Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
|
I'm getting ready to run RotRL and it looks like we will only have 3 PCs in our party.
I was hoping someone could provide some advice regarding:
1. How should I adjust the encounters for a party of 3 as opposed to the recommended 4?
2. What are the best classes for the players to play?
Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated!
I'm getting ready to run RotRL and it looks like we will only have 3 PCs in our party.
I was hoping someone could provide some advice regarding:
1. How should I adjust the encounters for a party of 3 as opposed to the recommended 4?
2. What are the best classes for the players to play?
Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated!
The simplest thing in this case would be to throw in an NPC that accompanies the players. My reccomendation is for it to be a cleric, and just load up on Cure spells and buffs. Simple enough to play, and you can keep him low key.
Good suggestion, but I'm trying to avoid filling out the party by "artificial" means. Adding an NPC to the party is not an option I'd like to pursue.
Your options become more limited. As mentioned Gestalt could work. A higher point buy or better gear might also help.
The greatest "problem" is that they'll have only 75% of the amount of actions.
If you're going with 3 characters, there's always the all-cleric party. Nothing is as tough as that. :D
If you have to dispense with one of the archetypes though, I'd say get rid of the skill-monkey. Makes sure they have a good tank, and an area-control specialist. You don't want to be overwhelmed, and you'll want to try to take enemies one-at a time as much as possible.
|
My advice would be to let the players pick the characters they want to play but insure they have good ability stats. Fighter (or Barbarian), Cleric and Fighter/Rogue seems to me to be a good mix for a small party but I try not to dictate classes to my players.
As for survivability, I would do this: Have the guards help the PCs in the early encounters but give full exp. Play out the boar hunt (a CR 2 creature) with Aldern assisting for another 200 or so exp per player. Add to this the encounter with Shayliss and the goblin in the closet and you should have the PCs to 2nd level by the time they deal with the glassworks. This puts them ahead of the curve, experience wise. If they are 3rd level by the time they deal with Thistletop, you should be good with only 3 players, so long as they are not stupid.
I'd seriously consider trying to keep them 1 level ahead of expectations all the way through. Also, with a small party it really helps if everyone can fight at range. Large numbers of NPCs may swamp the small party if it tries to go toe-to-toe with everything, especially in #3 and #4.
Will they take help from NPCs during scenarios? RotRL is unusually well supplied with helpful NPCs, and my player (who had 5 PCs, but they were very sub-optimal ones) leaned on this heavily. (It's the only reason that party survived the end of #2.)
Mary
|
Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
|
Great suggestions, everyone!
I've told my players to create their characters by rolling 5 dice, and dropping the lowest 2. Plus, if they do not roll an 18, drop their lowest result and make it an 18. I think that should help by boosting their stats.
I will also attempt to give "bonus" xp and/or throw in some side treks to keep their levels a little higher than is standard for a 4 PC party.
The NPCs should also prove helpful.
Thanks to all of you for your help! You guys rock!
I am running RotRL with 3 pc's currently, and it is going fine, I am keeping them about 1 level ahead of the expected and everything is working great (barring a serious amount of bad luck, like the TPK at thistletop, which was just that bad luck, it had nothing to do with the number of characters).
A party of 3 x level characters is roughly equivalent to a party of 4 x-1 level characters. As long as you keep them about one level above the recommended average, they should be OK in most situations.
They will have fewer actions and will be a bit more vulnerable to TPKs, though. One thing to recommend is that each of the three has a high save bonus in a different type (Fort, Ref, Will); if all three share a low save bonus in one category, they are likely to get wiped out in an encounter that targets that save.
The classes chosen will also have a large impact. Using Variant Classes and/or multi-classing might be in order (to include PrCs like Arcane Archer, Arcane Trickster, Eldritch Knight, Mystic Theurge, etc.), depending on the party composistion.
|
I'm getting ready to run RotRL and it looks like we will only have 3 PCs in our party.
I was hoping someone could provide some advice regarding:
1. How should I adjust the encounters for a party of 3 as opposed to the recommended 4?
2. What are the best classes for the players to play?
Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated!
Maybe stating the obvious here, but make more friends.
www.meetup.com took my group from 1 DM to 2DMs and too many players. Its all good.
I play Rise of the Runelords with three players and haven't changed a thing. I've had two character casualities this far, but one more player wouldn't have changed a thing. It's all good =).
