New DM running a 1:1 LMoP needs advice on best class/feats combo for the player

[pixelG]

Hello everyone,
my wife and I are both D&D 5th ed. players, but where we live we don't have yet an organised group to play regularly with. So the idea is for me to start DM for her a one-to-one adventure.
We have already played with our old group the second half of LMoP (we were substitutes for people that left), now we would like to replay it having more freedom since we are just the two of us.

I already know that I will need to heavily modify the adventure (or provide NPCs or other bonuses) for just 1 player, but before I do that I would like some advice on which classes can offer her better chances during this adventure. She doesn't want to run a Paladin, because she wants to play it on her next campaign (HotDQ), so that's out of the question.
Possibilities taken into consideration were:

Ranger (beast master?): xbow expert - some healing - stealth - good damage - animal companion that acts on its own for more help
Druid: shillelagh (1h quarterstaff and shield) - polearm master - healing - AoE - wild shape
Fighter: ??
Rogue/Barbarian: ??

What do you guys suggest, knowing that the adventure is LMoP?
Please ask any question if you need more information! :)

[Lombra]

War cleric with heavy armor master and she's going to survive most of the adventure with barely a scratch

[pixelG]

War cleric with heavy armor master and she's going to survive most of the adventure with barely a scratch
Uhmm didn't think about this, I'll take a look and add it to the possibilities. Thanks!

More suggestions are still appreciated =)

[mephnick]

I think if I ever played a solo adventure I'd be a valor bard. You can do pretty much anything the system calls for (skills, fullcaster, physical combat) though not as great as specialists of course. Probably take some combat feats to shore up that pillar of the game.

[lonewulf]

Yeah, any class that gets heavy armor...be V.Human and take HAM. You will damn-near live forever.

If you want something different from that I personally love Warlock for most low-level games. Take EBlast and Minor Illusion and make sure she gets Stealth from a background (probably Urchin). Pump Dex and Cha.

Use sneak to sneak near enemies, minor illusion something near-ish to them, when they investigate (or try to kill) your illusion start blasting them with EB. Early levels things will die quick, Fiend Pact will give you temp hp every time you kill something.

Level 2, pick up Agonizing Blast for more damage and (i usually take it later but...) Devil's Sight if you dont have Darkvision, maybe Repelling Blast if you do though there are many great options.

[pixelG]

The war cleric doesn't seem bad at all. AC is 16 + 2 (from shield) and can get up to 20 with shield of faith. He can also attack twice based on the wis modifier. What I don't understand is how this compare to a ranger that has the same AC (14+2dex+2shield) but he also has xbow expert so that can attack twice, is based on Dex and can have an easy time being stealthy. Is the 3 less damage offered by HAM that life changing?

[Zene]

War cleric might feel too much like the paladin.

Ranger with xbow expert would be cool, but you can't carry a shield and attack twice with a crossbow in one round (need a free hand to load). Still would be cool though, and a very different feel from the paladin.

The stealthy warlock is a great idea too, effective and again a very different playstyle.

[MinotaurWarrior]

I'd highly recommend starting with at least two levels of rogue. Being able to run away effectively is crucial to solo survival.

[pixelG]

First of all thank you guys for all the suggestions!

So far we have:
- War Cleric
- Warlock (pure?)
- Rogue (at least 2 lvl) then multi or proceed as pure rogue?

Nice ideas I'll try and work out something (talking to my wife as well) to see what she likes more.
I'll try to flush out something from these ideas and if I have more questions I'll bother you guys again :P

Thanks!

P.S.: If any of you wants to spend some time in highlighting any build in particular, that would be awesome :)

[lonewulf]

First of all thank you guys for all the suggestions!

So far we have:
- War Cleric
- Warlock (pure?)
- Rogue (at least 2 lvl) then multi or proceed as pure rogue?

Nice ideas I'll try and work out something (talking to my wife as well) to see what she likes more.
I'll try to flush out something from these ideas and if I have more questions I'll bother you guys again :P

Thanks!

