As stated in the title, i have never played DnD before as a player or a DM. I have a group of six friends who wanted to play and i got elected DM. What i would like advice on is how to adapt the encounters for six people. My players consist of a fighter, a sorcerer, a druid, a rogue, a ranger, and a paladin. We start play in a week and i would also like any advice for a new DM.
Yeah, this might just be me, but i kind of would like them to feel a sense of danger and a real threat of death. So that they take the game mildly seriously.
I ran Lost Mine of Phandelver with 6 players that all have years of experience with D&D under their belts... and they nearly didn't make it through the goblin hideout because of a few key die rolls not going their way.
Most noteworthy was the fighter that got washed out of the cave, came back in, ran up and around to the bugbear's area, for some reason didn't use his second wind ability, and got dropped by Ripper. He managed to survive his death saves, but the rest of the party was too busy dealing with the other consequences of his choosing not to participate in sneaking about in the cave and instead just "taking it head on."
New DM + new players, I would definitely recommend leaving as-is to start. If the first session clearly goes too easy, let the players know that it's just so everyone can get used to the game and that the difficulty will ramp up going forward. Then, for the next session, have some extra reinforcements on standby, but don't put them into play until you actually need them, as Matthias suggested. It's always easier to add enemies than to make existing ones go away ("Hey, did that bugbear just have five hitpoints...?").
The more you play, the more you'll get a feel for the challenge level that will be appropriate for your players.
I'm running with a group of 5 and people are nearly dying (although 6 does change it up substantially). Up to level 3 now so their cleric has a few more options, but our last session was really exciting. As others have said, I'd leave it for now and have reinforcements in reserve. An extra wilderness encounter on the way can make a big difference to.
I ran Lost Mine of Phandelver with 6 players that all have years of experience with D&D under their belts... and they nearly didn't make it through the goblin hideout because of a few key die rolls not going their way.
Most noteworthy was the fighter that got washed out of the cave, came back in, ran up and around to the bugbear's area, for some reason didn't use his second wind ability, and got dropped by Ripper. He managed to survive his death saves, but the rest of the party was too busy dealing with the other consequences of his choosing not to participate in sneaking about in the cave and instead just "taking it head on."
Aaron,
Having a similar issue myself!
I have PC who thinks he knows all and keeps charging ahead and bullying players into doing things his way. He was one turn away from running into the cave hideout with half the party under 5hp. Thankfully I convinced everyone to end the session there reminding them about the wagon they had forgotten on the road.
by the time they got back to the wagon to secure it, it was night and they chose to stay and make camp. Ended the session there, still trying to figure out a way to mitigate the controlling player to give others a voice.
Just remind the players it's a new version of D&D and lower levels (especially level 1) are quite vulnerable to death. I'd also point out that in this version exploration, roleplaying and combat are equally as important, and part of exploration is considering your environment and a challenge as well.
If they persist then I'd honestly consider a TPK by their own fault. Ask the group what went wrong rather than explain, that way you'll know if they'll play differently. You may consider doing a reset and letting them keep their characters if they're going to die that early in the campaign.
I ran Lost Mine of Phandelver with 6 players that all have years of experience with D&D under their belts... and they nearly didn't make it through the goblin hideout because of a few key die rolls not going their way.
Most noteworthy was the fighter that got washed out of the cave, came back in, ran up and around to the bugbear's area, for some reason didn't use his second wind ability, and got dropped by Ripper. He managed to survive his death saves, but the rest of the party was too busy dealing with the other consequences of his choosing not to participate in sneaking about in the cave and instead just "taking it head on."
Aaron,
Having a similar issue myself!
I have PC who thinks he knows all and keeps charging ahead and bullying players into doing things his way. He was one turn away from running into the cave hideout with half the party under 5hp. Thankfully I convinced everyone to end the session there reminding them about the wagon they had forgotten on the road.
by the time they got back to the wagon to secure it, it was night and they chose to stay and make camp. Ended the session there, still trying to figure out a way to mitigate the controlling player to give others a voice.
If the players get into a bad situation because of him, perhaps you could consider their enemies making an example of him while taking all the others prisoner. Hopefully this would curb his gung ho and bullying play style.
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Don't be afraid of the dark. Be afraid of what's in it.
I ran Lost Mine of Phandelver with 6 players that all have years of experience with D&D under their belts... and they nearly didn't make it through the goblin hideout because of a few key die rolls not going their way.
Most noteworthy was the fighter that got washed out of the cave, came back in, ran up and around to the bugbear's area, for some reason didn't use his second wind ability, and got dropped by Ripper. He managed to survive his death saves, but the rest of the party was too busy dealing with the other consequences of his choosing not to participate in sneaking about in the cave and instead just "taking it head on."
Aaron,
Having a similar issue myself!
