The local practice can pull good enough numbers, but sometimes we only have three people. Are there any good drills we can run with just three people?

2 on 1 works, but I'm sure there are configurations of it that are a waste of time.

I find watching others practice is not useless because I can compare and contrast my own strengths/weaknesses and steal your moves.

My advice to you would be to rotate the two man drills in the resources at fastish intervals. Having the third person watching will force him to think and keep it from dying if someone wants a break. It'll be good.

The other are too new for them to truly get anything out of watching others fight. And we've done 2v1 and just rotating out for the most part already.

Aside from the obvious, like a really fast-paced bear pit, I've got nothing. I'm curious to see what everyone comes up with.

We usually do 2 v1 with the winner being the 1, or whoever got the kill shot. Single blue, then do off-hand single, then flo, then s&b then open.
I want to do a blockstrike drill 2v1 where the 1 is the point of a triangle, the other two at equa-distant points. Change it up by spreading them further apart. Just do it with the 1 only blocking the other two's strikes. Props to Brennon for this drill idea. I actually enjoy smaller practices with a core group; one can focus on bettering one'self as well as others. I suggest making communicating what went right/wrong after each bout a prerequisite. Talking about the thought-process and the body-mechanics behind each bout will help you in the long run. Also, if at all possible, set up block-strike between two peeps with the third filming, even if it's just with a camera-phone. Do this with open sparring.
I'm * I can't convince the other vet in Pyke to do free-form drills when it's just us; he seems to think it not worthwhile even tho you can find examples of the benefits of this in like, every martial art, ever? It's big in the SCA and Bhakdar, Dyse, Melmo and I would do this at smaller practices back in Babylon and it was very helpful. Free-form drills is where it's at, honestly.
Foot-work drills are great for switching between three people.

Going to second 2 on 1 - we had a 3-person practice last week, me and two new fighters who want to get better (as opposed to fighters who want to just * around) and the 2 on 1 was very productive. 2 in 1 out is also good, and gives people a bit of a rest while they observe the other two.

Used to do this back in the day.

Similar to the triangle mentioned before, each person fights either single or S/B. Keep right or left foot forward and it remains in place. You can use your back leg to maneuver as long as the front foot stays on the ground.

You are fighting each other, legs shots do not count. Variations are that you either simply call your shots and continue (shot recognition drill) OR you take shots and reset each time. I prefer the constant swinging for 30 seconds while concentrating calling every shot good/light/what-not.

The important thing is to keep swinging clean shots, making solid blocks, and ofcourse calling your shots appropriately.

you can do a speed trial, where one person fights you and 5 seconds after another spawns. so as long as you kill in 5 seconds( 5 count ) then you only fight 1. do 10 spawns and get some good work in. the other way is to do the 2v1, the one being the kill shot, and if the 1 wins you lose a peice of gear for the next fight to work single skills.

I like rotating 1-on-1 sparring, loser stays. It really wears down whoever's getting beat on, but that can be a good thing. You can always switch to winner stays, or winner stays with injuries if someone is losing so much that they just can't get their bearings to win one.

Leap Frog- Stand in a line on a set distance between the fighters, the person in the middle chooses between the two fighters at his sides and fights one. If he wins, the person he beats goes to the middle, if he looses, he stays in the middle and fights the other. If he continues to loose he can just ping pong off of the two until he wins or someone can step in for him. Also, if he backs up into swinging distance of the other fighter, that fighter may swing at him for the kill. *Variations- Set it up like a time trial, after (?) seconds the other comes in and they must maintain somewhat of a line. *2V1- Middle fighter must fight both fighters while staying in somewhat of a line, the figher who killed the middle guy goes mid. If the mid kills both of them then the last one killed goes mid.

Practice learning how to escape from bad situations. Have it start out as sparring match for while the other fighter(s) advances from another direction, preferably from the back. The designated fighter must "escape" from the fighters with out being hit. Freedom is considered when the fighter can run away from the situation.

Triangle sparring- Set up in a triangle with just enough distance to be able to hit eachother. Free for all while staying in formation/distance. Itll teach them to look for openings while defending and itll often end up in random 2v1s that change rapidly.

We had 3-4 man practices for almost a two years and did a bunch of different things like this. All these practices are really good for is working on the things everyone needs help with.

We play "murder." 2v1 on the murderer until someone kills the murderer...but wait, they just killed a guy! Respawn the dead one and then everyone goes after the new murderer.