Running Lost Mine of Phandelver for 6 PCs

[Yuki Akuma]

So, long story short, I've been playing in a 5E campaign for about half a year now. We're reaching the end, and the DM wants a chance to play, so I've offered to run the Lost Mine of Phandelver while I try to come up with my own thing.

However, our group is seven people strong, so we'll have six PCs running through the adventure. I believe it's more tuned for four or five, so are there ahy major changes I should make to keep it challenging? Two of the players have expressed interest in playing Clerics so I'm not too worried about the party dying...

For that matter, are there any pitfalls in the adventure I should look out for? I haven't played or DMed it before.

[Oramac]

I haven't played or DMed it before.

I haven't either, but since I'm planning to DM it for some friends, I've read through it.

Probably all I would do is add a few extra bad guys here and there. Maybe run the first combat normally and see how they do, then scale things up from there.

[Vogonjeltz]

So, long story short, I've been playing in a 5E campaign for about half a year now. We're reaching the end, and the DM wants a chance to play, so I've offered to run the Lost Mine of Phandelver while I try to come up with my own thing.

However, our group is seven people strong, so we'll have six PCs running through the adventure. I believe it's more tuned for four or five, so are there ahy major changes I should make to keep it challenging? Two of the players have expressed interest in playing Clerics so I'm not too worried about the party dying...

For that matter, are there any pitfalls in the adventure I should look out for? I haven't played or DMed it before.

Take a few quiet hours and read and re-read through the adventure in it's entirety until you're familiar with it. Not having to refer to the manual will speed up your DMing experience and make it more enjoyable for the table.

I wouldn't worry about the extra players, just keep in mind having them reduces the XP share of all other members, so they won't advance as quickly. You can compensate by adding creatures in here and there (or just ignoring the xp value and giving the players level ups at the times mentioned in the book).

It's probably worth adding a single additional goblin to each encounter so that the players don't steamroll through them before anyone has gotten a chance to take their turn (I'd probably also always have that additional one attack someone who wasn't attacked by the others, to avoid a tpk from just being overwhelmed by numbers on the NPCs turn).

[Theodoxus]

Good advice - I've run it twice, though only up through the town quests (both times the people ended up flaking on me.. might be me, not sure).

Anyway, my advice is to add spice to the setting. The initial encounter is fun for the first time players - an ambush is pretty exciting, but the afterparty really kinda sucks. If the players capture a gobo, and trick it into revealing the traps along the path, I've found it makes the experience a little too tame. I'm running another party through the first part tomorrow, and I'm adding a guard tower, some gobo warlocks, a lot more traps, and beefing up the cavern.

I wouldn't necessarily say you need to add all that - especially your first time through - but really play up the deviousness of the goblins. A couple traps and a bit of subterfuge isn't quite enough... Especially for a party of six.

Anyway, have fun with it - it's a pretty decent little story to whet your appetite!

[ChelseaNH]

I would leave the first ambush encounter as-is; for 1st level characters, an ambush is risky and your party is still figuring out how to work together. But after that, adding an extra minion or two, maybe bumping up the frequency of random encounters should balance out the XP.

There is a bit of a story hole when you get to the sandbox section: If you're aiming to find/rescue Gundren, then why are you punting around with all these side quests? So you might pay off side quests with information, in addition to money, to tie them in a little better. Or maybe they need to earn the money to buy information.

[RaynorReynolds]

That is a lot of people. I prefer 4-5 and am currently running the campaign with 5. I have read through the campaign maybe three times now. The only thing that makes me worry for the party is Venomfang. Especially with all of the other little encounters that surround him**. Other than that, as long as the party is careful they shouldnt have too many issues.

You will have to pay special attention to pages 82 & 83 of the DMG to make sure your encounters are set up properly.

**trying to avoid spoilers

[Mrmox42]

I would do as described above - adding a bonus-goblin (or bonus something else) to most encounters. This should do it.