D&D 5E Running HotDQ with three players and no healer in the party. Any advice?

[Elric]

The module starts at level 1, so with some healing, getting to level 2 could happen within a few short encounters. They might even be level 3 before they fight cyanwrath.

I must have been thinking of a level 3 party fighting Cyanwrath. My same basic point applies: the XP curve is very steep from levels 1-6, so you won't be much ahead of the level curve by having 33% extra XP (and you need to survive those early encounters to do so, extra healing potions aren't always a good substitute for another party member).

E.g., what would you rather have: 6 PCs with 300 XP (level 2)? Or 2 PCs with 900 XP (level 3)?

 

[Astrosicebear]

In playing the module, and system in general... do not underestimate the power of higher HP pools.

 

[Wolfskin]

Sorry, something I forgot to mention: my players found LMoP to be overwhelmingly easy, to the point of being bummed because the Black Spider fell so easily in combat.

I often checked my notes after every session, thinking I must've been doing something wrong, but turns out the players were playing really smart (planing things in advance, scouting, ambushing when possible and so on).

How's HotDQ's difficulty compared to LMoP?

 

[Zaruthustran]

Smart, cautious players should have no trouble with HotDQ.