D&D 5E Klaw's Tomb of Annihilation Post Game Show! Session #1 - A Player Character Died Tonight!

[Klaudius Rex]

I've never done a story time, but i don't mind objective feedback from time to time. I'm a veteran DM playing since 2nd Ed. I just wrapped up Out of the Abyss, and now, I'm running my first session of Tomb of Annihilation.

Of course, i always make sure to gauge how my players felt, but bring it to you guys gives me different perspectives. So without delay, i present our first session for what happened tonight during the Tomb of Annihilation campaign.

...Someone died.

But first, let here's my line up.

- Laucian, the moon elf ranger from the Emerald Enclave, who helped get the group from the Baldur's Gate to Port Nyanzaru via the many portals in the nearby Cloakwood Forest. He is an ally of Syndra Silvane;
- Gank, the goliath great weapon fighter from the Clouds Peak Mountains and personal bodyguard of Syndra Silvane;
- Sorath Brightwood, the aasimar cleric from the Order of the Gauntlet in Neverwinter and nurse/caregiver to Syndra Silvane;
- Azari, the wood elf monk who is Syndra Silvane's close friend and fellow guild member of the Harpers;
- Smoking Fur, the tabaxi artificer from Waterdeep, who was hired by Syndra Silvane to research/investigate the Death Curse;
- and, Idril, the half-elf warlock (death patron), who was also hired by Syndra Silvane for her unique specialty and insight into death/disease/etc.

Once in Port Nyanzaru, they met Wakanga O'tamu, who gave them the quest to find Vorn the shield guardian and the control amulet. They also met Xandala and Summerwise, who gave them the quest to find Artus Cimber. After gathering some provisions, they set off into the jungle in search of Vorn, thinking that was the quickest and easiest quest to start with.

Along the way, they were followed by some non-threatening aldani (lobster-men). No combat arose, but the players sure considered killing them for dinner!

They ultimately found Vorn the defunct shield guardian, who was venerated as an idol by surrounding goblins, grung, and vegepygmyies the area. Upon further investigation, the group followed the goblin foot prints north to Yellyark, the home of the Biting Ant Tribe of Batari Goblins. The group was undecided on how to deal with the 40 goblins (24 adults, 15 children, and Queen Grabstab the goblin boss who had Vorn's control amulet) that lived there. No one in the group spoke goblin.

Azari decided to approach the goblin tribe alone, imposing herself into the center of the tribe. The goblins barked "Yellyark!" at her with spears drawn at her. When Azari persisted, the goblins attacked. The rest of the group watched from jungle foliage while doing their best with ranged attackes, but ultimately felt outnumbered.

It was a bad start to the campaign, and Azari died in battle.

I know 40 goblins and a goblin boss sounds way too much for a party of 1st level characters, but i really didn't think it was proper to scale down this encounter. This is what was presented in the book, and as a gaming group, we all decided to play the game to as close to the book as possible.

Even so, it could have been handled better, in my opinion, and the rest of the group agrees. In hindsight, the rest of the group thought that overcoming the language barrier with the goblins could have been done by bringing the shield guardian to the goblins, in an attempt to perhaps deceive them, but definitely trying to parlay.
Keep in mind that there is no rogue in the group.

We ended the session with the goblins quickly escaping the area via canoe, which will develop into a short chase next session.

So what do you think?
Should I have nerfed the goblin tribe? Should i have played softball on day #1 with my party of six 1st level players? Or did Azari the monk act prematurely, and is her death her own doing?

I am at peace with how things went down tonight. No one is mad or bent out of shape about what happened here. Even my wife, who plays Azari admits it was a bad move to just barge right in to a goblin tribe alone. But in her defense, what else could have been done? Bad communication, crazy jungle goblins, and no other solutions offered, she just decided to act unilaterally.

I felt bad that she died, of course...but the goblins would not have relented.

Tell me what you think.
(I don't mind if you think i'm the worse DM ever, just be nice about it...)

 

[sim-h]

I think the player certainly made a risky call to walk on in there.

The only thing perhaps you could have done different was to have the goblins overpower the monk and prepare to sacrifice/cook/ransom her later - giving the other 5 PCs a chance to launch a surprise assault or come up with some other plan. Such as kidnapping the chief and demanding an exchange.

 

[Bolares]

Maybe giving the goblin queen the abillity to speak common?

 

[Dan Chernozub]

Maybe giving the goblin queen the abillity to speak common?

Or even better, some rarer language in possesion of one or more of the PCs. Say, Giant? Also makes total sense for the Goblin to know.

 

[Klaudius Rex]

Maybe giving the goblin queen the abillity to speak common?

I like your idea about giving the goblin boss the ability to talk to the characters, either in common or some other language. After all, the Monster Manuel says goblins can speak common. I just felt they were a backwards race of rarer goblins living in the primitive jungles of Chult without much social interaction with civilization. So admittedly, i took the goblins ability to communicate with the players away. Perhaps that was an error on my part as DM. You're right.

