D&D 5E Need a safety net for 1st level characters -- it's complicated

[MonsterEnvy]

I honestly think you should just kill them if they get unluckly.

If you want to slow the level progression down. Here is my idea. Keep the level up requirements of levels 1 and 2 the same as they are in the base game. Then use your slower progression system. At 3rd level they are still pretty weak but won't die easily. A single werewolf will still be a threat unless they have magic or silver weapons. Plus doing something like maximizing a creatures hp will usually make them much tougher to take down. A maximized Bugbear for example has 45 hp, compared to the 27 hp of a normal bugbear.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Legendary named or customized enemies is best if you want the "this thing is terrorizing the town" story. Not only mechanically but thematically as well.

If there is a local temple offering healing spells or a competent guard (AKA threat to PCs in combat) then a normal monster would be hard pressed to actually do long term damage, because the guard and priests can form a posse and take it down. They live in a fantasy world, they've heard of werewolves, and they know how to counter them, unless these monsters are unique which they typically are in horror, murder mystery type stories.

I also typically just revise hags whole hog. They are Baba Yaga or The Blind Witch. I essentially combined Green Hags and Night Hags and then I'll throw hp and special tools and abilities on those who are more powerful than your younglings just starting out. Hags should never be less that absolutely dangerous and practitioners of ancient rites and magicks.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

If there is a local temple offering healing spells or a competent guard (AKA threat to PCs in combat) then a normal monster would be hard pressed to actually do long term damage, because the guard and priests can form a posse and take it down.

That's a really good point. I'll have to keep that in mind when setting up such scenarios.

 

[Rhenny]

I honestly think you should just kill them if they get unluckly.

If you want to slow the level progression down. Here is my idea. Keep the level up requirements of levels 1 and 2 the same as they are in the base game. Then use your slower progression system. At 3rd level they are still pretty weak but won't die easily. A single werewolf will still be a threat unless they have magic or silver weapons. Plus doing something like maximizing a creatures hp will usually make them much tougher to take down. A maximized Bugbear for example has 45 hp, compared to the 27 hp of a normal bugbear.

This is an interesting idea that I may use. I've always been a fan of gritty feel, but I don't like to kill off PCs unless they really deserve it. I also don't like to use tons of monsters in encounters, and I like to encourage my players to avoid combat when possible, or find alternative means to achieve victory conditions. Giving monsters max hit points serves all of these purposes. Also, using Fantasy Grounds (which is where I DM all of my games now-a-days) there is a toggle that sets all NPC/monsters to max hit points automatically, easy.

 

[Blue]

Dark Fate accumulation

I was thinking about your solution with Dark Fate and how different gamers I know would approach it. Some would be even more worried about it than death. On the other hand, I know at least one that once they got a few points of it would be "oh well, I'm fudged up anyway, what does more matter" and not care about racking it up. Still with the assumption that the DM's job is to give the players opportunities for fun, regardless of how much dark fate their personal character has accumulated or what campaign ramifications there are. That's something that may not occur in a game where the players are meant to have some narrative control and all working together to make a good story, but can in a default D&D "adventurers vs. the adventure".

Heck, I also know at least one that would game the system - taking heavy risks early to get ahead, and if they accumulated enough date fate just killing off the character and making another with none. (These are the same type of people who would kill of their characters in AD&D if they got level drained several levels and didn't get a Restoration spell in time.)

 

[Rhenny]

Just as a side note...I just started a side campaign for only 2 pcs. I'm using "Harried in Hillsfar" as a base.

We just made PCs and talked about the background of the adventure, and since the players wanted to start (but they only had about 20 minutes to spare) I improvised a beginning to the campaign. One of the PCs a Hill Dwarf wizard had already escaped from Hillsfar (the city has become xenophobic so they have expelled all non-humans and only use non-humans to fight in their arena). He was hiding in bushes outside the city. Then that PC saw another Hill Dwarf (monk) running from the city chased by 3 guards. The two Dwarves tried to make a stand against the 3 guards, and they were promptly knocked unconscious. At first I was a little upset that the PCs went down that easy, but actually it is a great way to begin the campaign. Now they will be tied up and hauled back to a prison in Hillsfar. They'll have a chance to escape and this will give me a chance to give them some pre-adventure experience that will help them bond. I think they will meet another Dwarf in the prison (a war cleric).

Since I pre-thought the motives of the city guards (trying to apprehend instead of kill), I was able to save them from death and keep the story going.

 

[Blue]

The point isn't to make the players feel afraid of losing their PCs, but to let them see what the world is like when you are weak, including how dangerous it can be. I want them to play carefully and in-character be afraid of monsters.

One of the biggest issues I've had running for PCs, especially low-level ones, are players over-planning because they are so dang risk adverse. Things that could take half an hour of wall-clock time instead took half a session. I'm running 13th Age right now and many parts of the social contract as outlined in the rulebook are around avoiding this. Failing forward, so a failed roll moves plot and becomes more interesting instead of becoming a stumbling block. Guaranteed ability to flee successfully from an encounter - at the cost of a campaign setback. (Similar to your dark fate, but paid off immediately and for the campaign, not the character.)

Making a non-level specific world, keeping characters for extended periods before they get basic abilities* - yes, you'll have fearful players, but that will take the right group that wants that to enjoy it. Be sure to let them know ahead of time that they are mice in a world of giants so their expectations are set. If they are expecting to play the hero, it'll be many sessions before they are there.


(* Contrary to the suggestion that 5e characters are more powerful than 3.x characters of the same level, I say that SPECIFICALLY before 3rd level characters have not yet completed their basic kit of powers that a 1st level would have in 3.x or higher. So at 1st and 2nd they are relatively weaker, even if they have a few more spells or HPs.)