D&D 5E Phandelver first game experience

[Nebulous]

So i got run the Lost Mine last night. It was our first 5e game, but i've played D&D on and off since 1st edition, mostly 2nd and 3rd. 4th was just okay and i was glad to see it go with the dodo.

Anyway, 5th feels like a hybrid 2nd/3rd edition to me. I liked it, the players liked it, and it had plenty of wiggle room for improvisation. It did not reinvent the wheel in any way, and I guess that is good and bad. It stuck to the known tropes, so it was like wearing a familiar old shoe you know is comfortable.

The write-up is here in pdf format:

https://app.box.com/s/7wko66kn1l5y64l75pwd

One thing i've really been wanting to do was import the Dungeon Crawl Classic magic rules into a D&D game, so I ran a wild mage NPC to test it. It turned out great actually, but he rolled high so nothing *bad* happened.

 

[Rhenny]

I love your report, especially the running commentary in red. I too have loved how dangerous the game feels and how quickly a combat can move (for better or worse).

If players attempt to be stealthy and gain surprise that really helps. Of course, if foes do that, the players are in a lot of trouble.

Cheers.

 

[Nebulous]

After that first bout with the goblins they were genuinely worried about the validity of the game. By the end they were extremely appreciative of the "danger element", but also glad i wasn't going to let them wallow at 1st level.

 

[Nebulous]

Tonight we run through our second session. As we only play about 2 hours at a time we don't get super far, but it's enough. I anticipate the party to finish cleaning up the goblin hideout, and then making (limping?) their way to Phandalin. Gone are the days of 6-8 hour sessions, I don't even know how I did that when I was younger. Sheesh.

 

[Nebulous]

Second session report.

https://app.box.com/s/l9gvw0czhedy3zaqlzmq

 

[designbot]

Did you consider playing a 5e sorcerer with the wild magic background?

 

[Nebulous]

Did you consider playing a 5e sorcerer with the wild magic background?

No... I purely wanted to use the DCC magic system because each spell has wildly variant surge effects already built in. So far I love it. What I need to do is clean it up for a smoother 5e transition.

 

[Daern]

My thought is to use the DCC spells for Scrolls and "Unkown Spellbooks". I dig DCC but found that the spell charts were too much all the time. Gives me an incentive to hand out more scrolls.

 

[Nebulous]

My thought is to use the DCC spells for Scrolls and "Unkown Spellbooks". I dig DCC but found that the spell charts were too much all the time. Gives me an incentive to hand out more scrolls.

Scrolls are a really good idea, I hadn't considered that. I love the random escalating nature of the spells, roll high and they do really impressive stuff. Roll a critical failure, and it misfires, and each misfire is particular to the spell itself, not a generic chart. It's the essence of "wild magic" to me, although I'm sure lots of people wouldn't want the drawbacks, they can be severe. Running it as an NPC, I don't really have time to delve into the mechanics as much as I want. It really needs a dedicated player willing to roleplay the nuances of the magic.

 

[Nebulous]

I felt like we packed a ton into 2 hours of gameplay last night.

https://app.box.com/s/4kur7f5it65bkyk06i75