Rebalanced for 3 PCs

[Rop]

So, my 4 PC party has recently become a 3 PC party, and I'm wondering how to handle the change, balance wise. They're not the most mechanically savvy group in the world, so I was already planning on knocking some of the foes down to weak anyway. I'm now wondering if I might need to do something more substantial for this AP?

Has anyone else had any 3 PC parties? Have there been any easy solutions? We're still early doors in the AP (2nd level, still in part 2 of book 1) and the party consists of a catfolk bard, elf cleric and a goblin summoner.

[keftiu]

Giving an extra level is an easy way to put a thumb on the scale.

[willfromamerica]

I would recommend against giving everyone an extra level since that creates an awkward situation where you get to level 20 and then still have 2 more chapters to go. I ran a portion of the AP with a 3-member party, and slapping the weak template on everything worked just fine. You’ll just want to be a bit more conscious of any incapacitation abilities the enemies are using, since those are much more impactful against a 3-player party than a 4-player one.

[Locou]

Currently I'm running a 3 PC party. Like keftiu suggested, I let them start at level 2. I didn't want to apply weak all the time or tinker with the encounters by removing lesser enemies.

On willfromamerica comment: I'm aware that the last two chapters would be weird, but I have two ideas for that:
Either:
* Scale those encounters down and since the PCs will be level 20 they have some time to explore their level 20 feats.
* Allow a level up to 21, giving any two feats (class/skill/general)

I do follow the "expected" branch level tho, so at level 3 they may only reach level 2 in their primary branch.