Remathilis
Legend
So, last night was our first experience with D&D 5e. For a bit of background on us: five males in their 30s, three have since 2e, one started in 3e. We played 4e but all but one disliked it, and played Pathfinder after that. Currently, we all play in a Pathfinder game (I DM). The fifth player in our group couldn't make: he was too busy being a Mormon (wait, he went to see the Book of Mormon. I get that confused). For ease, we’ll call them B, D, R, and M.
We opted to roll up characters rather than use the pre-gens in the box. We ended up with M being a Human Fighter (Folk Hero), B was a Human Wizard (Sage), D was a Human Rogue (Criminal), and R was a Hill Dwarf Cleric (Acolyte of Lathander). We rolled stats, but most people still ended up within 8-17 range for numbers, so pretty close to the pre-gens. Everyone used the gear from class and background, and everyone picked Traits, Bonds, and Flaws as normal.
The group made it through the Goblin ambush fairly easily. The Fighter spotted the ambush as soon as he saw the downed horses, negating surprise. However, everyone’s dice were cold on this fight, and it took a long time for anyone to hit. The wizard eventually used sleep to end the fight and they found the trail. They avoided the traps (the rogue’s 16 passive perception doing a good job for that) and found the cave. They fed the wolves to quiet them, took out the inattentive guard on the bridge, and stumbled on the bugbear and his allies. Again, cold dice meant the poor bugbear didn't really pose much threat. They found Sildar in the other room, finished off the goblins (we didn't roll out that combat since dungeon fatigue was setting in, we let the wizards, sleep spell take care of most) and moved on to Phandalin.
The group leveled quickly (and was amazed how little they had to do; in Pathfinder everyone’s bab, saves, skills, and such all go up nearly every level. This was roll HP and add new features). They wandered Phandalin and got some of the bonus quests (though to no good effect, see below). We did the ruffian encounter (which was a one-on-one for everyone, and nearly a killer. I think the only saving grace for the group was forgetting they had multi-attack during it.) A combo of cold dice from the fighter and some blah tactics made the group burn through spells faster, resulting in a long rest before exploring the manor.
We explored the first six rooms of the Redbrand hideout thanks to the wizard thinking to take the red cloaks and claim they were new recruits. This got them to bypass several early encounters and free the slaves using a clever divide –and-conquer method: the wizard charmed a ruffian and asked him to show the wizard where the privy was. When they left, the remaining three slaughtered the other guard, hid the body under the clothes, and prepped an ambush. When the wizard and guard returned, the group sprung on him and downed him, then freed the slaves.
After that, it was midnight and the group decided to call it a night. After some discussion, the group opted to continue with the regular campaign next session rather than continue running Phandalin.
ANALYSIS:
Analysis will be broken into several parts: one for each class, one for DMing, one for the module itself, and one for overall experience.
FIGHTER: M played the fighter. He was a tank: He had chainmail, shield, and armor style for an impressive 19 AC, meaning he didn’t get hit much by the +4 to hit baddies. He fought with a battle axe, and did decent damage when he hit, but he was very much a defender/tank type character: soaking up hits and occasionally delivering a solid blow when his dice agreed.
ROGUE: D played the rogue. He opted for an archery rogue, hiding and sniping when possible. He had a good perception (expertise) making the three traps easy to avoid and a good stealth, but his low AC meant he wasn’t quick to get in melee for SA. Still, he landed some solid blows (including critting the inattentive sentry and saving the group from a watery doom). At 2nd level, he loved being able to use cunning action to disengage, move, and then shoot or to move, shoot, move, and hide.
WIZARD: B played the wizard, and he’s a lifelong wizard player. He was impressed by the cantrips (loved firebolt) and how versatile the new caster system was (and this was a guy who DISLIKED 3e sorcerers). He also thought the spells looked sufficiently beefed up, and was amazed by things like 3 missiles in Magic Missile or sleep’s Power-Word style ability. He was already looking for good combos with his spells, which was a good sign.
