D&D 5E Finally played, any retroactive tips?

[Lanliss]

So, last week I finally got to run my first real game. We finished up the first chapter of Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and I have some questions.

First, the party makeup.

Kobold Rogue (yes, I know it is a bit insane, now. I think it will balance off now that we are in daylight)

Elf Paladin (the only healing in the party)

Orc Monk (he made a few subpar choices, which led to us losing him near the end.)

I am using standard XP rules, instead of milestone rules, and have not nerfed any of the battles. I was worried a few times, because I wound up rolling full groups of enemies on most encounters, making it 3 vs. 8-10 for most fights. The Kobold wound up shining brightest, both in combat and social situations, using an excessive amount of acrobatics and dagger throwing. By the end of the Rat tunnel they had hit 3rd level, so I cut the chapter a little short by removing a couple of missions, as I did not want them hitting 7th level in chapter one, when it was supposed to be final level for the whole adventure.

Now onto questions.

Do you think the Kobold will balance off, or will it remain a spotlight stealer for the party?

Should I throw some easier healing to them, so the Paladin is not pulling all the weight in that respect? Or should I let them sweat about their health?

Should I change to milestone rules for experience, or is the level not that important? Is it game breaking if they are pushing level 15 before we reach the second book?

Should I reduce the difficulty of the encounters, or keep it at the normal number of enemies?

Do you have any tips going further into the book?

Any help is appreciated, so thanks in advance.

 

[Sunseeker]

Since CR calculations should be CR=average level of a 4 person party, and a Kobold is a CR 1/8th, assuming he got no special features aside from "Pack Tactics" and "Sunlight Sensitivity" (assuming the player did not use the scores in the stat block) the Kobold is a fine base race, if not somewhat underpowered. Indeed Pack Tactics will overlap with the Rogue Sneak Attack feature, which grants advantage so long as your opponent is engaged, same as Pack Tactics. What you likely have is just a durn gud player who had a lot of fun, but was good at what he was doing. I'm surprised he succeeded in social situations at all though, as Kobolds are typically viewed as little more than pests. That must be one tolerant society.

TLDR: The Kobold is fine. You have a good player, not a broken combo.

As for everyone else, low-level Paladin healing is really sub-par. But that's something you should work out with your party. Make an NPC who has a few heals if you want, but otherwise I think they'll work fine. I hope Orc Monk learns from his mistakes.

I don't think you really need to change anything at all.

 

[iserith]

Do you think the Kobold will balance off, or will it remain a spotlight stealer for the party?

Depends on the player... and on you. Spotlight sharing is a table management issue.

Should I throw some easier healing to them, so the Paladin is not pulling all the weight in that respect? Or should I let them sweat about their health?

I would let them sweat it out until they choose to tell me they wish to pursue a goal to acquire more healing options.

Should I change to milestone rules for experience, or is the level not that important? Is it game breaking if they are pushing level 15 before we reach the second book?

Milestones for a plot-based adventure are probably a better choice because it rewards sticking to the plot. If the PCs are a bit ahead of the expected level, it should be fine.

Should I reduce the difficulty of the encounters, or keep it at the normal number of enemies?

I'd keep it the same and let the players figure out how to reduce difficulty on their own.

 

[Lanliss]

Since CR calculations should be CR=average level of a 4 person party, and a Kobold is a CR 1/8th, assuming he got no special features aside from "Pack Tactics" and "Sunlight Sensitivity" (assuming the player did not use the scores in the stat block) the Kobold is a fine base race, if not somewhat underpowered. Indeed Pack Tactics will overlap with the Rogue Sneak Attack feature, which grants advantage so long as your opponent is engaged, same as Pack Tactics. What you likely have is just a durn gud player who had a lot of fun, but was good at what he was doing. I'm surprised he succeeded in social situations at all though, as Kobolds are typically viewed as little more than pests. That must be one tolerant society.

TLDR: The Kobold is fine. You have a good player, not a broken combo.

