1. I had this problem as well. I installed a system similar to like a "fallout" video game system. Much like myself, if someone handed me picks and said pick the lock, I wouldn't have a clue what to do. Why would a Barbarian with no slight of hand skill be able to perform this? Unless I feel like they would understand what to do, they do not qualify for the attempt. NOW, an idea... you can have players "train" in the down time, inbetween the adventures and battles. "Yes, DM, as we wait 3 days for the caravan to come into town, I am going to shop for arrows, a few potions and find someone to teach me lock picking." - Just a thought.
2. Loot is kind of the main reason a quest is taken, battles take place and why they play. A great battle with loot at the end. Makes sense. If there is something I am bad at, it's loot. "Bad" - what I mean is I make it too realistic. Just battled 20 Orcs; a handful of gold, silver, copper. (I have a system of quality of weapons: Raw, Standard, Pro and Ornate) a butt load of raw long swords, axes and battle axes, make shift leather and breast plate armors. Maybe have one really good weapon for the boss, like a Pro battle axe. IMO, loot should fit the enemy, not the XP, but that is up to you. Some people DM with XP = loot in mind, and that is ok. High XP = good loot. I look at it like: 20 orcs will not have a 25,000gp staff of the magi, they will have what they have found from previous battles, etc. NOW, an idea. using the 20 orc encounter, the leader of the Orc party is the leader for one reason, he has this powerful magic item he uses and the rest of them are afraid of him, or the item he wields. That way you can have a nice loot item and make it a bit more lore friendly.
3. For me, them asking for checks and such means they are into the story, into the adventure and I love that. But I also let them know, let me finish explaining what is around you first. If I feel there is a check needed, i will tell them to do so. If after I explain the scenario, they feel like they want to do something, like; investigate, they will say "I want to take a look around" aka I need to roll for a investigation check. That is what it is all about. Let them, but be stern with allowing you to pain the picture in front of them first. NOW, an idea... always keep in mind of Passive Perception and the like. It's easy to forget, I do all the time. Things that they might have to say "Ill look around," should maybe already be to their attention with a successful passive perceptions check.
Thank you guys so much for all the awesome answers <3 We have a session of Lost mines of Phandelver scheduled for next week, so I'm preparing for it :D
And that means I'm back with more newbie questions :)
1. Do I have to have a map for every location? I think I don't but, is it hard in your experience to play without a map?
2. What do I do if the players skip some rooms in a cave? (maybe go straight to where the boss is and not manage to explore it all?)
3. How does time work? for example the Lost mines of phandelver start around noon, there's a quite difficult fight at the start.. what if the players then decide to rest there? long rest is 8 hours or so so that means that it's night when they start walking to the cave or the city? what does it mean?
1. I think so... Yes, it's very hard for a new player if they can't eventually see a map, just try to uncover the map slowly as they move along.
2. There's nothing wrong with them skipping things, and it's probably a bad idea to force a new player not to, so if there's something actually important, ask them for an Insight check and if they pass, they get a hunch, and you can give them a hint. Try to be vague. "This place is dangerous."
3. It really doesn't matter what time it is, but if you want to be, a Short Rest on the spot ought to be fine. Try not to do anything at all unless there's some important reason for you to intervene, even if they end up losing.
4. It's not heroic if you make someone win. Try not to intervene unless you have to.
Thank you guys so much for all the awesome answers <3 We have a session of Lost mines of Phandelver scheduled for next week, so I'm preparing for it :D
And that means I'm back with more newbie questions :)
1. Do I have to have a map for every location? I think I don't but, is it hard in your experience to play without a map?
2. What do I do if the players skip some rooms in a cave? (maybe go straight to where the boss is and not manage to explore it all?)
3. How does time work? for example the Lost mines of phandelver start around noon, there's a quite difficult fight at the start.. what if the players then decide to rest there? long rest is 8 hours or so so that means that it's night when they start walking to the cave or the city? what does it mean?
Thank you very much! :)
1) It does not hurt to have a map on hand but keep in mind that a map can be sketched out on graph paper or a napkin but something to give the players a sense of their surroundings outside of your verbal narrative. (it also helps with question two as they can "oh, there is a passageway to the north and to the south plus a door on the east side.")
2) That's ok and it happens a lot in these types of games. You just do not want to take away the player's agency and attempt to railroad them into every room on the map. Let the party explore how they so wish and if they make it to the Big Boss quicker than normal so be it and roll for initiative.
3) Time, why you punish me? If they want to rest for eight hours then it is an evening you track time the best you can you do not need to give hours, minutes, and seconds just be vague as much as you can, (morning, mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon, early evening, evening, etc) If the players are persistent on knowing the time make it up and don't stress about it otherwise tell them it's time to roll initiative because the Owl Bear snuck up on all you while you are trying to figure out the time.
