Goodman Games

My four players have been getting wiped out by Doom of the Savage Kings. It's been fun, but I'm starting to wonder if I need to get them to play a couple of players each. Thoughts?

What's the style of play?

Do they expect to just do toe-to-toe with everything and trounce it? Because DCC is sometimes otherwise.

But hard to suggest/comment without knowing what's going on...

In the introduction for Doom, Stroh says, "This adventure is designed for 6 to 12 1st-level characters." Four players with 2 PCs per player will fall right in the middle of the recommended range.

DCC, much like OD&D, is all about the followers. Four 1st level characters is pretty light, so I'd let them have at least 2, but probably 3-4 0-level followers for each 1st level. If you were really trying to run your players through a DCC module with 4 level 1s, and your players don't absolutely hate you, I'm shocked.

I let my 5 players play 4 0-levels each through PutS, and two players had two chars survive, the other three only had one each. So the attrition rate can be pretty high. The step up in power (and, probably what's most relevant, AC) from 0 to 1 isn't so great that you'll be able to survive an adventure - ANY adventure - on such a small fraction of the recommended size.

Don't play it like a 3rd or 4th edition game, heh.

The funnel is always in effect, thats the games style, make sure your players have read the game book, you really need that to get the concet of the game down. This is not D&D and if played that way it fails to capture what this game is. First players have to think and plan, the game was not designed to coddle the players, their is a huge amount of cause and effect. Read the first adventure in the game book, this is not your usual adventure. Something you do in one part of the level effects something else.

I have told my players over and over to see 5th level would be a miracle and to see tenth level would be a once in a life time event. This is not the Pathfinder/3.5 exp mill, this is Sparta.

My 2C

Ken

So I have a little bit of a dilemma im seeking some aid on. My players really only want to play 1 character which leaves me with 4 pcs. Since I have a lot im tracking running npc followers is not necessarily ideal.

Has anyone made it work with just 4? Like say running modules a level over recommended or maybe just replacements close at hand at all times?

Why not let them run the henchmen/followers?

Because they have made it clear they dont want to run more characters then just one including henchmen or followers.

I don't think that means you have to do it, though. I mean, they don't want an extra attack? They don't have to run them like full characters, obviously, no need for them to ever speak, etc., if they prefer.

I guess if they just can't stand to run them, your best bet is to scale down the challenges. Sometimes.

Yeah I was just wondering anyone has had any luck trying to run 4 but with their level being 1 higher then.a a module recommends or something along those lines?

I'm running a game with 4 PCs presently - one per player - at level 1. It's going fine. Players emerged from the funnel with about 1-2 PCs per player and they all agreed to play a single PC from then on. I've been suggesting (in-game, through RP) that some NPCs might follow them, but their PCs have refused the offers up to now, so it seems like my players are a bit like yours.

This is a homebrew I'm playing.

This mini-campaign is my first ever DCC experience. I have not run a single commercial module, so I cannot compare, but I have read a couple of commercial adventures: my game is not really about dungeon crawl, combat and traps, although the two latter are present. It's a story-driven game. (DotSK is pretty story-driven I believe and is much to my liking.) I find that DCC is well suited for some flavorful story-driven gaming, with powerful beings (demons, etc...) meddling into the lives of weak mortals.

The end result is that I'm not into battles with multiple opponents (although one just occured last session - exceptionally), when the PCs fight, it's either because they have no choice to save their skin or because they know they have the advantage. Battles are often short and against one or two opponents.

Perhaps when they level up, I'll up the challenge level with larger scale battles, I can't say. I go with how I feel the game as we play through it. I do not plan my gaming sessions with encounters or the like. I lean heavily on improv - I only plan locales and NPCs, and the NPCs are not set in locales. I set them up whenever I feel it's appropriate.

The number, and level, of PCs is not set in stone by the modules. I frequently ignore these things, and let PCs of the "wrong" level attempt adventures. Why? Because it works with DCC, and player skill is rewarded. Fewer players sometimes means more thinking or more dying, but DCC has a nice power curve that is forgiving of many "balance issues" IMHO and IME.

My advice: Proceed with open eyes, but with no fear.