Running "Tales" with 3 players

[Glorelendil]

My recent demonstration game at the local shop was successful enough that it might turn into a campaign. I'm not sure how many players we'll get though; we only had 3 for the first game.

I'll want to run published adventures and will start with Tales. What are my options for making it more manageable for three players?

Give them all extra XP/AP
I'm not a big fan of this approach, largely because as a player I always find it less satisfying, and it only goes partway to mitigating the challenges anyway, unless it's an enormous amount of XP/AP.

Nerf the content
In some cases this is easy, such as fewer waves of spiders, but I hate to just reduce TNs across the board

Give them an NPC
If I go this route, it will be a NPC along the lines of Hound of Mirkwood or a Lakeman's retainer. That is, with mechanical effects but not it's own dice rolls.

Secretly fudge the rolls
I don't mind doing this as an LM/DM/GM because I can fine-tune the effects (i.e., reserve it for critical moments) and the players don't have to know the difference.

What else? Anybody have other ideas for how to make it work with 3 heroes?

[Majestic]

I'm not a fan of fudging dice, but that's more personal preference.

What's beautiful about the published adventures (Like Tales) is that they already incorporate your 'Nerf the content' approach. For opposition it will often have "Use two spiders for every PC", so it already is scaled for however many PCs you have.

I do like the idea of the added NPC (especially using a hound or retainer), if you really feel you need one more. But I think it's definitely doable with just four PCs. In fact, in some cases, though they won't have as broad a range of skills, and while travel can be tough with fewer members, they also will have less people failing rolls during Encounters, so they'll exceed the Tolerance less swiftly than a group with a lot of PCs where they're all overeager and flubbing rolls right and left.

[Glorelendil]

I like the idea of an NPC, too, although I don't have the right story for it yet. I don't want it to be a Strider, getting them out of trouble and making them feel inferior. I need some compelling reason for them to be dragging around (and presumably protecting) an ostensibly weak NPC, through all the chapters of TfW*, who also provides them some kind of benefits.

"Escort this guy to Rhosgobel" would be easy, but it has to be somebody who is going to stay with them.

[zedturtle]

I'm less fond of a permanent NPC than scaling (not nerfing, scaling ) the adventures and bringing in cameos when the PCs might need it. EG Baldor and his quarterstaff, some of the men from the ring fort, Williferd of Stonyford, Banna of Rhosgobel, etc.

[MattG]

How about young, enthusiastic orphan teenager from Laketown or Dale, lost in the Mirkwood maybe, who wants to see all the Wilderland and after helping him, approaches PC Barding (assuming there is one) and asks to be his squire?
We were planning to use young Oderic from Kinstrife as a long term NPC, but he died before the Carrock judgement.

I'm not a fan of fudging dice, but that's more personal preference.

Second that.
We don’t roll often, but when we do, we don’t fudge. No matter how bad rolls are as much important as extraordinary.

Good luck with your game!

[Glorelendil]

I'm less fond of a permanent NPC than scaling (not nerfing, scaling ) the adventures and bringing in cameos when the PCs might need it. EG Baldor and his quarterstaff, some of the men from the ring fort, Williferd of Stonyford, Banna of Rhosgobel, etc.

I like this approach a lot.

I guess the general answer might be: instead of finding one solution for the whole campaign, read ahead and figure out how to tune each chapter. Fewer/weaker adversaries here, an NPC there, etc.

[zedturtle]

If you're interested, I can unload my thoughts here or via private means. I offer here, just in case others should take need of it.

[Glorelendil]

If you're interested, I can unload my thoughts here or via private means. I offer here, just in case others should take need of it.

Here please, but leave out final chapter for now.

[zedturtle]

If you're interested, I can unload my thoughts here or via private means. I offer here, just in case others should take need of it.

Here please, but leave out final chapter for now.

Hee. Hee. Hee.

[Bram Corolev]

I ran the entire book successfully with only 3 players. Most of the time the encounters scaled themselves(as the before mentioned "2 spiders per character" example). There were a few instances I had an NPC character join them to cover missing skills or lend a hand in upcoming fights. For example in the last adventure I had a dwarven historian type travel with them to give them an edge with lore rolls. Never did the NPCs outshine the heroes.