"eventually even the Stealthiest rogue rolls a natural 1." I know you didn't actually say it, but Sanvael, I find that while I usually agree with your posts, I would like to point out, there's no game effect when you roll a Natural 1 on a skill check. Actually, in the current edition of the game, there's no such thing as a Critical Failure unless you are talking about me, because I am often critical, and people often fail to see my point, or you are making Death Checks.
When you roll a 1 in combat, all that happens by the rules is that you miss. Any other effect is Homebrew, it's a house rule. There are rules about Critical Hits, and there are times when you can crit automatically. One of the oddities of the game is that you can make Death Checks, which implies that avoiding death is a skill. I guess that's something that takes practice and you can learn to get better at it if you train in it. (No, not really, I'm making a joke.) In any case, when making Death Checks and you roll a Natural 1, it means you failed two Death Checks, and you could call that a Critical Failure. A Natural 20 means that instead of just going to stable, you gain one hit point (normally that takes 1d4 hours after you stabilize), and if someone else hits you when you are down to zero, you will fall prone, and the rules say they crit automatically, no matter what damage they do. Two hits of any kind and you are dead.
I like the points you made about Interrogation. You've got a good system there.
I'd just like to point out that it is a "Death constitution saving throw" and not a skill check. Avoiding death isn't a skill. This does mean that the bless spell or the resistance cantrip can be used to help the character making the death saving throw while abilities that modify skills can not.
Edit: I was reminded that death saving throws are not tied to any ability score. (Thank you :) ) Ooops
I ran the beginning of Lost mines of Phandelver yersterday and it went really well! Largely thanks to all your tips and advice <3 so I'm really thankful :) The group even role-played a bit and they discussed their plan and it was really really lovely thanks to all of you :)
I do have more questions, if that's ok :D
1. how to deal with stuff like: "I wanna lick the arrow to learn more about it!" or "I wanna skin the goblin and wear his skin!" (I know, my group is a lot of fun :D ) - I thought about giving them a chance for some kind of infection? But don't know how it works.. also I thought that maybe they could roll for "some" check to see if they managed to skin the goblin properly? but don't know what kind of a check... thoughts?
2. very lame question but.. how do XP work? As in.. I get 300 XP to lvl 2 and then is it 600 more XP till level 3 or 900 more XP to level 3?
There is a scene in Lord of the Rings where Legolas looks at an arrow and say it's a Goblin arrow. Another scene, Gimli tastes some goo on the ground and spits it out, saying that it's Orc blood. That sort of thing is fine and doesn't need a penalty of any sort.
Wearing the skin of a Goblin? Ick. I wouldn't want to be in a game with someone who wanted to do that, nor in the game of a DM who allowed it. I find that repulsive. As a DM, if someone asked for that, I'd tell them "no" and have a chat in private with them about acceptable behavior. However, it's your game, do as you wish.
A large percentage of people use "Milestone" leveling. Think of a story as a road, with a set of mile markers on it. As the party travels down the road, at whatever pace the DM wants the story to go, the party all levels. Think of sub-plots as places where the road branches, and the party gets to choose which path to take. It takes more and more Milestones as they get higher in level, and at level 20, the road ends.
It's useful to think of the difference between a Road, and a Railroad. One allows for people to wander, the other goes directly to the end without stopping. For very new players, that's fine, but it's not a terribly good idea past about Tier 1, which is levels 1 to 4. That's just having a short Railroad with train stations they can stop at if they like.
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1. I had this problem as well. I installed a system similar to like a "fallout" video game system. Much like myself, if someone handed me picks and said pick the lock, I wouldn't have a clue what to do. Why would a Barbarian with no slight of hand skill be able to perform this? Unless I feel like they would understand what to do, they do not qualify for the attempt. NOW, an idea... you can have players "train" in the down time, inbetween the adventures and battles. "Yes, DM, as we wait 3 days for the caravan to come into town, I am going to shop for arrows, a few potions and find someone to teach me lock picking." - Just a thought.
2. Loot is kind of the main reason a quest is taken, battles take place and why they play. A great battle with loot at the end. Makes sense. If there is something I am bad at, it's loot. "Bad" - what I mean is I make it too realistic. Just battled 20 Orcs; a handful of gold, silver, copper. (I have a system of quality of weapons: Raw, Standard, Pro and Ornate) a butt load of raw long swords, axes and battle axes, make shift leather and breast plate armors. Maybe have one really good weapon for the boss, like a Pro battle axe. IMO, loot should fit the enemy, not the XP, but that is up to you. Some people DM with XP = loot in mind, and that is ok. High XP = good loot. I look at it like: 20 orcs will not have a 25,000gp staff of the magi, they will have what they have found from previous battles, etc. NOW, an idea. using the 20 orc encounter, the leader of the Orc party is the leader for one reason, he has this powerful magic item he uses and the rest of them are afraid of him, or the item he wields. That way you can have a nice loot item and make it a bit more lore friendly.
