I'm a very new DM and just started running this to my small group. My question is, when you get to Phandalin there are a lot of side missions to do. How can I approach that to not get overwhelmed? Like maybe letting players select what the want to do before completing the session? Also, is a good idea between these quests to do some downtime so they can do other things in the meantime?
I'm a very new DM and just started running this to my small group. My question is, when you get to Phandalin there are a lot of side missions to do. How can I approach that to not get overwhelmed? Like maybe letting players select what the want to do before completing the session? Also, is a good idea between these quests to do some downtime so they can do other things in the meantime?
Absolutely ask the party where they want to go for the next session. This is a spoken contract between the DM and the players about what they want to play next. This allows you to be prepared for exactly what they want to do. Be familiar with the other missions, but focus on the one that they want to undertake.
Downtime is broken up into week long blocks, which narratively might not fit into LMoP. You can break this down into nightly or daily bouts of downtime, but be mindful of anything that might remove the PC from the adventure (looking at you - jailtime). If they want to spend time doing things in the town, be prepared to offer the things in town that are do-able. I might suggest leaning away from downtime, for the immediate future, until you get more confident with the adventure and feel less overwhelmed.
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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
My first suggestion is that you only run the adventure to the extent that you think you can. If you feel there's too many side-quests, you don't have to introduce them to the players. If your adventure there may be no necromancer at the Old Owl Well, there may be no orcs at Wyvern Tor, or even any Redbrands. Pace yourself and the party: you don't want to happen to them what happened to mine, which was 'analysis paralysis', going over our options over the course of multiple four-hour sessions (I wish I was exaggerating, but in fairness there was a lot of roleplay to be had.)
As you're new I recommend you buy yourself time. The first way is to put forward the moral dilemma of what matters more: delivering non-essential supplies to Phandalin, or going to Cragmaw Hideout in an attempt to save the party's employers? There's a good chance (but never certainty) that the party will go to the cave, which will eat up that session.
When the party's done in Cragmaw Hideout and delivering the supplies, they'll not get many quests to begin with. The Redbrand bandits have taken over, and people have more immediate concerns than a dragon or orcs that haven't bothered them yet. They won't give any quests until the Redbrands are dealt with, which will eat up more sessions and time to plan.
Should they survive the Redcrests, there's options further: did Glasstaff get away? If so, will the party throw other quests to the wind just to chase him? Or will the party celebrate their victory for the timebeing?
This is the point where the adventure truly opens up, and by this point the party should have an idea of how they like to approach the game. Do they want to travel far and wide, do they want to engage in diplomacy, do they want combat? All are possible with Conyberry, Thundertree, Old Owl Well and perhaps even Wyvern Tor. End the session before they make their next move so they've got time to think about it over and let you know.
Regarding downtime, the adventure is too small in scope and has a sense of urgency that doesn't really allow for much downtime; such as learning a new skill or language. The party should however use this time to stock up on adventuring gear, useful consumable items, and who knows, maybe there's a travelling merchant selling unusual - but magical - items...
I hope that helps. I wish you and your players good luck, as it's a fun little adventure!
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Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
If you need help with the Lost Mines you should check this out! It has all the DM notes, handouts, ambiance, music, pdfs for all the encounters and more! Best of all it's free!
Still haven't released all the Sidequests yet. The Banshee one will be out soon. Unfortunately it felt like most of the side quests didn't tie well with anything and my players skipped them. That could have also been because of the big changes I made to it too haha
You should 100% always ask at the end of your session what your players would like to do next. That'll make life a whole lot easier for you too! You can certainly do downtime if that's what your party want's, but it's not 100% necessary. My campaign includes crafting so they tend to want to make things here and there!
If you need help with the Lost Mines you should check this out! It has all the DM notes, handouts, ambiance, music, pdfs for all the encounters and more! Best of all it's free!
Still haven't released all the Sidequests yet. The Banshee one will be out soon. Unfortunately it felt like most of the side quests didn't tie well with anything and my players skipped them. That could have also been because of the big changes I made to it too haha
You should 100% always ask at the end of your session what your players would like to do next. That'll make life a whole lot easier for you too! You can certainly do downtime if that's what your party want's, but it's not 100% necessary. My campaign includes crafting so they tend to want to make things here and there!
You can limit the information available to the party, to encourage them to go to the areas you've prepared. Maybe they just don't hear about the Old Owl Well, or the orc camp, until after they've cleared out Llarno's group under the manor house...and they do'n't learn the location of Cragsmaw Castle until after the orc camp, etc.
