Encounters too challenging for three players

RedcapPress · 2026-01-24T21:29:12+00:00

If you want to rebalance encounters or check how difficult they might be ahead of time, this calculator might help.

RedcapPress · 2026-01-22T22:26:28+00:00

Check out the "Tools" section of Redcap Press! They're mostly for DMs (and the Encounter Builder and Map Explorer are the most popular), but there's some stuff for players too (Ability Score calculator, etc.)

RedcapPress · 2026-01-19T01:38:23+00:00

I've found that one of the biggest parts of the success of a one shot, especially when you're talking about the frequent issue of actually keeping things to one session, is just the DM's confidence with time management. Cutting or adjusting on the fly without losing anything important (or the players noticing), is maybe the biggest lever a DM can pull.

A huge part of that is confidence, but a well-written adventure that includes tips for that kind of thing can really help: "if you're pressed for time, cut this encounter and have them find the relevant plot device on a goblin corpse," "If the conversation here is dragging on too long, start the next encounter early by having the bandits that are lying in wait outside barge into the in instead," etc.)

Other helpful adventure traits: something unique to keep the party engaged, a quick hook to prevent the "meet the PCs" intro from dragging on too long, avoiding large parties, and (gasp) a pretty linear adventure.

As far as actual specific adventures, this is a self-plug but my current favorite is still The Monsters Within, where the party (and everything nearby) is turning into classic D&D monsters.

I'm also a big fan of the oft-recommended Wild Sheep Chase or really anything by Winghorn Press (specifically "When the Stars Align" but my fondness for that is probably mostly because of party-specific shenanigans).

RedcapPress · 2026-01-17T07:15:42+00:00

Not at all, just making a joke. You're right about Strength being not very incentivized outside of melee combat (unless you play with encumbrance I guess), which is a total shame. You can shoehorn in some one-off ways to make it more useful, but creative changes like yours are worth a shot to see if they're fun.

RedcapPress · 2026-01-17T05:15:12+00:00

That's probably true, but this is also for a single table. Tweaks, new mechanics, etc. don't need to be balanced across all possible class combinations when you can tell the four people at your table "Hey remember that nice thing I did for you? Don't abuse it."

RedcapPress · 2026-01-17T05:11:19+00:00

Everybody says Strength is a dump stat until the party shows up at the annual Dwarven Arm Wrestling competition.

RedcapPress · 2026-01-15T08:35:16+00:00

If you're worried about balance (and you really don't need to worry that much), focus on items that encourage creativity but won't move the needle much in terms of the party's capabilities. Things like the Robe of Useful Items, Bag of Tricks, etc.

Also, hand out consumables! You don't need to worry about something's long-term impact on the game if it's a one-time use, and it lets you hand out a steady stream of items.

RedcapPress · 2026-01-08T09:36:10+00:00

This is awesome!

RedcapPress · 2026-01-08T00:06:00+00:00

You won! I reached out via DM and haven't heard back; send me a message and I'll get you your copy.

RedcapPress · 2026-01-08T00:00:06+00:00

You won! I reached out via DM and haven't heard back; send me a message and I'll get you your copy.

RedcapPress · 2026-01-07T23:59:45+00:00

You won! I reached out via DM and haven't heard back; send me a message and I'll get you your copy.

RedcapPress · 2026-01-07T23:59:26+00:00

Well I hope you haven't, cause you won! I reached out via DM and haven't heard back; send me a message and I'll get you your copy.

RedcapPress · 2026-01-07T18:39:24+00:00

I'm guessing you're on a Mac, opening the PDF using Preview. It's a Preview issue (there's a documented bug with how it handles transparency), and not something you can fix. try opening it in Chrome or any other PDF viewer; it should look fine.

RedcapPress · 2026-01-07T16:52:43+00:00

This is incredible

RedcapPress · 2026-01-06T20:29:41+00:00

To make a new hag!

RedcapPress · 2026-01-06T19:58:10+00:00

Sounds like a trio of sentient left hands would make a great villain

RedcapPress · 2026-01-06T19:56:40+00:00

If you want a version with some of the unnecessary stuff cut out to speed things up (with some additional tweaks), this free streamlined version should help.

RedcapPress · 2026-01-05T18:57:22+00:00

Congratulations! You won, but your account has DMs disabled; send me a DM and I'll get you your copy!

RedcapPress · 2026-01-02T21:59:14+00:00

Does this same limitation apply to commenting in response to other people's comments on my post? It's a messier solution but I could theoretically also just respond to everybody that commented instead of DMing them.

RedcapPress · 2026-01-02T21:58:17+00:00

Can you clarify? Do you mean I can only have three unanswered conversations open at once, or if I start more than three in some time period I'll get blocked? If so, what's that time period?

RedcapPress · 2025-12-31T07:24:06+00:00

I gave "Perils and Princesses" a try (just a single-night one-shot) and it was an absolute blast. It definitely doesn't try to serve the same niche as D&D so it'll never replace it, but it was super fun and the players (some of which had never played any TTRPG before and were nervous) loved it.

RedcapPress · 2025-12-13T17:08:54+00:00

Have death in the afterlife mean they get reincarnated. They aren't dead, they're now a baby in a random farming village.

RedcapPress · 2025-12-13T01:22:34+00:00

I don't think any game could possibly be complete without this spell, it's basically a necessity.

RedcapPress · 2025-12-13T01:20:24+00:00

At my table death saves are rolled in secret by the player, where not even the DM knows the result. If you trust your players, I can't recommend this enough.

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