I've been running a game with three PCs. I started them out at one level higher than they needed and things have been going well. Though, we're still waiting to start The Skinsaw Murders.
We also have some experience playing with fewer PCs. They picked characters to fit certain roles and are multiclassing to shore up weaknesses.
They will have fewer actions and will be a bit more vulnerable to TPKs, though. One thing to recommend is that each of the three has a high save bonus in a different type (Fort, Ref, Will); if all three share a low save bonus in one category, they are likely to get wiped out in an encounter that targets that save.
This is very good advice. You might also want to think about using some Action Point or Hero Point mechanic. Save or Die spells will be more dangeorus in your situation.
I only have two players in my RotRL campaign. They're both experienced, so they each have two PCs. This is working out great for us; I don't have to adjust any of the encounter ELs and it's easier to get two players to meet on a regular basis than getting four or more schedules to open up. Also, fewer players means fewer egos, we have not had any arguments to distract from the game.
Let the players take Leadership at 6th level. In the meantime, there's plenty of helpful NPCs in the Rune Lords series in numbers 2 and 3, so maybe they help out a bit early.
Alternatively, since the party's going off to Thistletop to help the town out, why not give them a squad of mooks: 1st level warriors. It would make sense...
Good suggestion, but I'm trying to avoid filling out the party by "artificial" means. Adding an NPC to the party is not an option I'd like to pursue.Your options become more limited. As mentioned Gestalt could work. A higher point buy or better gear might also help.
The greatest "problem" is that they'll have only 75% of the amount of actions.
If you're going with 3 characters, there's always the all-cleric party. Nothing is as tough as that. :D
If you have to dispense with one of the archetypes though, I'd say get rid of the skill-monkey. Makes sure they have a good tank, and an area-control specialist. You don't want to be overwhelmed, and you'll want to try to take enemies one-at a time as much as possible.
I'd make an extended post but basically I agree with everything said here.
I think their lack of actions is really their greatest weakness. I might give them actions at the rate of say 2 per level. Spend the point you get another turn instantly.
Beyond this the stat buy method your using will make them pretty freaken nasty and the fact that they are dividing the XP by only 3 instead of 4 will boost their levels early on and they'll always be about a level higher then normal, maybe even a little better then that though I have not done the math to see how this would work out.
I've run the full Burnt offerings with only 3PC's, I had one PC as a covert member of the PF society, this gave me the option of adding the NPC I thought would best fit each part of the AP as it presented itself. It also adds a bit of a back story to one of the PC's.
The aid can be added when necessary, in the form of assistance from the PF society to one of it's lesser members. If the group dynamics change so does the NPC. My PF member also has to make regular written contact and reports, I use the Sage in Sandpoint as the PF contact/conduit. This also means I can feed some extra info when required.
|
Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
|
I'm getting ready to run RotRL and it looks like we will only have 3 PCs in our party.
I was hoping someone could provide some advice regarding:
1. How should I adjust the encounters for a party of 3 as opposed to the recommended 4?
2. What are the best classes for the players to play?
Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated!
Maybe stating the obvious here, but make more friends.
www.meetup.com took my group from 1 DM to 2DMs and too many players. Its all good.
This is a relatively new group to me (met one of the players on these boards). I tried to "recruit" a player or 2 from my Sunday gaming group (8 people there), but no one could make a weeknight game.
We've also had a couple other "recruits" show up that we found from various sources, but they have not proven to be reliable in regards to showing up regularly. So, we're pushing forward with 3 players.
I, too, was facing a party of only 3 PCs, so I gave the players the option of rolling up "companion" NPCs under their control (who stay at the same level as the PCs). So far, it has worked out well. The Barbarian chose an Expert (loaded with Rogue skills) and created a backstory of their days spent as highwaymen before being pulled into the RotRL story. Our half-elven Sorceress is joined by her human father, an Aristocrat. He's good with a bow and social skills. Our Cleric is followed by an Adept who is our party's scholar and linguist. I give them all max HP at every level, and I try not to target the NPCs too often in combat (don't want to treat them like cannon fodder). Having these support NPCs gives the party a much deeper pool of skill sets to draw upon, while also providing a bit more combat support (flanking is much easier with a party of 6 rather than 3). And we've kept the bookkeeping simple by giving the NPCs passive feats like Iron Will and anything that boosts Skills. By far, my greatest enjoyment has come from the backstories generated by running duos.