3. For me, them asking for checks and such means they are into the story, into the adventure and I love that. But I also let them know, let me finish explaining what is around you first. If I feel there is a check needed, i will tell them to do so. If after I explain the scenario, they feel like they want to do something, like; investigate, they will say "I want to take a look around" aka I need to roll for a investigation check. That is what it is all about. Let them, but be stern with allowing you to pain the picture in front of them first. NOW, an idea... always keep in mind of Passive Perception and the like. It's easy to forget, I do all the time. Things that they might have to say "Ill look around," should maybe already be to their attention with a successful passive perceptions check.
Hey Good luck! Great questions too.
Thank you guys so much for all the awesome answers <3 We have a session of Lost mines of Phandelver scheduled for next week, so I'm preparing for it :D
And that means I'm back with more newbie questions :)
1. Do I have to have a map for every location? I think I don't but, is it hard in your experience to play without a map?
2. What do I do if the players skip some rooms in a cave? (maybe go straight to where the boss is and not manage to explore it all?)
3. How does time work? for example the Lost mines of phandelver start around noon, there's a quite difficult fight at the start.. what if the players then decide to rest there? long rest is 8 hours or so so that means that it's night when they start walking to the cave or the city? what does it mean?
Thank you very much! :)
1. I think so... Yes, it's very hard for a new player if they can't eventually see a map, just try to uncover the map slowly as they move along.
2. There's nothing wrong with them skipping things, and it's probably a bad idea to force a new player not to, so if there's something actually important, ask them for an Insight check and if they pass, they get a hunch, and you can give them a hint. Try to be vague. "This place is dangerous."
3. It really doesn't matter what time it is, but if you want to be, a Short Rest on the spot ought to be fine. Try not to do anything at all unless there's some important reason for you to intervene, even if they end up losing.
4. It's not heroic if you make someone win. Try not to intervene unless you have to.
<Insert clever signature here>
1) It does not hurt to have a map on hand but keep in mind that a map can be sketched out on graph paper or a napkin but something to give the players a sense of their surroundings outside of your verbal narrative. (it also helps with question two as they can "oh, there is a passageway to the north and to the south plus a door on the east side.")
2) That's ok and it happens a lot in these types of games. You just do not want to take away the player's agency and attempt to railroad them into every room on the map. Let the party explore how they so wish and if they make it to the Big Boss quicker than normal so be it and roll for initiative.
3) Time, why you punish me? If they want to rest for eight hours then it is an evening you track time the best you can you do not need to give hours, minutes, and seconds just be vague as much as you can, (morning, mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon, early evening, evening, etc) If the players are persistent on knowing the time make it up and don't stress about it otherwise tell them it's time to roll initiative because the Owl Bear snuck up on all you while you are trying to figure out the time.
I'd just like to point out that it is a "Death
constitutionsaving throw" and not a skill check. Avoiding death isn't a skill. This does mean that the bless spell or the resistance cantrip can be used to help the character making the death saving throw while abilities that modify skills can not.Edit: I was reminded that death saving throws are not tied to any ability score. (Thank you :) ) Ooops
Thank you so much guys!
I ran the beginning of Lost mines of Phandelver yersterday and it went really well! Largely thanks to all your tips and advice <3 so I'm really thankful :) The group even role-played a bit and they discussed their plan and it was really really lovely thanks to all of you :)
I do have more questions, if that's ok :D
1. how to deal with stuff like: "I wanna lick the arrow to learn more about it!" or "I wanna skin the goblin and wear his skin!" (I know, my group is a lot of fun :D ) - I thought about giving them a chance for some kind of infection? But don't know how it works.. also I thought that maybe they could roll for "some" check to see if they managed to skin the goblin properly? but don't know what kind of a check... thoughts?
2. very lame question but.. how do XP work? As in.. I get 300 XP to lvl 2 and then is it 600 more XP till level 3 or 900 more XP to level 3?
Thank you :)
There is a scene in Lord of the Rings where Legolas looks at an arrow and say it's a Goblin arrow. Another scene, Gimli tastes some goo on the ground and spits it out, saying that it's Orc blood. That sort of thing is fine and doesn't need a penalty of any sort.
Wearing the skin of a Goblin? Ick. I wouldn't want to be in a game with someone who wanted to do that, nor in the game of a DM who allowed it. I find that repulsive. As a DM, if someone asked for that, I'd tell them "no" and have a chat in private with them about acceptable behavior. However, it's your game, do as you wish.
A large percentage of people use "Milestone" leveling. Think of a story as a road, with a set of mile markers on it. As the party travels down the road, at whatever pace the DM wants the story to go, the party all levels. Think of sub-plots as places where the road branches, and the party gets to choose which path to take. It takes more and more Milestones as they get higher in level, and at level 20, the road ends.
It's useful to think of the difference between a Road, and a Railroad. One allows for people to wander, the other goes directly to the end without stopping. For very new players, that's fine, but it's not a terribly good idea past about Tier 1, which is levels 1 to 4. That's just having a short Railroad with train stations they can stop at if they like.
<Insert clever signature here>