This could have made a difference in the monk not dying, but would it have made a difference in the goblins simply giving up the control amulet to the shield guardian? The goblins and the goblin boss dont know that the amulet has anything to do with the shield guardian. The amulet is a symbol of leadership for Queen Grabstab the goblin boss, and the defunct shield guardian miles away venerated by the goblin tribe as an idol.

I'm interested in what you would do or come up with if you were a player presented with this scenario, and its fun to speculate! So let me know.

Either way, i think we can all agree that asserting yourself into the goblin tribe alone was probably not a good idea...

 

[Dan Chernozub]

[MENTION=6807408]Klaudius Rex[/MENTION]

Goliaths speak Giant, do they?

As a player - it depends greatly on your DMing and group style. Generally when there is a group of evil humanoids are in possesion of an object I need and it is not possible to communicate with them, the general course of action is clear. Execution, however, requires more details.

What is the terrain? Does the tribe has any enemies nearby? What are our spellcasting options?

 

[Oofta]

I think you did it correctly. Assuming the situation was clear (it seems it was) the PC took an incredible, unnecessary risk.

I might have given the goblins a handful of words in common, and tried to use some pantomiming to get ideas across. Or perhaps one goblin (or human slave) is an interpreter?

But it's something I work out with my players. Generally speaking adventuring is a risky business and if you do something stupid I won't go out of my way to save your PC.

 

[Klaudius Rex]

I think you did it correctly. Assuming the situation was clear (it seems it was) the PC took an incredible, unnecessary risk.

I might have given the goblins a handful of words in common, and tried to use some pantomiming to get ideas across. Or perhaps one goblin (or human slave) is an interpreter?

But it's something I work out with my players. Generally speaking adventuring is a risky business and if you do something stupid I won't go out of my way to save your PC.

Thanks.

That's refreshing to hear. I'm not claiming to be the best DM, but i definitely thought that i played the goblins true.

The goblins actually tried to communicate a trade with the other players, pointing at their pack lizard (beast of burden) in exchange for the corpse of the dead monk player.

This was after the monk fell in combat however. I guess it wasnt much of a good trade, but goblins arnt the brightest bunch. And, perhaps, this was a little too late either way....

 

[iserith]

So what do you think?
Should I have nerfed the goblin tribe? Should i have played softball on day #1 with my party of six 1st level players? Or did Azari the monk act prematurely, and is her death her own doing?

Based on your account, the players were aware of the risk and made an informed choice the result of which is reasonable if not entirely predictable. As long as nothing about your description of the goblins suggested that they wouldn't kill someone invading their camp then I'd say you're in the clear. The best we can hope for is that we've properly communicated the risks to the players and that they're making a decision based on that, whatever it is. We can also hope that the outcome is fun for the player, even if it's not so great for the character. (A glorious death can be fun for players, after all.)

Unless I missed something, it's not clear to me what Azari was trying to do when she entered the camp, but before the goblins attacked. Perhaps there was some wiggle-room there for some outcome other than her death. I'm a player in this adventure, so I don't know the backstory or the goals of the goblins. Our group attacked them because a previous encounter with goblins trying to steal our stuff left us with a bad taste in our mouths.

What I'm more curious about is what exactly prompted your wife to make such a risky move. I can imagine a scenario, based on previous experiences with various groups, where the players have talked over their options for a good long time with no resolution only to see one frustrated player just take action on his or her own. This is pretty common in some groups so far as I can tell. Is that something like what happened here? Because, if so, then any dissatisfaction as to the matter might actually be because of that rather than Azari's death. Addressing a problem of the group coming to consensus might be a good idea if that's what happened.

I felt bad that she died, of course...but the goblins would not have relented.

Well, they could have relented. But you chose otherwise. There is nothing that a fictional creature entirely in your control would do. Only might or could. I'm not saying your choice was right or wrong, mind you, but that you had a choice.

 

[Klaudius Rex]

What I'm more curious about is what exactly prompted your wife to make such a risky move. I can imagine a scenario, based on previous experiences with various groups, where the players have talked over their options for a good long time with no resolution only to see one frustrated player just take action on his or her own. This is pretty common in some groups so far as I can tell. Is that something like what happened here? Because, if so, then any dissatisfaction as to the matter might actually be because of that rather than Azari's death. Addressing a problem of the group coming to consensus might be a good idea if that's what happened.

Good point, Iserith! You always have good input on these boards!

So yeah, i think she just got fed up with the rest of the group who were mulling over how to handle a tribe of 40 goblins. There was discussion among the group members previously, but no consensus was made, and she just decided to get in there and try to "reason" with the wild and savage goblins herself (which is still odd because she doesn't even have the highest charisma!?)

No one got upset at her or anything, but i think there was a lot of disappointment that she went on in without some sort of backup plan or getting the rest of the group involved.