D&D 5E First time playing D&D and I'm the DM. Anyone feeling helpful?

Denalz said:

Session #2 Update

Direct Questions

#1 What could the Yuan-ti want from the bullywugs?
#2 What and how much information should the party reasonably get from the Yuan-ti diplomat?
#3 Should I have the diplomat escape before or after the PC's interrogate her?
#4 What should I have going on at the Temple at Kriel when the PC's get there?
#5 How difficult should I make it to find the Anathema?
#6 Would you guys have more guards or make the temple more trap heavy?
#7 Would you remove Akira from the third act or keep her in the party?
#8 Should I make the final act a sort of "sneak in and go straight for the kill" sort of climax or rather more of an "uh-oh, you've been captured and taken straight to the place you were trying to sneak into, let's see you get yourselves out of this one"?

As always, thank you all for your amazing support on this forum!

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Sounds like your sessions are going really well so congrats on that. I will give advice on each point and then add some of my own at the end.

1. Blood of some kind, bullywug sacrifices, land, authority over the bullywugs, bullywug skins (maybe they could use their skins for potential use of invisibility armor or bullywug organs for invisibility potions. or basically anything cult fanatics would find valuable.

2. There is so much variance with interrogations that this one is hard to handle. If the pureblood is most interested in self preservation then it will make bargains - its release for information. Regardless of circumstances we can reasonably expect the pureblood only say as little as possible that will get it released. If it is a fanatic valuing the cause more than its own life then they will get nothing except lies, deceits, and mis-direction meant to hinder the players unless it is magically compelled to do otherwise and may attempt suicide if it believes escape is not possible. That could change if the players have some sort of leverage for negotiating or maybe just rp really well. Either way it is a diplomat so it will default to bargaining, making deals, and backstabs.

3. The diplomat will try to escape tirelessly if it thinks it can get away with it and thinks that is the best means of survival. It can be interrogated at any time while in captivity but it may not be responsive depending on circumstances if the first round of negotiations/interrogations went poorly.

4. A ritual to revive the ancient avatar of their serpent god which will posess the body of a chosen vessel and lead them into said world domination. Perhaps they find that akiras unborn child makes a suitable agent for sacrifice or perhaps want akiras body for it to be posessed which would explain why they try to kidnap her.

5. Sounds like the anathema is the boss so it should be found at the climax of the adventure. Maybe make escaping the lair the falling action.

6. Do your players like traps and puzzles more than combat? There is your answer. I would err on the side of traps and puzzles since it is a dungeon/lair type thing and so far it seems combat has been prominent in your adventures so far.

7. I would narratively give tbe players the option of saving akira.

8. Why not both? You sneak in, kill the bad guy, get captured, and the falling action is sneaking/breaking out. Just a thought.

Some of my own advice:
For Akira I suggest creating the opportunity for the players to prevent Akira from getting killed/captured to give the players more agency in the matter. For example It could be something like the players have to choose between saving akira or losing the yuan-ti pureblood. They have time to fix one of the problems but not both. That way they can earn akiras advice/knowledge that she has if they choose to save her at the cost of something else.

As for whether the themes and tone is appropriate - ask your players "did you guys think this was too cheesy, corny, dramatic? If yes then try to change it up a bit and maybe find some tropes to focus on and turn them on their heads to subvert player expectations. If they are happy then keep on. You have developed more of a dark/low fantasy which your players seem to be into which is great, just remember the themes and tone when designing sessions.

Denalz said:

In particular, I find it interesting how the DM's style differing from his/her players can make such a big difference. I am a woman and I prefer social interaction as encounters. However, I am running a game for four adult men and while they enjoy some social interaction, the combat is what makes the game for them. Maybe I'll be able to win them over in the future. For now I'm just giving them exactly what they want.

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Well I think the trick is to use a mix that works well for both you and your players. Probably at
least some of your players are ok with some social mixed in with the combat.

