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Neptune #994565 Sun 05/07/20 15:38 UTC
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I wanted to share my experiences of running Lost Mine of Phandelver with you guys. smile

Notably, I've been running for a friend's kids, brothers aged 6 and 10, their dad and mum, and two other friends.

Asking what they wanted to play, the 6 year old wanted to be a dragon, the 10 year old a fireball-throwing wizard, a la Arrowhead's remake of the classic Gauntlet coin-op.

So I used playable dragon wyrmling race from the DM's Guild, and the Expert class from Unearthed Arcana. That gave me a playable dragon whose schtick is helping other PCs (using the Help action). This felt like a responsible match-up for the 6 year old.

For the 10 year old I created a Draconic Heritage Sorcerer, who in the fiction is the half-brother of the dragon, allowing the two brothers to play as brothers. This has worked well so far.

  • Brass Dragon Wyrmling Expert
  • Forest Gnome Druid(Dream)
  • Human Paladin(Vengeance)
  • Human Sorcerer(Draconic)
  • Mountain Dwarf Fighter(Cavalier)
  • Wood Elf Revised Ranger(Hunter) *From Unearthed Arcana


The party's done fine so far, even though I've been beefing up the encounters using Haluz's adjuster.

http://haluz.org/lmop/

I've been using these printed encounter cards and a pencil to track combat:

https://i.redd.it/5z4vowilywy11.png

There's been a lot of whiffing of rolls, some rounds where it seems no-one, not even the GM can roll above an 8! These can be a bit frustrating. Neptune, Zeim, do you guys find that when you play, or does my group have cursed dice? [Looks around for pchan -NM]

We've just completed the Redbrand Hideout under Tresendar Manor, but the most deadly encounter so far, by a long shot, has been that very first goblin ambush. We were on the cusp of a TPK there. eek

The PCs are all 3rd level now, and most of the classes are coming into their own.

The only class that's underwhelming us is the Cavalier. In theory, it's a clever way for your tanky Dwarf Fighter to draw aggro from a troublesome boss monster, but in practice it lacks offensive bite.

For example, our Vengeance Paladin can draw aggro just by dealing so much damn damage the enemy would be crazy to ignore her. With her plate armour, she can tank the hits too.

In essence, why try to grab aggro using a special ability when just pumping out damage has roughly the same effect, with the added pro of killing the enemy quicker.

The Cavalier's player might stick with it, but I've created him a Minotaur Zealot Barbarian to consider before we play next. Putting out 3d6+6 on a rage attack should allow the player to feel he's making a worthwhile contribution.

Neptune, Zeim, what's your opinion on Crowd-Control builds like Cavalier, or indeed Arus in this game (Conqueror Paladin)? Do they pan out eventually?

MikeD. Revised Ranger is an interesting class btw. I prefer it to standard Ranger as it has a more unique style, being largely front-loaded with abilities and making favoured enemy really strong as a schtick. Especially if you choose Goblinoid in the Phandelver module!! weg As a GM I wouldn't allow it as a multiclass option though, nor allow use of any subclasses outside of those in its Unearthed Arcana article.

We'll be heading to Thundertree next, so I think another very deadly encounter is on the cards and we'll have some dragon vs dragon action! grin

Next session I'm starting everyone with an Inspiration point, and will start using an Escalation Dice mechanic, like in 13th Age.

This will be a 1d3, starting at 1 in 1st Round, 2 in 2nd, 3 in 3rd and onwards. My plan is for this bonus to apply to attack and damage, like a magic weapon, and will even apply on a miss. So if, say, the Ranger misses his attack, instead of doing 0 damage, he'll do 1, 2 or 3, depending on the Ecalation Dice in that round.

The idea behind this is to speed up combat, since we're playing by Zoom at the moment. The kids are great at sitting at the table and paying attention (probably better than us adults tbh), but when we're all whiffing rolls, everyone including the GM starts to get a bit bored.

Last edited by nemarsde; Sun 05/07/20 15:54 UTC.
Neptune #994570 Sun 05/07/20 17:31 UTC
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Neil - First, yes, it can be frustrating when no one is rolling high enough to hit. There is usually more camaraderie about that when you play FTF, so it's less impactful, but on Zoom it can indeed get boring.

The Goblin ambush is indeed quite deadly. The dragon attack is dangerous as well, especially if the party is better at HTH combat than ranged as the dragon can fly around and breathe on everyone until they're dead. Also dangerous was the fight to clear out Cragmaw Castle.

As for crowd control builds, using 4e terms you had 2 kinds. The "Controller", who usually was a spellcaster type who could use things like Web, Hold Person, Slow, etc to 'manage' the battlefield or the "Defender" type, who excelled in being 'sticky'. i.e. the pc who ran up into a group of foes and made it very difficult for them to move away from him thus forcing them to attack him instead of others.

Both of these could be very important for a party, BUT the player of them has to have the right mindset to play them. I played an Elven Defender type in a 4e game Neptune ran and my focus as I levelled up was increasing my AC, Temp HP, and retaliatory skills. I enjoyed rushing into a group of enemies and effectively making them waste their turns trying to hit me or get thru my temporary hps, and the few times they did hit me I would get an automatic return attack. In the meantime the rest of the group could stay safe and pick them off with ranged attacks.

However neither of those pc types usually does a lot of damage, which is why I said you had to have the right mindset. If you can get enjoyment by frustrating the DM (by disrupting the ability of his monsters to use their powers effectively) then you can have fun with those types of pcs. If, however, you want to blow things up with Fireballs, get massive damage (like with a Rogues backstab bonuses), or get multiple attacks with your 2-handed sword with big damage plusses then you need to play "Striker" types, again using 4e terms.

Last edited by Zeim; Sun 05/07/20 17:32 UTC.
Neptune #994575 Sun 05/07/20 18:41 UTC
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Thanks Zeim. The party is evenly split with range and melee, so the dragon shouldn't have it all its own way. Also, the party has its own dragon, so I have no idea how that'll play out. wink Awesome, I hope.

Regarding crowd control, there are probably some classes that do it well in 5e, I just haven't come across them yet. It's also possible the best crowd control will come from a wizard, rather than a high concept subclass. Cavalier and Conqueror have been underwhelming in their effectiveness so far, though I think Conqueror's jam comes online at 7th level.

My Cavalier player has the right mindset, I guess you could describe the problem as the class feels compromised. It's a subpar damage dealer and subpar controller, struggling to make an impact with either.

Neptune #994577 Sun 05/07/20 18:42 UTC
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I have always hated the 'randomness' of dice to some degree. It =can= be interesting in character creation, for example, but can =really= suck in combat <sigh>

Unfortunately I have never found anything better <g>


MikeD
Neptune #995409 Fri 17/07/20 15:01 UTC
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I want to apologize if I'm a bit slow at the moment. While I'm now "temporarily retired" (lost my job to COVID-19 but am not eager to get right back to work), I've been keeping very busy with other things. There are about two dozen house projects that I've been deferring for years. Now that I have the time, I'm doing them. I've reshaped my garden, sealed my driveway, ripped up old carpeting, painted half my house, etc. My current project is planting a hedge. So, if I'm slow, it's because I collapsed after doing way more physical work than I've done in decades.


-Nep
Neptune #995415 Fri 17/07/20 15:28 UTC
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<heh heh heh> I remember when I first retired. Took me almost 2 years to actually divest myself of all those ... 'commitments' that I no longer felt the need to keep up with <wink>

Take your time. We get it and we will be here!! Well ... at least =I= will be here <chuckle>


MikeD
Neptune #995435 Fri 17/07/20 17:23 UTC
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I get it. Summer is outdoors season so work a full day then go out and do manual labor for a couple of hours and yeah beat up. But if I don't do it now it will be winter and I won't be doing it then.

Neptune #995439 Fri 17/07/20 18:04 UTC
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Perfect reason to put it off ... if ya ask me <weg>


MikeD
Neptune #995519 Sat 18/07/20 18:06 UTC
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Nah. I'll be done by today with this project. I'm just taking a 15 minute breather right now. I am laying down a hedge at the end of the driveway (2000 square feet) I just sealed by myself.
[Linked Image]

I needed to build a retaining wall which included setting 30 cinder blocks - some of which I had to dig up from other places on my property. Beyond that wall is a 10-20 foot artificial cliff. When they built my house it was on a slope and there was no place to put a driveway. So they got a few dozen yards of old cement blocks (sidewalks and chucks of road they had dug up elsewhere), piled it up and dumped a few tons of dirt on it to make a plateau. Then they planted arborvitae trees as a hedge to hide their shoddy work. Here's what they did:
[Linked Image]

Needless to say, they did the job the cheap way and mother nature took care of the rest. One great feature of those trees is that they are meat and potatoes for deer. To top it off, rain and erosion has toppled most of the trees because the jackass that planted trees planted them too close to the edge of the precipice without doing anything to slow the erosion. That's why there are trees on top of those concrete slabs.

