First Combat of a New Campaign

[exile]

Hello all,
Long time lurker, rare poster, with my first new thread here. I'm going to be running a D&D 3.5 game in the next few months. Before I get to the meat of my question, I should provide a little background about my group. We are a group of 4-7 gamers in our 20s-early 30s. We play an assortment of games (D&D 3.5, D20 Star Wars, Mutants and Masterminds, non-D20 L5R) and rotate campaigns fairly frequently (every 4-8 weeks), but often return to popular campaigns with only a short time away.
Anyway, I'll be running a 3.5 D&D game for the group in the next few months. I will perhaps post details about the remainder of teh campaign in a separte thread, but my initail concern revolves aroudn teh lethality of the initial combat.
The first fight should see the PCs (4-7 1st level characters of unknown, as of yet, race and class- I suspect they will be quite competent though, as I will be allowing the 32 point buy method for ability scores), fighting alongside a dwarven patrol (consisting of dwarf fighter 3, dwarf cleric 1, and three dwarf warriors 1), and a human bard 4/ranger 4/harper agent 1.
Their opposition would include a goblin fighter 4 (who specializes in ranged combat), a goblin adept 3, and eight goblin warriors 1. All ten goblins are to be mounted on worgs.
Does this seem like a fair fight? Which side, if any, seems underpowered? What kind of tactics should both sides use? What can I do in terms of tactics to make the fight more even, without really changing the composition of either side? What can I do to let the PCs seem like the heroes of the combat?
Anyway, I'm looking forward to whatever help you have to offer.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Beware having 4th level opponents mixing with 1st level PCs, even if the PCs have higher-level backup. 1st level PCs are so fragile a single hit can drop them, or even kill them in some cases. You don't want to resort to having to fudge rolls.

 

[Kormydigar]

Hello all,
Long time lurker, rare poster, with my first new thread here. I'm going to be running a D&D 3.5 game in the next few months. Before I get to the meat of my question, I should provide a little background about my group. We are a group of 4-7 gamers in our 20s-early 30s. We play an assortment of games (D&D 3.5, D20 Star Wars, Mutants and Masterminds, non-D20 L5R) and rotate campaigns fairly frequently (every 4-8 weeks), but often return to popular campaigns with only a short time away.
Anyway, I'll be running a 3.5 D&D game for the group in the next few months. I will perhaps post details about the remainder of teh campaign in a separte thread, but my initail concern revolves aroudn teh lethality of the initial combat.
The first fight should see the PCs (4-7 1st level characters of unknown, as of yet, race and class- I suspect they will be quite competent though, as I will be allowing the 32 point buy method for ability scores), fighting alongside a dwarven patrol (consisting of dwarf fighter 3, dwarf cleric 1, and three dwarf warriors 1), and a human bard 4/ranger 4/harper agent 1.
Their opposition would include a goblin fighter 4 (who specializes in ranged combat), a goblin adept 3, and eight goblin warriors 1. All ten goblins are to be mounted on worgs.
Does this seem like a fair fight? Which side, if any, seems underpowered? What kind of tactics should both sides use? What can I do in terms of tactics to make the fight more even, without really changing the composition of either side? What can I do to let the PCs seem like the heroes of the combat?
Anyway, I'm looking forward to whatever help you have to offer.

I dont know what capabilities your pc's have but this seems a little tough for a 1st level party. 10 worgs really push it over the top. The pc's will most likely be downed because of thier limited hit points and will have to be rescued by the NPC's if they are able. I know that my players would rather die on thier own than have to be saved by NPC's all the time, its a matter of pride. Forget about the goblins for a moment and just take a look at how much damage a worg can generate in a round vs. the HP of a 1st level pc, and how much damage damage a pc can inflict per round vs. the HP of a worg. MerakSpielman is correct about the level mixing, its just too easy to wipe out 1st level pc's. Its almost as hard to challenge 1st level characters as it is really high level ones but for different reasons.

 

[dreaded_beast]

Will the stronger be opponents be matched against the stronger NPCs?

If you really want to use your encounter as planned, maybe the PCs can take care of the "weaker" goblin warriors, while the NPCs can take care of the more powerful foes.

Althought the goblin warriors are weaker, maybe they are getting away with a priceless artifact, captured princess, etc., while the tougher goblins are staying behind to make sure the goblins escape. While the tougher NPCs are taking care of the tougher goblins, the PCs can be the heroes by stopping the goblin warriors from escaping.

Just think of a situation where the goblin warriors (the weaker ones) are critical to the outcome of the encounter.

Hope this helps.

 

[derelictjay]

I've had 1 orc warrior wipe the floor with a group of 1st level characters, whose only suporting character was a 1st level goblin rogue, who couldn't hit the side of a barn.

So yeah, your players may feel a bit overwhelmed, exspecially when they be lying in their graves.

 

[scourger]

Why the need to pair the PCs with the obviously (grossly) more powerful NPC allies? The story should be about the PCs' actions adn exploits. Maybe you should consider nerfing the whole thing to let the PCs take on a weaker goblin patrol (or at least use the prior suggestion of having the PCs vs. the weaker goblins while the stonger NPCs take on the stronger goblins).

 

[Radiating Gnome]

I agree with scourger. Later on in the campaign, once everyone is used to the rules a bit more, you can add some NPCs supporting the PCs in combat, but the first fight -- and most fights -- should feature the PCs as the primary good guys on the battlefield.

If you need to work with the groups that you have, create a situation where the PCs need to hold the flank against a pair of worgs and worgriders, allowing the other group to hold off the main force without being hit from behind. That way the PCs have a smaller section of the fight, but it's all their own.

-rg