P.S.: If any of you wants to spend some time in highlighting any build in particular, that would be awesome :)

As for Warlock, pure works just fine but MCing out is just as good and sometimes better. I'd at least get 3 levels and pick up Chain Pact for an Imp familiar (any pact will work fine tho). Sorcerer is the obvious MC option but anything that likes Cha and Dex works fine. But i'd go pure just because I love Warlocks and this will be a low-level game.

[TheProfessor85]

Out of the abyss has an array of NPCs to run with. Wouldn't hurt to look at it for ideas

[pixelG]

Out of the abyss has an array of NPCs to run with. Wouldn't hurt to look at it for ideas

It is true I didn't mention what material I have at my disposal: PHB, MM, Basic DM Rules, LMoP (starter set) so no OotA for me (not yet!) :(

[8wGremlin]

I've not played LMoP


Winged Tiefling, Arcane domain cleric, take Chill touch as one of your new wizard cleric cantrips. Take to the air and rain down terror?

[MinotaurWarrior]

First of all thank you guys for all the suggestions!
P.S.: If any of you wants to spend some time in highlighting any build in particular, that would be awesome :)

Birdy the Survivor

Race: Birdfolk (http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/EE_PlayersCompanion.pdf)
Background: Knight (For the Attendants)
Stats: 8Str/17Dex/14Con/8Int/13Wis/14Cha
Skills: Acrobatics, History, Perception(expert), Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, Stealth(expert)
Tools: Gaming Set, Thieves Tools.

Level 1: Rogue
Level 2: Rogue - Congrats, you can now fly 150ft / turn to get the hell out of dodge.
Level 3: Assassin - In a solo game, this ability can be used a lot more without annoying the other PCs.
Level 4: Assassin - Spend your ASI on skulker. Congrats, you have 18Dex, can hide without heavy obscuration, and can keep trying on those assassination attacks.
Level 5: Wild Magic Sorcerer 1 - in part for spell-casting, but more for bend luck, granting advantage on crucial butt-saving hide checks.
Level 6: Warlock - Hex makes up for your Sneak Attack progression and can give enemies disadvantage to perceive you when you run & hide, short rest spell slots makes wild magic work more, and EB has some use. Be sure to cast hex well in advance of combat on like a tiny pet frog your servants collect, and then kill that frog and use a silent bonus action to transfer the hex to your target (rather than loudly casting the spell within earshot of enemies).
Level 7: Ranger 1 - Pick up Survival, I think favored enemy humanoid? Not familiar with the adventure
Level 8: Ranger 2 - Archery fighting style
Level 9: Deep Stalker 3
Level 10: Deep Stalker 4 - ASI goes to +2 dex
Level 11: Deep Stalker 5 - Pass Without Trace is one of your chosen spells.

This character is gonna solo adventure in a way that's very different from the way DnD groups adventure. Your key ability is running the hell away from danger. Your second key ability is laying down the pain in the surprise round. From level 4 on, you're essentially guaranteed 7*(1+1/2level, rounding up)+4 damage before enemies get to react. Then, in combat rounds, you need to know your limit before fleeing as fast as you can. After fleeing, you can come back when ready, and kick things back off with a fresh assassination.

[Foxhound438]

a barbarian with great weapon master can more or less handle itself in a low level fight, since they get both damage resistance and enough damage to kill something in one hit. Great weapon master also has the benefit of giving a bonus attack if you manage to kill something, meaning she can potentially kill 2 things in one turn, and more or less snowball. I'm personally not a fan of barbarians in concept, but mechanically it's solid.

As others have said, cleric is a great choice- I personally wouldn't worry about having heavy armor master, a lot of the potent casting domains that don't get heavy armor are fun and interesting as well. Light cleric comes to mind, as they can have AC 18 out the gate (same as heavy armor cleric) while also having the warding flare to reduce the damage they take. They also get burning hands right off the bat, which can be useful for killing off a couple of goblins at once early on in that adventure.

a 2 weapon fighting fighter is pretty good in LMoP since they never face the issue of mid-late game falloff in effectiveness. The second wind adds a good amount of survivability, and action surge is good for clearing out mooks. A monk or crossbow expert ranger is possibly as good here for the same reasons, though fighter being single attribute dependent would allow you to have higher con, and thus higher HP.

[RulesJD]

Okay so I'm sorry but please ignore all of the earlier advice.

The only class she should be considering is Moon Druid. This is both due to the considerations of LMoP, and the basic reality that a Moon Druid can survive level 1 long enough to get Bear form at level 2. Past that, 2 Bear Forms + concentration on a spell = easy mode solo runs. Take War Caster feat at level 1 and you'll rarely lose concentration (if you even make her roll for it).

All the suggestions of War Cleric and Rogue neglect the fact that they are extremely good at an extremely narrow set of gameplay. The Cleric spell list, especially at lower levels pre-Spirit Guardians, it terrible at anything besides single target enemies. Want to handle more than 1v1 fights? Be a Brown Bear with Flaming Sphere/Moonbeam running. Or Spike Growth + Brown Bear form.

Moon Druid allows you to excel at all of the 3 primary pillars, because you can dump stat Str/Con/Int. You only really need 14 Dex (enough for stone Half-plate that makes sense to find next to a huge mine) and 16 Wisdom to start. Pump everything else into Con and Charisma. Charm Person + Enhance Ability (Charisma) = easy mode for social interactions if she really needs to make them work.

Animal forms + Pass w/out Trace = easy mode exploration.

Bear Form + Moonbeam/Flaming Sphere/Spike growth = easy mode combat.

[MinotaurWarrior]

The only class she should be considering is Moon Druid.

Low level druids are great for several rounds a day, in that they can handle relatively more than other classes in a straight up slogfest.

They're not very good at handling the biggest problem with solo low-level play, especially solo low-level play that's being adjusted on the fly: recovering from suddenly getting in over your head.

A level 2+ Moon Druid can respond to a series of bad rolls or poorly adjusted encounter by... slightly increasing their hp.

Birdy the Survivor just straight up leaves that encounter in the dust and return on his terms.

In the first several encounters, either character can be dropped into sudden peril if a goblin foe hits. Even minimum damage (3) means that another hit could be the last. Birdy can respond with a 90% chance of success on a hide check to peace out.

Think about it this way: the rogue is the only class that's built to go off on it's own in normal gameplay. It makes sense that they'd be the best at doing the whole adventure on their own.

[RulesJD]

Low level druids are great for several rounds a day, in that they can handle relatively more than other classes in a straight up slogfest.

They're not very good at handling the biggest problem with solo low-level play, especially solo low-level play that's being adjusted on the fly: recovering from suddenly getting in over your head.

A level 2+ Moon Druid can respond to a series of bad rolls or poorly adjusted encounter by... slightly increasing their hp.

Birdy the Survivor just straight up leaves that encounter in the dust and return on his terms.

In the first several encounters, either character can be dropped into sudden peril if a goblin foe hits. Even minimum damage (3) means that another hit could be the last. Birdy can respond with a 90% chance of success on a hide check to peace out.

Think about it this way: the rogue is the only class that's built to go off on it's own in normal gameplay. It makes sense that they'd be the best at doing the whole adventure on their own.

Your Birdy the Survivor sucks for a significant number of levels. Primarily because Grapple + Readied Actions are a thing in 5e.

Again, every class sans Barbarian is vulnerable at level 1. Druid is nigh invincible at level 2+, which no other class can claim. Your Birdy lacks any kind of real spell support, which immediately nixes it for optimized solo play, especially in a mod like Lost Mines where spells can make such a huge difference (drop a Spike Growth in the hallways of the Red Brands hideout/orc castle/caves to easy mode those encounters).

And really? A Druid is strong for a few encounters? Have you heard of Short Rests? Unless you have a DM who is willing to handwave the requirements for Stealth and break pretty significantly from RAW, you'll be getting tagged from the rather large number of enemies with ranged attacks in LMoP. Especially because so many of the encounters in LMoP are internal (caves, castle, hide outs) that will severely restrict vertical movement, rendering low level flight pretty pointless.

Oh, and if you're planning for beyond level 5 (which under normal play LMoP tops out at level 4, 5 at the end) then your Birdy man gets ROFLstomped by the Druid. Conjure Animals = one and done spell for any encounter sans the Flameskull in LMoP.

[MinotaurWarrior]

Your Birdy the Survivor sucks for a significant number of levels. Primarily because Grapple + Readied Actions are a thing in 5e.

I think your language is inappropriate, especially given how your arguments are so baseless. Seriously, you're talking about readied actions and grappling against a build that (1) uses a ranged weapon (2) uses stealth (4) has +5 on acrobatics checks to start and (3) is fighting creatures from the MM that have terrible athletics checks.


Again, every class sans Barbarian is vulnerable at level 1.
This is misleading. Yes, every build is vulnerable, but you're overvaluing HP and a source of resistance that kicks in only when activated. Actually, in terms of absorbing hits the best build at level 1 is probably gonna be a HAM V.Human Defense Style Fighter. But absorbing hits is a fool's game when you're solo. Expertise: stealth, +3 dex modifier gives you an action option providing a 90% chance to survive an encounter against goblins. 50ft base movement can also provide frequent access to total cover, granting a 100% chance of survival.


Druid is nigh invincible at level 2+, which no other class can claim.
Yeah, no, the druid can't actually claim that. At level 2 with maxed CON, you have pseudo 53HP (34 Brown bear, 19 druid). That is very much killable. Especially since you're placing yourself in further danger by closing to melee.

By comparison, a level 2 bird rogue will have substantially lower HP, but can auto-survive some encounters by running away, or get incredibly high % chances of survival by making hide attempts. Even against the wolves, level 2 birdy has a 90% chance of hiding, and by then he has a 99% chance of hiding against the goblins.


Your Birdy lacks any kind of real spell support, which immediately nixes it for optimized solo play,

I think that's a silly statement.


especially in a mod like Lost Mines where spells can make such a huge difference (drop a Spike Growth in the hallways of the Red Brands hideout/orc castle/caves to easy mode those encounters).

And this is a silly example. The enemies have better ranged attacks than your druid if you're concentrating on spike growth.


And really? A Druid is strong for a few encounters? Have you heard of Short Rests?
Short rests refresh much more slowly than martial skills (always available). And they only get you more wild shapes, so you can wade into melee with a little extra HP.


Unless you have a DM who is willing to handwave the requirements for Stealth and break pretty significantly from RAW, you'll be getting tagged from the rather large number of enemies with ranged attacks in LMoP. Especially because so many of the encounters in LMoP are internal (caves, castle, hide outs) that will severely restrict vertical movement, rendering low level flight pretty pointless.

50ft fly speed is never pointless. I didn't check exhaustively, but I'm fairly certain there's no point at which you can't get heavy obscuration by running 50ft around a corner. At very least, I'm positive about that for the first dungeon (and, in fact, once you've cleared the outside, the entire interior is just fleeable with dash actions). Later, Skulker makes it so you can hide in dim light or foliage


Oh, and if you're planning for beyond level 5 (which under normal play LMoP tops out at level 4, 5 at the end)

Solo adventures level substantially more quickly than group adventures. If LMoP gets 5PCs to 5, it gets 1 PC to ~7-8


then your Birdy man gets ROFLstomped by the Druid. Conjure Animals = one and done spell for any encounter sans the Flameskull in LMoP.

Assassin 4/Warlock 1 (rethought the order between warlock and WM) auto succeeds on stealth against a wis-hexed flameskull, and then with skulker is guaranteed to start combat with a hit on assassinate at range. That hit deals 2d4+4d6+4 bludgeoning, 2d6 necrotic damage. ~26.5 on average. Then he can book it up to 50ft back and re-stealth. ~93% chance to hit next round, doing ~15.25 damage, killing the flame skull.

[Lombra]

I really like the ranged stealth archetype for the character. It sounds like is going to be intreasting to play, especially being the only one in charge for the plan and not having to bore the other players while sneaking around. It's just that the character would easily die where stealth isn't applicable :/

[Spectre9000]

I would like to know what stats she has to work with. There are some class combinations that could be really good, but are very stat dependent, so it would be helpful if we could know her attributes. Also, what level will she be starting at? I'm assuming level 1, but just making sure.

[RulesJD]

*snip

Assassin 4/Warlock 1 (rethought the order between warlock and WM) auto succeeds on stealth against a wis-hexed flameskull, and then with skulker is guaranteed to start combat with a hit on assassinate at range. That hit deals 2d4+4d6+4 bludgeoning, 2d6 necrotic damage. ~26.5 on average. Then he can book it up to 50ft back and re-stealth. ~93% chance to hit next round, doing ~15.25 damage, killing the flame skull.

You really don't understand what I'm saying do you?

Every enemy on their turn = Ready Action -> Ranged Attack, including the Flaming Skulls Fireball.

Congrats, your uber stealth tactic is defeated. They know where you attacked from, Stealth isn't invisibility. You're also relying on your DM to say that you have something to hide behind for a stealth attack, which may or may not be true in most of LMoP again, because of Darkvision + Lighting. Even still, you get one big hit and that's literally it. You have nothing else. You have no way to interact in social encounters and your exploration is pretty terrible as well because you can't make yourself invisible/unnoticed (again, for the 10,000th time, rolling a 38 on stealth doesn't matter when the enemy is staring right at you).

So yes, Readied Action -> Ranged Attack against your terrible low HP (and low AC) Rogue will result in your get roflstomped numerous times. I'm sorry your tactic isn't as strong as you want it to be.

[Petrocorus]

I'm running LMoP now, during the first parts of the adventure, up until the Mine itself, the majority of enemies will be goblins and hobgoblins, bugbears and orcs with potentially dangerous ranged attacks, the hobgoblins have a nasty AC in addition.

The important encounters happen in quite close spaces. Tressendar Manor and Cragmaw Castle have ceiling of 10 or 15 ft. The Mine average ceiling is 20 ft. The Cragmaw Hideout have high ceiling but not in big rooms. So i think having a fly speed won't be that good in this situations. The rooms can be small and don't let a lot of opportunities to use ranged attacks only. Only Thundertree, Old Owl Well and maybe Wyvern Tor are really made easy by having fly.

You'd better have someone with Stealth, but you will face enemies with ranged attacks and who can be numerous. One of the party i DM ended up fighting 13 goblins at the same time (4 level 3 PC) in the Cragmaw Castle, they won but expended a lot of their resources. So you need someone who also has melee capability and who is able to take some damage or avoid them, even if you adapt the number of foes. Some encounters can be solved with talks, so proficiency in Persuasion can be good too. I also concur that two weapons fighting is probably the best combat style at level 1 - 4.

My guess is that indeed a Moon Druid or a Valor Bard have the better chances in this campaign. I would actually advise you for a Paladin if that wasn't out of the way. A revised Ranger can be god too, though i'm not sure about its stealth capability. A multiclassed Fighter / Warlock can maybe work too. I feel that the War Cleric may lack sustained offensive power, without expending resources, he's attacking with a one handed martial weapon (+5 to hit, 1d8 +3 to damages, single attack), unless he forgo the shield.
Half-elf, Tabaxi, or Vuman would probably be the best races.

[MinotaurWarrior]

You really don't understand what I'm saying do you?

Every enemy on their turn = Ready Action -> Ranged Attack, including the Flaming Skulls Fireball.

That's not what you said previously. Instead, you said a different wrong thing, and I corrected that.

Now, on to readied action fireball: with average results, he can't do that, because he's never alive at a time when he can do that. He gets shot in surprise, and then he uses his action in the first round of combat to ready an action, and then he gets hit with a ranged attack and dies, invalidating his readied action. The hit is the thing that reveals birdy's location.

With below average rolls, the flameskull survives the hit, and then has to make a concentration check (less than or equal to 65% of succeeding) and then gives birdy a dex save (65% chance of success) to take half of an average 28 damage.

In the absolute worst case scenario, where birdy rolls poorly for damage (50% of the time), Flameskull passes the concentration check (~33% of the time), birdy fails his save (~21%), he then has 38Hp + 3 Temp HP, meaning it takes 41 damage to kill him, which happens 8.8040957e-5 % of the time (Abysmally rarely). Anything short of that extremely unlikely worst case scenario, and he can just run and hide to escape.


Congrats, your uber stealth tactic is defeated.They know where you attacked from, Stealth isn't invisibility.

They know where I attacked from. They don't know where I am.



You're also relying on your DM to say that you have something to hide behind for a stealth attack, which may or may not be true in most of LMoP again, because of Darkvision + Lighting.

I'm not going to exhaustively search through this, but no, with 50ft fly speed, I'm pretty damn sure I can always run back to complete concealment around a corner. If you want to argue otherwise, find an actual encounter where that's not the case.


Even still, you get one big hit and that's literally it. You have nothing else.

That's just blatantly not true.


You have no way to interact in social encounters

Are you kidding me? Did I miss the part in the birdfolk write up where they can't speak common?


and your exploration is pretty terrible as well because you can't make yourself invisible/unnoticed (again, for the 10,000th time, rolling a 38 on stealth doesn't matter when the enemy is staring right at you).

The race with a 50ft fly speed has terrible exploration abilities? Seriously.

And for the 10,000th time on my part, complete concealment is frequently available, and from level 4 on you can just hide in mist.


So yes, Readied Action -> Ranged Attack against your terrible low HP (and low AC) Rogue will result in your get roflstomped numerous times.

If that is a credible threat, birdy can just bounce instead of revealing his new position. Birdly almost always ends his turns completely safe. If the druid's combat is going poorly, he's screwed - the combat wild shape druid almost always ends his turn in a threatened square.

Let's look at the first boss, and imagine the DM hasn't adjusted anything. Bugbear + 2 goblins + wolf. Either character is gonna be level 2 by this point. 65% of the time, birdy gets surprise, ~93% of the time he shoots the wolf for 1d8+1d6+3, which kills it about 32% of the time. Then Birdy can hide 99% of the time, or swoop down the chimney 100% of the time. This is an ~ 20% chance of winning the encounter with no consequences, because killing the wolf triggers Klarg to flee.

On the flipside, the worst case scenario is that you fail the stealth check. You go into rounds, and have to endure the attacks of every creature with ranged weapons that goes before you. You've got 17Hp and AC 15 - probably with cover, but let's say not for some reason. Each goblin and Klarg have a 45% chance of going before you, and then a 50% chance of hitting. The goblins do 1d6+2, Klarg does 2d6+2. On average, that's 4.5 damage. The chance of them doing 17 damage is about 11%. So, all in all, a ~4% chance of dying, if you can't secure cover before the stealth check gets made (which would be weird, but hey, the goblin's placement is DM discretion).

The Druidbear, on the other hand, is an absolute joke if the DM plays tactically, because the goblins can kite him endlessly.


I'm sorry your tactic isn't as strong as you want it to be.

Again, your snarkiness is inappropriate and your overconfidence misplaced.

[RulesJD]

*snip*

The hit is the thing that reveals birdy's location.

*snip*

And here's where i stopped reading because I realized you don't actually know the rules and are playing based on homebrew rules.


Yes, shooting is what reveals your location, not hitting something sans having the Skulker feat which you cannot get until level 4, which is pretty much the end of the LMoP.

So you make one shot, possibly killing the Wolf. The Goblins then lose their arrows IMMEDIATELY, NOT before you get to move away. You hit hit almost certainly, dropping you like a bad habit.

The Chimney is difficult terrain at best, and given the description, you wouldn't be able to fly up it. But I'll let RAW rule that one, because it doesn't make a lick of difference. Goblins just hide on other side of the opening, and smash the hell out of you when you appear. No amount of Stealth changes that.

Your average health will be 31. That's baaarely outside of the range of one Fireball, and you don't have Evasion. If you hit the Flameskull, it will Fireball you, period. End of story. You only get away if you MISS because then Skulker prevents the shot form revealing your location.

The fact that you know how the Skulker feat works (you do right?) because don't under the concept that its the shot that reveals your location and not your hitting, boggles my mind.

Again, Readied Actions -> Ranged attacks completely nullifies your tactic. There's no way around that sans magic, which your build doesn't have.

[longshotist]

Hello everyone,
my wife and I are both D&D 5th ed. players, but where we live we don't have yet an organised group to play regularly with. So the idea is for me to start DM for her a one-to-one adventure.
We have already played with our old group the second half of LMoP (we were substitutes for people that left), now we would like to replay it having more freedom since we are just the two of us.

I already know that I will need to heavily modify the adventure (or provide NPCs or other bonuses) for just 1 player, but before I do that I would like some advice on which classes can offer her better chances during this adventure. She doesn't want to run a Paladin, because she wants to play it on her next campaign (HotDQ), so that's out of the question.
Possibilities taken into consideration were:

Ranger (beast master?): xbow expert - some healing - stealth - good damage - animal companion that acts on its own for more help
Druid: shillelagh (1h quarterstaff and shield) - polearm master - healing - AoE - wild shape
Fighter: ??
Rogue/Barbarian: ??

What do you guys suggest, knowing that the adventure is LMoP?
Please ask any question if you need more information! :)

In all seriousness, especially if you're adapting the adventure for a single character, my suggestion is to play whatever lends itself to using her imagination to RP and have a good time. Mechanics aside, clever tactics and thinking outside the box > optimized builds. Talk or trick your way out of trouble, get bandits to turn on each other, sneak, hire help, etc.

[pixelG]

I would like to know what stats she has to work with. There are some class combinations that could be really good, but are very stat dependent, so it would be helpful if we could know her attributes. Also, what level will she be starting at? I'm assuming level 1, but just making sure.

With all the holidays (and the food) we didn't have the time to roll yet.
My idea is "for as much as possible" I would like her to handle the situation solo, I will otherwise help her with NPCs or scaling down the adventure.

As for stats I was thinking to make her roll "4d6 reroll 1s and drop the lowest" and if the array for some strange reason is worse than the Standard Array she can pick that one. Too much help? We just really want for me to have a try at DMing for her have a nice (challenging but not too much) adventure.


In all seriousness, especially if you're adapting the adventure for a single character, my suggestion is to play whatever lends itself to using her imagination to RP and have a good time. Mechanics aside, clever tactics and thinking outside the box > optimized builds. Talk or trick your way out of trouble, get bandits to turn on each other, sneak, hire help, etc.

That also :)
Since it is the first time DMing we just wanted something that will allow her to play the clever tactics as well as sometimes use the direct approach. We are very relaxed and not too crazy about Min/Max-ing builds, but on the other hand I want her to have a good enough character so that she has choices in how to handle a situation (and so that I don't have to keep "saving" her from dying, as it ruins the atmosphere)

[pixelG]

It seems she really liked the Moon Druid idea :)
She is going crazy about the Firbolg race, but Wood Elves, VHuman, Ghostwise Halfling seems to interest her as well (VHuman just because of the feat, otherwise they have boring faces -_-" )

I'll update you guys with the stats when she rolls.
Thank you, your help is very much appreciated!