Personally I do have a bit of a bugbear with players who say "Get moving!" whenever the party
talks to an NPC and don't seem to think they're actually playing unless in combat. I think such players should (a) shut up and (b) be catered to with reasonably frequent combat opportunities. Likewise a
combat-focused GM should still provide some verbal roleplay opportunities/non-combat encounters for his roleplayer players.

Denalz said:

In particular, I find it interesting how the DM's style differing from his/her players can make such a big difference. I am a woman and I prefer social interaction as encounters. However, I am running a game for four adult men and while they enjoy some social interaction, the combat is what makes the game for them. Maybe I'll be able to win them over in the future. For now I'm just giving them exactly what they want.

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Maybe try social encounters that are goal-oriented (e.g. PCs must get something they need through dealmaking or trickery) rather than drama-oriented (e.g. PCs are conciliators between two NPCs fighting)

Libramarian said:

Maybe try social encounters that are goal-oriented (e.g. PCs must get something they need through dealmaking or trickery) rather than drama-oriented (e.g. PCs are conciliators between two NPCs fighting)

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Yes, so far this has seemed like the best way to draw them in. Hopefully it will get easier as they become more comfortable.

S'mon said:

Personally I do have a bit of a bugbear with players who say "Get moving!" whenever the party
talks to an NPC and don't seem to think they're actually playing unless in combat.

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This drives me nuts as well. Though when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail I suppose.

Positiveimpact3 said:

Sounds like your sessions are going really well so congrats on that. I will give advice on each point and then add some of my own at the end.

2. There is so much variance with interrogations that this one is hard to handle. If the pureblood is most interested in self preservation then it will make bargains - its release for information. Regardless of circumstances we can reasonably expect the pureblood only say as little as possible that will get it released. If it is a fanatic valuing the cause more than its own life then they will get nothing except lies, deceits, and mis-direction meant to hinder the players unless it is magically compelled to do otherwise and may attempt suicide if it believes escape is not possible. That could change if the players have some sort of leverage for negotiating or maybe just rp really well. Either way it is a diplomat so it will default to bargaining, making deals, and backstabs.

Some of my own advice:
For Akira I suggest creating the opportunity for the players to prevent Akira from getting killed/captured to give the players more agency in the matter. For example It could be something like the players have to choose between saving akira or losing the yuan-ti pureblood. They have time to fix one of the problems but not both. That way they can earn akiras advice/knowledge that she has if they choose to save her at the cost of something else.

As for whether the themes and tone is appropriate - ask your players "did you guys think this was too cheesy, corny, dramatic? If yes then try to change it up a bit and maybe find some tropes to focus on and turn them on their heads to subvert player expectations. If they are happy then keep on. You have developed more of a dark/low fantasy which your players seem to be into which is great, just remember the themes and tone when designing sessions.

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These three points were especially helpful. Thank you very much!

Okay guys, I'm planning my first dungeon (in this case a Yuan-ti temple ruin). It will be sparsely inhabited since the Yuan-ti population on this island is just starting to rebuild after the long hibernation. My problem is I'm afraid that in order to have any reasonable number of opponents in there I will run the risk of over-whelming my PC's. I wanted to get your guys's advice on adding elements (objects, allies, ect) that my PC's can potentially use to their advantage when looking for a way to reach their objective. How can I make things potentially easier for them without spoon feeding solutions and while still keeping a convincing number of opponents in the mix? (I have already nerfed the yuan-ti in this temple to bits, I'm looking for more creative ways to level the playing field).

Can someone offer advice or perhaps link an article dealing with this subject?

In traditional dungeon design only about 1/3 of the rooms contain monsters (1/3 have stuff like tricks, traps, & untended treasure, 1/3 empty), not all of which will be automatically hostile. Of course a real fortress will overwhelm all but the strongest parties - so don't design as a fortress, though there may be a few defensive elements.

