We are getting ready to play a campaign (Iron Gods) and we only have three players. It's not desperately short, but short enough that it may be an issue.
What are some techniques you have used to 'give the party a hand'?
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I thought this was going to be about a party of all halflings and gnomes.
Most APs are written for relatively poor optimization. As long as you have someone that can use a wand of CLW, some melee, and some arcane magic you'll probably be alright if you have relatively optimized characters.
Personally when I run APs I run the advanced template on everything and max HP because my players tend to be optimized and steam roll encounters.
The main problems you will have are making sure the important skills, status removal abilities, etc are sufficiently covered.
You could also ask if the GM is willing to run gestalt to ensure all the ability bases are covered (skills, melee, spells)
Because there's more experience to go around, a 3-man party will approximately be 1 level higher than an equivalent 4-man party. So it's not nearly as bad as it looks. These problems are best dealt with by the players themselves, by picking classes that offer role compression for small parties and don't leave the group with any obvious shortcomings. I'd look at your players' parties and ask yourself whether there's any substantial shortcomings there. If they look pretty well-rounded as is, I'd say just roll with it.
A fourth, mutual character could be controlled by a different player each session. Their RP could be passive - they don't show initiative, don't respond (because of an oath / ignorance / a curse?) and simply follow and help. If some role isn't popular (e.g. healing), it might be best to realize it with the mutual character.
But don't create a player character controlled by the GM. It usually ends bad - GM even more busy, stolen spotlight, conflicting interests. There are a few people out there who can pull it well (so I heard), but it's no shame to not be among them.
If there's an area where they're lacking, you could also include a GM NPC to accompany them if the party is on board with it, or see if someone is willing to play two characters. (Both solutions can get slightly clunky in encounters that are more heavily roleplay-oriented, but they're workable.)
The simplest thing you can do to up survivability is give HP+Con Score instead of Con modifier. The extra 10-15 Hp goes a long way to making them take the pain. I usually find if I do this the party can still chuck out enough damage to survive an AP without levelling them faster (I use milestone level advancement)
Give them stilts!
Oh. Not the shortness you were talking about.
I thought this was going to be about a party of all halflings and gnomes.
Me too. I was going to recommend stilts.
Actually I'm playing in a party with this exact situation, barring the specific campaign.
What our gm did was let us be gestalt, however he divides the xp by four rather than three.
Each of us is significantly more versitile and we on average have more hp than we otherwise would have had.
Now a disclaimer: we are level three and we are only slightly past the halfway point in the first book, so I can't give you an Idea for how this will play out long term.
Now although he is dividing the experience by four he isn't changing the loot, so we will be somewhat over geared, and this will help compensate for the fact that none of the classes is a dedicated healing class, as we will be able to afford consumables.
Some ideas:
Encourage one of them to play a druid for the pet (although, I'm not sure how that will play into the Iron Gods campaign)
If you're open to it, just do milestone leveling and have them level a bit sooner than the AP recommends.
Be prepared to fudge some rolls behind the screen. Basically, if a monster is put down to 2-3hp, and it getting another round to screw with the party could put someone unconscious, then just say that it dies. I do this all the time and the APs are so much more fun. Same thing if someone lands a crit with big damage - that orc just got it's head split open, and its dead, I don't care what you say! Ending a combat on a big crit or successful "cool idea" is very rewarding for players - especially if they're starting out at a disadvantage.
Give them stil—dammit.
Well, the big difference tends to depend on party structure. I played in a party with a melee-focused alchemist, a poorly-optimized druid, and a poorly-optimized monk. It makes a huge difference to only have one PC who can reasonably hope to stand in the way of monsters without dying. Monsters need targets, and if they only have one target to focus on who can maybe take a few hits, that one target is going to get piled on. Our party's success changed drastically the moment an NPC came to help us out, simply because it meant another "damage sponge" to dilute the pain.
As such, consider introducing occasional opportunities to secure NPC allies (the party meets a friendly mercenary, or, if they have a druid in the party, meets a lone wolf or bear that can tag along for a while). If you can make the acquisition of the ally a challenge in and of itself, it feels less cheap.
Also, watch the party balance closely. Two barbarians and a cleric can do really well, while a melee-centric rogue, a ranged bard and a sorcerer are going to struggle. They'll also have access to fewer resources—if a challenge can only be solved by magic, and they're mostly mundane, consider leaving workarounds. If they're about to fight a ghost, drop a few ghost touch arrows, magic weapon oils, or holy water flasks in their lap. If they're melee-deficit, introduce allies, reduce enemies, or give them access to powerful buffs.
Basically, the biggest problem you'll have is loss of action economy. Action economy is a huge advantage for the players that allows them to overwhelm bosses many levels higher than they are. Now, being 25% smaller, the glove may end up on the other foot.
Some ideas:
Encourage one of them to play a druid for the pet (although, I'm not sure how that will play into the Iron Gods campaign)
Hunter also gives you an animal companion, so that could be another option. Animal companions can be very strong, especially at lower levels.
Looks like our party will be a Blaster/Crowd Control Sorc, a Swashbuckler, and a Bard.
We are adding Background Skills to give more depth of skills.
We are using Hero Points to keep some situations from being too swingy.
Here's hoping :)
And thanks for all the input :D
I thought this was going to be about a party of all halflings and gnomes.Me too. I was going to recommend stilts.
I once accidentally killed off a party in Ravenloft, the original module. There's a trap that drops the characters (unconscious) into a locked cell with 5 ft of water in. Lead fighter, fighter/cleric, plus magic user all fell down it. 2 dwarves and a human who had chosen to be less than 5 ft tall so he could visit his dwarves friends without bumping his head...
Last remaining character, dwarven fighter/thief with the skills to unlock the cell door didn't fall down the chute. He went the long way round and the others had drowned by the time he got there...so he stuffed their bodies into a bag of holding or 3 and left the adventure to get them raised.
Well, I would think being unconscious would prevent them from standing above the water or picking the lock regardless. :P
Generally a party who's down 1 player (3 man, that is.) is considered to be at an APL-1, so, figuratively speaking it'd be best to treat +2 as Epic encounters, +1 as hard, etc, etc.
Well, I would think being unconscious would prevent them from standing above the water or picking the lock regardless. :P
Yes,but the dwarves should have made their saves against the unconscious effect. And even one of them succeeding could have meant standing on some gear and holding the others above the water level.
The moral of the story is, when the GM asks if anyone is taller than 5 ft, someone should say yes.
All APs have multiple opportunities for npcs who could join the party on a temporary or semi-permanent basis.
Three characters is doable, but the characters have to be a bit more versatile and cover a broader range of roles; narrowly focused characters ("one-trick-ponies") will be less viable, as there are fewer PCs to cover any capability gaps. Also, the players should concentrate more on tactics and teamwork; they have a narrower margin for error.
Sorcerer, swashbuckler, and bard might have a tough time. A human (for the added spells through FCB) wildblooded sorcerer with the Arcane/Sage bloodline adds some versatility; the swashbuckler may need to multiclass for additional capabilities (magus or blade adept arcanist/eldritch knight could work); bard will probably be OK, depending on archetype and development choices (a dip in technic scavenger rogue or techslinger gunslinger may be called for).
Give them cohorts to choose from to fill in the gaps. The Leadership Handbook from Everyman Games is a great supplement for this.