CLERIC: R played the cleric. He was our only (softspoken) 4e supporter, and opted to try and make a “lazer-cleric” style priest. Because of this, he was probably the least effective: sacred flame is stupidly easy to miss/save vs and it meant many rounds the cleric contributed little. (His melee was abysmal as well thanks to a low str score). So he cast cure wounds a few times and that was it. During the ruffian battle he fared a little better and was amazed by his channel divinity abilities.
DM: I didn't opt to fill the 5th PC role with an NPC due to everyone learning the ropes. As such, I did temper back a few encounters to adjust for 1 less player. Coming up with rulings on the fly was fairly easy: I just picked 5, 10, or 15 for the DC and let them roll. Monsters were very easy (even if I did miss multi-attack on the first read) and combat flew by quickly (10 encounters in 5 hours, about 1/3 handled in non-combat ways). We went solely Theater of the Mind style (even through four minis sat on the table, my battle mat remained rolled up in the corner) and despite some rough approximating, (such as if the goblins were close enough to get them all in the sleep radius) things worked smooth overall. (In the future, I might use the battle mat for more complex encounters, but for simple fights it’s really not needed). I don’t think I referred to the rule-book once during game, except for conditions.
This edition is very dependent on the dice though, and most everyone (except the rogue) was rolling low. I'm sure a few fights might have changed if the baddies hit more or if the fighter and cleric didn't whiff round after round.
Overall: The group enjoyed the game and really felt like it had a “2nd edition” feel to it. Several times, an idea got floated and “We should do that in the Pathfinder game” got mentioned (some of the grid-less combat ideas and passive perception were mentioned). The negatives really came down to lack of options (wanting more classes and feats) but the core mechanics were sound. It was hard to get a bead on the RP aspects though: the group knew it was a one-off to test the system and thus didn't put much into character or story. As such, the PCs felt kinda cardboard and even flaw/ideal/bond/traits didn't add much to them. In a longer/more serious game though, the players felt the TIBF was really good (One commented Inspiration felt very much like Mutants & Masterminds).
The group agreed once the current game ends, the next one will probably be 5e (by then, the core books will be out and we’ll have a better view of the whole picture). So we won’t be finishing Phandelver, but that’s ok, what I lost in the cost of not finishing the box I made up in four players willing to play it down the road a bit.
We opted to roll up characters rather than use the pre-gens in the box. We ended up with M being a Human Fighter (Folk Hero), B was a Human Wizard (Sage), D was a Human Rogue (Criminal), and R was a Hill Dwarf Cleric (Acolyte of Lathander). We rolled stats, but most people still ended up within 8-17 range for numbers, so pretty close to the pre-gens. Everyone used the gear from class and background, and everyone picked Traits, Bonds, and Flaws as normal.
The group made it through the Goblin ambush fairly easily. The Fighter spotted the ambush as soon as he saw the downed horses, negating surprise. However, everyone’s dice were cold on this fight, and it took a long time for anyone to hit. The wizard eventually used sleep to end the fight and they found the trail. They avoided the traps (the rogue’s 16 passive perception doing a good job for that) and found the cave. They fed the wolves to quiet them, took out the inattentive guard on the bridge, and stumbled on the bugbear and his allies. Again, cold dice meant the poor bugbear didn't really pose much threat. They found Sildar in the other room, finished off the goblins (we didn't roll out that combat since dungeon fatigue was setting in, we let the wizards, sleep spell take care of most) and moved on to Phandalin.
The group leveled quickly (and was amazed how little they had to do; in Pathfinder everyone’s bab, saves, skills, and such all go up nearly every level. This was roll HP and add new features). They wandered Phandalin and got some of the bonus quests (though to no good effect, see below). We did the ruffian encounter (which was a one-on-one for everyone, and nearly a killer. I think the only saving grace for the group was forgetting they had multi-attack during it.) A combo of cold dice from the fighter and some blah tactics made the group burn through spells faster, resulting in a long rest before exploring the manor.