Spread out the Yuan-Ti. Play up their reptilian nature and have many sleeping or lethargic, especially at night. Perhaps they have drug-fuelled ecstatic religious orgies, like the orgy massacre scene in Conan the Barbarian. In fact the whole Thulsa Doom's lair princess-seizing sequence from Conan TB is a great model. A smart party should be able to sneak in, kill perimeter guards, and take larger forces by surprise. Design your map to facilitate this. Have plenty of options for alternate routes & unguarded areas.

Denalz said:

My problem is I'm afraid that in order to have any reasonable number of opponents in there I will run the risk of over-whelming my PC's. I wanted to get your guys's advice on adding elements (objects, allies, ect) that my PC's can potentially use to their advantage when looking for a way to reach their objective. How can I make things potentially easier for them without spoon feeding solutions and while still keeping a convincing number of opponents in the mix? (I have already nerfed the yuan-ti in this temple to bits, I'm looking for more creative ways to level the playing field).

Can someone offer advice or perhaps link an article dealing with this subject?

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Add multiple ways of entry, and provide npc allies that offer help. Maybe the dungeon can be attacked from multiple sides at once, where their allies clear out one side, while they enter from another?

S'mon said:

Spread out the Yuan-Ti. Play up their reptilian nature and have many sleeping or lethargic, especially at night. Perhaps they have drug-fuelled ecstatic religious orgies, like the orgy massacre scene in Conan the Barbarian. In fact the whole Thulsa Doom's lair princess-seizing sequence from Conan TB is a great model. A smart party should be able to sneak in, kill perimeter guards, and take larger forces by surprise. Design your map to facilitate this. Have plenty of options for alternate routes & unguarded areas.

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^ This. Don't make it linear. Maybe there are multiple routes, and they can sneak around most of the enemies, to reach the leader/boss. In my dungeons there is always a trade off. The route that has less enemies, may require some skill checks instead. Maybe they'll have to climb or swim to make use of an alternate route, and avoid the enemy patrols? Maybe a route is blocked by a heavy stone door, that they may be able to lift? Maybe there's a secret passage that avoids the tunnels patrolled by guards? Maybe they can climb into the rafters of the temple, and safely investigate large rooms without being seen?

Maybe they can find their way into a prison, and release the people imprisoned there. This would give them more allies. Maybe they can rescue an important and powerful npc here, that will provide a plot hook later down the line.

Provide environmental hazards that the players can use to their advantage. Maybe there are large bowls with burning oil, that they can kick over to incinerate large groups of enemies?



The above is an example from one of my own campaigns. The players approach by boat from the tunnel in the bottom left corner, and safely dock out of sight of the pirate skeletons with muskets that are all over this cavernous hide out. They can see that various skeleton guards are watching the water from a watchtower in the middle, and that one skeleton patrols the shore. The door directly north of them, offers them a way to sneak up on the one guard overlooking the shore, or they can take the boat and go into the southern passage, out of view of the watchtower. There is a large skeletal ram guarding the area to the center-north area which they desperately want to get to, but there are also a lot of armed guards. The area to the south east may offer some advantage, but is guarded by a skeleton with a cannon.

What makes this situation interesting, is the fact that the skeletons cannot hear sound (they can only see), and that there is water throughout the dungeon that the players can use to make a stealthy approach. There are multiple roads the players can take, some of which allow them to sneak up on some of the guards from behind. There are deliberate height differences, which provide the enemies with a vantage point, but may also limit their vision if the players stay close to the shore. The players may be outnumbered and outgunned, but with clever play the dungeon can easily be conquered by the players anyway.

S'mon said:

Perhaps they have drug-fuelled ecstatic religious orgies, like the orgy massacre scene in Conan the Barbarian. In fact the whole Thulsa Doom's lair princess-seizing sequence from Conan TB is a great model.

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Love this movie! Good to know there are others out there who can still appreciate the classics.

What do you think about loot? I'm trying to figure out how to balance the amount of money/stuff I give to my players. I feel like it's better to error on the side of abundance.