Rhenny
Adventurer
Finally got my chance to run my PC's through the "meat grinder." They are a party of 3 so I did scale the encounters a bit (6 Kobolds threatening the family, for example).
I have to say they did pretty well given the circumstances. They took some damage saving the family, but by using some bits of cover and ranged weapons they were able to knock a few down early before the War Priest and the Rogue got up close to take the rest out.
Getting to the Keep turned out to be a cakewalk, even with the family in tow. Rolled a great group stealth check to bypass a group of raiders breaking into a house. In the 2nd encounter the Cultist spotted them. The family and one of the PC's ran, but one of the other PC's stumbled trying to run. The Rogue used his deception to convince the Cultist that he was one of them and was giving chase to those who ran away. Some great bit of roleplay later, and they were off again, regrouping behind a house and gathering 2 more townsfolk to take to the keep. Again, stealth rolls ruled the evening as they picked their way up to the front gate, where they held off some encroaching Kobolds to let some more people inside before the gates closed.
The idea that looters were running rampant through town, along with the ominous, albeit lazy, blue dragon circling overhead made them decide to take things slow and stealthy. I thought it was a great pickup by the group, and saved them a lot of HP's that 2 of the characters couldn't spare this early in the encounter.
Coming off of 4th Edition, everyone was kind of thrilled that combat vs. 6 Kobolds lasted just 3 rounds and about 10-15 minutes. We had gotten used to 1 hour per combat.
My take is that, yes, Greenest in Flames can be a meat grinder (my PC's still have a long night ahead of them in the Keep), but it's only if the PC's let that happen. There are enough alternative paths at their disposal that they should be able to figure out a way to survive the night.
Our group were not stealthy at all so we had to encounter 2 more groups before we got to the keep. But, as you said, most of us used cover of the buildings to keep us safe. The foes that were out by the keep had no cover so they were sitting ducks.
I like how this encourages players to use the environment.
I'm pretty sure the adventure was designed to evoke the battle vs. overwhelming odds feeling (like Dragonlance days or even Lord of the Rings at Helm's Deep and at the Gates of Mordor). It succeeds at that.
Actually both Phandelver and this do a terrific job re-conditioning players to fear combat. Sneaking, running, bluffing, negotiating, and other non-combat solutions all seem much more viable alternatives now (especially at 1st and 2nd level when 1 round of combat can easily drop or even kill a PC outright).
We haven't been able to continue our Horde campaign for a while so we are still waiting for dawn to rise on Greenest. I'm anticipating it.
