D&D 5E Phandelver starting to show up in the wild. NewbieDM looks to be the first!

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Do we still start off with 4 x goblins attack-from-hidden surprise round? Because uhhhhhh the true horror is always the alpha strike?

 

[pukunui]

Do we still start off with 4 x goblins attack-from-hidden surprise round? Because uhhhhhh the true horror is always the alpha strike?

Yeah, when I ran it, I changed it so the goblins had dropped a tree across the road and were manning their ‘toll booth’. No surprise round there.

 

[humble minion]

Yeah, when I ran it, I changed it so the goblins had dropped a tree across the road and were manning their ‘toll booth’. No surprise round there.

I used that encounter for a one-session introduction adventure i ran for friends' kids, and I had the goblins and PCs encounter each other while the goblins were chasing a small cute furry animal.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Do we still start off with 4 x goblins attack-from-hidden surprise round? Because uhhhhhh the true horror is always the alpha strike?

Does that ever play out like that? Because obvious ambush is obvious, even to people who have never played D&D before.

 

[pukunui]

Does that ever play out like that? Because obvious ambush is obvious, even to people who have never played D&D before.

I one-shotted a 1st-level PC with the dire rat ambush at the start of The Sunless Citadel.

The book says the rats hide in the rubble. The PC didn’t detect them, so they attacked with advantage. One got a crit. Bye-bye PC!

Those were the first rolls of that campaign.

 

[Retros_x]

The basic nature of the starting town was always a feature, not a bug, bit here it provides a stark contrast with the Far Realms shenanigans.

Obviously it was intended, I just found it was a bad decision as introduction to a fantasy game to make the setting as least fantastical as possible. I repeat myself, but you can build a strong contrast without being bland.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Obviously it was intended, I just found it was a bad decision as introduction to a fantasy game to make the setting as least fantastical as possible. I repeat myself, but you can build a strong contrast without being bland.

I completely disagree. Starting players have enough to learn without having to try and explain a weird and whacky world to them as well. Make as much as possible as familiar as possible, and introduce the weird stuff gradually.

With experienced players, sure, you can introduce a weird setting at the start, because they already know rules and stuff.

Although classic fantasy stories tend to take protagonists from the mundane (Shire) to the fantastical (Mordor).

 

[Retros_x]

The tyranny of novelty.

ToA had dinosaur racing in the streets - just add that into which ever campaign you’re running.

For some less jaded players Phandelver won’t be the 47th starting town they’ve seen and therefore there isn’t the same need to make it some wacky, far out, magic roundabout style, theme park of a starter town.

Special features are great, but I prefer tasteful and integrated.

Its not about novelty, its about excitement. My players were definitely not excited when they realized Phandalin has nothing to offer. Mostly human NPC and human bandits. And nothing special about the town. Its the least fantastical you can go without actually playing in a medieval setting. It doesnt need to be novel, put the oldest fantasy clichés and tropes in there for all I care, but let the players feel the genre theyve commited too.

 

[Retros_x]

I completely disagree. Starting players have enough to learn without having to try and explain a weird and whacky world to them as well. Make as much as possible as familiar as possible, and introduce the weird stuff gradually.

With experienced players, sure, you can introduce a weird setting at the start, because they already know rules and stuff.

Although classic fantasy stories tend to take protagonists from the mundane (Shire) to the fantastical (Mordor)

All players know fantasy tropes, use them. Even early lotr has hobbits in funny houses, a mysterious artifact, a mighty wizard, nazgul etc. Phandelver is boring and my newbie group agreed. The starting problems come with mechanics not setting

 

[Paul Farquhar]

All players know fantasy tropes,

No. They don't. And which tropes they are familiar with will depend on their background. You may think "hobbits live in funny houses" but to the author, the world he was describing (pre-war rural England) was more familiar than the one he was living in.