First Time DM, CR Question

[KOLE]

Hey guys! This Tuesday I’m kicking off my first campaign as a DM. I’m very excited and I’ve got a great party! I feel a lot of responsibility, however, because 2/3rds of the party have little to no tabletop experience, so well I don’t want this to be laughably easy, I want to ve careful not to make things to difficult until they have some experience.

My question today is, since the challenge rsting is built around a 4 player party, how should I adjust CR ratings for a 3 player party? Thanks in advance.

[nickl_2000]

At least at first I would say yes, you can use the new tables from Xanathar's (or the Unearthed Arcana: Encounter Building if you don't have X's). They are really good for calculating a good CR challenge for a variable sized party.

[Unoriginal]

Hey guys! This Tuesday I’m kicking off my first campaign as a DM. I’m very excited and I’ve got a great party! I feel a lot of responsibility, however, because 2/3rds of the party have little to no tabletop experience, so well I don’t want this to be laughably easy, I want to ve careful not to make things to difficult until they have some experience.

My question today is, since the challenge rsting is built around a 4 player party, how should I adjust CR ratings for a 3 player party? Thanks in advance.

Challenge Rating is for individual monsters, as a way to classify how many XP a monster is worth/make them a Medium difficulty encounter vs 4 PCs of appropriate level or an Easy one vs 5 PCs, if faced solo.

You should look at the encounter building rules in the DMG, calculate the XP budget of the 3 PCs, then calculate how much XP the encounter is worth and adjust it as needed.

[Spiderguy24]

To make your DMing life even easier, check out... Kobold Fight Club (https://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder). This site is a godsend for coming up with encounters and seeing if they are too deadly or too easy for your group. Sage advice though, it isn't 100% accurate. An easy encounter can always turn into an epic fight for survival if the dice decree.

[DMThac0]

You're all new-ish to the game, so don't stress it. The game is meant to be fun, you're going to make mistakes, and so are your players. Sit down and enjoy the game.

PSA out of the way, a solution to the question: Start off by choosing simple creatures to toss at them, 4-5 kobolds or goblins lets say. The fight is too hard? Drop the AC, drop their HP, make them run away, make that next to hit roll a 3 instead of the nat 20 you actually did roll. The fight is too easy? Give them a few more hp, increase the AC of one or two of the creatures, have their buddies show up, make that next to hit roll a 14 instead of the nat 1 you actually did roll. As you continue playing, toss stronger monsters out there, you'll eventually get a feel for what's appropriate for the table.

You are in a convoluted spot being the DM; you are there to resolve the actions of your players (adjudicate), you are there to tell a story, you are there to provide direction, and you are there to create a challenge. As the monsters you are trying to win, not beat the players mind you, win. As a DM you are trying to make this fun for the players, and losing isn't fun (usually). So you balance it out by adapting situations to the outcome what you feel your table will respond to the most.

Remember "K.I.S.S." : Keep It Super Simple, don't try to make anything complex. You're new, if you make a mistake simply tell them so and move on. If they make a mistake, correct it and move on. If you have to make a ruling on the fly, do it, then explain you'll look into it after the game. As long as you're all having fun, it doesn't matter how difficult, strange, or easy things get.

[Sigreid]

I recommend a couple easy fights to start, ramping up at a speed you are comfortable with. This let's you all learn how the combat works together at the table, and gives you time and a scale to gauge what is right for your group. It is absolutely true that one group will completely roll an encounter that another group of the same level will barely survive.

[Ninja_Prawn]

One thing I would add to what's already been said is, as a rule, CR is extremely approximate. The margins for error are wide. An encounter suitable for a 4-person party is almost certainly beatable with a 3-person party, they just might not be able to face as many of them before they run out of steam. Or, at low levels, a bunch of goblins can TPK 4 PCs as easily as they can 3. So really, I wouldn't sweat this too much.

[kivzirrum]

To make your DMing life even easier, check out... Kobold Fight Club (https://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder). This site is a godsend for coming up with encounters and seeing if they are too deadly or too easy for your group. Sage advice though, it isn't 100% accurate. An easy encounter can always turn into an epic fight for survival if the dice decree.

I second this recommendation. This is a seriously useful tool here. Especially when one is starting out, but honestly I still use it sometimes.

[guachi]

I've found the CR charts from the free Unearthed Arcana article or Xanathar's to be very good. I think they are the same charts (if not, someone correct me).

The major issue you will run into with three parties is they are far more vulnerable to random chance than larger parties are. In my game, I like six players. I went so far as to give the party a dog (you'll always have at least one person that likes pets) that was statted as a Wolf Barbarian. It's easy to roleplay because it's a dog and a Wolf Barbarian is a good support character anyway. And with another NPC the party could have a PC miss the session with fewer problems and if any PC dropped to zero HP his player could always play the dog and still do stuff.

[CaptAl]

I don't know your table, but it looks like you don't either yet. I'm going to let you in on the number one most important thing about being a DM.

Your job is to have fun with your friends. That's it. Make the fights dramatic. Don't be afraid to knock someone unconscious, but try not to kill anyone, unless you're trying to set that tone for the campaign. The fights aren't supposed to be fair. The PC's are heroes and will steam roll most things of an appropriate CR. You have the power to adjust HPs, and AC, and to hit modifiers on the fly. You don't even have to hide dice rolls to do those things.

Especially for the first session or two with newbies I like to go rules light. Just get some dice, have some fun, and don't worry too much about CR. Obviously you don't want to put your first level PCs up against an adult dragon, but there's no reason they can't take on an adolescent Hill Giant (a reskinned orc) with his buddies (more orcs or goblins).

Make it epic, make it fantastic, make it fun. Worry about experience points and challenge ratings after everyone is ready for the next session.

[Doorhandle]

I don't know your table, but it looks like you don't either yet. I'm going to let you in on the number one most important thing about being a DM.

Your job is to have fun with your friends. That's it. Make the fights dramatic. Don't be afraid to knock someone unconscious, but try not to kill anyone, unless you're trying to set that tone for the campaign. The fights aren't supposed to be fair. The PC's are heroes and will steam roll most things of an appropriate CR. You have the power to adjust HPs, and AC, and to hit modifiers on the fly. You don't even have to hide dice rolls to do those things.

Especially for the first session or two with newbies I like to go rules light. Just get some dice, have some fun, and don't worry too much about CR. Obviously you don't want to put your first level PCs up against an adult dragon, but there's no reason they can't take on an adolescent Hill Giant (a reskinned orc) with his buddies (more orcs or goblins).

Make it epic, make it fantastic, make it fun. Worry about experience points and challenge ratings after everyone is ready for the next session.

I will second that... But i'll also note GM does not handle out-of-level encounters SUPER well.
Plus, on occasion, CR can be misleading and an easy encounter can nearly TPK the party or vice versa.

Also, you could use Kobold Fight Club: It automates most of the process and allows for easily fiddling. (https://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder)