D&D 5E About to run Lost Mine of Phandelver & I have some questions. May contain spoilers.

[Zaran]

1. One session per section sounds good. You should be prepared for any section though because the adventure is rather sandboxy
2. Just make the passage too small for medium sized creature. Goblins are Small and can slip through without issue. The Hobgoblin goes around. The GM running this game is rather novice but he came up with that just fine. I thought it was written that way in the module but I guess it wasn't if no one has brought it up.)
3. The goblin doesn't have to sneak away at all. He can just call out in Goblin "Release the Kra...Water!" There are goblins in that chamber to release the dams just fine. It also gave my character who speaks Gobblygook a chance to shine and my party was able to get out of the way. (I have to give kudos to our GM if this wasn't written in the module)
4. Simple drawings on a blank paper. There is no need turn 5e into a Warhammer Quest. The descriptions are good enough for Theater of the Mind play. We had a 14 year old brand new player (The GMs Daughter) who got the picture just fine.

 

[guachi]

The first part does play quickly. I'd be tempted to end the session when they finished with the hideout, returned to Phandalin, and decided to rest. There are a TON of NPCs and plot hooks in Phandalin. Give yourself time to read them all and get a handle on the NPCs. Phandalin has a real Old West feel to it. Play that up if you like.

The names of the NPCs are so terrible I renamed them. Preferably to something Old West-like.
Page 15 has a list of names. This is what I changed them to:
Toblen Stonehill -> Toby Stone
Elmar Barthen -> Elmer Barton
Daran Edermath -> Darren Ederman
Linene Graywind -> Lynn Gray
Qelline Alderleaf -> Kelly Alderleaf
Sister Garaele -> Sister Gray
Harvin Wester -> Harvey West
Sildar Hallwinter -> Sal Winter
Narth, the farmer -> Garth
Elsa, barmaid -> Elsa (finally!!! a real name!!!!)
Lanar, miner -> Lanny
Trilena, innkeeper's wife -> Trixie
Thel Dendrar (the guy the Redbrands supposedly killed) -> Theron (aka Terry) Denny

Real names = real people. Give yourself some time to make them real in your descriptions and actions. Play up the two non-combat pillars of D&D - exploration and social interaction.

Invent NPCs if needed. I made up two people who claimed to be eye witnesses to that guy the Rerdbrands supposedly killed and dragged off.

Oh, and take page 3 of the Basic Rules to heart.
1. The DM describes the environment.
2. The players describe what they want to do.
3. The DM narrates the results of the adventurers' actions.

That's roleplaying in three sentences. Nothing in there says "roll lots of dice". Nothing in there says the player dictate how the DM decides to resolve an action. Your players should never, ever, ever get to say "I roll my Investigation" If the DM does a great job on rule 1 the players can do rule 2 to the point the DM can narrate the results without a die roll. You roll dice when the outcome is uncertain.

Examples:
1.It's a really cold night. The wind is blowing. what do you do?
2. Player A - "I take out my bedroll" Player B - ".... I forgot to buy a bedroll"
3. DM - "Player A, you are all snuggly warm during the night. Player B - you are cold and fail to get the full benefits of a long rest."
^^^^ no dice rolling ^^^^

1. You see a bugbear and 3 goblins! They look like they are in no mood to talk!
2 Player A - "I draw my sword, rush forward with a battle cry and attack the bugbear with my axe!" Player B - "I gesture at a goblin, recite the magical incantation, and cast Magic Missile at the goblin. Die fiend!"
3 DM - "Player A, make an attack roll vs. AC 15. Player B, roll damage."
^^^^uncertain outcome = dice rolling^^^^

Note, the PLAYERS didn't dictate that a die roll occurred, the DM did. Perhaps there was a trap the players didn't see that needs to be resolved. Perhaps the monsters were just an illusion in which case a different kind of die roll is called for.

 

[pukunui]

I've found that the adventure itself does a fine job explaining to a new DM how to handle each thing that comes up.

On a side note, you might like to have a look at this thread over at the Wizards Community: Problems with the Lost Mine of Phandelver. Lots of suggestions for enhancing the adventure and smoothing out any bumps!

 

[Rune]

The first part does play quickly. I'd be tempted to end the session when they finished with the hideout, returned to Phandalin, and decided to rest. There are a TON of NPCs and plot hooks in Phandalin. Give yourself time to read them all and get a handle on the NPCs. Phandalin has a real Old West feel to it. Play that up if you like.

The names of the NPCs are so terrible I renamed them. Preferably to something Old West-like.
Page 15 has a list of names. This is what I changed them to:
Toblen Stonehill -> Toby Stone
Elmar Barthen -> Elmer Barton
Daran Edermath -> Darren Ederman
Linene Graywind -> Lynn Gray
Qelline Alderleaf -> Kelly Alderleaf
Sister Garaele -> Sister Gray
Harvin Wester -> Harvey West
Sildar Hallwinter -> Sal Winter
Narth, the farmer -> Garth
Elsa, barmaid -> Elsa (finally!!! a real name!!!!)
Lanar, miner -> Lanny
Trilena, innkeeper's wife -> Trixie
Thel Dendrar (the guy the Redbrands supposedly killed) -> Theron (aka Terry) Denny

Real names = real people. Give yourself some time to make them real in your descriptions and actions. Play up the two non-combat pillars of D&D - exploration and social interaction.

Invent NPCs if needed. I made up two people who claimed to be eye witnesses to that guy the Rerdbrands supposedly killed and dragged off.

Oh, and take page 3 of the Basic Rules to heart.
1. The DM describes the environment.
2. The players describe what they want to do.
3. The DM narrates the results of the adventurers' actions.

That's roleplaying in three sentences. Nothing in there says "roll lots of dice". Nothing in there says the player dictate how the DM decides to resolve an action. Your players should never, ever, ever get to say "I roll my Investigation" If the DM does a great job on rule 1 the players can do rule 2 to the point the DM can narrate the results without a die roll. You roll dice when the outcome is uncertain.

Examples:
1.It's a really cold night. The wind is blowing. what do you do?
2. Player A - "I take out my bedroll" Player B - ".... I forgot to buy a bedroll"
3. DM - "Player A, you are all snuggly warm during the night. Player B - you are cold and fail to get the full benefits of a long rest."
^^^^ no dice rolling ^^^^

1. You see a bugbear and 3 goblins! They look like they are in no mood to talk!
2 Player A - "I draw my sword, rush forward with a battle cry and attack the bugbear with my axe!" Player B - "I gesture at a goblin, recite the magical incantation, and cast Magic Missile at the goblin. Die fiend!"
3 DM - "Player A, make an attack roll vs. AC 15. Player B, roll damage."
^^^^uncertain outcome = dice rolling^^^^

Note, the PLAYERS didn't dictate that a die roll occurred, the DM did. Perhaps there was a trap the players didn't see that needs to be resolved. Perhaps the monsters were just an illusion in which case a different kind of die roll is called for.

This post is so good it deserves to be read again.

 

[Nebulous]

This post is so good it deserves to be read again.

It has good advice, yes. I think the OP is making an excellent choice with running this adventure for 5e. I'm a seasoned gamer and I think LMoP is fantastic.

 

[Nemio]

Hey there, I was recently in your situation.
I was new to DnD and DM for the first time so I hope you can benefit from my advice.

1. My players went right to the Cragmaw Hideout after the ambush and we played until that part was completed.
They defeated Klarg after talking to Yeemik and were able to free Sildar.
We stopped with them on the road to Phandalin with a cart full of treasure and found supplies.

This took about 5 and a half hours with a few small breaks in between.

2. I can't remember exactly how I handled it but I remember the rogue scouted ahead.
I think she made a Stealth check which I checked against the passive perception of the enemies.
Since she didn't have darkvision I told her she only had a bit of light of the low burning fire and saw a few figures around it.

Since there was no sign of Sildar or Gundren and there were alot of enemies she headed back and they decided to take another path.

3. Here's what happened in my playthrough.
I'm copying it from a Reddit topic where I posted it before.

The flood event also depends on the goblin on the bridge that is hiding but not really paying attention.

In my playthrough the following happened.

A player with Darkvision sneaked ahead so I let him roll Stealth.
His Stealth roll was high enough to beat the Goblin (passive Perception of 9) so he wasn't detected.

The player asked what he saw so I let him roll Perception.
His Perception roll wasn't higher than the Stealth roll of the Goblin I made so he only saw the bridge above the water but not that someone was on it.