I have PC who thinks he knows all and keeps charging ahead and bullying players into doing things his way. He was one turn away from running into the cave hideout with half the party under 5hp. Thankfully I convinced everyone to end the session there reminding them about the wagon they had forgotten on the road.
by the time they got back to the wagon to secure it, it was night and they chose to stay and make camp. Ended the session there, still trying to figure out a way to mitigate the controlling player to give others a voice.
I'm surprised no one's suggested talking to him.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
I have PC who thinks he knows all and keeps charging ahead and bullying players into doing things his way. He was one turn away from running into the cave hideout with half the party under 5hp. Thankfully I convinced everyone to end the session there reminding them about the wagon they had forgotten on the road.
by the time they got back to the wagon to secure it, it was night and they chose to stay and make camp. Ended the session there, still trying to figure out a way to mitigate the controlling player to give others a voice.
The way to deal with a bullying player is to talk to them. Point out that their behavior, no matter how well intentioned it might be, is getting in the way of others' enjoyment of the game.
Either they will see their error and willing stop pushing everyone else to do as they say - and then everything should be fine - or they won't - and the only recourse is to either constantly countermand them during the session (such as saying "No, stop making suggestions to players that didn't ask for any. Go ahead [insert bullied player's name], do what you wanted to do." every time they start pushing around the other players, which in my experience is exhausting), or remove them from the play group.
Joining this thread over a year later because I'm just now running Lost Mine of Phandelver for a new group as well. I've played a few RPG's but it's my first time with D&D, and my first ite as DM. 2 sessions in and so far it's going really well.
-We've had a few close calls in chapter 1 (just finished Cragmaw Hideout), mainly because the players consistently put the rogue and the wizard in the front lines while the human fighters hung back, and continued attacking at range against foes with cover while their own characters had none, and kept missing their ranged attacks round after round. Seriously, 2 goblins came very close to TPK'ing a party of 4... Level 1 is pretty dangerous when you are inexperienced!
A few things that have helped:
- During our 2nd session we added a 5th party member (a Dwarf Cleric, no less), who will hopefully continue along in the campaign.
-My niece loves wolves (all of her stuffed animals are wolves and her Minecraft ID is wolf themed), so when her Halfling Rogue discovered the Kennel in the Cragmaw hideout, she not only gave them her food and passed her animal handling check to calm them (though the party failed to actually explore the room afterwards), she then spent additional time and all of her rations trying to get them to warm up to her. So, I let one of the wolves start following her around (the other 2 remained indifferent; they released one and the other one was taken by Klarg when he escaped later in the session). I'm going to let her train the animal using rules I'm borrowing from another system, but for now I control the Wolf in combat and adventuring. It's great because it serves as a relief valve if they are in over their head, but also doesn't battle tactically the way the characters do; so if they have it handled and my niece's character isn't really directly threatened, it kind of does it's own thing.
-I was really worried about Klarg, especially after the party 1. failed to explore the chimney area of the kennels to catch him by surprise, and then managed to alert him of their presence when the fought the goblins in the Twin Pools Cave. This was really impressive; they actually killed the goblin going to warn Klarg while he was halfway up the stairs, but then the Dwarf used thaumaturgy to, "make my voice loud and booming" as he mocked and challenged the remaining goblins. Surprise gone; Klarg and his minions set up their ambush. Nevertheless, my wife (playing a human warrior) managed to run headlong into Ripper hiding behind a stalagmite in the first round of combat, and actually critted him on a natural 20. Klarg stopped mid speech and Buggered off (Bugbeared off?) down the chimney.
So now I feel like they have the hang of it... but I'm still really worried about Venomfang.
As stated in the title, i have never played DnD before as a player or a DM. I have a group of six friends who wanted to play and i got elected DM. What i would like advice on is how to adapt the encounters for six people. My players consist of a fighter, a sorcerer, a druid, a rogue, a ranger, and a paladin. We start play in a week and i would also like any advice for a new DM.
Phandelver's pretty dangerous for new players. My advice would be to not adjust the encounters.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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My worry is that they will overpower the goblins in the first chapter in terms of action economy. Is this an issue?
Well, they are the heroes. If they seem to be winning too easily, you can always have reinforcements arrive (or lazy layabouts wake up).
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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Yeah, this might just be me, but i kind of would like them to feel a sense of danger and a real threat of death. So that they take the game mildly seriously.
I ran Lost Mine of Phandelver with 6 players that all have years of experience with D&D under their belts... and they nearly didn't make it through the goblin hideout because of a few key die rolls not going their way.
Most noteworthy was the fighter that got washed out of the cave, came back in, ran up and around to the bugbear's area, for some reason didn't use his second wind ability, and got dropped by Ripper. He managed to survive his death saves, but the rest of the party was too busy dealing with the other consequences of his choosing not to participate in sneaking about in the cave and instead just "taking it head on."
I played this with three players and only one of us being experienced. The experienced player's character dies before we got in the goblins cave.
