Just a little history about myself - I'm a long time D&D fringe admirer but have never played or DM'd. Finally got a solid group of friends and family interested enough to play, and we subbed to Beyond and I've gotten the core rulebooks as well as the Lost Mines of Phandelvar.
Just this past weekend we had our first session and it was a blast! I wrote an additional intro piece to the campaign involving Driftwood Tavern, with Gundrun sending out letters to each PC and inviting them to meet him there. What was meant as a 10 minute intro session turned into an hour of fun drinking competitions, a bar brawl, and a big feast. After the characters got into the actual campaign on the Triboar Trail, they had their first fight with the four goblins which lasted the rest of our playing time. Lots of loud cheering throughout, it was definitely a success.
We've got our follow up session in a week or so, and I just want to make sure I understand some (probably very) basic things as a first time DM.
- Does speed mainly just play a factor when in a combat situation? When traveling or exploring a town per se when no enemies are around, does speed need to be utilized?
- Once I start awarding XP, I'm a bit confused. Do I add up the XP value of each creature and then divide that total equally amongst the party? Or does each PC get the full value of all creatures dealt with?
- There's a section in a cave that has a vertical entrance that leads directly to the boss room. The PCs can attempt to climb this, but on a failure, can they just try and try again until they succeed (assuming they fall and take bludgeoning damage each time)? I was just unsure of how to handle something like this properly.
- How should I properly prompt players to investigate things? For example, there are many times in the campaign which say something like, "If the PC investigates X, they'll find Y". I'm worried about my players missing out on bits of info due to just being inexperienced or maybe even ignorant of what they can do at the moment.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll think of more, but for now thank you!!
- Does speed mainly just play a factor when in a combat situation? When traveling or exploring a town per se when no enemies are around, does speed need to be utilized?
Correct. The other time it would be used is if the party is being chased / chasing, and you would calculate it out into miles per day.
- Once I start awarding XP, I'm a bit confused. Do I add up the XP value of each creature and then divide that total equally amongst the party? Or does each PC get the full value of all creatures dealt with?
Add up and then divide among all PCs. You can also ignore XP and just have the party level up whenever it would be appropriate to the story (called milestone leveling). Most published adventures will say "They party should by X level by this point" and that is your cue to give them a milestone.
- There's a section in a cave that has a vertical entrance that leads directly to the boss room. The PCs can attempt to climb this, but on a failure, can they just try and try again until they succeed (assuming they fall and take bludgeoning damage each time)? I was just unsure of how to handle something like this properly.
Well, all of those climbing attempts probably make a lot of noise. Which could alert the boss to their presence, negating surprise, giving the boss time to prepare, or even allowing the boss to ambush them.
- How should I properly prompt players to investigate things? For example, there are many times in the campaign which say something like, "If the PC investigates X, they'll find Y". I'm worried about my players missing out on bits of info due to just being inexperienced or maybe even ignorant of what they can do at the moment.
I would suggest either just straight up asking "Do any of you want to look around?" or use passive perception to hint that something is there if a PCs passive result would be enough to see it. Along the lines of "You think you see some movement out of the corner of your eye in the overgrowth" and when they say "I want to investigate" they would then roll their regular perception. On a pass, they find the thing.
Speed can be used to estimate time of travel outside of combat, you may choose to use it or ignore it. As the DM, you control the rules and results.
XP is designed to be split between party members. Example: A party of 5 defeat 3 monsters. Those Monsters are worth 50XP each, for a total distributable of 150XP, that you then divide between the 5 party members, resulting in each party member receiving 30XP each.
If I remember, every 10ft of a fall does 1d6 Bludgeoning Damage. Yes, they can reattempt. However, you can choose to have the enemy on the other side react to that sound of falling.
I personally do not prompt players to investigate, and I do not suggest doing so as it is you manipulating your players. However, you can use passive Investigation if your worried about players missing something important, as the DC for important Investigations tend to be on the lower side. And if the book says that they can find something by Investigating, but doesn't have a number, just give it to them if their Passive Investigation is 10 or more. You also might want to use Passive Perception if your players are inexperienced.
I've never DM'd, but I have acted as a "rule-finder" for the actual DM. Basically, the DM makes a judgement at that moment and then asks me to find if there is a rule to be used in the future while the DM keeps the play moving. If anyone at your table is experienced, then they could act as your "rule-finder." Or maybe they're like me and just read the rule books for fun (weird, I know.)
