Goodman Games

Would any of the DCC's scale well to a campaign with only two PC's (and one GM)? And I don't mean 'scale at all' -- I'm interested in an adventure that scales reasonably well. It could be that such a thing does not exist....

DCC #1: Idylls of the Rat King can be played by two characters of 4th level with few modifications (espicially if you used two multi-classed characters like a cleric/fighter and a rogue/wizard or sorcerer). As a note, Idylls of the Rat King is being reprinted as a 3.5e module this month, so don't fear if you don't have it.

I tested that game using a standard gaming group (4 people), large gaming group (6 people), and a mini group (2 4th level characters). And in all cases, the encounters were challenging and the players had loads of fun.

Hope that helps.

I think many of the lower level adventures are playable by very small (2-3 character) groups... Once you get into the higher levels, versatility is key, as one class may be ineffective against certain encounters. But with lower levels (up to 10 or so), every class has the opportunity to contribute to each encounter.

The DCCs are very good about including scaling information in terms of adjusting the difficulty of the module, but generally also include a range of levels the party should consist of... So if the party should have 10 levels, that could mean five 2nd-level characters or perhaps just two 5th level characters in your case. It would require more DM flexibility, but the great thing is all the characters in small parties get lots of "face time" and the level of involvement and interaction can soar pretty high!

Of the DCCs I have either read or run, I think #0: Legends are Made, not Born, #3: Mysterious Tower, #5: Aerie of the Crow God, #10: The Sunless Garden and the first 4 or 5 chapters of #14: Dungeon Interludes would all work quite well. (In fact, when writing DCC #14, one of my playtest groups only had 3 players, but of slightly higher level -- and I was very pleased with how they worked).

Black Knight & ynnen, Thank you for taking the time to give considered answers and point me in a good direction. Your answers are heartening.

I'd suggest taking a page from the old first edition AD&D. Have the two player characters hire three or four men-at-arms. Make them first level warrior non-player-characters. Out fit them with leather and shields. Arm them with short shorts and spears. They won't outshine the PCs and will be able to absorb some of the damage.

JediOre wrote:I'd suggest taking a page from the old first edition AD&D. Have the two player characters hire three or four men-at-arms. Make them first level warrior non-player-characters. Out fit them with leather and shields. Arm them with short shorts and spears. They won't outshine the PCs and will be able to absorb some of the damage.

That's a cool idea! It reminds me of some of the adventures in Knights of the Dinner Table, where they always send in the hirelings to set off the traps...

I'm sure that I would have been happy with any of the suggested DCC's. I ended up ordering #5--Aerie of the Crow God. I will follow up if I have anything interesting to add after running the module.

I think that I will also take JediOre's advice. Nothing like some red-shirts to make the pain more bearable....

I recently DMed #29 Revenge of the Rat King with three people and that went very well with no adjustments required. If you look through that module there are few big fights that take place, leaving plenty of room for three to exercise their skills.

Losloris