D&D 5E My New Players Have Quit 5th Edition

ren1999 · Jul 10, 2014

There is nothing quite like introducing two new players to 5th Edition and having their pregenerated characters die in the surprise round of the 1st encounter without getting to take any actions.

No I will not start a campaign at 3rd level.
No I will not fudge numbers.
No I will not play monsters stupidly.
No I will not award Clerics with bonus actions to keep allies alive.

That is one thing I specifically asked. I asked for a higher starting hit point variant. ..was denied.

Mercurius · Jul 10, 2014

ren1999 said:
There is nothing quite like introducing two new players to 5th Edition and having their pregenerated characters die in the surprise round of the 1st encounter without getting to take any actions.

No I will not start a campaign at 3rd level.
No I will not fudge numbers.
No I will not play monsters stupidly.
No I will not award Clerics with bonus actions to keep allies alive.

That is one thing I specifically asked. I asked for a higher starting hit point variant. ..was denied.

Good thing you can:

A) House rule
B) Fudge numbers (why are you so insistent upon this, especially just starting out?)
C) Play a different game/edition

Ruin Explorer · Jul 10, 2014

ren1999 said:
There is nothing quite like introducing two new players to 5th Edition and having their pregenerated characters die in the surprise round of the 1st encounter without getting to take any actions.

No I will not start a campaign at 3rd level.
No I will not fudge numbers.
No I will not play monsters stupidly.
No I will not award Clerics with bonus actions to keep allies alive.

That is one thing I specifically asked. I asked for a higher starting hit point variant. ..was denied.

Whilst I totally agree that 5E's decision to make L1 PCs "one-shot central" was ill-advised in the extreme, and that your "I will nots" are reasonable, on the whole, you could have just upped starting HP yourself, in anticipation of the rule which may or may not be in the DMG...

Vicar In A Tutu · Jul 10, 2014

Well, your request might not have been "denied" just yet. I would wait until the DMG is released, there might be an optional higher starting hit point variant in it. And if there isn't, it's quite easy to just increase starting hit points. If I were you, I would gladly "rewind" to before the battle and try it again, seeing as the players were new to the game. When I play with new players, I make it a priority to teach them the game and make sure they have fun. That way, they will want to play with me again

Agamon · Jul 10, 2014

ren1999 said:
There is nothing quite like introducing two new players to 5th Edition and having their pregenerated characters die in the surprise round of the 1st encounter without getting to take any actions.

Two players? Did they have 2 PCs each? Was the encounter balanced for two PCs if not? Even that is a struggle, as less PCs means more swinginess.

I've had a death and a near death in my four sessions of 5e I've run, but nothing near a TPK, especially before anyone can act.

Xodis · Jul 10, 2014

I may be in the minority but I like having danger like that. Sure it starts out rough and hard to get a grasp early on, but so does the Dark Souls video game. Just remind them "this is hard mode" and watch as they become more determined and focused (in my experience anyways). Weak characters need teamwork and caution to survive, I'm tired of systems holding everyone's hand until they get ready for "normal mode".

Patrick McGill · Jul 10, 2014

I had the opposite experience. I felt like the party steamrolled most of the encounters up to Klarg.

DonAdam · Jul 10, 2014

There's nothing special about first level. First level just denotes a certain level of competence. If you don't want to run campaigns for characters at that level of competence, don't run at first level.

Mark CMG · Jul 10, 2014

Patrick McGill said:
I had the opposite experience. I felt like the party steamrolled most of the encounters up to Klarg.

I'll find out soon if that happens with me. With such experienced players, it is not unlikely. Might come down to the dice, particularly regarding watery grave type stuff, if you know what I mean . . .

Nagol · Jul 10, 2014

I had a similar situation with MERP.

I couldn't stop rolling open-ended critical results. After three sessions against successively weaker opponents all ended in TPK, I retired the game system.