D&D 5E Playtest Report, or how Kobolds almost TPKed the PCs in the first combat!

[Klaus]

A more detailed report will come shortly. For the moment, I'll do a rundown of the PCs and players:

- Maria: Human Wizard (Evoker). Background: Sage, Specialty: Mystic Healer.
Cantrips: mage armor, mage hand, ray of frost; cure minor wounds, resistance.
Spells: burning hands, magic missile.
This player started playing with 4e, where she played a ranger for 12+ levels and a wizard for 6+ levels. She had experiences with Harp and WoW.

- Varis: Wood Elf Fighter (Marksman). Background: Guide, Specialty: Skirmisher.
Maneuver: Precise Shot. After the first combat, we agreed to let him switch to Rapid Shot.
This player is an longtime gamer. We started playing together in the early days of 2e, and have been playing together ever since. He also DMed Shadowrun, and moved to 4e when that came out.

- Adrik: Mountain Dwarf Cleric (Protector). Background: Knight, Specialty: Defender.
Cantrips: resistance, lance of faith.
Spells: cure light wounds, cause fear.
Channel Divinity: Positive Energy, Shelter.
This is another longtime gamer. We also started playing in the early days of 2e, and we gamed again in 4e. He also DMed Harp and Star Trek.

All 1st level, going through the Caves of Chaos. Analysis and session rundown to come.

 

[Bedrockgames]

1st level has always been a it swingy in earlier editions (something I rather like frankly). So almost getting TPKd at first level by a group of kobolds is something that wouldn't trouble me. If it is still happening at 3rd or 4th level, the there is an issue.

 

[Klaus]

Plot summary: the princess of Keoland was travelling incognito to Celene, where she's to marry the prince of that realm. She was travelling in a merchant caravan, accompanied by a bodyguard, and was supposed to cross the Lortmil Mountains, but avalanches closed off the intended mountain pass and forced the caravan to head to the Keep on the Borderlands (in the Duchy of Urnst). But the caravan never reached the Keep. Soldiers found signs of the caravan being attacked, and the attackers most likely came from the valley where the Caves of Chaos, an ancient remnant of Vecna's Occuluded Empire, lie. So the Duke of Urnst assembled the PCs to locate the princess and bring her safely to the Keep.

Session summary: I spent about one hour going through the character sheets and explaining them to the players, and after another hour of roleplaying, the PCs arrived at the Caves just before dawn. Both the PCs and kobolds outside cave A succeeded on Stealth checks, but failed Wisdom checks to notice the other group, so it was a mutual surprise. The elf fighter managed to kill one kobold, and the wizard missed another with ray of frost. Then the kobolds acted, pulling out slings and letting stones fly. I used the fixed damage from the Bestiary, and the fighter was hit three times, dropping from 11 to 2 hp. The wizard got hit once, dropping from 7 to 4hp. Then the cleric arrived, and spent his action Channeling Positive Energy to heal the fighter back to maximum. On the second round, the elf missed the kobold, and the wizard decided to use magic missile, taking out two kobolds automatically (four kobolds down, five still standing). The kobolds retaliated with more sling stones, hitting the fighter (back down to 5 hp) and the cleric (down to 6 hp). The cleric missed with lance of faith. The wizard then cast burning hands, taking down three kobolds. The elf managed to hit another kobold that was about to run away, the proceeded to pursue the final kobold before it could flee. The last kobold hustled away, and the cleric and wizard both missed with lance of faith and ray of frost. The fighter managed to hit and kill the kobold before it could escape. The PCs then rested and spent uses of the healer's kit to use their Hit Dice, which brought them back to full hp.

After this fight, I allowed the fighter to switch Precise Shot (a far too conditional maneuver) for Rapid Shot. That was a wise move.

Following the tracks of the caravan wagons, the PCs opted not to enter cave A, and followed the tracks to cave F (hobgoblin cave). Lacking a rogue, I allowed the dwarf's knowledge of dungeons to locate a lever to open the cave door. Once inside, they managed to suprise four hobgoblins. Between the elf and the dwarf, two hobgoblins were wounded in the surprise round, and the wizard cast burning hands to take them out. The PCs then acted again, with the fighter switching to sword and board and wounding another hobgoblin, while the cleric missed with his battleaxe. The wizard used ray of frost to kill the wounded hobgoblin, leaving only one standing. The hobgoblin decided to make his stand, and wounded the cleric (down to 1 hp) and shout the alarm. The elf wounded the hobgoblin, while the cleric used Cure Light Wounds on himself. The wizard hit the hobgoblin with ray of frost, the hobgoblin responded by wounding the fighter (down to 6 hp), and the elf finished the fight. By then, they heard creatures approaching from the corridor to the west, so the elf readied an action to use Rapid Shot when the creatures appeared. He managed to wound two of them, who then retreated back the corner. The elf and cleric then rushed the hobgoblins, killing both, since they were already wounded, and found the door the creatures came through. In a hurry to find the princess, they decided to press on, and found another hobgoblin who went to fetch reinforcements. they dispatched the hobgoblin, thanks to a good shot by the fighter, and the cleric decided to bottle the hobgoblins at the door that led out of this room. This proved effective, as the hobgoblins could only engage the cleric one at a time, and those at the back had a hard time using bows (the hobgoblin in melee with the cleric provided cover).

The first hobgoblin on the line died from lance of faith, but the one on the back managed to push the cleric out of the way and entered the room. The hobgoblin archer in the back gave way for their leader to head into the room as well, where he wounded the cleric (down to 1 hp). The elf killed the first hobgoblin and wounded the leader (Rapid Shot FTW), while the wizard hit the leader with ray of frost. The cleric used lance of faith on the leader, and the hobgoblin archer hit the fighter (down to 4 hp). The elf then switched to sword again and took down the leader. The wizard used cure minor wounds on the cleric (2 hp), and the hobgoblin archer ran deeper into the dungeon. The elf tried to pursue, but the sight of seven more hobgoblins made him turn and flee. The PCs reluctantly fled out of the dungeon, and the session ended.