Now let me see if I have any advice not yet mentioned for your specific questions.
- Speed MIGHT come into play outside combat and long-distance travel. As an example, in a large large city like Waterdeep the PCs might not be able to visit EVERY shop and chase down EVERY lead as it takes a while to walk across a large city (there is a section in the player's handbook that would allow PCs to move about a city faster, it is "Player's Handbook, Chapter 5: Equipment, Expenses section, Services subsection" but keep in mind that the D&D Beyond section tabs don't completely match up with the section that you're actually reading. Its a bug I think.) ***Besides that, I would only keep track of travel in a large city if there was a time limit attached to things. Like the PCs have 3 days to track down a person or if you have a cataclysmic event about to happen that you're not telling them about.
- For XP awards. I'd go basically EXACTLY what Houligan said. (You can find the rule going over that in "Dungeon Master's Guide, Chapter 8: Running the Game, Experience Points section")
- Cave section. Again, I was going to type something that Houligan mentioned. "all of those climbing attempts probably make a lot of noise" which could draw attention of other creatures in the cave to attack the PCs or maybe the boss starts dropping heavy objects down the hole to hit who ever is climbing OR if you want to make up something to prevent a thousand attempts at something then say something like, "You can make a number of climb attempts equal to your CON bonus + 3. After that you'll be tired and gain a level of exhaustion (Levels of exhaustion can be looked up in "Player's Handbook, Appendices A: Conditions, Exhaustion section)" *** I want to say that an earlier edition had a rule about taking an automatic roll of 20 for any attempted action that the PC can try to do over and over with no penalty (untying a difficult knot in a rope for example). So PCs would get an automatic 20 if they spent some length of time on the attempt... 10 minutes or something like 20x the average length of time. Too much time for a dungeon.
- Investigating things. Others have already told you a good work-around for prompting PCs to search for something. Just keep in mind that a responsibility as a DM is to keep the plot going even if important things are missed. It might even change the whole story if the party misses something and they end up "losing" the dungeon because of it, but that'll be your cue to come up with a reason to get the party the information they missed or change the end to flow into the next adventure they go on. Don't worry too much about coming up with a reason on the spot. It seems that DMs spend a good bit of their free-time between D&D meetings to build the party's path back to an adventure or create a different adventure that ties in with the original.
One other thing I'd like to mention is your statement "meant as a 10 minute intro session turned into an hour of fun" Yeah. Budgeting time for a D&D meeting usually means that you need to allow for much more time than would seem necessary. A few hours seems to be a minimum from the little that I've observed and played in. And combat that challenges the party can eat up a large amount of time too. Having fun is the most important part, but keep in mind that sometimes real life will get in the way as people have to go to work in the morning or later that night. *** That in mind, it seems important to think of how to cope with a D&D meeting in which someone isn't able to come. (The Dungeon Master's Guide has some advice about dealing with a character when someone can't come, "Dungeon Master's Guide, Chapter 8: Running the Game, The Role of Dice section, Missing Players subsection," Several parts of that entire chapter deals with ways to handle real life stuff affecting the D&D stuff.)
I hope some of this post helps, sorry if I'm a bit verbose. I'll end the post here to avoid making it even longer. If you want more info from me specifically, I'll let you ask in this post later or you can message me.
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Good luck and may you roll 20's when you need them and 1's when you need a laugh. - myself
On real time spent: I have seen bits that I expected to be over quickly grow to take up hours of playing time because the players got into exploring some detail, conversing with an NPC, or just being disorganized and dithering about. I have also seen things that expected to last for a good portion of a session play through very quickly. Sometimes the players come up with a clever plan you didn'nt anticipate or the dice break wildly in their favor. I have had sessions where every roll the players made was high and every roll the monsters made was low. that can make for a very fast combat. I try to have some sort of backup plan or encounter. often I will jot minor NPC encounters, monsters, or other bits down on index cards, just so I have something to pull out if I need it.
Rule finding and rules mistakes: I generally will make a quick and reasonable ruling and move the game along if we can't find a rule quickly. If we discover that we played a rule wrong, forgot a modifier, or something similar and the game is still in the same scene I will rewind and play it over with the right rule. If the game has moved on beyond the way we played it out will stand but we will use the correct rule going forward. I prefer to keep the game moving rather than spend a lot of time trying to find a rule in the books.
