The adventure book with the essentials kit has you going somewhere with orcs and ogres and it says it's for level 1-6 players. An orc or ogre can literally kill you in one blow. How is that even fair? And how is that even suggested for level 1 characters?
Because in theory you don't encounter the orc until level 2 OR you only meet one or two of them and you have three to five friends with you.
That's not how this story works. It's just one of the quests and you can do it whenever. And the higher the player level the more orcs and ogres you have to deal with.
Keep in mind you don't die at 0 HP; following typical play patterns you'll have at least 3 rounds of death saves before you croak, and any healing, use of a Healer's Kit, or a successful low DC Medicine check either gets you back on your feet from healing or stabilizes you in the other two cases. The first level or two do have the potential for really quick kills from even level appropriate encounters due to the nature of bounded damage and HP at that point, although getting your max hit die roll at level 1 is supposed to help offset this. If you've only got like 6 health and low AC, stay back and use cover. It is a weak point in the system and part of the reason why lots of DMs like to start in the 3-5 range, but most enemies have low enough attack mods that you shouldn't be dying all that frequently before you get the buffer of another level or two.
Keep in mind you don't die at 0 HP; following typical play patterns you'll have at least 3 rounds of death saves before you croak, and any healing, use of a Healer's Kit, or a successful low DC Medicine check either gets you back on your feet from healing or stabilizes you in the other two cases. The first level or two do have the potential for really quick kills from even level appropriate encounters due to the nature of bounded damage and HP at that point, although getting your max hit die roll at level 1 is supposed to help offset this. If you've only got like 6 health and low AC, stay back and use cover. It is a weak point in the system and part of the reason why lots of DMs like to start in the 3-5 range, but most enemies have low enough attack mods that you shouldn't be dying all that frequently before you get the buffer of another level or two.
I didn't know a healer can heal you if you're dying. I have a bard that has cure wounds and healing words. Those work? Does the healing spell fully restore health as per the roll?
That was my own fault, I'm playing with only 2 characters. I kept my healer behind me so she wouldn't die and she could keep me healed. Luckily I didn't need any death saves and my healer kept getting good rolls and the monsters missed often. I'm just soloing through unofficially anyhow like with the starter kit just to get a feel for the game. Hopefully one day I'll be DMing a game.
Also, note that most published adventures are designed for parties of four to six PCs. If you are running less than that, you would typically reduce the difficulty of the combat encounters, to reduce the chances of the party being overwhelmed just due to poor luck. https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/dmg-2024/running-the-game#GroupSize
No worries, in either case the rules about damage/healing and scaling encounters can help a DM and players avoid unintentionally deadly outcomes. Player choices of abilities and spells can also help—temporary hit points, damage resistances, and the like can make PCs more survivable. Good luck!
No worries, in either case the rules about damage/healing and scaling encounters can help a DM and players avoid unintentionally deadly outcomes. Player choices of abilities and spells can also help—temporary hit points, damage resistances, and the like can make PCs more survivable. Good luck!
So basically the DM can alter anything they want to make the game easier or harder, like the precise difficulty settings that's becoming more of a common thing in video games?
No worries, in either case the rules about damage/healing and scaling encounters can help a DM and players avoid unintentionally deadly outcomes. Player choices of abilities and spells can also help—temporary hit points, damage resistances, and the like can make PCs more survivable. Good luck!
So basically the DM can alter anything they want to make the game easier or harder, like the precise difficulty settings that's becoming more of a common thing in video games?
Yes in fact it's one of the main roles of the DM - to adjust the difficulty to what your table finds enjoyable. Some tables like the risk of death and want hard combat, others prefer fun story telling and want easy combat with little risk of death.
No worries, in either case the rules about damage/healing and scaling encounters can help a DM and players avoid unintentionally deadly outcomes. Player choices of abilities and spells can also help—temporary hit points, damage resistances, and the like can make PCs more survivable. Good luck!
So basically the DM can alter anything they want to make the game easier or harder, like the precise difficulty settings that's becoming more of a common thing in video games?
Yes in fact it's one of the main roles of the DM - to adjust the difficulty to what your table finds enjoyable. Some tables like the risk of death and want hard combat, others prefer fun story telling and want easy combat with little risk of death.
Fun story telling is my favorite speed. I always dumb down my video games so I can enjoy the story and atmosphere more. Good to know I can do the same here. My solo campaign thanks you. Also my future players if I ever DM thank you as well.
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The adventure book with the essentials kit has you going somewhere with orcs and ogres and it says it's for level 1-6 players. An orc or ogre can literally kill you in one blow. How is that even fair? And how is that even suggested for level 1 characters?
Because in theory you don't encounter the orc until level 2 OR you only meet one or two of them and you have three to five friends with you.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
That's not how this story works. It's just one of the quests and you can do it whenever. And the higher the player level the more orcs and ogres you have to deal with.
Keep in mind you don't die at 0 HP; following typical play patterns you'll have at least 3 rounds of death saves before you croak, and any healing, use of a Healer's Kit, or a successful low DC Medicine check either gets you back on your feet from healing or stabilizes you in the other two cases. The first level or two do have the potential for really quick kills from even level appropriate encounters due to the nature of bounded damage and HP at that point, although getting your max hit die roll at level 1 is supposed to help offset this. If you've only got like 6 health and low AC, stay back and use cover. It is a weak point in the system and part of the reason why lots of DMs like to start in the 3-5 range, but most enemies have low enough attack mods that you shouldn't be dying all that frequently before you get the buffer of another level or two.
I didn't know a healer can heal you if you're dying. I have a bard that has cure wounds and healing words. Those work? Does the healing spell fully restore health as per the roll?
That was my own fault, I'm playing with only 2 characters. I kept my healer behind me so she wouldn't die and she could keep me healed. Luckily I didn't need any death saves and my healer kept getting good rolls and the monsters missed often. I'm just soloing through unofficially anyhow like with the starter kit just to get a feel for the game. Hopefully one day I'll be DMing a game.
If a PC goes unconscious and you use a spell to heal say 8 hp, then the unconscious PC wakes up with that many hp.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
The previous posters are correct re healing, etc. it is actually pretty rare for a player character to outright die from one blow, even at first level. Check out the rules on damage and healing for more detail: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/playing-the-game#DamageandHealing
Also, note that most published adventures are designed for parties of four to six PCs. If you are running less than that, you would typically reduce the difficulty of the combat encounters, to reduce the chances of the party being overwhelmed just due to poor luck. https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/dmg-2024/running-the-game#GroupSize
Also, here are the guidelines in the DMG for scaling encounters to party level: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/combat#CombatEncounterDifficulty
I didn't mean literally die I meant go to 0hp
No worries, in either case the rules about damage/healing and scaling encounters can help a DM and players avoid unintentionally deadly outcomes. Player choices of abilities and spells can also help—temporary hit points, damage resistances, and the like can make PCs more survivable. Good luck!
So basically the DM can alter anything they want to make the game easier or harder, like the precise difficulty settings that's becoming more of a common thing in video games?
Yes in fact it's one of the main roles of the DM - to adjust the difficulty to what your table finds enjoyable. Some tables like the risk of death and want hard combat, others prefer fun story telling and want easy combat with little risk of death.
Fun story telling is my favorite speed. I always dumb down my video games so I can enjoy the story and atmosphere more. Good to know I can do the same here. My solo campaign thanks you. Also my future players if I ever DM thank you as well.