Hello all,
My friend and I have decided to alternate being GM for our group of four - three PCs, one GM every session. Since we will be GMing every other session, my friend and I will be running mostly PFS mods with alternate, house rules.
We have been talking about some ideas on what to allow for Character Generation. We want the group of three to be able to handle an adventure written for 4 characters, but, we don't want to overcompensate and eliminate the challenge of the game.
For sake of argument, let's say we will be starting at level 5.
Here are some house rules for character generation we were considering:
a) 30 point buy
b) Extra Traits as a free feat (4 traits total)
c) 10% additional XP per session
d) 7th level equivalent starting gold (2 levels higher than normal)
Which of the above would make a good combination for a 3rd person party?
Thanks,
You could do 20 point buy + max HP per level, or 25 point buy + free Toughness feat.
Alternatively, you could use standard character generation, but have each player make 2 characters. This way you could go all out in a fight and not worry so much about a TPK or a failed save effectively removing a player from the game (e.g. a character becomes Panicked and spends the rest of the combat running away).
If I had to choose one of the four options you listed, I'd say probably 30 point buy with average HP per level (max at 1st).
As someone who has only three players I use these rules always.
1. Always max hitpoints for characters.
2. Outright ignore wealth by level, or dramatically increase it.
3. Use high forms of ability generation. If rolling scores, have them reroll their lowest score and keep the higher result. If point buy, i use 30.
4. If your party has big gaping holes in their lineup, you have a couple of options.
A. The DMPC, however it's a slippery slope. The best way to think of a DMPC,is its a higher powered npc who is around a lot.
B. gestalt, but thats if there is major holes in a linup (last time i did this, my players initial choices were two very different rogues and a monk).
C. Try to steer them towards a diverse lineup. Doesn't always work in my group, but each is different.
Other rules pop up as we go, but that tends to go with the style of campaign. Now lowering the CR may seem like a quick and easy way to accommodate. But truthfully you will end up looking like your handling the players with kid gloves, plus the wrong party lineups can absolutely suck. You will find the total action economy loss of having less players much more inhibiting than the cr system would imply, especially when you factor in loss of versatility from having multiple classes.
one thing that is always a good idea in a small game is to encourage crossover classes, that is the classes that handle more then one of the traditional 'roles'. In particular the druid and the summoner who get the powerful pets that help make up for the loss of action economy a small group gets. But also the paladin, cleric, magus, bard, inquisitor and alchemist are also good choices. If they do that you wont have to go overboard compensating, maybe just a higher point buy (they will automatically get more xp from every adventure since its split only 3 ways, same with treasure).
a) 30 point buy
b) Extra Traits as a free feat (4 traits total)
c) 10% additional XP per session
d) 7th level equivalent starting gold (2 levels higher than normal)Which of the above would make a good combination for a 3rd person party?
None of them.
You - the GM - could make it (how you play the foes, roll the dice, ...). Nothing else is needed.
But, if you want, you can give them better startoptions (more points buy / extra feats / traits / skillpoints per lvl / money / items / ...), a nice npc, better treasure, more xp, let them play special races, ...
If you like storrytelling, you can use the lorefinder skills, too.
But you don´t need this. You make the different.
Just make sure you are "ghosting" the 4th pc.