One time saver I use is to have the players print out copies of their spells and special abilities to have with their character sheets. We play just paper & pencil rather than with DDB, so anything that cuts down on flipping through the rule book is a real time saver. With DDB it is pretty easy to quickly look up spells, etc.
Thank you all! Fantastic insights and suggestions, much appreciated.
Thought of another question I didn’t quite know how to handle:
How do you handle an attack made on a character where the situation wasn’t in combat? So for example, a PC wants to sucker punch someone at the bar, or make a sudden bow and arrow attack on someone in conversation.
My instinct says to have the PC make an attack roll just like combat, then roll for damage if a hit. But then after, if that instigates a combat scenario, you would have all PCs roll for initiative and carry on. If that’s incorrect let me know.
I ask because a simple one man knockout at the bar wouldn’t seem likely to carry on with initiative and all if the fight is over quickly.
If the single attack is very likely to be the end of combat, just roll for it on its own. Most of the time it will be the start of combat instead, in which case you should roll for initiative first with everyone that wasn't ready for combat (possibly including some on the side that initiated combat) being surprised until the end of their first turn.
As per the definition of sucker punch... Sucker Punch - "An unexpected punch or blow"
I looked at a few things from the Player's Handbook (PHB) and Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG) and found a few ways that this could be handled. I'll list the rule that is probably the best fit first.
"...Any character or monster that doesn't notice a threat is surprised at the start of the encounter. If you're surprised, you can't move or take an action on your first turn of the combat, and you can't take a reaction until that turn ends. A member of a group can be surprised even if the other members aren't." PHB, Chapter 9: Combat - Order of Combat section - Surprise subsection
Something to keep in mind about Surprise attacks is that some classes, sub-types, or monsters might have special bonuses to those attacks. Example: Assassin Rogues can deal extra damage or outright kill surprised enemies. (Assassinate or Death Strike ability.) For further inspiration, look at some of the stat blocks of monsters that are hard to see like certain oozes or gelatinous cubes.
If that rule doesn't feel right to you then perhaps you'd use a rule as if the first attack was from an unseen attacker (yes, they see you, but if its a sucker punch then they might not have seen you as an attacker.) This would also be good for a ranged attack when the person hasn't noticed you off in the distance, behind a tree, nocking an arrow for that first attack. PHB, Chapter 9: Combat - Making an Attack section - Unseen Attackers and Targets subsection
If you need a rule that covers a little more varied circumstances then there is a condition called Stunned which will give guidance for a couple physical saving throws. Stunned: A stunned creature is Incapacitated (see the condition), can't move, and can speak only falteringly. (that makes me think that they couldn't use any spell that can be fired off as a reaction to your attack) The creature automatically fails Stength and Dexterity saving throws. Attack rolls against the creature have advantage. PHB, Appendix A: Conditions - Stunned section
Yet another thing to possibly consider is an Optional Rule for Facing. "...an attacker in the creature’s rear arc makes attack rolls against it with advantage." and "Shields apply their bonus to AC only against attacks from the front arc or the same side arc as the shield." This being an optional rule, I wouldn't use it all the time cause it would greatly complicate and lengthen combat as everyone tries to do facing. But a single surprise attack wouldn't complicate things too much. DMG, Chapter 8: Running the Game - (Between the Combat section and Chases section)
Hopefully one of those or a mix of those will suffice or point you in a direction to make your own judgement on the matter. If you can think of something else, I'd enjoy reading about it.
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Good luck and may you roll 20's when you need them and 1's when you need a laugh. - myself
Technically, you would start by rolling initiative for everyone, and then the surprised creatures just don't get a turn in the first round. Rules for surprise here
You could also do contested Stealth vs Passive Perception or Deception vs Passive Insight to see if the person getting punched notices the change in body language before getting hit, which would negate the surprise.
If the person is surprised, I would give the PC advantage on their first attack, as they are effectively an unseen attacker.
For making a bow and arrow attack, if it is while next to the person they are attacking, the PC would have disadvantage on the roll, which would negate the surprise advantage and be just a regular roll. Ranged attacks in CQB here. If it is from farther away, but within the regular range increment, then it would be at advantage. If outside of that but within the long range of the weapon, disadvantage would apply, negating the surprise advantage and making it a regular roll.
A random commoner has 4 HP, AC 10. Something mildly tougher, like a bandit is AC 12, 11 HP. A low level PC probably can 1 hit KO the first, but not the second.
