New campaign, need help.

[Ronnocius]

I am starting a new campaign and have planned out to first session. Because the players are all new to D&D, it is planned to be an hour long. I have a few decisions that haven't been made, and would like your input. There are a lot of questions, so sorry if it is messy.

#1 I was looking in the obscurity/vision rules in the Player's Handbook, and it says at night that characters should be blinded, even on moonlit nights. But being blinded seems far too severe a consequence. Also, my players have to find clues/gather information for the first quest, which won't be possible if they are blind. Should I make the night dim light, so they aren't blinded. They would have to use torches otherwise, and part of the quest is based around sneaking up on bandits. I was thinking of making streetlight torches on poles on the village streets, but the party is supposed to go way further than the village limits, so what should I do?

#2 In the session, the party is tasked by an old man to rescue his son, who went missing in the village outskirts. The missing person is captured by bandits and tied to a rock. The bandits are chatting around a torch, so if the can the players reasonably sneak up to the unconscious prisoner (just out of the dim light of the torch) if they make a Stealth check, or if they are 50 feet away would they be instantly spotted? Also, if the party tries to cut the rope tying up the prisoner, would they have to make attack rolls against it like the object rules in the DMG? I ruled that it would take one minute to cut the ropes, or they could untie it with a Sleight of Hand check. Is Sleight of Hand the right skill to make for a check to untie rope? Is a skill check even necessary? What should the DC be?

#3 This one is the least important, but the game starts off in a tavern (yawn, I know) that is attached to an inn. There is an old man, who does not live in the inn, inside the tavern. He is the quest-giver NPC for the start, so what would a reasonable explanation be for him to be in this tavern and not a regular one? Perhaps he could be friends with the owner?


Thank you for any help.

[Brendanicus]

1. Most player races have Darkvision, so seeing at night shouldn't be a problem. That being said, the Humans, Halflings, and Dragonborn of the party will want torches, but if they are spellcaster with the Light or Produce Flame cantrips, they can get light that way. Remember, D&D is a pre-industrialized society, night is darker than our modern world of light pollution. If you want the players to be able to sneak up on these bandits, maybe have the bandit hideout be in a torchlit cave with multiple paths, just enough that the party can flank them and lighting wouldn't be unusual.

2a. All monsters have a stat called "Passive Perception" which shows how good they are at noticing threats when not actively looking for them. For example, if a bandit had a Passive Perception of 10, a player would have to roll more than a 10 to evade the bandit's notice.

2b. Likewise, if for whatever reason a bandit gets suspicious, like if a player were to fire an arrow at them and miss, or if they cast a spell, they can make a Perception check, which represents them actively looking for a player. If the bandit were to roll higher than the player's Stealth check, the bandit has spotted the player.

2c. In either of those cases, if the bandit Perceives a player outside of their line of sight (Let's say a player is outside of the torch's range, assuming the bandit doesn't have Darkvision) that would probably mean that the bandit heard the player but could see her. That bandit would probably grab a torch of her own and investigate, or shout out "who's there?" or even lie and shout "I can see you, come out with your hands up!" The exact action is up to you, but just know that Perception can represent different senses based on context.

3. There's a ton of reasons here. Maybe the normal inn burned down and is being renovated. Maybe the new tavern is easier to reach for travelers. Maybe he's worried that a bandit contact regularly patronizes the regular tavern. The exact reason is probably unimportant. You'll get better at coming up with explanations like these the more you DM.

[Foxhound438]

I am starting a new campaign and have planned out to first session. Because the players are all new to D&D, it is planned to be an hour long. I have a few decisions that haven't been made, and would like your input. There are a lot of questions, so sorry if it is messy.

#1 I was looking in the obscurity/vision rules in the Player's Handbook, and it says at night that characters should be blinded, even on moonlit nights. But being blinded seems far too severe a consequence. Also, my players have to find clues/gather information for the first quest, which won't be possible if they are blind. Should I make the night dim light, so they aren't blinded. They would have to use torches otherwise, and part of the quest is based around sneaking up on bandits. I was thinking of making streetlight torches on poles on the village streets, but the party is supposed to go way further than the village limits, so what should I do?

#2 In the session, the party is tasked by an old man to rescue his son, who went missing in the village outskirts. The missing person is captured by bandits and tied to a rock. The bandits are chatting around a torch, so if the can the players reasonably sneak up to the unconscious prisoner (just out of the dim light of the torch) if they make a Stealth check, or if they are 50 feet away would they be instantly spotted? Also, if the party tries to cut the rope tying up the prisoner, would they have to make attack rolls against it like the object rules in the DMG? I ruled that it would take one minute to cut the ropes, or they could untie it with a Sleight of Hand check. Is Sleight of Hand the right skill to make for a check to untie rope? Is a skill check even necessary? What should the DC be?