As for everyone else, low-level Paladin healing is really sub-par. But that's something you should work out with your party. Make an NPC who has a few heals if you want, but otherwise I think they'll work fine. I hope Orc Monk learns from his mistakes.

I don't think you really need to change anything at all.

We used standard array, and the Kobold put a 13 into charisma. Not high, but apparently high enough, as he succeeded pretty much every social interaction, from intimidating other Kobolds to convincing people he was definitely NOT with this army of kobolds, and he just happened to come into town at the same time. I am iffy about giving them a follower with healing, as I want the story to be about them. I will try getting the orc to set up a new character for our next game, perhaps someone else commissioned by the monks to help find their master. Happy to see I am doing ok, as I have almost no practical experience with any TableTop rpg. Everything I know comes from near obsessive reading of the PHB and the DMG.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

Triple check how you're awarding XP. It's highly unlikely that your players are progressing that fast if you are following the rules as written.

 

[MerricB]

Triple check how you're awarding XP. It's highly unlikely that your players are progressing that fast if you are following the rules as written.

It's quite possible they've hit third level. There's a LOT of XP in the first chapter of HotDQ, and the game is designed so levels 1-3 are really fast. (That said, do check that you divide XP for killing monsters by the number of characters in the group. Five characters killing a single 25 XP kobold get 5 XP each, not 25 XP each).

Generally, you'll get through levels 1-3 very fast. Level gain then slows down appreciably. However, HotDQ and Rise of Tiamat are written with milestone XP in mind; there's not really enough XP in the later parts of the adventures. If you're not running it as part of the D&D Adventurers League, I'd strongly suggest using milestone XP.

I've got a bunch of advice columns on my website if you're interested, including columns on running HotDQ: http://merricb.com/articles-for-new-dd-players/

Cheers!

 

[Eltab]

The first chapter of HotDQ is not typical. Most groups have a really tough time fighting through that first night. The adventure is designed as milestone level-up, not XP-based.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...en-quot-(Practical-stuff-to-try-at-your-table!)
This should be a link to the current HotDQ thread.

You might want to have a stat-less NPC who sort of tags along with the PCs, hides whenever a fight breaks out, and carries a Potion of Healing for each PC.

 

[Lanliss]

Triple check how you're awarding XP. It's highly unlikely that your players are progressing that fast if you are following the rules as written.

Aha, you are correct. I forgot to split the party xp, and was giving them all the full amount of experience. Live and learn I guess. Thanks for catching that for me, I will remember it for the future.

 

[Lanliss]

As for the monk, is it that the player made bad choices during character creation (built it "wrong"), that he doesn't understand how to play the character mechanically, or is just bad at tactics in general?
If the player doesn't feel that the character's effective enough, just let them redo their character stats without requiring them to make a whole new character. A half-orc monk should be a fairly effective combatant.
If it's the player's in-combat tactical choices that are making them ineffective, you can discuss it with them and the rest of the party to come up with more effective ways for them to fight.
If the player's just a bonehead and automatically charges at the toughest guy in the fight to take them on one-on-one, well, there's no fixing dumb...

It is a full orc, as I gave them a few choices from the MM, and plan to give them more if I think I can balance them right. The main problem was his choice of tactics, playing as though he was a tank. We are working together to build him a fighter, possibly as a Hobgoblin or a Thri-Kreen(not sure if I should allow that one, because of the four arms). I might not be able to fix dumb, but I can help him make it so that the choices fit his class.

 

[Lanliss]

Yeah, he is pretty much that type of person. Handling the group is a little tricky, as he is a combat focused, wants the highest numbers and most flexible skills. The Paladin is a pretty silent player, pretty much along for the ride. The Kobold is a role player type, more interested in making an interesting character, rather than a good one. So, we have a lot of different expectations from the game, making it tricky to keep everyone on the same page. Does anyone have tips on that? I am sure I can balance everything in my own written stories(I swear they will happen eventually), But what can I do in a prewritten adventure?