On the multiple attempts to climb, I would make each attempt -1 more than the previous attempt for each fail cumulatively because each fail probably did something to make it harder to find a good hand or foothold for the next climber. Once someone gets up there, they darn well better have some rope and then we're handing out +5s or +10s for success.
Guys thank you all for the tips and suggestions!! Much appreciated.
We have our next session this Saturday. The group will be exploring the Cragmaw Hideout, and then maybe making their way to Phandalin.
Follow up question - I'm really not understanding reactions and opportunity attacks. From reading, it seems a creature can sacrifice their action to prepare for a reaction trigger? If this is correct, are opportunity attacks pre-prepared reactions? Or are they automatically triggered regardless by any PC moving away from a creature without disengaging? Do PCs get opportunity attacks?
Opportunity attacks and readied actions are separate things.
An opportunity attack is provoked almost exclusively by a creature moving out of the reach of its opponent. Opportunity attacks are melee attacks ie with a weapon or claw. Certain feats, class features, or spells may allow ranged weapons or spells to be used, but for the sake of simplicity right now, a melee weapon attack will be used. An opportunity attack is not a prepared thing, as by definition it is a spur of the moment thing. Your last line is correct, they are automatically triggered by moving without disengaging or having a similar ability that would prevent them, like a swashbuckler rogue's fancy footwork. Both PCs and NPC/Monsters can make opportunity attacks. Keep in mind that it is based on the reach of the weapon being wielded, which while most often is 5', certain ones like glaives or whips have a reach of 10'. Which means a creature has a larger area to move within before provoking the attack. If you are wielding a ranged weapon (like a longbow), you can't make opportunity attacks, again, unless you have an ability that says otherwise.
A readied action is something you want to do, but not on your turn. In effect you are delaying the Action you get on your turn until a specific trigger is met. The person readying the action has to specify under what condition it applies. You cannot for example, ready an action to attack whenever you feel like later in the turn. A popular readied action would be "I ready my attack to attack the spellcaster if he casts a spell this turn", hoping to disrupt the caster's concentration immediately after. Note that in this case, if you have extra attacks, you would be able to take all of them, as you get a regular Attack action when the trigger happens, not just a single melee attack.
Player's Handbook - Chapter 9: Combat - The Order of Combat - Your Turn
The whole section goes into detail about when and how many of each type of thing you can do each time its your turn. Some of the basics that it comes down to is:
You can Move up to your movement speed on your turn
You can Take an Action once on your turn (usually attacking or casting a spell, but there are others like the Ready Action and Dodge)
You can Interact with One Object on your turn for free if the DM feels its reasonable. If not or if you interact with a 2nd object, you need to use your action.
You can Take a Bonus Action once on your turn. (A spell or ability should always mention if it can be a Bonus Action)
You can use your Action to take Ready action (allows you to take one Action as a Reaction to a stated Trigger)
You can use your Action to take Dodge action (attack rolls against you have disadvantage and your Dexterity saves have advantage)
You can have ONE Reaction between each turn. (Attack of Oppurtunity is a common reaction but rarely something else can also be a reaction. The spell "Counterspell" has a casting time of 1 Reaction)
There can be more, but this would be the basics. Check the section or information on the ability or spell for more.
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Good luck and may you roll 20's when you need them and 1's when you need a laugh. - myself
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Just a little history about myself - I'm a long time D&D fringe admirer but have never played or DM'd. Finally got a solid group of friends and family interested enough to play, and we subbed to Beyond and I've gotten the core rulebooks as well as the Lost Mines of Phandelvar.
Just this past weekend we had our first session and it was a blast! I wrote an additional intro piece to the campaign involving Driftwood Tavern, with Gundrun sending out letters to each PC and inviting them to meet him there. What was meant as a 10 minute intro session turned into an hour of fun drinking competitions, a bar brawl, and a big feast. After the characters got into the actual campaign on the Triboar Trail, they had their first fight with the four goblins which lasted the rest of our playing time. Lots of loud cheering throughout, it was definitely a success.
We've got our follow up session in a week or so, and I just want to make sure I understand some (probably very) basic things as a first time DM.
- Does speed mainly just play a factor when in a combat situation? When traveling or exploring a town per se when no enemies are around, does speed need to be utilized?
- Once I start awarding XP, I'm a bit confused. Do I add up the XP value of each creature and then divide that total equally amongst the party? Or does each PC get the full value of all creatures dealt with?
- There's a section in a cave that has a vertical entrance that leads directly to the boss room. The PCs can attempt to climb this, but on a failure, can they just try and try again until they succeed (assuming they fall and take bludgeoning damage each time)? I was just unsure of how to handle something like this properly.
- How should I properly prompt players to investigate things? For example, there are many times in the campaign which say something like, "If the PC investigates X, they'll find Y". I'm worried about my players missing out on bits of info due to just being inexperienced or maybe even ignorant of what they can do at the moment.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll think of more, but for now thank you!!
- Does speed mainly just play a factor when in a combat situation? When traveling or exploring a town per se when no enemies are around, does speed need to be utilized?
Correct. The other time it would be used is if the party is being chased / chasing, and you would calculate it out into miles per day.
- Once I start awarding XP, I'm a bit confused. Do I add up the XP value of each creature and then divide that total equally amongst the party? Or does each PC get the full value of all creatures dealt with?
Add up and then divide among all PCs. You can also ignore XP and just have the party level up whenever it would be appropriate to the story (called milestone leveling). Most published adventures will say "They party should by X level by this point" and that is your cue to give them a milestone.
- There's a section in a cave that has a vertical entrance that leads directly to the boss room. The PCs can attempt to climb this, but on a failure, can they just try and try again until they succeed (assuming they fall and take bludgeoning damage each time)? I was just unsure of how to handle something like this properly.
Well, all of those climbing attempts probably make a lot of noise. Which could alert the boss to their presence, negating surprise, giving the boss time to prepare, or even allowing the boss to ambush them.
- How should I properly prompt players to investigate things? For example, there are many times in the campaign which say something like, "If the PC investigates X, they'll find Y". I'm worried about my players missing out on bits of info due to just being inexperienced or maybe even ignorant of what they can do at the moment.
I would suggest either just straight up asking "Do any of you want to look around?" or use passive perception to hint that something is there if a PCs passive result would be enough to see it. Along the lines of "You think you see some movement out of the corner of your eye in the overgrowth" and when they say "I want to investigate" they would then roll their regular perception. On a pass, they find the thing.
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I've never DM'd, but I have acted as a "rule-finder" for the actual DM. Basically, the DM makes a judgement at that moment and then asks me to find if there is a rule to be used in the future while the DM keeps the play moving. If anyone at your table is experienced, then they could act as your "rule-finder." Or maybe they're like me and just read the rule books for fun (weird, I know.)
Now let me see if I have any advice not yet mentioned for your specific questions.
- Speed MIGHT come into play outside combat and long-distance travel. As an example, in a large large city like Waterdeep the PCs might not be able to visit EVERY shop and chase down EVERY lead as it takes a while to walk across a large city (there is a section in the player's handbook that would allow PCs to move about a city faster, it is "Player's Handbook, Chapter 5: Equipment, Expenses section, Services subsection" but keep in mind that the D&D Beyond section tabs don't completely match up with the section that you're actually reading. Its a bug I think.) ***Besides that, I would only keep track of travel in a large city if there was a time limit attached to things. Like the PCs have 3 days to track down a person or if you have a cataclysmic event about to happen that you're not telling them about.
- For XP awards. I'd go basically EXACTLY what Houligan said. (You can find the rule going over that in "Dungeon Master's Guide, Chapter 8: Running the Game, Experience Points section")
- Cave section. Again, I was going to type something that Houligan mentioned. "all of those climbing attempts probably make a lot of noise" which could draw attention of other creatures in the cave to attack the PCs or maybe the boss starts dropping heavy objects down the hole to hit who ever is climbing OR if you want to make up something to prevent a thousand attempts at something then say something like, "You can make a number of climb attempts equal to your CON bonus + 3. After that you'll be tired and gain a level of exhaustion (Levels of exhaustion can be looked up in "Player's Handbook, Appendices A: Conditions, Exhaustion section)" *** I want to say that an earlier edition had a rule about taking an automatic roll of 20 for any attempted action that the PC can try to do over and over with no penalty (untying a difficult knot in a rope for example). So PCs would get an automatic 20 if they spent some length of time on the attempt... 10 minutes or something like 20x the average length of time. Too much time for a dungeon.
- Investigating things. Others have already told you a good work-around for prompting PCs to search for something. Just keep in mind that a responsibility as a DM is to keep the plot going even if important things are missed. It might even change the whole story if the party misses something and they end up "losing" the dungeon because of it, but that'll be your cue to come up with a reason to get the party the information they missed or change the end to flow into the next adventure they go on. Don't worry too much about coming up with a reason on the spot. It seems that DMs spend a good bit of their free-time between D&D meetings to build the party's path back to an adventure or create a different adventure that ties in with the original.
One other thing I'd like to mention is your statement "meant as a 10 minute intro session turned into an hour of fun" Yeah. Budgeting time for a D&D meeting usually means that you need to allow for much more time than would seem necessary. A few hours seems to be a minimum from the little that I've observed and played in. And combat that challenges the party can eat up a large amount of time too. Having fun is the most important part, but keep in mind that sometimes real life will get in the way as people have to go to work in the morning or later that night. *** That in mind, it seems important to think of how to cope with a D&D meeting in which someone isn't able to come. (The Dungeon Master's Guide has some advice about dealing with a character when someone can't come, "Dungeon Master's Guide, Chapter 8: Running the Game, The Role of Dice section, Missing Players subsection," Several parts of that entire chapter deals with ways to handle real life stuff affecting the D&D stuff.)
I hope some of this post helps, sorry if I'm a bit verbose. I'll end the post here to avoid making it even longer. If you want more info from me specifically, I'll let you ask in this post later or you can message me.
Good luck and may you roll 20's when you need them and 1's when you need a laugh. - myself
On real time spent: I have seen bits that I expected to be over quickly grow to take up hours of playing time because the players got into exploring some detail, conversing with an NPC, or just being disorganized and dithering about. I have also seen things that expected to last for a good portion of a session play through very quickly. Sometimes the players come up with a clever plan you didn'nt anticipate or the dice break wildly in their favor. I have had sessions where every roll the players made was high and every roll the monsters made was low. that can make for a very fast combat. I try to have some sort of backup plan or encounter. often I will jot minor NPC encounters, monsters, or other bits down on index cards, just so I have something to pull out if I need it.
Rule finding and rules mistakes: I generally will make a quick and reasonable ruling and move the game along if we can't find a rule quickly. If we discover that we played a rule wrong, forgot a modifier, or something similar and the game is still in the same scene I will rewind and play it over with the right rule. If the game has moved on beyond the way we played it out will stand but we will use the correct rule going forward. I prefer to keep the game moving rather than spend a lot of time trying to find a rule in the books.
One time saver I use is to have the players print out copies of their spells and special abilities to have with their character sheets. We play just paper & pencil rather than with DDB, so anything that cuts down on flipping through the rule book is a real time saver. With DDB it is pretty easy to quickly look up spells, etc.
Thank you all! Fantastic insights and suggestions, much appreciated.
Thought of another question I didn’t quite know how to handle:
How do you handle an attack made on a character where the situation wasn’t in combat? So for example, a PC wants to sucker punch someone at the bar, or make a sudden bow and arrow attack on someone in conversation.
My instinct says to have the PC make an attack roll just like combat, then roll for damage if a hit. But then after, if that instigates a combat scenario, you would have all PCs roll for initiative and carry on. If that’s incorrect let me know.
I ask because a simple one man knockout at the bar wouldn’t seem likely to carry on with initiative and all if the fight is over quickly.
If the single attack is very likely to be the end of combat, just roll for it on its own. Most of the time it will be the start of combat instead, in which case you should roll for initiative first with everyone that wasn't ready for combat (possibly including some on the side that initiated combat) being surprised until the end of their first turn.
As per the definition of sucker punch...
Sucker Punch - "An unexpected punch or blow"
I looked at a few things from the Player's Handbook (PHB) and Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG) and found a few ways that this could be handled.
I'll list the rule that is probably the best fit first.
If you're surprised, you can't move or take an action on your first turn of the combat, and you can't take a reaction until that turn ends. A member of a group can be surprised even if the other members aren't."
PHB, Chapter 9: Combat - Order of Combat section - Surprise subsection
Something to keep in mind about Surprise attacks is that some classes, sub-types, or monsters might have special bonuses to those attacks.
Example: Assassin Rogues can deal extra damage or outright kill surprised enemies. (Assassinate or Death Strike ability.) For further inspiration, look at some of the stat blocks of monsters that are hard to see like certain oozes or gelatinous cubes.
PHB, Chapter 9: Combat - Making an Attack section - Unseen Attackers and Targets subsection
Stunned:
A stunned creature is Incapacitated (see the condition), can't move, and can speak only falteringly. (that makes me think that they couldn't use any spell that can be fired off as a reaction to your attack)
The creature automatically fails Stength and Dexterity saving throws.
Attack rolls against the creature have advantage.
PHB, Appendix A: Conditions - Stunned section
"...an attacker in the creature’s rear arc makes attack rolls against it with advantage."
and
"Shields apply their bonus to AC only against attacks from the front arc or the same side arc as the shield."
This being an optional rule, I wouldn't use it all the time cause it would greatly complicate and lengthen combat as everyone tries to do facing. But a single surprise attack wouldn't complicate things too much.
DMG, Chapter 8: Running the Game - (Between the Combat section and Chases section)
Hopefully one of those or a mix of those will suffice or point you in a direction to make your own judgement on the matter. If you can think of something else, I'd enjoy reading about it.
Good luck and may you roll 20's when you need them and 1's when you need a laugh. - myself
Technically, you would start by rolling initiative for everyone, and then the surprised creatures just don't get a turn in the first round. Rules for surprise here
You could also do contested Stealth vs Passive Perception or Deception vs Passive Insight to see if the person getting punched notices the change in body language before getting hit, which would negate the surprise.
If the person is surprised, I would give the PC advantage on their first attack, as they are effectively an unseen attacker.
For making a bow and arrow attack, if it is while next to the person they are attacking, the PC would have disadvantage on the roll, which would negate the surprise advantage and be just a regular roll. Ranged attacks in CQB here. If it is from farther away, but within the regular range increment, then it would be at advantage. If outside of that but within the long range of the weapon, disadvantage would apply, negating the surprise advantage and making it a regular roll.
A random commoner has 4 HP, AC 10. Something mildly tougher, like a bandit is AC 12, 11 HP. A low level PC probably can 1 hit KO the first, but not the second.
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Awesome! Welcome to this side of the table! We have cookies.
At least, we should have cookies... provided by players... so that characters don't get disintegrated... heh heh heh
On the multiple attempts to climb, I would make each attempt -1 more than the previous attempt for each fail cumulatively because each fail probably did something to make it harder to find a good hand or foothold for the next climber. Once someone gets up there, they darn well better have some rope and then we're handing out +5s or +10s for success.
Welcome aboard and good luck.
Guys thank you all for the tips and suggestions!! Much appreciated.
We have our next session this Saturday. The group will be exploring the Cragmaw Hideout, and then maybe making their way to Phandalin.
Follow up question - I'm really not understanding reactions and opportunity attacks. From reading, it seems a creature can sacrifice their action to prepare for a reaction trigger? If this is correct, are opportunity attacks pre-prepared reactions? Or are they automatically triggered regardless by any PC moving away from a creature without disengaging? Do PCs get opportunity attacks?
Opportunity attacks and readied actions are separate things.
An opportunity attack is provoked almost exclusively by a creature moving out of the reach of its opponent. Opportunity attacks are melee attacks ie with a weapon or claw. Certain feats, class features, or spells may allow ranged weapons or spells to be used, but for the sake of simplicity right now, a melee weapon attack will be used. An opportunity attack is not a prepared thing, as by definition it is a spur of the moment thing. Your last line is correct, they are automatically triggered by moving without disengaging or having a similar ability that would prevent them, like a swashbuckler rogue's fancy footwork. Both PCs and NPC/Monsters can make opportunity attacks. Keep in mind that it is based on the reach of the weapon being wielded, which while most often is 5', certain ones like glaives or whips have a reach of 10'. Which means a creature has a larger area to move within before provoking the attack. If you are wielding a ranged weapon (like a longbow), you can't make opportunity attacks, again, unless you have an ability that says otherwise.
A readied action is something you want to do, but not on your turn. In effect you are delaying the Action you get on your turn until a specific trigger is met. The person readying the action has to specify under what condition it applies. You cannot for example, ready an action to attack whenever you feel like later in the turn. A popular readied action would be "I ready my attack to attack the spellcaster if he casts a spell this turn", hoping to disrupt the caster's concentration immediately after. Note that in this case, if you have extra attacks, you would be able to take all of them, as you get a regular Attack action when the trigger happens, not just a single melee attack.
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Player's Handbook - Chapter 9: Combat - The Order of Combat - Your Turn
The whole section goes into detail about when and how many of each type of thing you can do each time its your turn. Some of the basics that it comes down to is:
There can be more, but this would be the basics. Check the section or information on the ability or spell for more.
Good luck and may you roll 20's when you need them and 1's when you need a laugh. - myself