I planted a small hedge at the end of my driveway at the most dangerous spot for cars a few years back and decided to wrap it around. Notice that I cut off all the dead limbs that the deer ate. And no, these trees don't grow on an angle. The dear try to climb them and to get at the leaves. The plan is to plant a "deer safe" hedge under the trees. I am planting Wax Leaf Privit.
[Linked Image]

I cut down or dug up the old trees and started to build a bed for the plants. (BTW, I live in the county of Rockland, which got it's name appropriately). There's a 30-50 lb rock under every square foot of dirt. My muscles are bulging! I can hurl these rocks 10-15 inches! I'll use those rocks to build a natural rock edging in front the plants. Notice the cinder blocks I'm seeting in the back (no, I did not level them yet). Those suckers are heavy!
[Linked Image]

Next I have to prep the soil, plant the seedlings, top it all off with mulch and build the rock wall. Not much!




-Nep
Neptune #995523 Sat 18/07/20 19:13 UTC
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Sux ta be a home 'owner' ... I should know, I have had a couple!! I am much happier in this 'edition' where the 'edition' is responsible for almost all of the 'routine maintenance' <weg>


MikeD
Neptune #995525 Sat 18/07/20 19:25 UTC
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nem Offline
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This is how I do it when it comes to gardening.

NSFW

Neptune #995735 Thu 23/07/20 11:16 UTC
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I was thinking, with all of us split up around Triboar it will take a magnitude more GM work to push us through to the next step of the adventure.

Maybe we could agree here to do a "Star Wars Wipe" and pick up en route to Yartar or something? What do you reckon, Neptune?

We can always back-fill crucial details as they crop up.

Neptune #995737 Thu 23/07/20 11:58 UTC
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I am good with what ever works best for the GM <g>


MikeD
Neptune #995770 Fri 24/07/20 13:20 UTC
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Nah. No need. It was a crazy week for a lot of reasons. I'm going to post shortly.


-Nep
Neptune #996298 Sun 02/08/20 07:15 UTC
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Forgot about my idea for sending ravens. Didn't realize the distances involved because the spell only lasts 1 hour and they wouldn't reach any of the big cities in time.

Neptune #996299 Sun 02/08/20 10:47 UTC
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Ah. OK, just scratch it. I considered that mostly favor as it wasn't central to the plot. I liked the idea because it kept reminding be about the ravens in Game of Thrones


-Nep
Neptune #997176 Fri 14/08/20 08:55 UTC
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nem Offline
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Hey guys, I wanted to share this with you.

Wizards of the Coast are conducting their annual 'how we play the game' D&D survey. I figure we'd all have an opinion.

https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/dd-survey-2020

Neptune #997186 Fri 14/08/20 11:44 UTC
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Long survey but in the hope it might make a positive influence for the future I persevered wink

Neptune #997187 Fri 14/08/20 11:49 UTC
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Yeah, same here

Neptune #997205 Fri 14/08/20 12:59 UTC
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nem Offline
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Same. lol I always get confused by surveys that start asking what percentage of the time I do XYZ though. I mean, who can honestly give an accurate answer without some serious record-keeping.

Neptune #997227 Fri 14/08/20 16:27 UTC
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I did the survey. I kept hoping they would offer to take my first born. They never did. So disappointed. How am I going to summon a demon? angel

Neptune #997242 Fri 14/08/20 17:58 UTC
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Hell ... they could have =ALL= my kids ... =and= their mother <gd&r lmao>


MikeD
Neptune #997366 Sat 15/08/20 16:55 UTC
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Just completed. Do I get experience points?


-Nep
Neptune #997369 Sat 15/08/20 17:30 UTC
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Pretty sure it is a effect like level drain.

Neptune #997373 Sat 15/08/20 19:12 UTC
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They should incentivise it by giving 1 year free subscription to D&D Beyond or something. Missing a trick really.

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