Disengage

[KahlessNestor]

Have fun with LMOP, by the way. It's a great adventure, our group had a blast with it.

Thanks. Looking forward to it. Though I am still a novice DM, so a bit nervous.

We have a paladin, wizard, dex fighter, and rogue in the party. Other than the paladin, that means no real healing. Should I start them all off with a healing potion a piece to compensate or would that be too much? I did notice that they are sprinkled fairly liberally throughout the adventure.

 

[Tony Vargas]

We have a paladin, wizard, dex fighter, and rogue in the party. Other than the paladin, that means no real healing. Should I start them all off with a healing potion a piece to compensate or would that be too much?

It wouldn't hurt. A healing potion is a fairly safe thing to give out. Until they use it, it has no direct effect (it might feel like a 'safety net'), once they use it, it's gone.

You can always give out fewer potions later in the adventure, if they don't seem to be going through them rapidly.

 

[iserith]

We have a paladin, wizard, dex fighter, and rogue in the party. Other than the paladin, that means no real healing. Should I start them all off with a healing potion a piece to compensate or would that be too much? I did notice that they are sprinkled fairly liberally throughout the adventure.

If I give out stuff like that, I always make sure there is a shortage of it. So if there were four non-healers in the party, I'd give them 3 potions. In your case, I'd give two. You can take it off the back end, plus it's fun to watch them decide who carries the potions. (Pro-Tip: Target the potion-carriers in battle first.)

If you use the rewrite I linked upthread for the first scene, the PCs will likely take no damage at all but will be very challenged. So if you want to ease up on hit points initially, consider using the monster goal I set up for that one (steal the mining tools and run away).

 

[pdegan2814]

Thanks. Looking forward to it. Though I am still a novice DM, so a bit nervous.

We have a paladin, wizard, dex fighter, and rogue in the party. Other than the paladin, that means no real healing. Should I start them all off with a healing potion a piece to compensate or would that be too much? I did notice that they are sprinkled fairly liberally throughout the adventure.

Give out a couple maybe, if there's an NPC sending them on their way, an easy thing would be for the NPC to give them out, "here, you might need these where you're going". But be stingy with them, you don't want to make it too easy for them. If the party is light on healing magic, they need to figure out another way to deal with characters taking damage. That's part of the game after all, solving those problems.

 

[n00b f00]

Healing isn't as big a thing. It's best used during a fight to wake someone up, or in between to refill. You can wake people up with a single point, be that a pointment of lay on hands or forc feeding them a potion. With hit die and short rest you can get around a lot of the attrition depending on how you pace the game. Because they can spend their hit die each day to get some of it back.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Id have Gundren run after them just as they set off and say "hang on a minute, almost forgot" and add another couple of boxes of stuff (clothes, as it turns out), and a small satchel that clinks (couple of healing potions, some ale, some vials of oil).

He doesn't think it's a perilous journey that much to need healing but Tia gives you a forgetful character who seems a bit bumbling and innocent plus some healing for later if they need it.

 

[KahlessNestor]

How smart should I play the monsters? By rights those goblins should skirt right past the paladin and play whack a mole with the wizard, focus fire and all that. I can't see that being very fun for the wizard! Or should I just random roll targets?

 

[bgbarcus]

How smart should I play the monsters? By rights those goblins should skirt right past the paladin and play whack a mole with the wizard, focus fire and all that. I can't see that being very fun for the wizard! Or should I just random roll targets?

Every monster should be played as intelligently as the monster description implies. If a spellcasters reveals himself as a threat, some or all of the goblins should focus ranged attacks against him. Since disengage and hide are key features of goblins they should be using those tactics to do hit and run attacks as much as possible. It's in their nature.

Even unintelligent monsters can use smart tactics. Wolves are pack hunters that know how to use their numbers. Slimes and oozes have evolved to take advantage of the surroundings to attack with surprise. Raptors instinctively know to swoop in from behind, etc.

The fun of combat is figuring out how to counter enemy tactics. A face to face slug-fest can be fun but it soon gets boring.

 

[iserith]

How smart should I play the monsters? By rights those goblins should skirt right past the paladin and play whack a mole with the wizard, focus fire and all that. I can't see that being very fun for the wizard! Or should I just random roll targets?

I would play them as smart or dumb as needed so that everyone has fun and an exciting, memorable story is created during play. When I ran this adventure (twice), the goblins never attacked the PCs.