Another players joined him and again his Stealth roll was high enough to avoid detection.
I also let him roll Perception and he beat the Stealth roll of the Goblin so I told him that he saw a Goblin hiding really well against the wall.

They tried to take him out so I gave them both advantage on their ranged attack rolls.
They failed to kill him though so after the surprise round I let them roll Initiative.

The Goblin didn't act first but since the players missed their attacks he ran away to the Pool chamber and they heard him screaming that there were intruders.

All the players moved closer and were discussing what to do.
The turn after I told them they heard knocking.
They moved around the corner and saw what the Goblins were doing.

Since they determined they couldn't take them out in time they decided to run back to the side corrider to hide.
One of them only could get to the opposite side of the river so he stood there while the flood was coming.

One player threw him a rope to keep him in place if needed. (I would have given him advantage on the Strength saving throw if he failed his Dex saving throw)

Everyone was watching in excitement when I told him to make a Dexterity saving throw to jump out of the way in time.
He rolled a natural 20! He made it safely to the other side

4. I would try out the Theatre of The Mind (ToTM) approach which is the default for 5e.
You describe the surroundings, everyone's positions, distances etc without going into too much detail.

You (and your players) might be surprised about how easy and flexible this is.
It also uses more of your imagination.

You can use it for the ambush part and see if you like it.
Keep in mind that it is important to repeat each combat round where everyone is to keep things alligned.

For the Cragmaw Hideout I wanted to use the map in the DM booklet.
Off course that one has spoilers on it so it can't be used.
I bought the spoiler-free Player version from the artists website on http://mikeschley.zenfolio.com/p856083253

It doesn't cost much and is a nice way to support a great artist (who proclaimed he needs this income to make a decent living)

I printed it on A3 paper and cut it in different parts.
As the players explored I put more and more on the table.
This seemed to work well.

I didn't use miniatures or exact distances though.
I used it to indicate everyone's position.
In doubt I tried to rule in the PC's favor.



I have to say recognise myself in you.

I had the same trouble figuring out the math behind the numbers (your combat thread) and also wanted to be super prepared for my first session.

In the end it went really well for me and I'm now preparing the 2nd session.
I wish the same to you and I hope this helps

Let us know how it went, I'm very interested.

 

[Nebulous]

double post

 

[Nebulous]

For the Cragmaw Hideout I wanted to use the map in the DM booklet.
Off course that one has spoilers on it so it can't be used.
I bought the spoiler-free Player version from the artists website on http://mikeschley.zenfolio.com/p856083253

It doesn't cost much and is a nice way to support a great artist (who proclaimed he needs this income to make a decent living)
.

That's what I did for the final map of the dungeon, I bought it from the artist's website. At 10 foot scale, it was still 25 sheets of paper. BUT...we're getting a good 6 hours of use out of it.

Let us know how it went, I'm very interested.

Ditto.

 

[pukunui]

FWIW, I bought Mike Schley's unmarked maps too. Then I loaded them into photoshop and used layers to black out rooms and corridors and such, so I could reveal them as the PCs explored. It's worked pretty well so far.

1. You see a bugbear and 3 goblins! They look like they are in no mood to talk!
2 Player A - "I draw my sword, rush forward with a battle cry and attack the bugbear with my axe!" Player B - "I gesture at a goblin, recite the magical incantation, and cast Magic Missile at the goblin. Die fiend!"
3 DM - "Player A, make an attack roll vs. AC 15. Player B, roll damage."
^^^^uncertain outcome = dice rolling^^^^

I love how the one PC draws his *sword* and then attacks with his *axe*! Priceless.


/snark

 

[guachi]

Maybe... uhhh... he already had his axe in his hand? And he has the Dual Wielder feat? Yeah... that's it!!

At least it reads better than "I use my free object interaction to draw my sword, use my 25 feet of my movement to move towards the bugbear, use my attack action to attack with my axe, and my bonus action to attack with my sword."

I'll admit to talking like that at the table some times. And I think it can be a good way of talking when not all the players are aware of every mechanical thing everyone can do. I know people at my table did a double take when my assassin was able to make a sneak attack on the first round of combat with no ally nearby (advantage on any attack against a target who hasn't take a round in combat yet. advantage = sneak attack)

Oh, and some people, like pukunui, will probably recognize that my initial reply basically copied the gist of what a poster by the name of iserith talks about frequently on the wotc d&d boards.