Just started a new series on improving official D&D Adventures for DM's (particularly looking to go into paid DM'ing). Video is below and hope you enjoy!
Generally good suggestions. The "hooks" in a lot of these adventures are pretty weak so coming up with alternatives makes a lot of sense. I also like the switch to Gundren hiring them to bring supplies to Phandalin as part of being involved in the search for Wave Echo Cave. I agree that this establishes the motivation for the characters early on that will carry through the adventure but it might work better for experienced DMs.
The main concern with a strong focus on Gundren and Wave Echo cave might well mean that the party will remain focused on the main goal and not get involved in the side quests in Phandalin. However, these side quests are a necessary part of the adventure to get the characters to an appropriate level to deal with the later content. You can probably gate this somewhat by making the knowledge of the location of Cragmaw Castle difficult to find, perhaps requiring the defeat of the other group and their leader in Phandalin. So, the early changes will require additional adjustments later to run a tighter adventure. One of the reasons that the original is very loose on the plot is to allow a new DM opportunity to learn how to DM without having to drive the plot from the beginning. It does introduce the issues you mention but for a new DM who will always miss stuff, it likely makes it a bit easier to deal with. LMoP is designed with both new players and new DMs in mind.
Adding the wagon driver as a foil for character introductions, introducing role play, easing the players into it and providing the opportunity to show that death of NPC/characters is both possible and likely is a good idea - especially for new players. However, the DM needs to be careful that some folks might have already gotten attached to the NPC even with a brief exposure so the NPC needs to be friendly without being too friendly. Some players might find such an early dramatic death a bit traumatic which is up to the DM to try judging the audience. Unconscious and dying but saved by the PCs is an option depending on the group.
Last comment would be Klarg. Using an ability to slam the wall, drop rocks, damage and restrain a target, keeping them out of the fight (you even mentioned keeping them out of the entire fight) might seem dramatic but it creates a situation where the player affected might have to sit out some or all of the first boss fight. This just isn't fun for the player. A DC15 is a hard check for a level 1 even if they are proficient. If the character has an 8 or 10 dex - they will often fail. You also didn't mention the DC for digging out. If it is anything like the save DC at 15 then having a character sit out the entire fight is a very real possibility. Even if they have a 50/50 chance of success - that fails for 3 rounds 1/8 of the time - and a DC15 at level 1 is less than that. It is less punishing if the restraint is only for one combat round.
However, although dramatic, slamming the wall and getting parts of the ceiling to collapse at will on a specific target is either unrealistic or magic. An alternative if you want a similar mechanic would be to have nets containing rocks suspended in the dark and shadowy, stalagtite filled ceiling of the cavern (maybe DC15 or 20 passive perception to notice them) - most parties will be focused on Klarg and won't look. Klarg can then use an action to cut a rope disguised against the wall near him to drop a specific bag of rocks.
Finally, giving the "Thunderclap" ability is both a bit unrealistic again without a magic weapon since the players will likely ask "Hey! Can I slam my mace on the ground too to have the effect of a super enhanced Thunderclap?" - and overpowered since a DC15 con save will be failed by most level 1 characters far more than 1/2 the time with modifiers varying usually from +1 for 12 to +5 with +3 con and proficiency. In addition, d8 damage to everyone in the room could well be your TPK right there. The one who was hit by the rock will be down a d8, other characters will have likely taken some damage - average damage from 2d8 is 9 ... a d8 character class with 14 con which is pretty average will only have 10 hit points. A wizard/sorc with 12 con might only have 7 hit points - they could be killed by a single d8 falling rock even - never mind a full room AoE. I prefer to avoid, as much as possible, having the dice determine how many characters die especially at level 1. If Klarg rolls an 8 for damage on the spell then most of the party could go down.
It is cool for the mini-boss to have some sort of special abilities but I don't think the two suggestions you have included are really good choices.
P.S. You could say that the DM could fudge the die roll Klarg makes but there are lots of folks these days who use open rolls most if not all of the time and abilities like this one in a level 1 encounter would be problematic for some DMs and some tables. The only time I could see it being used in a game I was running would be if Klarg had missed all their attacks and the party had him down to a couple of hit points - then it might be dramatic last stand material before the villain goes down but if Klarg had damaged 2-3 party members using it could completely turn the tide with some bad luck - which makes it not new DM friendly.
P.P.S. The goblins do not have sneak attack - the issue at the beginning of that encounter is surprise. I would remove the surprise by having the goblins kill the wagon driver as you suggest which means the rest of the characters won't be surprised (assuming no one noticed the creatures hiding in the bushes with the stealth vs passive perception check).
P.P.P.S. :) ... the party definitely needs more motivation to rescue Gundren and Sildar - when I played it recently, the party decided that delivering the cart load of goods to Phandalin was the first priority since the only connection to Gundren was that he hired the party to take the goods to Phandalin. The party went back to look for Gundren after delivering the goods mostly to be helpful since they were paid by the proprietor when the goods were delivered.
Hi All,
Just started a new series on improving official D&D Adventures for DM's (particularly looking to go into paid DM'ing). Video is below and hope you enjoy!
