MonsterEnvy
Legend
My question is that there is not Hobgoblin Barracks. There is a Bugbear Barracks but no Hobgoblin one. In fact no Hobs in Wave Echosave. So I am guessing you meant Bugbear every time you said Hobgoblin.
D&D 5E Ack! Sleeping in Hobgoblin Barracks (Lost Mine of Phandelver)
- Thread starter jayoungr
- Start date
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
Were it me, and the PC's cleared out a partially occupied barracks then decided to bed down there, I'd proceed like this:
'Round about midnight the sentry (if there is one) gets a passive perception check to notice the approach of armored footsteps; success gives a round to wake everyone up. Otherwise, the sentry will be surprised and all others are sleeping when ...
WHAM! The door is kicked open and a very irate sergeant-of-the-guard (quite the cut above the average guard) shouts (in Goblin) "Hey you lot! Wake your lazy bones up! You're late for shift change!"
The sergeant then realizes what occurs and checks surprise. If surprised, an alert sentry can act. Otherwise, the sergeant recovers quickly, takes one attack against a sleeping PC, then beats feet to sound the alarm and return with the entire guard force.
The lessons for the PCs should be obvious. There's no "fair" or "unfair" here; the DM is a referee -- you're just carrying out the logical consequences of their actions.
'Round about midnight the sentry (if there is one) gets a passive perception check to notice the approach of armored footsteps; success gives a round to wake everyone up. Otherwise, the sentry will be surprised and all others are sleeping when ...
WHAM! The door is kicked open and a very irate sergeant-of-the-guard (quite the cut above the average guard) shouts (in Goblin) "Hey you lot! Wake your lazy bones up! You're late for shift change!"
The sergeant then realizes what occurs and checks surprise. If surprised, an alert sentry can act. Otherwise, the sergeant recovers quickly, takes one attack against a sleeping PC, then beats feet to sound the alarm and return with the entire guard force.
The lessons for the PCs should be obvious. There's no "fair" or "unfair" here; the DM is a referee -- you're just carrying out the logical consequences of their actions.
Thanks to everyone for your advice and suggestions! I just wanted to let you know how it turned out.
I had a plan of action prepared, based on pulling together several ideas in the thread:
1. I would start by asking the group for a detailed description of what they were doing.
2. After 1d4 hours (I rolled a 3), the previous shift would come to the barracks to sleep.
3. If the door was barricaded, they'd try to break it open. This would give the PCs time to escape out the other door--which would take them into more dangerous territory, so it might be a case of "out of the frying pan..."
4. If the door was open, the returning hobgoblins/bugbears (you're right, MonsterEnvy!) would take one look at the PCs and shut the door again. They would then send one of the group to alert the Black Spider while they prepared to attack from the hall. Again, this would give the PCs a little time to get out the other door--but if not, I figured, let them be on the receiving end of their own "stand in the doorway and use ranged attacks" technique for a change!
5. I would try to take the PCs alive so they could be delivered to the Black Spider.
As it turned out, though, the plans were unnecessary. I said we'd pick up as they were getting ready for bed and started asking for details about their preparations for the night. The paladin's player said, "Oh, I already marked all my spells as refreshed." I said she shouldn't have done that, as it wasn't guaranteed they could get an uninterrupted long rest where they were now. They then said "Okay, we go back to the storeroom we saw earlier and sleep there instead."
I had a plan of action prepared, based on pulling together several ideas in the thread:
1. I would start by asking the group for a detailed description of what they were doing.
2. After 1d4 hours (I rolled a 3), the previous shift would come to the barracks to sleep.
3. If the door was barricaded, they'd try to break it open. This would give the PCs time to escape out the other door--which would take them into more dangerous territory, so it might be a case of "out of the frying pan..."
4. If the door was open, the returning hobgoblins/bugbears (you're right, MonsterEnvy!) would take one look at the PCs and shut the door again. They would then send one of the group to alert the Black Spider while they prepared to attack from the hall. Again, this would give the PCs a little time to get out the other door--but if not, I figured, let them be on the receiving end of their own "stand in the doorway and use ranged attacks" technique for a change!
5. I would try to take the PCs alive so they could be delivered to the Black Spider.
As it turned out, though, the plans were unnecessary. I said we'd pick up as they were getting ready for bed and started asking for details about their preparations for the night. The paladin's player said, "Oh, I already marked all my spells as refreshed." I said she shouldn't have done that, as it wasn't guaranteed they could get an uninterrupted long rest where they were now. They then said "Okay, we go back to the storeroom we saw earlier and sleep there instead."
I should have said I didn't know how to do what I felt needed to be done. I wanted to be sure to handle it in a way that was fair to the players but also not too easy on them.
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SilverBulletKY
First Post
So the storeroom would provide 8 hours of uninterrupted rest too? Nobody is going to come for supplies or thing in 8 hours?
Pickles JG
First Post
Indeed it not in a part of the dungeon the new inhabitants frequent & the old inhabitants are undead who just don't go there. (It's a storeroom from when the mine was in use 100+ years ago)
(Spoilers for Lost Mine ... though if you don't want to be spoiled, what are you doing in this thread anyway?)
The way the adventure is set up, there are two areas of the old mine that don't really communicate with each other. The PCs enter from the south and work their way north. Meanwhile, the Black Spider and his minions are at the north end working their way south. They apparently don't know about the south entrance. There are three particularly difficult rooms, one on each potential path through the mine, blocking the Black Spider's group from getting to the southern part. Until they discover that the PCs have cleared the way for them (which can plausibly take more than eight hours), they will stay in the northern part of the mine. The old storeroom is in the southern part.
The way the adventure is set up, there are two areas of the old mine that don't really communicate with each other. The PCs enter from the south and work their way north. Meanwhile, the Black Spider and his minions are at the north end working their way south. They apparently don't know about the south entrance. There are three particularly difficult rooms, one on each potential path through the mine, blocking the Black Spider's group from getting to the southern part. Until they discover that the PCs have cleared the way for them (which can plausibly take more than eight hours), they will stay in the northern part of the mine. The old storeroom is in the southern part.
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