One of our players (we play with three) is taking a leave of absence due to a death in the family. He wants us to continue without him until he comes back. We’ve discussed it and decided to suspend the main campaign until he returns. In the meantime, we do want to continue. Possibly a short campaign or 1 shot. Does anyone have suggestions for something that would be suitable for two players or a way to beef up the party? I know about sidekicks I’m just unsure how to implement them.
I'd try to keep the party size to a minimum of 3. The easiest way to do this is to just create a "DMPC" - a PC that you run yourself. Ensure that their backstory means that they have no special knowledge of the locations that the PCs will be visiting, and just let the players make all the important decisions.
Alternatively, you can easily read up on the sidekick options and they're basically just a way for players to run additional simple characters.
There’s rules for sidekicks in Tasha’s. You could give each player a PC and a sidekick. It’s basically like managing 1.5-1.75 characters each. The sidekicks hold their own without overshadowing the main PCs.
Its way easier than running an NPC or DMPC, since you don’t have to manage them.
I'll second the motion for running sidekicks in your party, if your players are up to try. There are also free rules in the UA archive if you don't have access to Tasha's. I've had good luck with small groups, or with groups that feel like they are missing a resource. But I have to respectfully disagree with running a DMPC or long term NPC as a member of the group. Let the players have the spotlight.
Another option would be to ratchet back the difficulty of the combat encounters that a smaller party will face. This will take some work on your part, but shouldn't be an impossible task. Same adventure plotline, less/weaker enemies. Reskin lower CR statblocks to fit the narrative.
I've stumbled across plenty of one-shot material on DMSGuild and Drive-Thru RPG that are free or PWYW(pay what you want) you could give that a go. Also, there are plenty of adventures penned by the staff here on DDB in the Encounters of the Week section of the Article archive.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
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One of our players (we play with three) is taking a leave of absence due to a death in the family. He wants us to continue without him until he comes back. We’ve discussed it and decided to suspend the main campaign until he returns. In the meantime, we do want to continue. Possibly a short campaign or 1 shot. Does anyone have suggestions for something that would be suitable for two players or a way to beef up the party? I know about sidekicks I’m just unsure how to implement them.
I'd try to keep the party size to a minimum of 3. The easiest way to do this is to just create a "DMPC" - a PC that you run yourself. Ensure that their backstory means that they have no special knowledge of the locations that the PCs will be visiting, and just let the players make all the important decisions.
Alternatively, you can easily read up on the sidekick options and they're basically just a way for players to run additional simple characters.
There’s rules for sidekicks in Tasha’s. You could give each player a PC and a sidekick. It’s basically like managing 1.5-1.75 characters each. The sidekicks hold their own without overshadowing the main PCs.
Its way easier than running an NPC or DMPC, since you don’t have to manage them.
I'll second the motion for running sidekicks in your party, if your players are up to try. There are also free rules in the UA archive if you don't have access to Tasha's. I've had good luck with small groups, or with groups that feel like they are missing a resource. But I have to respectfully disagree with running a DMPC or long term NPC as a member of the group. Let the players have the spotlight.
Another option would be to ratchet back the difficulty of the combat encounters that a smaller party will face. This will take some work on your part, but shouldn't be an impossible task. Same adventure plotline, less/weaker enemies. Reskin lower CR statblocks to fit the narrative.
I've stumbled across plenty of one-shot material on DMSGuild and Drive-Thru RPG that are free or PWYW(pay what you want) you could give that a go. Also, there are plenty of adventures penned by the staff here on DDB in the Encounters of the Week section of the Article archive.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad