Getting that CR to work

[Shademan]

so my DM is going to run a campaign with three players, me included.
Problem is, he have no good mathematical formula for finding the appropriate encounters for our three-man group.
So any help, oh fellow playgrounders?

how do we calculate CR when the group lacks one member?

[Narmoth]

Well, actually I have.
Just try to wrap your head around it.
The more interesting question is: is there any official rule on this? That is, a rule on how to calculate appropriate cr for a group of less than 4 players? (The rule for more than 4 players being less xp, since you divide the xp)

[OracleofWuffing]

This Encounter Calculator (http://www.penpaperpixel.org/tools/d20encountercalculator.htm) has worked for me so far. Just knock the appropriate "#" column from 4 to 3, fill out the rest, and hit the button.

[Animefunkmaster]

In my games CR is always a fluid concept that revolves heavily on how the party is made up. 2 level 10 druids could do more in combat than 4 level 10 samurai (keep in mind before level 5-6 they are more even).

[Clementx]

Just lower the target CR by one when designing encounters. Three lvl4 characters can confidently defeat a CR3 fight, and are very challenged by CR7. Be mindful of swarming them with too many opponents (use 9 as the upper limit instead of 12) or requiring specific class abilities to overcome them.

Simple as that.

[Narmoth]

This Encounter Calculator (http://www.penpaperpixel.org/tools/d20encountercalculator.htm) has worked for me so far. Just knock the appropriate "#" column from 4 to 3, fill out the rest, and hit the button.

well using the calculator:
1 cr 3 monster for 3 lvl 4 players = easy
1 cr 4 monster for 3 lvl 4 players = very difficult

so I think it might need some modification

[OracleofWuffing]

Nah, that's about right, if you're going to stick with the existing CR system. A "Very Difficult" encounter happens when the encounter level is greater than the party level, a "Challenging" encounter happens when the encounter level is exactly equal to the party level. Easy is anything under. (DMG 50) With a three person party, your party level isn't an integer, so you won't hit a "Challenging" encounter with a single enemy.

[Milskidasith]

I thought that when you had a group of level X adventurers, it would be considered an even fight if you sent a same size group of CR X monsters (in theory, excluding "boss" stuff like Dragons.)

I'm completely wrong about that, aren't I?

[Narmoth]

I thought that when you had a group of level X adventurers, it would be considered an even fight if you sent a same size group of CR X monsters (in theory, excluding "boss" stuff like Dragons.)

I'm completely wrong about that, aren't I?

Nope, by raw (we're talking about 3.5, Shademan should have mentioned that), a group of 4 level X adventurers should face 1 (one) Cr X monster for an even fight.
For me, having only dm-ed 2nd ed before, this seems ridiculous, as I much more prefer to send many monsters at once. But cr get's hard to judge then for other than 4 players (with one monster, I just look at the stats and ignore cr)

[Eldariel]

Nope, by raw (we're talking about 3.5, Shademan should have mentioned that), a group of 4 level X adventurers should face 1 (one) Cr X monster for an even fight.
For me, having only dm-ed 2nd ed before, this seems ridiculous, as I much more prefer to send many monsters at once. But cr get's hard to judge then for other than 4 players (with one monster, I just look at the stats and ignore cr)

Uh, no. Equivalent CR means the party is expected to defeat 4 of those per day, or one expending about 25% of their resources. The highest CR fight a party is expected to take is ECL+4. That should be an even fight where the party has a 50/50 chance of survival. Indeed, a single character is effectively supposed to be equivalent to a single equal-CRd monster.