D&D 5E Lost Mine of Phandelver session with a new DM and new players

[Rabbitbait]

I am going to start up The Lost Mines of Phandelver for my hardcore gaming group. My pre-write up is here:


http://velvetsojourn.com/blog/the-lost-mine-of-phandelver-hardcore-game-dm-debrief-part-0/


My problem, is that unlike with my home game, all the players came up with non-vague backstories independently. They didn't leave me with a lot to tie together, like my home group did. Right now the only thing I came up with is a Drow invasion. Does anyone have some ideas or advice?

I had a similar issue. The key is to have them start off with a vested interest and loyalty to Rockseeker. I did it by asking the players to choose a loyalty to either Rockseeker or the "legitimate businessman" Baron von Rutgar" who is funding Rockseeker mission. In the case of von Rutgar I let the players know that the mission was more than a simple caravan delivery and that their patron would consider it a personal favor if they took this mission. In both cases I asked them to create a back story of why they had loyalty to Rockseeker or von Rutgar.

That allowed the characters to start the mission with a shared goal, and a reason to try and find and rescue Rockseeker.

 

[CapNBritain]

I had a similar issue. The key is to have them start off with a vested interest and loyalty to Rockseeker. I did it by asking the players to choose a loyalty to either Rockseeker or the "legitimate businessman" Baron von Rutgar" who is funding Rockseeker mission. In the case of von Rutgar I let the players know that the mission was more than a simple caravan delivery and that their patron would consider it a personal favor if they took this mission. In both cases I asked them to create a back story of why they had loyalty to Rockseeker or von Rutgar.

That allowed the characters to start the mission with a shared goal, and a reason to try and find and rescue Rockseeker.

I was thinking more of a shared background thread that I could use throughout the campaign. In my home game, it's the Great Old Ones. All the players have something in their backgrounds that tie into that background. I hope to bring things up that will cause them to start realizing how they all have this connection to them in common, and then hopefully pay that off down the road in some grand climax to the campaign. I kind of describe it in this post:

http://velvetsojourn.com/blog/the-lost-mine-of-phandelver-home-game-dm-debrief-part-0/

This all came about almost on the fly as I was helping them create their characters. I knew that one had their home destroyed and one ran from her noble family after discovering a dark secret, so once my friend picked the Old Ones for their Warlock pact, it was easy to connect it all.

It's a little harder with these guys since they picked very specific backstories that don't seem to have a lot of juicy open-ended possibilities.

 

[CapNBritain]

I'm going to start running The Lost Mine of Phandelver for my hardcore gaming group today. I really wanted to prepare early in order to make the experience intresting for them. I chroncile my thoughts here:

http://velvetsojourn.com/blog/the-lost-mine-of-phandelver-hardcore-game-dm-debrief-part-0-5/

Basically, I know that more experienced players sometimes cruise through an adventure on auto-pilot. D&D 5E and The Lost Mine of Phandelver will not let you do that! 1st level is brutal. I hope that tonight doesn't result in a TPK! I will start posting session reports like I did with my Home Game tomorrow.

 

[the Jester]

It's a little harder with these guys since they picked very specific backstories that don't seem to have a lot of juicy open-ended possibilities.

I recommend patience. You can develop the hooks for them over time- maybe character A's merchant pal hires the party for something and then they all connect with him. Maybe character B's orphaned sidekick finds his parents, and one of them is pc C's sister. There is time to let things percolate.

 

[CapNBritain]

I recommend patience. You can develop the hooks for them over time- maybe character A's merchant pal hires the party for something and then they all connect with him. Maybe character B's orphaned sidekick finds his parents, and one of them is pc C's sister. There is time to let things percolate.

Yes, I'm sure that over the course of playing thing swill crop up. I mean, in the beginning everyone has a backstory and a vague idea of who their character is, but I think that only really solidifies into something tangible during the course of an adventure or two.

 

[Rabbitbait]

Session 2. This week two players were away and one new player joined in. I thought it was going to be a TPK but the monsters rolled really badly. I don't fudge dice so bad decisions and bad luck can be very costly. One player did die though - he got shot and then failed three saves. No-one was able to get to him in time to save him without putting themselves in massive danger so he was left to bleed. Once he died I retconned it that he had been dead before he hit the ground.

I find it really interesting reading other people's experiences regarding the same scenerio. I'm loving that it plays out very differently for everyone. My group don't seem to have learnt yet that if you charge into a scenario without caution or preperation then you will likely die. But they will...



Session 2: Hrothulf, the Dwarf Barbarian had been waylaid in Neverwinter and missed his appointment to meet up with Gundar Rockseeker and escort the wagon. As he suddenly had a pressing need to leave town he decided to catch up. He had been travelling for a couple of days and caught up with the wagon just as the fight with the goblins concluded. He introduced himself and then they all got on with the task at hand - questioning the captured goblin.

After some persuasion, the goblin revealed not only that Gundran and Sildar had been taken to the 'eating cave', but that the trail leading to the cave was trapped. They decided to allow the goblin to guard them. Thia was still feeling weak from the fight and decided to stay so that she could hide and guard the wagon. Miracle Max decided to stay and keep her company. So the others set off through the forest to find the eating cave.

After a short time (with some failed deception from the goblin), the party arrived at the cave. The discussed what to do with the goblin, quickly decided that killing him would be the most efficient and safe thing to do and dispatched their guide.

However their discussion was heard by the lazing goblin guards hidden in the bushes who took the opportunity to fire some shots at them through the bushes. Aysel quickly ran around to the other side of the bushes, but was cut down. The goblins then tried to escape into the cave, but were both killed with ranged attacks.

Brianna healed Aysel with magic and then they made their way into the cave. They got a fright from some wolves, but when they discovered that the wolves were chained up they killed them with ranged attacks. At the back of the wolves cave was a fissure leading up. Hrothulf decided to climb up and see what he could find. At the top he saw a bugbear and his flunkies relaxing around a fire. His violent nature got the better of him and he ran in and attacked the bugbear. He then found himself backed into a corner and being attacked by the bugbear, goblins and a wolf. Luckily all of them had trouble hitting in the confined space. More goblins began running in from another room. Kin had climbed up behind Hrothulf and joined the battle.

Aysel and Brianna decided to run up the path by the stream as that looked as if it might lead to the same area. However as they started to move in that direction, an arrow came out of the darkness and lodged firmly in Aysel's forehead. He dropped to the ground, dead.

Seeing this, Brianna decided a change in plan was in order and fled the cave. The archer had already fled by this stage and was warning other goblins to release the dam.

A flood of water came down the cave, and Aysel's body was washed out and dumped unceremoniously on the riverbank.

Meanwhile,Hrothulf and Kin managed to kill all their foes, then move around into the room with the dam and kill one of the two remaining goblins. The other fled into the darkness.

The three remaining heroes then quickly searched the room, found a treasure chest and divided the spoils evenly. However they were spent. They knew that they had not found their patron yet, but they also knew that they would not survive another fight. They collected Aysel's body and returned to the wagon.

 

[Rhenny]

Thanks again for the report. Wow, those guys were lucky. The bugbear didn't land a blow.

Like you, I'm also glad to see how each scenario plays out differently for different groups. Part of that is tactical and part of that is plain old luck. With little assurance that certain encounters will end in PC victory the thrill level rises. I'm loving it.