Yeah; you would have had super ridiculous luck on both ends in order to win with that fight, even with a surprise round. This sounds like insane luck on one end as well as terrible initiative rolling & damage rolling from the PC end.
D&D 5E My New Players Have Quit 5th Edition
Yeah; you would have had super ridiculous luck on both ends in order to win with that fight, even with a surprise round. This sounds like insane luck on one end as well as terrible initiative rolling & damage rolling from the PC end.
Charles Wright
First Post
Have you tried just starting over?
sidonunspa
First Post
Yep.. and there is no RPG....with a threat of character death... in which that can't happen.
Halivar
First Post
Oh yeah? In my campaign everyone starts the game with a death save, laying in a ditch covered with a tarp.
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Rhenny
Adventurer
In 5e Surprise is really powerful.
I'd really limit how often monsters surprise the party even if the adventure calls for perception checks. Use surprise for when it is essential for the story (otherwise, let one of the little buggers step on a twig and make a little noise at the last second...or give the party a 2nd chance to act after the enemy gets 1 or 2 shots in).
On the other hand, I like that the power of surprise encourages players to play stealthfully and plan as they explore new areas.
The PDF rules have a great sentence about surprise that needs to be taken seriously:
"Surprising Foes. If the adventurers encounter a
hostile creature or group, the DM determines whether
the adventurers or their foes might be surprised when
combat erupts." p. 65
So, even if it later goes on to call for stealth or perception rolls vs. passive, it is ultimately up to the DM.
I'd really limit how often monsters surprise the party even if the adventure calls for perception checks. Use surprise for when it is essential for the story (otherwise, let one of the little buggers step on a twig and make a little noise at the last second...or give the party a 2nd chance to act after the enemy gets 1 or 2 shots in).
On the other hand, I like that the power of surprise encourages players to play stealthfully and plan as they explore new areas.
The PDF rules have a great sentence about surprise that needs to be taken seriously:
"Surprising Foes. If the adventurers encounter a
hostile creature or group, the DM determines whether
the adventurers or their foes might be surprised when
combat erupts." p. 65
So, even if it later goes on to call for stealth or perception rolls vs. passive, it is ultimately up to the DM.
wippersnappers /rolleyes
In my day we had to walk through clouds of poisonous gas just to get to the encounter. And it was save or die!
I remember surprise always being powerful really lol. I normally use surprise actions for monsters as a chance to get into a more favorable position making the battle more difficult without the added chance of straight up cutting PCs down before they can respond.
darjr
I crit!
My first game of 5e was a TPK... well not Kill, cept for one.
At the first they spent way more resources than they needed to, and didn't rest, at all.
Then at the next place they split up right away. Isolated and with the bad guys alerted, well you know what happened.
The wizard was eventually killed outright and the others knocked out, the halfling was the last to go, he could have run away, but decided to try and rescue his friends.
they all woke up in the 'larder' with their dead wizard on the spit. Next Wednesday will prove interesting, methinks.
At the first they spent way more resources than they needed to, and didn't rest, at all.
Then at the next place they split up right away. Isolated and with the bad guys alerted, well you know what happened.
The wizard was eventually killed outright and the others knocked out, the halfling was the last to go, he could have run away, but decided to try and rescue his friends.
they all woke up in the 'larder' with their dead wizard on the spit. Next Wednesday will prove interesting, methinks.
You know, there is one valid point here: Starting at level 1 is not newbie-friendly. The Starter Set should really kick things off at 3, with starting at level 1 being presented as a "hard option."
But, that said... come on! Your players may have been newbies but you're not. Levels 1 and 2 are fragile by design, because there is a large segment of the player base that wants to start fragile and get tough. For those who want things otherwise, there is a solution in the rules: Start at level 3. And if you don't like that solution, 5E is designed to support kitbashing. Decide how many bonus hit points you want to hand out, and hand them out. And if you don't like that solution, you can wait to see what the PHB and DMG have to offer. You know, the books that actually have the modules and options in 'em.
Or, you can refuse to play 5E until it does every single thing you want, exactly the way you want it, out of the box. Good luck with that.
But, that said... come on! Your players may have been newbies but you're not. Levels 1 and 2 are fragile by design, because there is a large segment of the player base that wants to start fragile and get tough. For those who want things otherwise, there is a solution in the rules: Start at level 3. And if you don't like that solution, 5E is designed to support kitbashing. Decide how many bonus hit points you want to hand out, and hand them out. And if you don't like that solution, you can wait to see what the PHB and DMG have to offer. You know, the books that actually have the modules and options in 'em.
Or, you can refuse to play 5E until it does every single thing you want, exactly the way you want it, out of the box. Good luck with that.
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