NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stormdale" data-source="post: 7990692" data-attributes="member: 3555">We started in 1983 while at high school. We never played that lots of henchmen/hirlings style that Gygax etc did. We have 4-5 players 1 pc each. Our group shrunk when we hit uni. For the next 3 years I ran with my brother and best mate and they ended up with 1 henchman each from about 5th level onwards and that’s the only time we’ve really used npcs. Once pcs were about 4-5th level they usually had enough money to raise dead pcs if they wanted. When a few years alter we recruited more players then henchmen went bye bye.As for character deaths nothing is more memorable than an absolute pointless pc death. Our most talked about character deaths are two pcs who only lasted ONE session but were especially well played and we still reminisce about their deaths and the loss of so much role playing potential:1) Nicobose a human fighter who drew his two handed sword with a “shriinggg” sound and an amusing East European accent. Alas he was killed by rot grubs in the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (a 3E version in our brief time playing 3e) thanks to the incompetence of two other party members failing to help him in time- and they were given plenty of opportunity to, they were more interested in doing other things, like searching for treasure IIRC. The role-playing that was packed into Nicobose’s 2-3 short hours of RPG life were brilliant and still talked about all these years later at our gaming table. 2. Unca Dunca a half orc barbarian in our first ever 5E campaign. A guest appearance by the player who role played Unca dunka as not being able to talk (except to say Unca Dunka) but communicated by hugging people, lifting them off their feet and licking them. Alas his short, but oh so funny life came to an end when the party wizard cast a wall of ice between the party and the BBEG they were trying to get the hell away from, only to trap Unca Dunka on the wrong side of the wall. The wizard followed up the wall of ice with a fireball which finished off poor Unca. RIP Unca Dunca- it’s always been tough being the red shirt in our games.I  really, really hate pcs having “plot immunity” it cheapens the game and devalues my successes so I’d rather the DM played hard but played fair and we earn our victories…or die trying to. My job when playing is two fold- one enjoy my character’s development and, two make sure I play smart enough to keep said pc alive.That being said as a DM with new players my role is to teach them how to play, how to have fun and not be dick and kill their pcs in 30 minutes. Explain options (and potential consequences of these options so they can make an informed choice- maybe a wee bit of softballing damage etc) and teach then to play so may go easier on them than my “old crew”. After a few weeks/ months when they have more experience then the training wheels come off a bit more.Slight diversionI’ve just joined an game with 6 players who are new to D&D, as the only experienced player my role is simple, support the dm and players to clarify things that they may get confused by but that is it, but sit back and let them get on with learning the game. We are hoping in a week or two to be able to game face-to-face again. Having a group of 6 new adult D&D players in a small town in the middle of the SI of NZ shows to me how successful 5E (and streaming games) has been- I want to support and encourage these guys to love the game that I’ve loved for 35+ years and to become lifelong gamers- the DM being a dick and killing their pcs in the first dungeon is not going to endear them to the game.Stormdale</blockquote>

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