D&D 5E My New Players Have Quit 5th Edition

[baradtgnome]

My first game of d&d was OD&D..Keep on the Borderlands. I rolled up my character...a magic user...I found my way to the kobald lair. I cast my one magic missile spell for 1d4+1 damage. Then I died. Kept on playing...

Our first game was Keep on the Borderland in the boxed set. I DM'd and TPK the party before they got 30 feet into one of the caves.

We scratched our heads and decided to try again another day. Somehow that led to 35 years of table top gaming (mostly D&D 1e & 3.5e) and some life long friends. YMMV, but I recommended giving it another go and consider some of the advice presented here.

I'm looking forward to playing 5e with my friends, and if there is a TPK, we'll have another good story to tell.

 

[Thaumaturge]

Death occurs only if you take a total amount of damage, in one blow, equal to your current remaining hit points plus your maximum hit points; or if you accumulate three failed death saves.

Thinking about it, this means if you are at 0 hp and someone attacks you and does your max hp in damage, you die from massive damage.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Dausuul]

Thinking about it, this means if you are at 0 hp and someone attacks you and does your max hp in damage, you die from massive damage.

Yup. In fact, that is explicitly stated on page 76, under "Damage at 0 hit points." (If you don't die by massive damage, you instead add one failed death save, or two if the hit was a crit.)

 

[Evenglare]

Thinking about it, this means if you are at 0 hp and someone attacks you and does your max hp in damage, you die from massive damage.

Thaumaturge.

Yep! First level characters are squishy but to be fair if a bugbear hit me with a mace, I'd probably die too.

 

[Thaumaturge]

Yup. In fact, that is explicitly stated on page 76, under "Damage at 0 hit points." (If you don't die by massive damage, you instead add one failed death save, or two if the hit was a crit.)

Hey, look at that.

Good thing I thought that in my thinker.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Herschel]

I had a similar situation with MERP.

I couldn't stop rolling open-ended critical results. After three sessions against successively weaker opponents all ended in TPK, I retired the game system.

I remember my first MERP. I lost three characters in the first session.
As a player.

 

[Pentegarn]

That is one thing I specifically asked. I asked for a higher starting hit point variant. ..was denied.

And you're incapable of creating a house rule for your table to fix it?

Even the rules bloated 3rd edition, along with every edition of D&D published, WotC and non-WotC, have encouraged DM's to change and tweak the game as best fits their group. There's SOOOOO many players these days that seem to have to be led around by the nose, have everything down in writing. So many seemingly incapable of even a little common sense, reasoning, and/or making decisions on their own when in comes to rpgs. Even the most rules laden rpgs are games of imagination, yet so many players and DMs seem to be lacking in it. These types should stick to MMOs which do practically all the thinking and imagining for them.

 

[thunktanker]

For newbs, consider using the average damage roll amount instead of actually rolling damage for monsters. I can't be sure, but if I remember right, they are putting the average damage roll in the monster stat blocks now, and the average damage is a 5 for the first encounter. That way the party doesn't have to get steamrolled by a dm getting lucky with the damage rolls. Makes things a little more predictable.

 

[Remathilis]

I remember my first MERP. I lost three characters in the first session.
As a player.

Meh. Call me when you lost two characters to the same ENCOUNTER!

"You finished rolling him up? Ok. A new guy enters the fight. Make a save vs. petrification."

 

[Thaumaturge]

For newbs, consider using the average damage roll amount instead of actually rolling damage for monsters. I can't be sure, but if I remember right, they are putting the average damage roll in the monster stat blocks now, and the average damage is a 5 for the first encounter. That way the party doesn't have to get steamrolled by a dm getting lucky with the damage rolls. Makes things a little more predictable.

They do include average damage. For the bugbear (which is not the encounter originally discussed), I might roll. The average damage is...high. Rolling gives a chance of lower than average.

Thaumaturge.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

I run a Pathfinder game.

Even in Pathfinder when my players started out (almost 4 years ago) I house ruled that at 1st level they start with max HD + their CON score. Not their CON modifier, their CON SCORE.

I have 5 players. Each one has lost AT LEAST 1 PC in combat.

Trust me, house ruling extra HP DOES NOT ruin your game.

 

[Tortoise]

If it wasn't dangerous, it wouldn't be called adventuring.

 

[thunktanker]

They do include average damage. For the bugbear (which is not the encounter originally discussed), I might roll. The average damage is...high. Rolling gives a chance of lower than average.

Thaumaturge.

And a chance for higher..... But yes, you do miss the excitement of thinking you're about to get flattened and then the DM rolls a 1.

 

[thunktanker]

If it wasn't dangerous, it wouldn't be called adventuring.

"Crit happens."

 

[Thaumaturge]

And a chance for higher..... But yes, you do miss the excitement of thinking you're about to get flattened and then the DM rolls a 1.

If the bugbear hits most of the pregen characters, it's not going to matter too much if he gets average or higher.

He does (11) 2d8+2. I'd roll, because hey, maybe I roll a 4.

Thaumaturge.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Yeah it seems that op did several things Wrong because there is no way the 4 goblins could kill the party in the surprise round. (If there were only two members of the party he over powered the party by two goblins)

 

[Pentegarn]

I run a Pathfinder game.

Even in Pathfinder when my players started out (almost 4 years ago) I house ruled that at 1st level they start with max HD + their CON score. Not their CON modifier, their CON SCORE.

I have 5 players. Each one has lost AT LEAST 1 PC in combat.

Trust me, house ruling extra HP DOES NOT ruin your game.

Well, even if he, or others, thinks this or other methods of house-ruling in more hit points at first level will ruin their game, they could always simply give characters an advance on their 2nd level hit points. Hell, the DM could always advance them their 3rd level hit points if he/she thinks it's needed. Max the character's first level hit points out. Let them average the advanced hit points. Then when the character's reach 2nd, or even 3rd, they could keep the averaged points or roll in earnest. Either way you do it, advancing hit points would fill the need for more hit points at level 1 without it "ruining" the game.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Bah. D&D 5E is soft -- your player characters survived character creation! Once you have your newbs broken in, have them play a real game like Traveler where even chargen is fatal.

***

Seriously -- some days you get the owlbear; some days the owlbear gets you. Your players have just had their most memorable game of D&D ever. Roll up some new characters and charlie mike, man.

 

[Alarian]

From my read of the OP it sounds to me like he was upset that 1st level characters didn't start with enough hp's in his opinion and so he decided to prove it with his new players and most likely went out of his way to kill them to justify his feelings on the matter.

In my book, a good GM is someone who's there to make sure his players have fun, even if it means house-ruling or fudging the dice a bit. Nothing worse that to bring in new players to the game and then attempt to take any fun they may have away to prove a point to yourself. Hopefully he didn't scare them off for good.

 

[Thaumaturge]

Man, [MENTION=85179]ren1999[/MENTION] hasn't been back since shortly after starting this thread. He has a bit of catching up to do.

Thaumaturge.