So the campaign started with Lost Mine of Phandelver, and we're two sessions in. Scheduling issues, and now I'm missing 2/5 players for the game this weekend. Don't want the pcs that can't make it to miss out on the module's missions to Wyvern Tor, Old Owl Well, and the banshee whatshername, So I whomped myself up a lil ol homebrew session to run with the pcs available. I'm putting a tomb somewhere in the hills south of Phandalin, with a hook that some miners have been attacked by undead in the area. Boss is a mummy (fights alone), mini-boss is a ghast (maybe with ghoul support), with some ghouls as fodder. Couple of traps, etc. Random encounters are a pair of perytons, and a squad of hobgoblins. Party is level 3 (druid, warlock, bard). Works out to about 3250 XP total for combat.
Questions:
1) Is it too tough?
2) Lore wise, should the tomb be for either A) an orc chief or shaman from the last war; or B) some Netheril noble; or C) A Phandalin citizen of some reknown?
3) Lootwise, I'm giving a Rhythym Maker's Drum, a Necklace of Prayer Beads, and a scroll with Remove Curse and Dispel Magic . The Bard and Druid have no attuned magic yet, and I picked those items for them. Too much? Not Enough?
1) Maybe. It's dependant on how the encounters lie in relation to other encounters. Alone, in a vaccum, each encounter will be easily managed. What happens if two encounters happen to be activated and they form one? What happens when the party sneaks past all of it and just kills off the Boss? Point is, as long as the total daily load isn't dumped on the party all at once, they might be able to handle it. This will take good narrating from you, and great decision making from the party.
2) If you're using a mummy, which of the entities *in your world* would mummify their dead? Notice the emphasis is on how you would run it for your game world. You homebrewed it, you get to decide. They could be any of the things that you mention, and it won't break the game. Lore is helpful as a baseline to start from. It doesn't constrain where *your* game goes.
3) Scrolls and consumables usually don't alter things too much. The Necklace of Prayer Beads and Rhythm-Maker's Drum(Depending on which rarity) might be a bit heavy-handed for the scope of LMoP. The suggestion in the DMG for Rarity by PC Level limits rare items to PCs at or above 5th level. Again, suggestion, not requirement. You want your PCs to have these items, go for it.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Ran it today. ended up cutting out one of the perytons, and skipped the hobgoblin encounter in favor of a non-combat encounter with a faerie dragon. Went with Netheril lore. The mummy fight was tough, but a combination of luck and tactics carried the day. The items dropped were +1 on the drum, and 4 spells on the prayer beads, bless, cure wounds, greater restoration and branding smite. I think my players enjoyed it, so I'm claiming a win. :)
Congrats! The only way to win D&D is to have fun, sounds like you can claim a win!
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
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So the campaign started with Lost Mine of Phandelver, and we're two sessions in. Scheduling issues, and now I'm missing 2/5 players for the game this weekend. Don't want the pcs that can't make it to miss out on the module's missions to Wyvern Tor, Old Owl Well, and the banshee whatshername, So I whomped myself up a lil ol homebrew session to run with the pcs available. I'm putting a tomb somewhere in the hills south of Phandalin, with a hook that some miners have been attacked by undead in the area. Boss is a mummy (fights alone), mini-boss is a ghast (maybe with ghoul support), with some ghouls as fodder. Couple of traps, etc. Random encounters are a pair of perytons, and a squad of hobgoblins. Party is level 3 (druid, warlock, bard). Works out to about 3250 XP total for combat.
Questions:
1) Is it too tough?
2) Lore wise, should the tomb be for either A) an orc chief or shaman from the last war; or B) some Netheril noble; or C) A Phandalin citizen of some reknown?
3) Lootwise, I'm giving a Rhythym Maker's Drum, a Necklace of Prayer Beads, and a scroll with Remove Curse and Dispel Magic . The Bard and Druid have no attuned magic yet, and I picked those items for them. Too much? Not Enough?
1) Maybe. It's dependant on how the encounters lie in relation to other encounters. Alone, in a vaccum, each encounter will be easily managed. What happens if two encounters happen to be activated and they form one? What happens when the party sneaks past all of it and just kills off the Boss? Point is, as long as the total daily load isn't dumped on the party all at once, they might be able to handle it. This will take good narrating from you, and great decision making from the party.
2) If you're using a mummy, which of the entities *in your world* would mummify their dead? Notice the emphasis is on how you would run it for your game world. You homebrewed it, you get to decide. They could be any of the things that you mention, and it won't break the game. Lore is helpful as a baseline to start from. It doesn't constrain where *your* game goes.
3) Scrolls and consumables usually don't alter things too much. The Necklace of Prayer Beads and Rhythm-Maker's Drum(Depending on which rarity) might be a bit heavy-handed for the scope of LMoP. The suggestion in the DMG for Rarity by PC Level limits rare items to PCs at or above 5th level. Again, suggestion, not requirement. You want your PCs to have these items, go for it.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Ran it today. ended up cutting out one of the perytons, and skipped the hobgoblin encounter in favor of a non-combat encounter with a faerie dragon. Went with Netheril lore. The mummy fight was tough, but a combination of luck and tactics carried the day. The items dropped were +1 on the drum, and 4 spells on the prayer beads, bless, cure wounds, greater restoration and branding smite. I think my players enjoyed it, so I'm claiming a win. :)
Congrats! The only way to win D&D is to have fun, sounds like you can claim a win!
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad