I’m in the process of setting up my first game, and I’m gonna be the DM. We’re going to do Lmop, but it seems like we’ll have 7 players(and me). Since there’s only five premade, should I have everyone make their own, and just use pdfs for the classes that aren’t in the starter set? Or are there any other premade characters? Thanks
I would say let them make characters. If they don't know what to play give them a premade. Be upfront with what the adventure is like and set boundaries for what sources can be used for race/subclasses. I had a similar number of new players that I ran it with and let them choose their classes as they pleased. Rogue, warlock, monk, monk, ranger, sorcerer, druid, was the make up we had. Things went in very strange direction, swapped out the ranger, warlock, druid, for a rogue and a barbarian. As people lost interest or were unavailable and others joined. I might say to keep things simple just use the pub races and go from there but that is your choice entirely.
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"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Agreed with the others - it's easy enought to let them roll their own characters, so give them the choice between a premade, or rolling their own.
But while it's great you've found seven players to join you... there is a reason there were only 5 premades included. The game is written for between 3 and 5 players. As a first-time DM, the more characters you have to run the game for, the more complicated it's going to be - and the more on-the-fly tweaks you're going to have to make to adjust the difficulty.
I find that groups over 5 players tends to get a bit chaotic - especially when you're also learning the ropes. It's certainly doable - but just be prepared to take a firm hand in keeping everyone on track.
Thanks so much for the suggestions. I’ll be sure to give them a choice between the premade characters and making their own, and I’ll try and tweak the combat to keep it mostly balanced. And things probably will get a little chaotic, but you’re not a real DM until your campaign is ruined immediately because they kill the BBEG in five minutes
And things probably will get a little chaotic, but you’re not a real DM until your campaign is ruined immediately because they kill the BBEG in five minutes
Yeah, 7 players will walk right through Lost Mines without quite a bit of tweaking. This might be a good thing. Letting the players charge through the adventure will give them a nice start and will give you some idea of how capable the group is and what you need to do for future games.
I actually ran into the same issue myself. From my experience I would recommend you not letting them have whatever they want. Keep it limited to only the basic rule sets. Other wise the campaign gets off balanced in the parties favor. Also when you run combat add 1 extra enemy for every party character over 5 and the challenge rating is above 1. Then add 2 for any rating below one. An example of this would be running 9 goblins instead of four goblins during the goblin ambush for a party of 7. Or 7 twig blights instead of 4 twig blights later on.
One of the biggest hurdle for running this campaign without prefab sheets is the plot hooks. Especially with new players. Those prefab hooks are such a great learning tool for role playing and give the characters a baseline on what their specific goals are in this campaign. Maybe try tying some of the characters together with the same plot hook and goals.
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I’m in the process of setting up my first game, and I’m gonna be the DM. We’re going to do Lmop, but it seems like we’ll have 7 players(and me). Since there’s only five premade, should I have everyone make their own, and just use pdfs for the classes that aren’t in the starter set? Or are there any other premade characters? Thanks
I would say let them make characters. If they don't know what to play give them a premade. Be upfront with what the adventure is like and set boundaries for what sources can be used for race/subclasses. I had a similar number of new players that I ran it with and let them choose their classes as they pleased. Rogue, warlock, monk, monk, ranger, sorcerer, druid, was the make up we had. Things went in very strange direction, swapped out the ranger, warlock, druid, for a rogue and a barbarian. As people lost interest or were unavailable and others joined. I might say to keep things simple just use the pub races and go from there but that is your choice entirely.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Just thave them all make a character. The tools here work very well and very fast. Give them a chance to make a character or take one of the premades.
Agreed with the others - it's easy enought to let them roll their own characters, so give them the choice between a premade, or rolling their own.
But while it's great you've found seven players to join you... there is a reason there were only 5 premades included. The game is written for between 3 and 5 players. As a first-time DM, the more characters you have to run the game for, the more complicated it's going to be - and the more on-the-fly tweaks you're going to have to make to adjust the difficulty.
I find that groups over 5 players tends to get a bit chaotic - especially when you're also learning the ropes. It's certainly doable - but just be prepared to take a firm hand in keeping everyone on track.
Good luck.
Thanks so much for the suggestions. I’ll be sure to give them a choice between the premade characters and making their own, and I’ll try and tweak the combat to keep it mostly balanced. And things probably will get a little chaotic, but you’re not a real DM until your campaign is ruined immediately because they kill the BBEG in five minutes
That's the spirit.
Yeah, 7 players will walk right through Lost Mines without quite a bit of tweaking. This might be a good thing. Letting the players charge through the adventure will give them a nice start and will give you some idea of how capable the group is and what you need to do for future games.
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
I actually ran into the same issue myself. From my experience I would recommend you not letting them have whatever they want. Keep it limited to only the basic rule sets. Other wise the campaign gets off balanced in the parties favor. Also when you run combat add 1 extra enemy for every party character over 5 and the challenge rating is above 1. Then add 2 for any rating below one. An example of this would be running 9 goblins instead of four goblins during the goblin ambush for a party of 7. Or 7 twig blights instead of 4 twig blights later on.
One of the biggest hurdle for running this campaign without prefab sheets is the plot hooks. Especially with new players. Those prefab hooks are such a great learning tool for role playing and give the characters a baseline on what their specific goals are in this campaign. Maybe try tying some of the characters together with the same plot hook and goals.