D&D 5E My First Time Running/Playing 5E. LMoP 6+ Hour Session. Spoiler Alert!

[MonsterEnvy]

Normally I find going in the Bugbears room from the chute to be a bad idea. Given that the Bugbear will see them once one of them gets up. Meaning one of them will be trapped up with the Bugbear while the rest are still climbing. Still All of you were new and you did not want to kill anyone so I think you did a good job if everyone had fun.

Anyway as you continue I hope you tell us more highlights.

 

[painted_klown]

Normally I find going in the Bugbears room from the chute to be a bad idea. Given that the Bugbear will see them once one of them gets up. Meaning one of them will be trapped up with the Bugbear while the rest are still climbing. Still All of you were new and you did not want to kill anyone so I think you did a good job if everyone had fun.

Anyway as you continue I hope you tell us more highlights.

What I did to avoid this was have a player with darkvision look through the small hole at the top, then had all the players climb up to the top (I know this isn't realistic given that the rubble tapers at the top, but the players came up with a good way to climb, so I went with it), and they did STR checks to knock the rubble down and all go in together.

I ruled nobody was surprised (as the monsters would have been alerted from all the noise as they broke through) and let the fight begin.

 

[Gadget]

<Mr. Burns>Excellent</Mr. Burns>

 

[WayneW]

Sounds like you did a great job for your first session as DM. If you and the players are having a blast all is good.

I also used Mines as my first try as a DM (I'm a few sessions in now). It is interesting to read how different the adventure is depending on what the party does. I had already been through Mines as a player and we never even explored the back of room 3...

My players went with two at the front entrance as two climbed up the chimney. The two at the front used mage hand to float in a freshly dismembered goblin head to try and intimidate Klarg (They had scouted up the chute ahead of time). The other two went up the chute using pitons, but only one made it in before the fight broke out. The second one in the chute was had the dumb luck of being at the top when a goblin (the only one freaked out by the head) ran full speed right into him and they both went down the chute. He barely survived, made his way back up, and ended up finishing off Klarg with devastating sneak attack. Fun times!

 

[Talaeden_Denthiir]

This is one of the most inspiring threads I've read in a long time! Which is why I gave u XP! I too, tend to over think things. It's good to hear all of your hard work and effort pay off. One of the hardest things for our hobby is teaching new players. Your innovative way of handling the climbing of the chimney and of making site all involved shared the spotlight is commendable. Too many DM's make it all about them and their story. I'm glad you realized it's about having a loose frame work where you set the tone, the player's roll with it, and u run with it. It definitely makes for some of the most memorable D&D adventures ever when the player's and DM feed off of eachother's creativity! Once again, congrats! Really looking forward to the next session! My heart jumped when the work friend wanted to come back!

 

[pedro2112]

As the session was winding down, my friend asked his work recruit friend what he thought, and his response was "I'm going to buy some dice".

Yea, you know you've got them when they say that!

 

[Nemio]

Oh yes, let us know how you handle the preparations for part 2 btw.

I'm going to DM for the second time in 2 weeks and I'm finding it a lot harder to do since you have to prepare both the Redbrand Hideout and Cragmaw Castle (not sure which one they will pick first) and all the NPC's with their quests in Phandalin.

You also have to account for the leveling up and possible spending of earned gold and treasure.
The start will probably be a lot less action packed than part 1 and I hope my players stay focused.

 

[painted_klown]

Oh yes, let us know how you handle the preparations for part 2 btw.

I'm going to DM for the second time in 2 weeks and I'm finding it a lot harder to do since you have to prepare both the Redbrand Hideout and Cragmaw Castle (not sure which one they will pick first) and all the NPC's with their quests in Phandalin.

You also have to account for the leveling up and possible spending of earned gold and treasure.
The start will probably be a lot less action packed than part 1 and I hope my players stay focused.

So far, I have simply started reading ahead a bit. I am pretty sure my players will want to recue Sildar, then head off to rescure Gundren Rockseeker. Of course, I cannot say this with 100% accuracy, but I am fairly certain that is what they will do.

Having said that, I am going to plan for anything. I will essentially do exactly what I did with the first session. I will read the next sections of the adventure (as if I am reading a novel), and while I am going along, I use post it notes to make notes/bookmarks for myself in the PHB, MM, and the module its self.

I write a topic, or monster name, or important bit of info, (whatever it may be that I will need to reference as quickly as possible) across the bottom of the post it note. I then take that note and put it on the bottom of the page that I can find the info on. The portion of the note that I wrote on, is hanging off the bottom of the page to create a labled tab that I can quickly flip to. I hope that description makes sense.

 

[Queer Venger]

Sounds like you and your group are enjoying the LMoP, its a great intro module to teach players new to D&D. Im just wrapping it up next week (we've been playing this module since August). A trick I use to make sure everyone gets fair play time is I use the PF Combat Tracker board, and I make sure I go around and ask everyone what they want to do, even when not in combat. But it looks like your group is having a good time and that is really the point. Also, if you use mini's (which I do for some encounters) I encourage players to move them around, which also immerses them.

I also gave you XP, because your post is what these forums are all about!!

 

[Ebon Shar]

I'm also currently running this game for my group. We played a bunch of the playtest before switching to Dungeon World and then to Burning Wheel. The players are very excited to get back to D&D and loved the first session of LMoP. Here's my blog detailing our adventures: http://dorkrage.blogspot.com.