Howdy yall,
I've come to a bit of a pickle. The group that I've been playing with as of late hasn't been...for the lack of words...committed to playing Pathfinder. Up until now, we had a dedicated group of 3 PCS + 1 GM and well it worked out. As of now, its been reduced to 1 PC and a GM-PC.
We've been running Book 2 of Jade Regent with 1 Lore Warden (Fighter Archetype) and a Conjurer. Its been fun, but with the encounters growing more challenging, its hard for us to find alternatives towards continuing the adventure.
In one encounter we have faced an Giant Earth Elemental who would've molly-wopped us if it wasn't for the Conjurer who used Web + Obscurring mist to keep the rock buddy at bay.
I know in other threads that implementing the use of NPC's or even pets to help the adventure continue may work. But my question boils down to this.
Has anyone been able to run an adventure path with just 2 Players? And if so, did the game suffer in RP from having a GM-PC who had to dual role?
Any advice would be appreciated.
-Thanks.
I'm currently running a game with only two players for the second time. May I suggest using the Gestalt rules, with at least one (if not both of you) playing a "pet" class, such as Summoner or Druid. The Leadership Feat will also be usefull. Hero Points are good "Get out of jail free" cards.
Feel free to use as many house rules as you need to keep things going.
Small groups can be difficult to run without killing them, but as long as you're still having fun, continue.
you could use Gestalt rules, and I would try to recruit another player.
I don't know much about book two so I can't help on that part.
I can't speak to an AP, but one of my best and most memorable games came from when I GM'd for my best friend back in the 2E days. He played two PCs (one a necromancer and the other a barbarian meat shield), we had a lot of fun and it was great role playing. Basically the player controlled both PC's with the necromancer being his main character and the barbarian being the big dumb melee who wades into combat soaking up the hits.
I know that with AP's you can scale them down to suit your needs, so that's what I'd recommend, you don't need to fill out a party with GMPC's to do this and you can have a lot of fun still.
In other aspects, we've being 2maning King Maker Book 1 as a PBP adventure which has been working marvelous.
The shame is that we've immersed ourselves deep in the story - going as far as 1/2 of Book 2. Its just difficult to keep things going.
I don't know if its the aspect that its a GM-PC + PC doing a story driven AP. From my experience, even being GM-PC is challenging 'cause your character is reduced to NPC status ~ which may be a good / bad thing depending on how much you love your character.
I've had a one on one game with just a GM. We used numerous NPCs (basically Leadership feat for free) and my character was the primary controller of a small church. She was able to recruit and convert more and more followers until she was able to start a city and then a second city.
There is a LOT of flexibility in decisions when it's just you. No control by consensus or vote. Do what is best for your character based on their history, background and goals.
like others said, the gestalt rules from 3.5 are a great way to help this, especially if you add a 'pet' class like the druid, cavalier or summoner, or otherwise the classes that sort of split the difference between the 4 main class types, like a bard, magus, witch, inquisitor, alchemist, ranger or paladin. So if you have a lorewarden druid and a conjurer summoner, you suddenly have a far more managable party and you still just have the two characters to manage and roleplay.
If a player can control multiple PCs, it's totally posible. My friend and I used to do this.
He was better at me about characters not sharing omnipotent knowledge and goals as a result of being controlled by the same player.
I couldn't help basing the actions of one character while predetermining and planning the actions of the other.
But I guess companions who have adventured together for years might be able to anticipate each others actions and finish each others sentences as well. :)
Oh I forgot to mention, the Conjurer (thats me), had multi classed into Arcane Trickster (Rogue / Wizard).
I've got to book 4 of council of theives with 2 PC's. We'll have to see if they make it the whole way. As it's gone so far it might have been designed for the Bard and Summoner combo. It also has the advantage of readily available npc's.
Localised and short term npc's work well for my group
and create a more diverse and believable world.
I have also played and run games we're there have been GM run PC's. They can be fun and valuable if they are given enough personality to inform their decisions and the GM can compartmentalise. They are especially good if you take turns to GM. If done badly they hog the limelight, destroy the trust of the players and unbalance the game. Avoid an ego trip.
The Bard and Summoner (especially Master Summoner) combo can be really effective if you work together.
Since you are doing Jade Regent, I would definitely add a couple of the NPCs to your party. You may even modify their original classes a bit to help fill holes in the group. That adventure is basically pre-made for a small party.
Having them join the party more frequently will make them feel more like part of the story, as opposed to "those folks we have to keep dragging along." Just try to make sure you give the player the chance to make the decisions and shine in the role-playing scenarios. Don't overshadow them with the NPCs, if you can help it.
I like Gestalt as well.
Design Manager
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Gestalt is an awesome tool to maintain party survivability and story cohesion. Many of the AP's are fairly difficult without at least 4 party members, although I know Jade Regent gives you a stable of NPC's who are intended to assist the party as necessary. Utilizing the NPC's regularly also gives the party more chances to boost their romance scores if you're using that sub-system in Jade Regent.
Hard to Run but some solutions pick one or any combinations as you like.
1: Every player runs two characters/classes (only experienced players)
2: Leadership.
3: Give them more skill points.
4: Give them 30 Points to build a character, for versatality!
5: Demands multiclassing and give them extra levels.
6: Give them class abilities they lack in the form of items.
7: Give them twice as much money
I'm running Jade Regent with 2 players at the moment. The solution I went with was to let them play 2 characters each, for a standard party of 4. It's working quite well (and doesn't really require experienced players, one of the two was all but new to the game when we started), so I recommend it.
Competent works as well.
What really comes down to it, as my GM points out that its more work for less reward. Sure we can easily do whats listed, its just the end of the day concept.
Can't really blame him on the matter.
Thanks guys.
=_________=
We're doing a 2x2 campaign right now, but the other player is moving to another continent later this week! :-O
I like playing two contrasting PCs. I've done a LG human paladin/cleric paired with a CG halfling ranger/rogue (the other player was a half-orc barbarian and a pixie-ish sorcerer), and a LG half-elf paladin-wannabe-Captain America paired with a CG half-orc witch-wannabe-Conan (with two tiefling brothers, a rogue/wizard archer and a lorewarden fighter reach weapon specialist).
If you do a 2x2 campaign, I suggest each player play one spellcaster and one non-spellcaster. That way, each player gets approximately the same amount of face time.
If you are doing a 1x2 campaign (1 player w/ 2 characters), I would suggest a gestalt campaign, and build both characters for versatility. Pet classes might be a good idea if it's not too overwhelming.
I'm personally against GMPCs, but that's another discussion.
If they are having trouble with battles, have them find some hirelings in the local tavern. They can also take Leadership to get cohorts.
If those don't fit, consider giving them maximum hit points.
I started Jade Regent with two players recently, and we have been using
Ghestalt rules can work, but you'll eventually run into action economy issues. And really, if you are managing the abilities and advancements of two classes on one character...why not just have two character sheets and be able to be in two places at once :-).
For 1 GM and 1 player, 2 Gestalt PCs controlled by the 1 player might be the best solution.