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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mkill" data-source="post: 5249507" data-attributes="member: 55985">This group does not have a leader. Make sure they have a good supply of healing potions.A one-months subscription is what, 10 bucks? You can get by without, of course, but as a DM I like to get monsters from the database before the encounter and print them out.I agree. Just play by the book. Most of the errata exists to close loopholes and revise powers and items that accidently got too powerful. It doesn't look like you need to worry about that kind of thing.You have a small party of only 3 PCs. Most encounters are designed for 5 PCs, so simple math will tell you that your group only has 60% of the necessary damage output to end encounters quickly. This means encounters will roughly take twice as long.The easiest countermeasure is to half the hp of all monsters. Combats will be over fast enough, but you don't take away anything that makes the game fun.Use the NPCs in the module to interact with the PCs, preferably in first person. Don't let them get away with "I talk to the bartender to get information", make the players say what their PCs say.Don't treat NPCs as mere information vending machines. Have them talk about things that are not directly related to the adventure. Talk about the weather, gossip and personal problems, or have them crack jokes. Let the NPCs be interested in the heroes ("Oh, you're from Homlet? I have a brother there!")The important part is to use the skill challenge as a natural part of  the story. The PCs want to achieve something (convince the king to  release a prisoner, disable a complicated trap, build a raft...) and  this is handled by not just one skill check, but a whole series. You don't announce "uhh, we're in a skill challenge now", you just let the PCs describe what they do to solve the problem. With each step they take, you ask them for a skill check. And then, it's either success after X successful checks or failure after Y failed checks.Just treat it as a background process that gives you as DM a way to keep track of a team effort.</blockquote>

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