#3 This one is the least important, but the game starts off in a tavern (yawn, I know) that is attached to an inn. There is an old man, who does not live in the inn, inside the tavern. He is the quest-giver NPC for the start, so what would a reasonable explanation be for him to be in this tavern and not a regular one? Perhaps he could be friends with the owner?


Thank you for any help.

1) most races have darkvision, and even without it they would know the location of enemies that aren't "hidden", so they wouldn't be completely useless. darkness is sometimes bad for those without darkvision, but they can still function, basically. they'd just have disadvantage to attacks. Alternatively, you could have them do their investigations in the late evening before the sun sets, and then it conveniently just gets dark once they figure out where to find the guy.

2) rules for hiding are pretty vague. Basically just think realistically. Being visible doesn't mean you're instantly spotted, especially if a) you're still behind tall grass/brush/rocks or are wearing clothes that blend with the surroundings, and b) if the enemies are more or less distracted by gambling or whatever. For the rope, it has 5 hit points (as per phb description), and generally for such a thing you don't really need to do an attack roll. Doubtful you'd miss a stationary rope. How much rope is use can of course come into play, a giant knot of 30 ropes around each limb would be harder to free someone from than one loop around the wrists.

Finally on the above topic, it might also be fine to just say "you successfully sneak up [no roll], what do you do?" and require a slight of hands if they want to untie, or a stealth if they want to cut the ropes. Reason being, it's pretty annoying to have to make 3, 4, 5 rolls to do one thing successfully. a simple one roll to determine success is best, honestly, because otherwise you're potentially giving your player turbo-disadvantage (having to roll well multiple times in a row). Otherwise if you do want a stealth to approach -and- another once there, you can give the player 2-3 attempts at the second check before being noticed, but it's still not how i would do it.

3)"looking for adventurers" is usually a fine excuse for anyone looking to get a job done. However if you're looking for something else, it's basically your own call. he might be an alcoholic. he might be traveling. he might be meeting someone else.

remember also that most new players will be pretty gung-ho about going head first into combat. you might find that hiding isn't used in session 1. Also it's likely that they can suspend their agency just enough to get onto a railroad for the first couple sessions while they figure out the mechanics of the system, so don't worry too much about needing to prepare for every conceivable approach, it might be just fine to suggest a course of action and new players will likely be along for the ride.

[randomodo]

As a guy who grew up in the country, I can say that even without electric lights anywhere near you, if it's a clear night with anything more than about half moon in the sky, it's bright enough to see your shadow. There's no need at all to declare the PCs are arbitrarily blind automatically just because it's night.

[Regitnui]

As a guy who grew up in the country, I can say that even without electric lights anywhere near you, if it's a clear night with anything more than about half moon in the sky, it's bright enough to see your shadow. There's no need at all to declare the PCs are arbitrarily blind automatically just because it's night.

I was just about to say that. Clear moonlit nights are bright enough to see in, especially of you let your eyes adjust. You'd also (if your bandits are smart) have the torches behind them, so that the light doesn't mess with their (mundane) night vision. The true lookouts will be within shouting distance of the camp, call it about twenty metres (60ft?) out. They're the ones your players want to avoid.

As for Darkvision, it's always an asset in that sort of situation. Don't forget that the bandits are just as likely to have members with darkvision. They'll be among the lookoutd I mentioned last paragraph, with a few within the camp for sneaky PCs trying to use the shadows from tents and other obstacles. I wouldn't give all the bandits darkvision, but note that the most obvious approaches, like a ditch or riverbank, will have the best lookouts, with dark vision.

As for the rope... I would leave out the skill roll. Unless it's an especially tough or enchanted rope, any sharp object will do. The challenge of the situation is whether they can get the bloke out of there alive, not if they can get him loose. But, if you want to make them roll for tension's sake, Sleight of Hands is a good skill. Survival might also be appropriate. A general dexterity check could be untying the rope, while strength could be snapping it.

Don't get to bogged down in planning. If there's one thing I know, it's that your players will go off what you thought were the rails. I had a brief encounter with a questgiver planned once, and the half-orc barbarian walked up to a merchant, lifted him off his feet, and started demanding 'pipeweed'. The resulting negotiations took up half the session. You can't guarantee your players will do anything you want once they have the quest, and you can't prepare for everything. If I were playing my preferred character (Changeling bard) I'd try bluffing my way into the camp by taking out one of the scouts and adopting his appearance, then take the rest of the party in as 'prisoners'. They get thrown in the same tent as the guy we're supposed to rescue, sort him out, then sneak out of the camp with nobody the wiser.

[Ronnocius]

I was just about to say that. Clear moonlit nights are bright enough to see in, especially of you let your eyes adjust. You'd also (if your bandits are smart) have the torches behind them, so that the light doesn't mess with their (mundane) night vision. The true lookouts will be within shouting distance of the camp, call it about twenty metres (60ft?) out. They're the ones your players want to avoid.

As for Darkvision, it's always an asset in that sort of situation. Don't forget that the bandits are just as likely to have members with darkvision. They'll be among the lookoutd I mentioned last paragraph, with a few within the camp for sneaky PCs trying to use the shadows from tents and other obstacles. I wouldn't give all the bandits darkvision, but note that the most obvious approaches, like a ditch or riverbank, will have the best lookouts, with dark vision.

As for the rope... I would leave out the skill roll. Unless it's an especially tough or enchanted rope, any sharp object will do. The challenge of the situation is whether they can get the bloke out of there alive, not if they can get him loose. But, if you want to make them roll for tension's sake, Sleight of Hands is a good skill. Survival might also be appropriate. A general dexterity check could be untying the rope, while strength could be snapping it.

Don't get to bogged down in planning. If there's one thing I know, it's that your players will go off what you thought were the rails. I had a brief encounter with a questgiver planned once, and the half-orc barbarian walked up to a merchant, lifted him off his feet, and started demanding 'pipeweed'. The resulting negotiations took up half the session. You can't guarantee your players will do anything you want once they have the quest, and you can't prepare for everything. If I were playing my preferred character (Changeling bard) I'd try bluffing my way into the camp by taking out one of the scouts and adopting his appearance, then take the rest of the party in as 'prisoners'. They get thrown in the same tent as the guy we're supposed to rescue, sort him out, then sneak out of the camp with nobody the wiser.

My "camp" isn't much of a camp. I may have misled you, sorry! The camp is just 3 bandits sitting on rocks around a torch in the ground. They have a hostage (that the party has to save) tied to a large rock/boulder. They also have their weapons next to them, and a pack of provisions near the large rock. The bandits aren't used to being ambushed, and have no lookouts posted. They are all pretty distracted.

A description of the "camp":

The trail leads to a small bandit camp. Loud talking and laughter can be heard from 120 feet away. There is little natural shrubbery to hide behind. If one listens, they can easily distinguish three distinct voices telling jokes, telling tales, and laughing. Anybody with darkvision can see three figures sitting on large rocks in a circle around a torch implanted in the ground, along with a slumped figure against a boulder. Any other creature cannot see the bandits, although they can see a light. Upon coming within the dim light of the torch, characters must succeed on Stealth checks with disadvantage against the bandits' passive Perception. If the PCs fail, the bandits hear them and immediately attack them. Otherwise, the PCs are not noticed until they enter the bright light, upon which they are immediately noticed. If a PC attacks the bandits with a ranged weapon attack from the dim light, or succeed on their Stealth check and attack the bandits with a melee weapon attack, the party has the surprise round.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks, Ronnocius.

[Regitnui]

Since they're sitting around a torch facing inwards, I'd actually give the bandits disadvantage on the active Perception checks if the PCs remain in the dim light. The bandits have been talking around their brightly lit fire place, so unless one of them is a species with darkvision, they'll have to let their eyes adjust before spotting a person beyond their firelight.

I think it's worth accounting for the fact that most of your characters will have some sort of ranged weapon or spell. Admittedly, it wouldn't be likely to kill the bandits outright, but it's entirely possible to sneak around the camp and try to hit the bandits simultaneously. How would you rule that?

[Shining Wrath]

There's no reason your world has to have a single moon; mine has 3, one of which is in a polar orbit. You can have as much light as night as you desire.

As has been noted, a moonlit night on earth is pretty bright; but our moon is unusually large, and you can rule your world is pretty dark even at full moon.

The result being that you have to decide what phase the moon(s) is(are) in and what effect that has on PCs without darkvision. Most starting equipment packs include torches so it's not a great burden to require them to use those - but it interferes greatly with sneaking up on the bandits.

You can give the PCs without darkvision disadvantage on Stealth checks to move silently if they are trying to sneak up on the bandits without torches. You might put the bandit camp in a blind canyon such that the party only has to close the last 50' or so in the dark - assuming someone can scout ahead.

Untying ropes sounds like Sleight of Hand to me. However, I'd let a character with a dagger or knife make a Strength (Athletics) check to cut the ropes, one per round. A standard hemp rope does not stand much of a chance against a sharp knife. This allows the rope problem to be solved by either a dextrous character or a strong one.

The quest giver isn't in the tavern when the party enters - he bursts in, desperate to find someone to help him find his son, who has gone missing! And something's wrong!