 

[Klaus]

Considerations:
- I forgot to factor in the hobgoblins' Steadfast and Commander traits. This saved the party from another TPK.
- The lack of alternatives led to the characters spamming ray of frost, Rapid Shot and lance of faith.
- Only one Hit Die led to a moment where the cleric couldn't do anything to heal himself, not even stepping away from the fight. All Hit Die were spent after the first combat.
- The lack of a "second wind" self-healing ability led to lots of pressure on the cleric, who ended up pulling double duty as tank and medic (and after the first fight, just tank, as he had the best AC).
- Light armor is just not worth it at the moment. Even with Dex 17, the elf had AC 14. This meant that creatures were hitting him more than 50% of the time, and dealing 1/3 to 1/2 of his hit points in damage in a hit. Although completely against the character's concept, the player will try to get heavier armor, since he would need Dex 20 to match the AC of chainmail.
- Mage Armor, at the moment, is just a cantrip tax on wizards. Make it a class ability (akin to the monk's Mindful Defense). Otherwise, you'll see lots of mountain dwarf wizards parading about in medium armor.
- The cleric's player complained of clerics getting access to their entire list, when wizards had to choose spells for their spellbooks. This may have made sense back in 1e, when the cleric spell list was really limited, but those times are long gone.
- All players felt severely limited by the lack of options, specially in regards to imposing conditions. If the fighter had the option of a "trick shot" to slow down or trip an opponent, that would make it more fun for the player. The wizard felt the lack of another damaging at-will, and of a middle-of-the-road option between the at-will cantrips and the daily spells (when I explained the "signature spell" concept from the previous packet, she thought it was perfect for her needs).
- We played without a battlemap, and that reeeeeeeeally slowed the game down. Next time, I'll break out some Dungeon Tiles and COunter Collections, to make combats fast and interesting.

 

[Klaus]

Double post.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Great report, Klaus. However, I really feel like you need to give the player of Varis a hard time. If he's been gaming since 2E, he should be able to come up with an original character--not use the wood elf from the comic.

 

[Klaus]

He never read (or heard of) the D&D comic, he just picked a name from the elf name list (the other characters are there, too). I was sure to point it out to him afterwards.

One thing that bothered me was that the players were already falling into that "we need to buy healing potions" mentality, which is contrary to the game's intent of not requiring magic. IMHO, the system needs more incentive for the PCs to keep going.

House rules at the moment:
- Refocus: spend an action to roll a Hit Dice in combat.
- Hit Dice number equals level +1 (so 2HD at first level, like a 1e ranger. ).
- Hit Dice increase: Fighter, Paladins, Rangers, Berserkers, etc - d12. Clerics of the Warbringer, Protector; Monks - d10. Rogues, other Clerics, Wizards - d8.
- Mage Armor: adds Int to AC if the character isn't wearing armor or using a shield.
- Clerics get one more cantrip.
- Channel Divinity begins at 2/day, but no more than 1 per 10 minutes (really taxing for a mortal's body to channel divine energy).
- Specialist wizards choose one 1st-level spell as their signature spell. They regain its use after 1 hour. Generalist Wizards cast 1 additional spell of the highest level they can cast, and get one more cantrip.
- Fighters begin with two maneuvers.
- Humans attributes are +1 to two scores. Humans skill dice increase by one size, up to d12. Humans can choose training in one skill from a different background. In a basic game (based on what was said in the Google Hangout thing), humans can add skill die to a second ability score.

 

[Kobold Stew]

House rules at the moment:
<snip>
- Mage Armor: adds Int to AC if the character isn't wearing armor or using a shield.
- Clerics get one more cantrip.
<snip>
- Specialist wizards choose one 1st-level spell as their signature spell. They regain its use after 1 hour. Generalist Wizards cast 1 additional spell of the highest level they can cast, and get one more cantrip.
- Fighters begin with two maneuvers.
- Humans attributes are +1 to two scores. Humans skill dice increase by one size, up to d12. Humans can choose training in one skill from a different background. In a basic game (based on what was said in the Google Hangout thing), humans can add skill die to a second ability score.

I hope you include these suggestions in your playtest feedback. I suspect that this is the sort of thing they want to hear. I greatly prefer your presentation of humans to what we have.

 

[Unwise]

Thanks for the write up, it is good to see other peoples experiences. I was just interested that you said the combat was much slower thanks to not having a combat grid. That is the first and only time I have ever heard that. The general mantra around here is that gridless combat is much faster combat. Could you elaborate on this point? What about not having a grid made the combat drag?

 

[Klaus]

Thanks for the write up, it is good to see other peoples experiences. I was just interested that you said the combat was much slower thanks to not having a combat grid. That is the first and only time I have ever heard that. The general mantra around here is that gridless combat is much faster combat. Could you elaborate on this point? What about not having a grid made the combat drag?

Relative positions of the creatures, specially when they use their movement diagonally, and a faster PC moves to intercept; tactically important positioning, like standing in a bottleneck, or trying to place a wall corner between the PC and a monster, or place a monster between an archer and a PC; Noisier PCs that stay farther back to avoid hindering the stealthier ones, then have to rush into the melee.

With a battlemap, I spend zero time explaining positions, the players can look at the map while others are acting, and already know what to do on their turn. But then again, I've been using (handmade) battlemaps and (handmade) paper minis since 2e.