I'm preparing to run a game of Leverage. It will be my first time running Leverage, but not my first time running a Cortex-Plus game as I've run some Marvel Heroic Roleplaying too.
The problem is, I'm going to be running this game with only 2 players. The typical team for Leverage is 5 PCs, each PC filling the primary roles of the game and show:
Hitter, Hacker, Grifter, Thief, and Mastermind.
One of my players is willing to play 2 characters, one is not. I would prefer that each player get to concentrate on a single character. So each player can have a primary and secondary role - Hitter / Grifter for example. That covers 4 roles.
I wondered if anyone had any advice on how to manage this situation? Should I have an NPC Mastermind? A Hitter? What role is best sacrificed in this situation?
I would note that I have all of the Leverage material that I know to be available, including the two expansion books and the 10 smaller guides. I have looked quite a bit at the One-on-One Leverage book for guidance, but was hoping actual players might have actual experience with the problem.