dm would have to rule zero on that and say simply running past him isn't sufficient enough to gain the xp, the dragon is still there and still a threat you just ran away from the fight
I guess anyone is able to interpret how they want but if the Ultimate Goal was to get Item A at the end of the dungeon and the guardian was a dragon, then what does it matter if you send an invisible creature in to grab it, you distract the dragon while one person gets it, you murder the dragon or you say "eff it" and use spells to dig completely around the room. The challenge was placed and you circumvented it. Punishing PCs for not fighting a losing battle is a bad precident to set IMO.
I agree, partially.
Out smarting the dragon is defeating the encounter. Using spells and/or expendables along with skills to go invisible and sneak past the dragon is defeating the encounter. Killing the dragon is defeating the encounter. Deplomacising with the dragon for item A is defeating the encounter.
Flip side of the coin?
Running as fast as you can to get to a safe spot on the other side of the dragon, obtaining the object and running back across and hoping your ac/hp keeps you alive is not defeating the encounter. Neither is knowing the dragon is in one room and tunneling through the wall around said dragon. In both situations you avoided the dragon all together. I would give points for completing the quest, but not for defeating the dragon.
It would be the same as making a character that has an unbelievably high ac or speed and saying because he was able to not get killed by or out run any aggressor he came across he should get experience for winning those situations.
Avoiding the enemy is not the same as defeating the enemy, otherwise all of my characters would get xp for defeating an ancient red dragon because they stayed away from daralathyxl and the five kings mountains
And the most fun mountain at disney :-)
How about granting the leadership feat to all characters which provides some secondary characters/NPCs to bulk out your numbers?
They don't detract as much from the main characters and give your PCs something to protect AND utilize at the same time. You can still breathe life into them but since they are PART of your character, they feel a little more organic.
They can also be a great way to burn through all that gold your one DM keeps throwing at you.