so i'm still a relative newb DM, but i'm slowly learning the ropes. i've got a Nerdfest coming up in a couple of weeks and we will be playing DnD. my group has been kinda disbanded on account of people moving, starting families, etc etc. anyway, this upcoming dnd session will have only 2 player characters and 1 dm (me). one of my PC's is a level 5 character, and the other player is a newb. so what do i do here to adapt?

do i just level up the newb to level 5 so as to make the encounters scale easier? is there another way to handle this? this problem will happen again in the near future as we have another potential new player coming into the mix in about a month or so. any help is appreciated.

oh and while i'm at it....since i only have 2 pc's in my group this time around, what do you guys recommend i do for coming up with additional pc's? like, do i make each person have two pc's to control? or do i get them "hired henchmen" or maybe something else?

Ok, Before we go any farther.

What edition of D&D are you playing, because my advice will change dramatically based on the version you have.

In all editions of D&D I have been reluctant to have players at differing levels. I see it as something that limits the enjoyment of the lower level PC, while not giving enough benefit to out-way that cost. I have always been of the mind that the PCs should be of roughly equal power and all feel relevant to the storyline.

If you really want a difference in level then I would recommend no more than half a level difference in XP. Being lower level means being more likely to die, dying means being a lower level, etc..

If the group is already halfway to level 6 then start newbie at the start of level five. If they are fresh to level five then start him halfway through level four.

But I recommend starting him at level five.

Once upon a time I had a GM that insisted that all characters start at level one, but he also had a rule that it didn't count as an adventure unless a PC died.... Coincidentally, that was generally the first level character....

The Auld Grump

Why not have them "rescue" the companions from highway robbery? Perhaps they are being attacked by a band of orcs or goblins or something that two of them cannot fight, but with the addition of your two PCs, they kill or scare off the threat. In gratitude, they attest they will travel with your PCs until they can repay their life-debt.

Cool beans dude.

Giving the players a spare character is a time honored tradition, right up there with the DM taking the cleric.

Unless you need to, don't write the companions into the story. You could... but you need to better understand the plot elements.

I have written one companion into my story line for the purposes of killing, and inciting hatred of the villain from the players. This companion was very helpful in a lot of ways, then all of a sudden, there was an assassination attempt on the PCs... and when they got back to their rooms, their buddy was dead. There was a single metal buckle clenched in his hands.

As a new DM, read up on grind in 4e. Essentially if you're not careful, you can build long boring fights.

Since this is 4E, I would agree stick within a level or at most 2 for all the characters.

So level up the first level guy to 4 or so.

4E works pretty well with 3 or 4 characters in the party, (just remember the one monster per character rule) so you don't have to overload the party with NPCs.

Some interesting ways that you can write in NPCs:

1) Rescue someone from Jail/An Attack. (Maybe they save a native and he claims to have a blood debt, and joins them until he pays it off)
2) For a short term NPC have the PCs escort someone to a hidden site. (or have the PCs hire a local guide to that site)
3) Have the PCs be asked to join a specialized team to accomplish some goal, and have the NPCs be role players that the PCs can't fill. (Think Oceans 11)
4) Reverse the standard adventure trope, have the PCs wake up on a pile of treasure at 5th level in a strange place with two extra companions and no idea how they got there. Then have the first adventure the party tracking their actions to figure out what happened to get them there.
5) Give a PC a Pet, Fan Boy, Little Sibling or lackey that follows them around and idolizes them. (Then play the "companion" as claiming to have few skills but bursts of "lucky" strikes that help their master. For any Stephen Brust fans - think Mica and his barstool.)
6) Make the companion "non-standard" like an intelligent sword of dancing or a Custom Wondrous Figurine. (Think Guenhwyvar from the Drizzt novels) Maybe make them valuable so they wouldn't want others to know they have them. That allows you to place them in the story, have them help with fights role play in camp but conveniently fade out when you role play in town.
(Yes there are tons more options, those are just what comes to mind right now.)

Unless you have the first adventure planned... I would probably do 4. That not only allows you to explain away the quick level gain, but also lets you equip both PCs exactly as you want them.

for bringing the New PC into the game... If you went with option 4:
Give the PCs a very limited means to bring someone back from the dead right away. Then somewhere along the way back to "home base" they could come upon a fallen companion. (your 3rd PC) Have the PCs discover how the new PC sacrificed himself so the rest could go on. At that point most PCs will feel like they owe the character the use of the resurrection, and poof you have the story reason the PC is in the game.

Of course if you have a story line already picked out, then you might want to go with something that fits better with your story like option 6....

That's the great thing about RPGs, the story is really only limited by what you and your players want.

While not particularly relevant to the issue at hand, I thought I would share some NPC anecdotes from my long RPG history.

Once upon a time, a group of adventurers were going to be fighting an Undead baddie and I knew they were going to need some fire magic to help them out along the way. So I introduced the fire magic NPC as a love interest for one of the PCs many sessions before hand. The NPC became an integral member of the party, always a few levels lower than everyone else but definitely a part of any battle plan. So, in the climactic battle against the Undead baddie, I made sure that the NPC was the Red Shirt to let the party know they were up against a Disintegrate power. That battle went from "stop the bad guy" to "REVENGE!" in a heartbeat.

About a year later in the same campaign, the PCs saw their very-politically connected city contact die in an earthquake. This contact was the one who kept them out of trouble with the law, and that event meant they were immediately wanted for a long list of crimes. They had the choice of trying to help with the earthquake rescue and recovery while risking arrest and probable execution, or fleeing and leaving pain and suffering behind them.

With a cast of a dozen or so well-loved NPCs in the course of a campaign, killing off one here or there can really make a difference to the players or the storyline.

I like to have powerful NPCs as guides for players new to a setting, such as leaders of a powerful organization that will later ask the characters to join after proving they have what it takes to help the NPC.