D&D 5E First Session of HotDQ - WOW, what a meatgrinder

[Sacrosanct]

I ran this for a 2nd-level moon druid. Shapeshifted into a brown bear and got him to just 10 health before dropping. Even the "deathstroke" (the death save he inflicts after the combat is finished) wasn't enough to kill him outright. Would've been so epic if he'd just lasted one more round.

My son was a 2nd level moon druid as well, and went out to fight him. He lost of course, but took it like a champ and was proud of his PC's bravery. Funny enough, he was a tiefling, so the keep populace didn't like him. But after sacrificing himself for them, he's now a hero.


To the OP, my experiences as a player in that adventure are similar. I was playing a monk and dropped twice before finally reaching the keep. The barbarian dropped once. Not only because the monsters had tactics, but because we also had to protect the townsfolk, which had us split up around them, making our own tactics hard to utilize.

 

[Rune]

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.

Just out of curiosity, did most of those fights occur underground or at night?

Because, if not, any Advantage gained would, at best, only nullify the constant Disadvantage from Sunlight Sensitivity. And, if, for some reason, the adventure's kobolds don't have Sunlight Sensitivity, I would definitely give it back to them.

 

[Halivar]

Just out of curiosity, did most of those fights occur underground or at night?

Because, if not, any Advantage gained would, at best, only nullify the constant Disadvantage from Sunlight Sensitivity. And, if, for some reason, the adventure's kobolds don't have Sunlight Sensitivity, I would definitely give it back to them.

The entire first chapter takes place in one night, from sun-down to sun-up, in a blazing, ransacked village. The kobolds retreat with their loot in the dawn.

 

[Rune]

The entire first chapter takes place in one night, from sun-down to sun-up, in a blazing, ransacked village. The kobolds retreat with their loot in the dawn.

Well, then. Yep, they're scary.

 

[jrowland]

I'm running it for two groups. One group just reached the keep, the other group just faced Cyanwrath.

Group 1 - 4 Players. I placed a 4th level cleric in the keep who also had a stash of healing pots. The cleric is in a makeshift hospital doing triage to townsfolk and guardsmen. For every pot/spell consumed by the party, I had a "patient" die later in the night. Every death pushed the clerics "friendliness" down (Started at 10 for spells plus Potions). Needless to say, the cleric blames the party for all the dead people he couldn't treat (and governer nighthill who ordered it). I also made sure the cleric in the Church of Chauntea had some healing spells, as well as a "Boon" from Chauntea if they prayed to her at the altar. One player did, and got the benefits of a long rest. The other three stayed in character and refused for various reasons. I gave each of them Inspiration as a result. That really helped. But they had the same meat-grinder experience as well. Cyanwrath I had toy with the champion...taunting, taking the guard action, etc. Then, when he hit 50% hp, He went all out: Would have dropped him to 0, but player used inspiration to make it Disadvantage and he missed. Next round repeat and dropped him to literally -1 point away from permadeath. They hate Cyanwrath now.

Group 2 - 7 players. I am running it similar to above with a small tweak: Rather than have so much healing available, I've decided to just run it straight. They are nearly double the "recommended" party size, so rather than increase number of monsters I am just letting it be. Also, I am going to do AVG DMG -2 to make it less swingy and less deadly. This is encounters with a lot of noobs. I want them to feel somewhat empowered and not frustrated. I'll Change to AVG-1 in episode 2, AVG in episode 3, and roll dmg as normal in Episode 4 (encounters ends there). As it is, I had 4 players down in Seek the Keep...they split into two groups, each encountered a "normal" encounter, and suffered for it. So, my changes are not exactly realized since they split the party. Going forward I think they'll be more cautious!

 

[orangefruitbat]

I probably wouldn't have bothered with the second attack if the PC went unconscious after the first. Just have Cynwrath laugh at his vanquished foe and stride off triumphantly.

Cyanwrath gets two attacks, and the second easily cleared the Instant Death threshold.

 

[Halivar]

I probably wouldn't have bothered with the second attack if the PC went unconscious after the first. Just have Cynwrath laugh at his vanquished foe and stride off triumphantly.

First attack didn't down her, second attack did, so that didn't factor in. And correct me if I'm wrong, but a second attack on a fallen enemy doesn't inflict damage, it just adds a failed save. Or am I mistaken?

 

[Halivar]

I went a different tack with Cyanwrath. I played up his lawfulness and fair-play, by making him more a "slave to honor" than anything else. I like all my villains to have at least one admirable quality so they are less cartoonish and more 3-dimensional.

 

[jrowland]

First attack didn't down her, second attack did, so that didn't factor in. And correct me if I'm wrong, but a second attack on a fallen enemy doesn't inflict damage, it just adds a failed save. Or am I mistaken?

You are correct. Although (I am not sure...I'll have to check later) if the damage of the (second attack against target with 0hp) = targets max hp when the target is at 0hp, then the target is killed. Same as if you had "leftover" damage that exceeded their max hp. I think. So double check that.

 

[Thaumaturge]

And they got the "striking an unconscious character" rules slightly wrong in the adventure. If you attack an unconscious foe, you deal a crit. If you crit, your target gets 2 death save fails. In the adventure they say 1.

I'll probably just do 1 failed save unless the rest of the party is pretty close at hand. And I'll probably "forget" about the crit part, because that is pretty likely to equal death for a 1st level characters.

Thaumaturge.