NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cernor" data-source="post: 6488825" data-attributes="member: 6780066">Alright, so I've run the adventure before and will try ti answer each of your questions in order:1. There's really no best way to run each section, as how quickly you go depends on your players. Ideally you should be able to get through the Cragmaw hideout in one session, bit if you go faster or slower, don't worry about it.As far as PnP games go, there's no "best" way to do anything, only "better" or "worse", both of which depend on your players.2. If they defeat the wolves and start climbing up the (natural chimney in the) wall, by all means they can climb up and confront the goblins' leader. Keep in mind that they can only climb up one at a time, and the goblinoids in Area 8 could detect them and attack while only one or two of them are up there. Keep in mind that this isn't a cRPG, and killing the leader doesn't immediately resolve the other problems they face (they haven't 'cleared the cave' until they've rescued Sildar as well). I don't remember if it gives guidelines for his hard it is to climb, but personally I'd rule that a DC 15 Athletics check lets them climb up to half their speed, hitting DC 10 makes them go nowhere, and failure to hit DC 5 (while already climbing) makes them fall, alerting the goblinoids in Area 8 to their presence as well as taking 1d6 damage per 10 feet fallen.3. Make a Stealth check for the goblin as it tries to sneak away past the bridge (but ideally roll this before the players get inside). If that check is equal to or lower than a player's passive Perception, then that player sees the goblin and can attack it or leave it. If they don't see it, then the trap is triggered. If a player says they're looking to see if there are enemies on the bridge, make them make a Perception check with the DC whatever you rolled before for goblin's Stealth check. You don't have to give your players hints, sometimes it's best if you let them learn for themselves that they should be checking for traps, listening for enemies, and so on.4. I came from a heavy videogame background (I think 6-7 years of WoW) before starting D&D, and I've found that the theater of the mind (where you describe what's going on) is the quickest and easiest way to run 5e rather than using maps. As long as you're accurate in your descriptions (don't forget enemies or inportant features of rooms, and remember where everyone is) then you should do that just fine. If your player is set on you drawing maps, just tell him (or her) that you're going to try without maps to begin and see how it goes from there.Really, DMing is all about practice. You'll make mistakes at first, but dont worry about it. The more you DM the fewer mistakes you'll make... And don't be afraid to kill a PC if they do something stupid (like attacking area 8 on their own, I had a player do that once -.-).Best of luck!</blockquote>

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