The party for the campaign I'm running is made up of three level one characters (A paladin, bard, and wizard). According to the encounter difficulty rules on DMG Pg. 82, three goblins is a deadly encounter for them. Let me repeat, three normal goblins, is a deadly encounter. How am I supposed to make an encounter when they can be killed so easily? (Note: I can't just start them off at higher levels because they are all new to table top RPGs, and I don't want to overwhelm them)
I think you might be miss reading it slightly (although not much of an exageration).
DMG recommends that a deadly encounter for a Lv 1 is 100 exp - in this case, 300 XP.
Goblins are 50 XP each, giving 150 XP. Times a modifier of 1.5 for there being multiple gives 225. Making 3 goblins a "hard" encounter for these adventurers. However the DMG is just a guideline, if your players are new it might be worth sticking to it. You could weaken the Goblins slightly, give the players an NPC for the first battle to allow something more of a challengeto get them closer to lv 2, give the Goblins some unusual quirks or odd tactics to make them more interesting, swap the goblins out for something more interesting orrrrr... homebrew something!
Are you sure? In my book it says the encounter multiplier for 3-6 monsters is X 2. Which would make it a deadly encounter. (Please correct me if I'm wrong). Though I do like your other suggestions, I'm probably just going to give them an NPC until they get to level 2, thanks a lot!
A goblin encounter like you're describing can be deadly for your party, it's true. I had 8 goblins fight a group of 5 level 5 players and almost TPK'd them, so deadliness is situational.
If you're intent on making the fight involve goblins, do it. The party has a bit of versatility in their abilities, as well you can make your goblins weaker to help ease them into higher levels. Their Nimble Escape can be used less often, they can be without their shortbows, you can lower their AC, things of that nature.
Otherwise you can go with another classic creature, the Kobold. They're a bit weaker, their Pack Tactics make them dangerous, and they generally can be found in similar areas as goblins. You can toss 4 of them at the party and still have it considered a Medium encounter, bordering on Hard.
Combats can be as difficult, or as easy, as you make them. Adjusting the creatures' tactics, adjusting HP/AC, changing the goal from "kill everything" to something like "kill the leader", all of those things can ease up the fight. Kill the leader, the rest run away or surrender, the creatures are weakened because they just had a fight with a different threat, the party catches them by surprise so the party might get a couple attacks in before the creatures can react.
Fair enough, though the advice I gave still stands.
Something else to consider; the players are new, use combats to show them the various things they can accomplish during combat. Have 2 goblins, put them behind some cover and set the combat zone up so that the players can move in all 3 axis, gain the height advantage so they can get the hidden buggers easier. Have them run across 4 kobolds, they're trying to create a den, they're emaciated and weak, the party can learn that aid, rather than murder-hobo, is just as rewarding. Now they have pet kobolds. Put the fight near a pit, show a couple goblins throwing giant rats into the pit, now the players could consider using the pit during combat. Many things like this to really help them get an understanding of how robust their imagination can be and how it can make the game work in their favor, and that they drive what's going on.
Some of the lowest level monsters in the original DMG are ...
Giant Ant, Badger, Fire Beetle, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Kobold, Orc, Giant Rat, Skeleton & Zombie and I would add Bandit. A bear would probably be quite a match for three level 1 characters if they were not surprised, or a wolf or two. I remember fighting bugbears in my level 1 party, but we had eight players. I also remember burning a gelatinous cube.
I'd start 'em off with some Bandits or skeletons and then move up from there. Good luck.
The party for the campaign I'm running is made up of three level one characters (A paladin, bard, and wizard). According to the encounter difficulty rules on DMG Pg. 82, three goblins is a deadly encounter for them. Let me repeat, three normal goblins, is a deadly encounter. How am I supposed to make an encounter when they can be killed so easily? (Note: I can't just start them off at higher levels because they are all new to table top RPGs, and I don't want to overwhelm them)
I think you might be miss reading it slightly (although not much of an exageration).
DMG recommends that a deadly encounter for a Lv 1 is 100 exp - in this case, 300 XP.
Goblins are 50 XP each, giving 150 XP. Times a modifier of 1.5 for there being multiple gives 225. Making 3 goblins a "hard" encounter for these adventurers. However the DMG is just a guideline, if your players are new it might be worth sticking to it. You could weaken the Goblins slightly, give the players an NPC for the first battle to allow something more of a challengeto get them closer to lv 2, give the Goblins some unusual quirks or odd tactics to make them more interesting, swap the goblins out for something more interesting orrrrr... homebrew something!
Are you sure? In my book it says the encounter multiplier for 3-6 monsters is X 2. Which would make it a deadly encounter. (Please correct me if I'm wrong). Though I do like your other suggestions, I'm probably just going to give them an NPC until they get to level 2, thanks a lot!
A goblin encounter like you're describing can be deadly for your party, it's true. I had 8 goblins fight a group of 5 level 5 players and almost TPK'd them, so deadliness is situational.
If you're intent on making the fight involve goblins, do it. The party has a bit of versatility in their abilities, as well you can make your goblins weaker to help ease them into higher levels. Their Nimble Escape can be used less often, they can be without their shortbows, you can lower their AC, things of that nature.
Otherwise you can go with another classic creature, the Kobold. They're a bit weaker, their Pack Tactics make them dangerous, and they generally can be found in similar areas as goblins. You can toss 4 of them at the party and still have it considered a Medium encounter, bordering on Hard.
Combats can be as difficult, or as easy, as you make them. Adjusting the creatures' tactics, adjusting HP/AC, changing the goal from "kill everything" to something like "kill the leader", all of those things can ease up the fight. Kill the leader, the rest run away or surrender, the creatures are weakened because they just had a fight with a different threat, the party catches them by surprise so the party might get a couple attacks in before the creatures can react.
Oh no you are right, I saw the 6 and my mind blanked it :p.
Oh, I was just using the goblins as an example.
Fair enough, though the advice I gave still stands.
Something else to consider; the players are new, use combats to show them the various things they can accomplish during combat. Have 2 goblins, put them behind some cover and set the combat zone up so that the players can move in all 3 axis, gain the height advantage so they can get the hidden buggers easier. Have them run across 4 kobolds, they're trying to create a den, they're emaciated and weak, the party can learn that aid, rather than murder-hobo, is just as rewarding. Now they have pet kobolds. Put the fight near a pit, show a couple goblins throwing giant rats into the pit, now the players could consider using the pit during combat. Many things like this to really help them get an understanding of how robust their imagination can be and how it can make the game work in their favor, and that they drive what's going on.
Some of the lowest level monsters in the original DMG are ...
Giant Ant, Badger, Fire Beetle, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Kobold, Orc, Giant Rat, Skeleton & Zombie and I would add Bandit. A bear would probably be quite a match for three level 1 characters if they were not surprised, or a wolf or two. I remember fighting bugbears in my level 1 party, but we had eight players. I also remember burning a gelatinous cube.
I'd start 'em off with some Bandits or skeletons and then move up from there. Good luck.
Hey. If you need some examples of low level combat encounters you can check my project, Clam Island: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/By3s5Uqqf
Useful tool to calculate combat difficulty: https://donjon.bin.sh/5e/calc/enc_size.html
Check basic rules document for low level monsters: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules