URGENT! Need help for Lost Mines of Phandelver

[ThadeusWalrus]

hi there, i had my first game and was DM for the first time today (playing the starter set quest).
to cut a long story short one of our players, lets call him "Raven" was hogging the game, and ended up screwing it up for everybody.

firstly he wouldn't STFU, he kept trying to INVESTIGATE EVERYTHING including his own hands on multiple occasions, and secondly, and most importantly he RUINED THE QUEST. I don't mean he did something stupid like fight a Dragon whilst butt nekked. i mean he actually abandoned the whole point of the begining to the quest, by turning the cart he was supposed to escort in to a bloody BOMB! killing one of the main NPC's.
the group spent an hour in the local tavern while i improv'd a quest involving a sacred melon.

my questions are:
would it be okay to blind him so he can't investigate?
how can i bring the group back on track

this is my first experience with D&D and i'm a bit overwhelmed

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

Which NPC did he kill? Have you been to the goblin cave yet?

The cart really isn't important, it's just a hook to get the party to the area.

If they made it to town, let the party know from the towns people that
A) The rockseeker dwarf never made it to town.
B) Sildar (or whatever his name is) has gone missing
C) There's been a lot of reports of goblin bandits along the road lately. If they went looking in such-and-such an area they might find something.

Or, you can move things forward and try to get the party interested in the Redcloaks. Or have the redcloaks get interested in the party.

If "Raven" isn't interested in that and tries to go a different way, simply narrate that his character goes off on his own for whatever hair-brained scheme he has, and then add "And he was never seen or heard from again". Then engage the rest of the party. Make it clear to "Raven" that he can't participate in scenes he's not in, and that he can't magically show up at scenes his character doesn't know about. Incoherent players don't get extra attention just because they're louder.

[Coffee_Dragon]

would it be okay to blind him so he can't investigate?

I would think it's better to talk to the player(s) out of game, discuss what kind of behaviour is disruptive or otherwise problematic and try to agree on how you would all like to play.


how can i bring the group back on track

At night, the sacred melon begins to glow and speak spookily, commanding them to go to Phandalin. Why? Sacred melons don't need reasons.

[ThadeusWalrus]

Firstly thanks for the quick replies
the npc he killed was sildhar randomfantasyname
i tried talking to raven, but IRL he's "challenged", so it was really hard to get my point across without being the grand master ****. i was also trying to get them to think outside the box so i'm partially to blame.
but they ended up walking to Phandalin, near dead. so i had some wiggle room.

the melon turned out to be the players hallucinating from cart fumes

[Theodoxus]

LMoP is probably my favorite module in a long time - it's so fun for new and old alike and is highly modifiable for parties of varying strength.

There's a lot of 'in game' solutions to "Raven". The antagonists might have an inexplicable (lets call it the 'Sacred Melon Effect') need to see him dead. No matter what Raven does, he's the target of the majority of attacks; the butt of all the jokes and in general just has the poopy end of the stick.
Magic might go wonky around him (maybe use the Wild Magic sorc table, if he's a caster). Magic items refuse to work for him... be as annoying to his character as he is to you - and never explain why. (Sacred Melon Effect ftw.)

Well, after reading about the challenge... my solution is probably not kosher... I've never had to deal with that specific problem - I don't know if it's better to cut ties and wish him well or just roll with the punches he brings. I guess it depends on the relationship he has with you and the rest of the players - is he there on his own volition? (a lot easier to disinvite) or is he with someone else at the table? If so, perhaps letting them know that he's being too disruptive to your first time running a game that you'd prefer they either handle his outbursts or not bring him along...

Again, really hard to say what's best from an outside perspective.

[ThadeusWalrus]

as i said he's "challenged" and i didn't want to be unfair.
but i think i should impose more "creative" penalties for his actions
he's a ranger by the way.

[ThadeusWalrus]

he's not throwing tantrums or being overly loud.
he just likes talking, a lot
edit:
i invited raven, he's my cousin

[ThadeusWalrus]

how about:
[DM ROLLS DICE BEHIND SCREEN] "unfortunately for our brave adventurers, the cart was made from asbestos, and being closest to 'cartsplosion' raven took the brunt of the blast and is now dying from lung cancer"
[DM BEGINS ARBITRARY AND POINTLESS QUEST TO CURE RAVEN] "though your efforts noble raven succumbed to cancer, farewell dear friend, farewell"

[Officer Joy]

I would try to explain to raven that it's your first time DM ing, and you are working from a book. So he should accept a certain amount of railroading. And that he is not the only player at the table so he should make an efford to let the others make an equal amount of decisions.

[ThadeusWalrus]

OfficerJoy, thanks for the advice but as i've mentioned he has a "condition", so he really wouldn't understand why he can't use his imagination, in a game that encourages imagination...

[AugustNights]

Honestly, I love when my players do this sort of thing.
To save the campaign, have the Silwar that died be one of Iarno's spies, and have a new quest giver NPC in the town. A Harper's agent, or something.
Let the Rockseekers deduct the cost of the wagon from the PCs swag.
You can always secretly retcon NPC motives to help tell an interesting story, just don't do it to make the players feel uncool.

[ThadeusWalrus]

Honestly, I love when my players do this sort of thing.
To save the campaign, have the Silwar that died be one of Iarno's spies, and have a new quest giver NPC in the town. A Harper's agent, or something.
Let the Rockseekers deduct the cost of the wagon from the PCs swag.
You can always secretly retcon NPC motives to help tell an interesting story, just don't do it to make the players feel uncool.
I dunna know, i'm kinda digging the cancer angle.
already have a quest giver in the form of a melon that offers to cure Ravens stage 1 lymphoma.
i'm probably going to get crucified here, but i modified the campaign to not include the factions, i felt that they might be a bit overwelming for the group (all noobs, like myself)

[Eriol]

I'd say just invent a new NPC in the town that functions EXACTLY like Sildar would have in the plot. Make him yet another cousin (or whatever) of the original NPC. Substitute in the names from there on out. And then just keep going with the original plot.

As for disruptive player... I dunno.

[tieren]

Was he holding the conch? Tell him only the player holding the conch is allowed to talk. Also, get a conch.

[ThadeusWalrus]

am i the only one okay with pulling a "Walter White" on raven?

[ThadeusWalrus]

Was he holding the conch? Tell him only the player holding the conch is allowed to talk. Also, get a conch.
raven would ingest the conch

[ChelseaNH]

The module allows for the possibility that Sildar was killed in the goblin caves, so his death won't break things. It's a question of what information the group has now, and what they need. Barthen the merchant and various other townspeople were expecting Gundren Rockseeker to come back to town, so they can indicate that he's missing. Sildar knew that Gundren was taken to Cragmaw Castle; did he have a chance to pass that on to the party before he died?

The other thing to keep in mind is that you can change things around if you need to. Give the characters another reason to seek out Cragmaw Castle and find Gundren, or put Gundren in Glasstaff's keeping instead.

As for your disruptive player, it's hard to advise you without knowing what his limitations are. You might want to explain that this is a cooperative game -- that the party should work together in order to accomplish their goals. If he can't be a team player, maybe you can find another way to involve him. His imagination might be more useful if he's playing the party's opponents...

[ThadeusWalrus]

thanks errybody, i've figured out how to solve the "Raven problem"
:biggrin:

[Coffee_Dragon]

Noooooo put the club down