We explored the first six rooms of the Redbrand hideout thanks to the wizard thinking to take the red cloaks and claim they were new recruits. This got them to bypass several early encounters and free the slaves using a clever divide –and-conquer method: the wizard charmed a ruffian and asked him to show the wizard where the privy was. When they left, the remaining three slaughtered the other guard, hid the body under the clothes, and prepped an ambush. When the wizard and guard returned, the group sprung on him and downed him, then freed the slaves.
After that, it was midnight and the group decided to call it a night. After some discussion, the group opted to continue with the regular campaign next session rather than continue running Phandalin.
ANALYSIS:
Analysis will be broken into several parts: one for each class, one for DMing, one for the module itself, and one for overall experience.
FIGHTER: M played the fighter. He was a tank: He had chainmail, shield, and armor style for an impressive 19 AC, meaning he didn’t get hit much by the +4 to hit baddies. He fought with a battle axe, and did decent damage when he hit, but he was very much a defender/tank type character: soaking up hits and occasionally delivering a solid blow when his dice agreed.
ROGUE: D played the rogue. He opted for an archery rogue, hiding and sniping when possible. He had a good perception (expertise) making the three traps easy to avoid and a good stealth, but his low AC meant he wasn’t quick to get in melee for SA. Still, he landed some solid blows (including critting the inattentive sentry and saving the group from a watery doom). At 2nd level, he loved being able to use cunning action to disengage, move, and then shoot or to move, shoot, move, and hide.
WIZARD: B played the wizard, and he’s a lifelong wizard player. He was impressed by the cantrips (loved firebolt) and how versatile the new caster system was (and this was a guy who DISLIKED 3e sorcerers). He also thought the spells looked sufficiently beefed up, and was amazed by things like 3 missiles in Magic Missile or sleep’s Power-Word style ability. He was already looking for good combos with his spells, which was a good sign.
CLERIC: R played the cleric. He was our only (softspoken) 4e supporter, and opted to try and make a “lazer-cleric” style priest. Because of this, he was probably the least effective: sacred flame is stupidly easy to miss/save vs and it meant many rounds the cleric contributed little. (His melee was abysmal as well thanks to a low str score). So he cast cure wounds a few times and that was it. During the ruffian battle he fared a little better and was amazed by his channel divinity abilities.
DM: I didn't opt to fill the 5th PC role with an NPC due to everyone learning the ropes. As such, I did temper back a few encounters to adjust for 1 less player. Coming up with rulings on the fly was fairly easy: I just picked 5, 10, or 15 for the DC and let them roll. Monsters were very easy (even if I did miss multi-attack on the first read) and combat flew by quickly (10 encounters in 5 hours, about 1/3 handled in non-combat ways). We went solely Theater of the Mind style (even through four minis sat on the table, my battle mat remained rolled up in the corner) and despite some rough approximating, (such as if the goblins were close enough to get them all in the sleep radius) things worked smooth overall. (In the future, I might use the battle mat for more complex encounters, but for simple fights it’s really not needed). I don’t think I referred to the rule-book once during game, except for conditions.
This edition is very dependent on the dice though, and most everyone (except the rogue) was rolling low. I'm sure a few fights might have changed if the baddies hit more or if the fighter and cleric didn't whiff round after round.
Overall: The group enjoyed the game and really felt like it had a “2nd edition” feel to it. Several times, an idea got floated and “We should do that in the Pathfinder game” got mentioned (some of the grid-less combat ideas and passive perception were mentioned). The negatives really came down to lack of options (wanting more classes and feats) but the core mechanics were sound. It was hard to get a bead on the RP aspects though: the group knew it was a one-off to test the system and thus didn't put much into character or story. As such, the PCs felt kinda cardboard and even flaw/ideal/bond/traits didn't add much to them. In a longer/more serious game though, the players felt the TIBF was really good (One commented Inspiration felt very much like Mutants & Masterminds).
The group agreed once the current game ends, the next one will probably be 5e (by then, the core books will be out and we’ll have a better view of the whole picture). So we won’t be finishing Phandelver, but that’s ok, what I lost in the cost of not finishing the box I made up in four players willing to play it down the road a bit.
