"Druid" Pets to Fill the Party.

[sjeshin]

Just when I thought I had convinced my son DnD was for people a little bit older, he gets a great grasp on reading and math. I'm not going to fight it anymore and just run a light hearted campaign for him and my wife to play. I wouldn't ask my other adult players to join in on this, I know it wouldn't be enjoyable for them. So my wife and son are going to play whatever they like starting at level one. The question is, with only 2 party members, would giving them both reflavored but statistically the same druid pets make this close enough to a 4 person party in terms of capability? I can adjust if they don't use magic, but I feel like this will keep me from throwing small spiders at them for 4 levels in a row. Does this sound reasonable / what could go wrong?

[liquidformat]

You could just give them the wild cohort feat for free. It should work alright if the party just needs meat shields, and or scouts. Maybe get your wife to play a Forest gnome or give them both the same language ability so they can have better control/communication with said animal companions. Alternatively you could also go with gestalt, it was designed around the idea of having a small party of two or three people but still being able to fill all the party roles.

[Nifft]

I've had good experiences giving kids some monstrous NPC helpers.

Give the monster NPC a clear, easily evoked personality so the kid can imagine the limitations of actions available -- like a baby dragon who's afraid of heights, and therefore won't fly or climb voluntarily (at first). Give the monster NPC a catchphrase / favorite food / bad judgment about one particular kind of enemy.

Do this for two different monsters, so they can have arguments with each other and the kid can provide the solution.

Two monsters plus one animal companion, and a Druid on top.

Sounds like a party to me.