Halivar
First Post
I've played in a couple sessions of a custom campaign, and I supposed from that experience that 5E was going to be another super-heroic game. Tonight I took a stab at running it, using HotDQ, Chapter 1: Greenest in Flames.
Holy crap.
In every fight, at least one person went down. In every other fight, at least TWO people went down. In order to coax the players out of the keep for subsequent missions, I gave Governor Nighthill a secret cache of healing potions that he doled out on an as-needed basis. Eventually I had to resort to planting them on fallen enemies as loot just to stave off the constant threat of TPK. Thanks to kobold Pack Tactics (advantage if ally within 5 feet), each encounter was guaranteed to be a brutal battle of attrition. And while I did hand out potions, I played the fights straight, and each enemy used his abilities to his best. The kobolds stayed packed and gained advantage as often as possible. When the casters ran out of area spells, the sight of closely packed kobolds was unnerving for everyone at the table.
The players in this group all learned D&D either through 4E or Pathfinder, and they're kind of used to super-heroic action and being whirling Cuisinart's of death. Halfway through Greenest in Flames, even the most brash and blustery player was cowed by the sight of kobolds and their acolyte masters. By the time they got around to the blue dragon at the Keep, they had had enough. They negotiated through a securely barred door until the dragon flew away. They knew this adventure was out to kill them.
This made the finale with Lingdedrosa Cyanwrath all the more poignant. The players knew this was an unwinnable fight. Xandrie the human fighter went out willingly to face her death, and the adventure, as written and executed, obliged her.
Holy crap, it feels like that old school magic is back.
Holy crap.
In every fight, at least one person went down. In every other fight, at least TWO people went down. In order to coax the players out of the keep for subsequent missions, I gave Governor Nighthill a secret cache of healing potions that he doled out on an as-needed basis. Eventually I had to resort to planting them on fallen enemies as loot just to stave off the constant threat of TPK. Thanks to kobold Pack Tactics (advantage if ally within 5 feet), each encounter was guaranteed to be a brutal battle of attrition. And while I did hand out potions, I played the fights straight, and each enemy used his abilities to his best. The kobolds stayed packed and gained advantage as often as possible. When the casters ran out of area spells, the sight of closely packed kobolds was unnerving for everyone at the table.
The players in this group all learned D&D either through 4E or Pathfinder, and they're kind of used to super-heroic action and being whirling Cuisinart's of death. Halfway through Greenest in Flames, even the most brash and blustery player was cowed by the sight of kobolds and their acolyte masters. By the time they got around to the blue dragon at the Keep, they had had enough. They negotiated through a securely barred door until the dragon flew away. They knew this adventure was out to kill them.
This made the finale with Lingdedrosa Cyanwrath all the more poignant. The players knew this was an unwinnable fight. Xandrie the human fighter went out willingly to face her death, and the adventure, as written and executed, obliged her.
Holy crap, it feels like that old school magic is back.