Remember, the players only know what you tell them. So only tell them about the things you are ready to do. Generally speaking, the side quests shouldn't really come into play until they've dealt with the Redbrands. So just have every NPC they talk to say something about those pesky Redbrands who are terrorizing the town. Then once they've dealt with that, you can start having the NPC's tell them about the side quest stuff.
I'm a very new DM and just started running this to my small group. My question is, when you get to Phandalin there are a lot of side missions to do. How can I approach that to not get overwhelmed? Like maybe letting players select what the want to do before completing the session? Also, is a good idea between these quests to do some downtime so they can do other things in the meantime?
Absolutely ask the party where they want to go for the next session. This is a spoken contract between the DM and the players about what they want to play next. This allows you to be prepared for exactly what they want to do. Be familiar with the other missions, but focus on the one that they want to undertake.
Downtime is broken up into week long blocks, which narratively might not fit into LMoP. You can break this down into nightly or daily bouts of downtime, but be mindful of anything that might remove the PC from the adventure (looking at you - jailtime). If they want to spend time doing things in the town, be prepared to offer the things in town that are do-able. I might suggest leaning away from downtime, for the immediate future, until you get more confident with the adventure and feel less overwhelmed.
“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
My first suggestion is that you only run the adventure to the extent that you think you can. If you feel there's too many side-quests, you don't have to introduce them to the players. If your adventure there may be no necromancer at the Old Owl Well, there may be no orcs at Wyvern Tor, or even any Redbrands. Pace yourself and the party: you don't want to happen to them what happened to mine, which was 'analysis paralysis', going over our options over the course of multiple four-hour sessions (I wish I was exaggerating, but in fairness there was a lot of roleplay to be had.)
As you're new I recommend you buy yourself time. The first way is to put forward the moral dilemma of what matters more: delivering non-essential supplies to Phandalin, or going to Cragmaw Hideout in an attempt to save the party's employers? There's a good chance (but never certainty) that the party will go to the cave, which will eat up that session.
When the party's done in Cragmaw Hideout and delivering the supplies, they'll not get many quests to begin with. The Redbrand bandits have taken over, and people have more immediate concerns than a dragon or orcs that haven't bothered them yet. They won't give any quests until the Redbrands are dealt with, which will eat up more sessions and time to plan.
Should they survive the Redcrests, there's options further: did Glasstaff get away? If so, will the party throw other quests to the wind just to chase him? Or will the party celebrate their victory for the timebeing?
This is the point where the adventure truly opens up, and by this point the party should have an idea of how they like to approach the game. Do they want to travel far and wide, do they want to engage in diplomacy, do they want combat? All are possible with Conyberry, Thundertree, Old Owl Well and perhaps even Wyvern Tor. End the session before they make their next move so they've got time to think about it over and let you know.
Regarding downtime, the adventure is too small in scope and has a sense of urgency that doesn't really allow for much downtime; such as learning a new skill or language. The party should however use this time to stock up on adventuring gear, useful consumable items, and who knows, maybe there's a travelling merchant selling unusual - but magical - items...
I hope that helps. I wish you and your players good luck, as it's a fun little adventure!
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
If you need help with the Lost Mines you should check this out! It has all the DM notes, handouts, ambiance, music, pdfs for all the encounters and more! Best of all it's free!
Lost Mines of Phandelver
Still haven't released all the Sidequests yet. The Banshee one will be out soon. Unfortunately it felt like most of the side quests didn't tie well with anything and my players skipped them. That could have also been because of the big changes I made to it too haha
You should 100% always ask at the end of your session what your players would like to do next. That'll make life a whole lot easier for you too! You can certainly do downtime if that's what your party want's, but it's not 100% necessary. My campaign includes crafting so they tend to want to make things here and there!
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This is awesome! Thank you for sharing.
You can limit the information available to the party, to encourage them to go to the areas you've prepared. Maybe they just don't hear about the Old Owl Well, or the orc camp, until after they've cleared out Llarno's group under the manor house...and they do'n't learn the location of Cragsmaw Castle until after the orc camp, etc.
I think you should let your players choose which missions they wanna go on and allow them some downtime in between missions.
I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
Remember, the players only know what you tell them. So only tell them about the things you are ready to do. Generally speaking, the side quests shouldn't really come into play until they've dealt with the Redbrands. So just have every NPC they talk to say something about those pesky Redbrands who are terrorizing the town. Then once they've dealt with that, you can start having the NPC's tell them about the side quest stuff.
If you have the hardcopy. Write in the book. Quest 1 page 12 Quest 2 page 14 Etc. Beware the Green Dragon encounter, it can be deadly.
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