D&D 5E Phandelver starting to show up in the wild. NewbieDM looks to be the first!

[mamba]

That is a terrible analogy. presumably, the GM still has the books to consult

No it isn't. In both cases they try something for the first time without any real guidance.

and possible fellow gamers.

If they have experienced DM's teaching them, then the whole premise of your post goes away

 

[Reynard]

No it isn't. In both cases they try something for the first time without any real guidance.

The books are the guidance.

If they have experienced DM's teaching them, then the whole premise of your post goes away

What premise. You are ascribing an argument I am not making. I said that modules that don't necessarily hold the GMs hand make for better GMs in the long run. I did not say one word about the poor would be GM being locked in isolation with no friends or books to help. You invented that.

 

[mamba]

The books are the guidance.

I understand that, I just don't think they are very good at that. They are better now, but when going back to B2 or so, I don't think they were any good to prepare for that. Even today I think they could be better at that.

What premise. You are ascribing an argument I am not making. I said that modules that don't necessarily hold the GMs hand make for better GMs in the long run.

We are talking about starter adventures here, aren't we? I agree that once you have some experience DMing, you can 'spread your wings' and expand what you know and become a better GM. That is like taking off the training wheels once you learned to not tip over with your bike. Taking them off eventually is not an argument for never having them in the first place.

 

[Reef]

So, back to the actual product. The preorder digital version went live, today, didn’t it? Does anyone have it? Any initial thoughts?

Does the original adventures have a strong tie to the new stuff? If we replaced some of the Lost Mines adventures with new or reskinned bits set around Phandalin, would leading into the new content take much effort?

 

[Zaukrie]

So, back to the actual product. The preorder digital version went live, today, didn’t it? Does anyone have it? Any initial thoughts?

Does the original adventures have a strong tie to the new stuff? If we replaced some of the Lost Mines adventures with new or reskinned bits set around Phandalin, would leading into the new content take much effort?

There are hints of things, but nothing really changes for the new stuff until after you finish the original adventure. I'd probably consider more changes, but I have to think about that. Luckily I have a few weeks before we start.....

There is no reason not to include other side quests, imo. Things pick up when they reach a certain level, really, because the story up until then doesn't really feed into the new story. Which, ya, now that I've typed that, I'm likely to change more and clue the PCs into ....sure, you have to do these things, but something bigger is going on....

 

[Reef]

There are hints of things, but nothing really changes for the new stuff until after you finish the original adventure. I'd probably consider more changes, but I have to think about that. Luckily I have a few weeks before we start.....

There is no reason not to include other side quests, imo. Things pick up when they reach a certain level, really, because the story up until then doesn't really feed into the new story. Which, ya, now that I've typed that, I'm likely to change more and clue the PCs into ....sure, you have to do these things, but something bigger is going on....

Thanks! I appreciate the thoughts.

The adventure sounds interesting, but my group have all done (and/or run LMOP) in the past. So running it straight really wouldn’t work. But I was considering keeping the town and NPCs, and finding other things for them to do until level 5. Either completely new, or reimagings of the original.

Like say, instead of the Redbrands being normal thugs, they are now ancient clockwork automatons one of the townsfolk activated thinking they could help defend the town. But they’ve gone rogue, and are now bullying the town ‘for its own good’. And the instead of the hideout, it’s the clockwork barracks/control dungeon. Just as an example. It occupies a similar hole in the story, but would be different.

I figure it would be easy enough to make sure the important ties to the new adventures are present, no matter what levels 1-5 looked like. I just wanted to make sure the old adventures weren’t so deeply intwined to make that problematic.

 

[Zaukrie]

Thanks! I appreciate the thoughts.

The adventure sounds interesting, but my group have all done (and/or run LMOP) in the past. So running it straight really wouldn’t work. But I was considering keeping the town and NPCs, and finding other things for them to do until level 5. Either completely new, or reimagings of the original.

Like say, instead of the Redbrands being normal thugs, they are now ancient clockwork automatons one of the townsfolk activated thinking they could help defend the town. But they’ve gone rogue, and are now bullying the town ‘for its own good’. And the instead of the hideout, it’s the clockwork barracks/control dungeon. Just as an example. It occupies a similar hole in the story, but would be different.

I figure it would be easy enough to make sure the important ties to the new adventures are present, no matter what levels 1-5 looked like. I just wanted to make sure the old adventures weren’t so deeply intwined to make that problematic.

shouldn't be an issue, imo. The book gives you some little things to throw in, but nothing really changes until the new stuff. Then? That's a big tone change from the original (though I want more Far Realms creatures, which luckily I have a lot of blocks for those).

 

[Zaukrie]

WotC has no idea how to build a BBEG and still has the end boss fighting by itself. I'd give it, like, 2-3 rounds vs 4-5 10th level PCs, if that. No bonus actions. One useful legendary action, and an AC that any first level PC would have. Wut?

 

[Zaukrie]

WotC has no idea how to build a BBEG and still has the end boss fighting by itself. I'd give it, like, 2-3 rounds vs 4-5 10th level PCs, if that. No bonus actions. One useful legendary action, and an AC that any first level PC would have. Wut?

Of course, I'm sure someone smarter than me will run the numbers and say I'm being silly.....but that was my first thought on reading the statblock. As with most monsters, it is much less interesting than what KP or Level UP or MCDM would give us.

 

[Parmandur]

WotC has no idea how to build a BBEG and still has the end boss fighting by itself. I'd give it, like, 2-3 rounds vs 4-5 10th level PCs, if that. No bonus actions. One useful legendary action, and an AC that any first level PC would have. Wut?

2-3 Rounds is about what any fight should be.