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How to not murder my PC's
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<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 7957182" data-attributes="member: 6801845"><p>Ah, the memories. I had a campaign long ago where everyone (all veteran players) decided they were going to play mages of one sort or another. Mages-R-Us was a complete and total disaster no matter how easy I was on them and finally ended in a TPK.</p><p></p><p>But I digress. Casters are a little more competent now at lower level than they were in 2E, so I think a big part of the issue may be coordination. You do have a couple of options if you don't want to deal with henchmen which may or may not help.</p><p></p><p>I would consider giving the group tactical advice, suggestions and if all else fails change the mods.</p><p></p><p>When it comes to tactical advice, sometimes with newbies I'll just flat out tell them when they're about to do something stupid like split the party unnecessarily. In my last game I let the guy playing the cleric (first time playing 5E) that if he didn't heal a fellow PC that was downed that the PC would be dead when the monster went. If they go to split the party I'd just let them know it's a good way to die. Sometimes I'll throw in an intelligence or wisdom check because the <em>player</em> is not the PC. The PC may be far more intelligent than the player and may realize they're about to do something stupid.</p><p></p><p>But there's also changing the mod. Make the fights easier. The enemy is distracted, asleep or guards are simply not doing their job so the PCs get a round while the enemy is surprised and can't act. Split the party? Consider splitting the enemy as well. Half the monsters are on patrol and just happen to stumble across group B when group A initiates combat.</p><p></p><p>Last, but not least, talk to your players. Ask them what they want to do about the situation. Maybe someone would be willing to run a paladin or eldritch knight. Maybe an NPC hireling or two would help. Talk to them about tactics and why they keep running into trouble. Find out if you just need to dial things back or if they like the current level of risk.</p><p></p><p>Good luck!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 7957182, member: 6801845"] Ah, the memories. I had a campaign long ago where everyone (all veteran players) decided they were going to play mages of one sort or another. Mages-R-Us was a complete and total disaster no matter how easy I was on them and finally ended in a TPK. But I digress. Casters are a little more competent now at lower level than they were in 2E, so I think a big part of the issue may be coordination. You do have a couple of options if you don't want to deal with henchmen which may or may not help. I would consider giving the group tactical advice, suggestions and if all else fails change the mods. When it comes to tactical advice, sometimes with newbies I'll just flat out tell them when they're about to do something stupid like split the party unnecessarily. In my last game I let the guy playing the cleric (first time playing 5E) that if he didn't heal a fellow PC that was downed that the PC would be dead when the monster went. If they go to split the party I'd just let them know it's a good way to die. Sometimes I'll throw in an intelligence or wisdom check because the [I]player[/I] is not the PC. The PC may be far more intelligent than the player and may realize they're about to do something stupid. But there's also changing the mod. Make the fights easier. The enemy is distracted, asleep or guards are simply not doing their job so the PCs get a round while the enemy is surprised and can't act. Split the party? Consider splitting the enemy as well. Half the monsters are on patrol and just happen to stumble across group B when group A initiates combat. Last, but not least, talk to your players. Ask them what they want to do about the situation. Maybe someone would be willing to run a paladin or eldritch knight. Maybe an NPC hireling or two would help. Talk to them about tactics and why they keep running into trouble. Find out if you just need to dial things back or if they like the current level of risk. Good luck! [/QUOTE]
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