New DM + new players, I would definitely recommend leaving as-is to start. If the first session clearly goes too easy, let the players know that it's just so everyone can get used to the game and that the difficulty will ramp up going forward. Then, for the next session, have some extra reinforcements on standby, but don't put them into play until you actually need them, as Matthias suggested. It's always easier to add enemies than to make existing ones go away ("Hey, did that bugbear just have five hitpoints...?").
The more you play, the more you'll get a feel for the challenge level that will be appropriate for your players.
I'm running with a group of 5 and people are nearly dying (although 6 does change it up substantially). Up to level 3 now so their cleric has a few more options, but our last session was really exciting. As others have said, I'd leave it for now and have reinforcements in reserve. An extra wilderness encounter on the way can make a big difference to.
Ok thanks for all the advice, i will definitely take all this into massive consideration
I ran Lost Mine of Phandelver with 6 players that all have years of experience with D&D under their belts... and they nearly didn't make it through the goblin hideout because of a few key die rolls not going their way.
Most noteworthy was the fighter that got washed out of the cave, came back in, ran up and around to the bugbear's area, for some reason didn't use his second wind ability, and got dropped by Ripper. He managed to survive his death saves, but the rest of the party was too busy dealing with the other consequences of his choosing not to participate in sneaking about in the cave and instead just "taking it head on."
Aaron,
Having a similar issue myself!
I have PC who thinks he knows all and keeps charging ahead and bullying players into doing things his way. He was one turn away from running into the cave hideout with half the party under 5hp. Thankfully I convinced everyone to end the session there reminding them about the wagon they had forgotten on the road.
by the time they got back to the wagon to secure it, it was night and they chose to stay and make camp. Ended the session there, still trying to figure out a way to mitigate the controlling player to give others a voice.
"The idea of me is intoxicating, the reality, sobering"
Just remind the players it's a new version of D&D and lower levels (especially level 1) are quite vulnerable to death. I'd also point out that in this version exploration, roleplaying and combat are equally as important, and part of exploration is considering your environment and a challenge as well.
If they persist then I'd honestly consider a TPK by their own fault. Ask the group what went wrong rather than explain, that way you'll know if they'll play differently. You may consider doing a reset and letting them keep their characters if they're going to die that early in the campaign.
Don't be afraid of the dark. Be afraid of what's in it.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
Joining this thread over a year later because I'm just now running Lost Mine of Phandelver for a new group as well. I've played a few RPG's but it's my first time with D&D, and my first ite as DM. 2 sessions in and so far it's going really well.
-We've had a few close calls in chapter 1 (just finished Cragmaw Hideout), mainly because the players consistently put the rogue and the wizard in the front lines while the human fighters hung back, and continued attacking at range against foes with cover while their own characters had none, and kept missing their ranged attacks round after round. Seriously, 2 goblins came very close to TPK'ing a party of 4... Level 1 is pretty dangerous when you are inexperienced!
A few things that have helped:
- During our 2nd session we added a 5th party member (a Dwarf Cleric, no less), who will hopefully continue along in the campaign.
-My niece loves wolves (all of her stuffed animals are wolves and her Minecraft ID is wolf themed), so when her Halfling Rogue discovered the Kennel in the Cragmaw hideout, she not only gave them her food and passed her animal handling check to calm them (though the party failed to actually explore the room afterwards), she then spent additional time and all of her rations trying to get them to warm up to her. So, I let one of the wolves start following her around (the other 2 remained indifferent; they released one and the other one was taken by Klarg when he escaped later in the session). I'm going to let her train the animal using rules I'm borrowing from another system, but for now I control the Wolf in combat and adventuring. It's great because it serves as a relief valve if they are in over their head, but also doesn't battle tactically the way the characters do; so if they have it handled and my niece's character isn't really directly threatened, it kind of does it's own thing.
-I was really worried about Klarg, especially after the party 1. failed to explore the chimney area of the kennels to catch him by surprise, and then managed to alert him of their presence when the fought the goblins in the Twin Pools Cave. This was really impressive; they actually killed the goblin going to warn Klarg while he was halfway up the stairs, but then the Dwarf used thaumaturgy to, "make my voice loud and booming" as he mocked and challenged the remaining goblins. Surprise gone; Klarg and his minions set up their ambush. Nevertheless, my wife (playing a human warrior) managed to run headlong into Ripper hiding behind a stalagmite in the first round of combat, and actually critted him on a natural 20. Klarg stopped mid speech and Buggered off (Bugbeared off?) down the chimney.
So now I feel like they have the hang of it... but I'm still really worried about Venomfang.
OP, how has the rest of the campaign gone??
This is an old post, but in the posts above a few folks mentioned party difficulty when starting the campaign. I've also heard the same thing other places. There is a nice free "prelude" called Sacrifice of Innocence to build up characters. It's available at NaturalCrit > https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/BJmkN6kC8f I found mention of it on this Reddit thread > https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/81vbz5/sacrifice_of_innocence/