Start Playing DM Profile
Always looking for feedback if you watched!
Start Playing DM Profile
Interesting. I watched this video and the highlights from session one. I will probably use some of these tweaks.
Generally good suggestions. The "hooks" in a lot of these adventures are pretty weak so coming up with alternatives makes a lot of sense. I also like the switch to Gundren hiring them to bring supplies to Phandalin as part of being involved in the search for Wave Echo Cave. I agree that this establishes the motivation for the characters early on that will carry through the adventure but it might work better for experienced DMs.
The main concern with a strong focus on Gundren and Wave Echo cave might well mean that the party will remain focused on the main goal and not get involved in the side quests in Phandalin. However, these side quests are a necessary part of the adventure to get the characters to an appropriate level to deal with the later content. You can probably gate this somewhat by making the knowledge of the location of Cragmaw Castle difficult to find, perhaps requiring the defeat of the other group and their leader in Phandalin. So, the early changes will require additional adjustments later to run a tighter adventure. One of the reasons that the original is very loose on the plot is to allow a new DM opportunity to learn how to DM without having to drive the plot from the beginning. It does introduce the issues you mention but for a new DM who will always miss stuff, it likely makes it a bit easier to deal with. LMoP is designed with both new players and new DMs in mind.
Adding the wagon driver as a foil for character introductions, introducing role play, easing the players into it and providing the opportunity to show that death of NPC/characters is both possible and likely is a good idea - especially for new players. However, the DM needs to be careful that some folks might have already gotten attached to the NPC even with a brief exposure so the NPC needs to be friendly without being too friendly. Some players might find such an early dramatic death a bit traumatic which is up to the DM to try judging the audience. Unconscious and dying but saved by the PCs is an option depending on the group.
Last comment would be Klarg. Using an ability to slam the wall, drop rocks, damage and restrain a target, keeping them out of the fight (you even mentioned keeping them out of the entire fight) might seem dramatic but it creates a situation where the player affected might have to sit out some or all of the first boss fight. This just isn't fun for the player. A DC15 is a hard check for a level 1 even if they are proficient. If the character has an 8 or 10 dex - they will often fail. You also didn't mention the DC for digging out. If it is anything like the save DC at 15 then having a character sit out the entire fight is a very real possibility. Even if they have a 50/50 chance of success - that fails for 3 rounds 1/8 of the time - and a DC15 at level 1 is less than that. It is less punishing if the restraint is only for one combat round.
However, although dramatic, slamming the wall and getting parts of the ceiling to collapse at will on a specific target is either unrealistic or magic. An alternative if you want a similar mechanic would be to have nets containing rocks suspended in the dark and shadowy, stalagtite filled ceiling of the cavern (maybe DC15 or 20 passive perception to notice them) - most parties will be focused on Klarg and won't look. Klarg can then use an action to cut a rope disguised against the wall near him to drop a specific bag of rocks.
Finally, giving the "Thunderclap" ability is both a bit unrealistic again without a magic weapon since the players will likely ask "Hey! Can I slam my mace on the ground too to have the effect of a super enhanced Thunderclap?" - and overpowered since a DC15 con save will be failed by most level 1 characters far more than 1/2 the time with modifiers varying usually from +1 for 12 to +5 with +3 con and proficiency. In addition, d8 damage to everyone in the room could well be your TPK right there. The one who was hit by the rock will be down a d8, other characters will have likely taken some damage - average damage from 2d8 is 9 ... a d8 character class with 14 con which is pretty average will only have 10 hit points. A wizard/sorc with 12 con might only have 7 hit points - they could be killed by a single d8 falling rock even - never mind a full room AoE. I prefer to avoid, as much as possible, having the dice determine how many characters die especially at level 1. If Klarg rolls an 8 for damage on the spell then most of the party could go down.
It is cool for the mini-boss to have some sort of special abilities but I don't think the two suggestions you have included are really good choices.
P.S. You could say that the DM could fudge the die roll Klarg makes but there are lots of folks these days who use open rolls most if not all of the time and abilities like this one in a level 1 encounter would be problematic for some DMs and some tables. The only time I could see it being used in a game I was running would be if Klarg had missed all their attacks and the party had him down to a couple of hit points - then it might be dramatic last stand material before the villain goes down but if Klarg had damaged 2-3 party members using it could completely turn the tide with some bad luck - which makes it not new DM friendly.
P.P.S. The goblins do not have sneak attack - the issue at the beginning of that encounter is surprise. I would remove the surprise by having the goblins kill the wagon driver as you suggest which means the rest of the characters won't be surprised (assuming no one noticed the creatures hiding in the bushes with the stealth vs passive perception check).
P.P.P.S. :) ... the party definitely needs more motivation to rescue Gundren and Sildar - when I played it recently, the party decided that delivering the cart load of goods to Phandalin was the first priority since the only connection to Gundren was that he hired the party to take the goods to Phandalin. The party went back to look for Gundren after delivering the goods mostly to be helpful since they were paid by the proprietor when the goods were delivered.