If I wanted to start a standard 4 PCs 1st level adventure with only 2 PC (due to lack of other players in my area), how would you adjust their level to be still up to the task?
For instance, if I wanted to play the beginner box adventure with only two PCs, what would you advise me to scale PC wise without modifying the adventure itself too much? Could 2 3rd level chars be up to the task for usually 4 1st level chars?
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Either you scale down adversaries so as to pose less of a threat (say, by using suboptimal tactics, like goblins obsessed with the pickle jar or with playing with a wounded seagull) or else you give the PCs some NPC buddies who can fluff out the pârty as if it were four PCs.
It's fairly easy to print out the stat blocks for a few low-level fighter type NPCs, to make the party more effective, both in terms of action economy and in terms of absorbing enemy attacks.
Thanks for the ideas so far. It came to my mind that maybe a pack of dogs (either 2 or 3 when there are 2 PC) could fill the role?
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I would let each of the 2 players run 2 PCs each, so you have a total of 4 characters in the party.
That's the easiest way.
Running a smaller party is tricky because of reduced action economy and reduced ability to absorb hits overall.
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Dogs are fine, as long as one or both PCs have the Handle Animal skill.
You could also easily imagine that if a boss of some sort sends them on a mission, he could send along a couple "red shirts" under their command. If the PCs are working a mission without a boss or patron, let them recruit some "hirelings" from the local inn or tavern.
Alternatively, you as DM could set up an encounter with some friendly blokes, say, out-of-work mercenaries looking for a paying gig. When the PCs tell them about the loot they plan to haul out of the dungeon (or wherever), they could join up for a split of the haul.
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Thanks for the ideas so far. It came to my mind that maybe a pack of dogs (either 2 or 3 when there are 2 PC) could fill the role?
Maybe you can use dogs (or other reasonable animal) with animal companion rules. Then Handle Animal almost not needed. And the animals will grow with level.
Not very useful if some of your players have class with animal companion. Turns out somehow redundant.
Thanks for the ideas so far. It came to my mind that maybe a pack of dogs (either 2 or 3 when there are 2 PC) could fill the role?Maybe you can use dogs (or other reasonable animal) with animal companion rules. Then Handle Animal almost not needed. And the animals will grow with level.
Not very useful if some of your players have class with animal companion. Turns out somehow redundant.
I will have to look that up, thanks. One of the PCs will be a fighter, the other a cleric.
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AFAIK, even "pet" classes like ranger and druid need to use Handle Animal to get their companion to do stuff.
The fighter and cleric will probably want to allocate one rank to the Handle Animal skill to be sure they can do something with those mutts once things get tricky. Especially if they have a negative CHA mod. The DC10 check to make them do a trick they know (like attack) will rise to 12 as soon as they take even a single point of damage.
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You could simply give them more actions too, a blessing of speed from the gods, having them take 2 turns for every 1 turn of your opponents. Use the mythic initiative thing where they can take an additional turn at -20 of their initiative roll.
Edit: Problem then becomes HP pools, as 4 adventurers will have more HP than 2 adventurers but you could give them Toughness as a free feat and that would help them out a bit. A higher point buy/point array with forced points into Constitution could help as well.
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Adding another body into the situation is exponential. Each player you add substantially improves their chances of overcoming everything you have just by coincidence.
The reverse is equally true.
Taking away a player from the party can have devastating results because the most limit resource any group has is time. Each player gets their own round, and it's incredibly hard to change that.
What will happen is eventual attrition or a random brick wall they won't be able to defeat without GM assistance (like a trap, a locked door, or needing a spell, etc).
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Another possibility is giving a tier or two of mythic, this will help to alleviate some of the action economy issues, but isn't SUPER overpowering.
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Having run solo campaigns I think there are a few specific things that a GM can to that can make a huge difference.
First is that players should understand the types of challenges and threats they will be facing and be able to plan their party accordingly. If it's a dungeon crawl they should know that they don't really need much investment into face skills. With a small party everyone has to cover multiple of the traditional roles, so it's hard. knowing what roles you don't need to invest as much in can be very helpful.
Second is give the characters a couple levels higher. There's a couple of ways to go about this, You can start the characters with a couple of NPC levels that's a nice way to fill out a character without speeding up the casters' abilities. It keeps from breaking encounters by having access to a spell that normally they wouldn't. At the same time it gives the PCs a chance to diversify their abilities which is an important thing. You can also just let them be a level or 2 ahead of the curve. that's frequently done and works out nicely.
Third. Avoid save or suck effects. When you only have 2 players a single blown save is half the party gone. It's devastating. It's game over in a solo campaign. If you do have to use save or sucks, use ones that still allow some level of play by the player, staggered instead of unconscious or held for example. Also make sure that your players understand that saves are even more important as party size gets smaller. Multiclassing and save boosting items (which the GM should drop frequently) can help with this, but at the end of the day every save or suck spell a GM uses is basically going to be on steroids because of the higher proportion of the party it effects. Keep this in mind.
Edit: Another option for boosting a smaller party I want to mention. Give the players a couple free traits or a free feat. This can help a lot as well. Also certain campaign traits can help a lot too like trapfinder from the mummy's mask campaign.
Another possibility is giving a tier or two of mythic, this will help to alleviate some of the action economy issues, but isn't SUPER overpowering.
A mythic tier also gives a few more hit points and makes it harder for you to die when going negative. But the best thing about choosing mythic for a small party campaign is that you can fine tune the party's power by throwing in an extra tier anytime they seem to be struggling.
Another possibility is giving a tier or two of mythic, this will help to alleviate some of the action economy issues, but isn't SUPER overpowering.A mythic tier also gives a few more hit points and makes it harder for you to die when going negative. But the best thing about choosing mythic for a small party campaign is that you can fine tune the party's power by throwing in an extra tier anytime they seem to be struggling.
That being said, tread very lightly on Mythic advancement, as the tiers go up the power level increases exponentially.
Grapple monsters can be especially devastating to small parties; be very careful about using them.
Really true for anything that’s save or suck/die too. Though mythic helps a little for this too, if I’m remembering right.