:)

[MinotaurWarrior]

With all the holidays (and the food) we didn't have the time to roll yet.
My idea is "for as much as possible" I would like her to handle the situation solo, I will otherwise help her with NPCs or scaling down the adventure.

The initial encounter is pretty much unsurvivable for a druid. I'd probably go so far as to completely change it. Maybe have one of the black horses survive the ambush, and come round the bend to give the druid a warning. Then, instead of four goblins, have it be just one goblin boss. And maybe take his javelin away. That way it's still a 200XP encounter, but, y'know, it's 1v1 and she can get a turn in.

Other than that, the biggest thing you need to keep in mind if she's going moon druid solo, is how to manage ranged opponents. Unlike a fighter, a bear cannot casually draw a one-handed ranged weapon to at least interact with the kiting goblin.

If it's looking like she's still struggling after Goblin Arrows, one thing to consider is wildshape barding. It works, but is very impractical (expensive, must be custom ordered) by default. It is, however, easy enough to just drop direwolf (or bear, as a bit more of a stretch) breastplate barding in Klarg's lair.

And, of course, there's always magic items.

Also you could consider multiplying the milestone XP by, say, three (treating it like it was a lump sum the designers pre-divided by the expected number of players). This would make her level 2 by the second combat encounter, and level 3 part way through the cave.


As for stats I was thinking to make her roll "4d6 reroll 1s and drop the lowest" and if the array for some strange reason is worse than the Standard Array she can pick that one. Too much help? We just really want for me to have a try at DMing for her have a nice (challenging but not too much) adventure.

Doing that gives her an ~ 15% at getting at least one rollect 18. Firblog pushes that to 20WIS. That's DC15 saves, which is kinda a big deal.... but much less so on a solo druid. If she changes her mind and wants to play a Sorc, I might be worried at level 3 when her half-elf is pushing Heightened Suggestion, but 'nah, 4d6 reroll 1's drop lowest should be fine.


It seems she really liked the Moon Druid idea :)
She is going crazy about the Firbolg race, but Wood Elves, VHuman, Ghostwise Halfling seems to interest her as well (VHuman just because of the feat, otherwise they have boring faces -_-" )

I'll update you guys with the stats when she rolls.
Thank you, your help is very much appreciated!

:)

You could also give her a starting feat on the other races. It's a big boost, but solo is a big drawback. Firblog features don't synergize well with druidess. Wood elf mask of the wild is very good if you rule it works in wildshape. Also, once again I'll throw out Aarorka as a +wis race with a huge benefit (fly speed 50ft)


And here's where i stopped reading because I realized you don't actually know the rules and are playing based on homebrew rules.

Again, this is a pointless comment all the more absurd because of the number of times you've gotten things plainly wrong.



Yes, shooting is what reveals your location, not hitting something sans having the Skulker feat which you cannot get until level 4, which is pretty much the end of the LMoP.

Yes. We were discussing an encounter at the end of the adventure, when a single character would be at least level four. I supposed that they'd be level 5 by then, based on the much speedier levelling of single characters.


So you make one shot, possibly killing the Wolf. The Goblins then lose their arrows IMMEDIATELY, NOT before you get to move away. You hit hit almost certainly, dropping you like a bad habit.

Again, you factually wrong and aren't even attempting to use evidence to support your views. The goblins do not get a shot off during your turn on surprise or before they've acted in regular rounds. I showed the stats for how likely they are to kill you. It's a possibility, and its abysmally low.

On the other hand, again, a brown bear literally cannot kill the goblins if played tactically. They have movement speed 30ft, bonus action disengage, size small, and ranged attacks. You have a 40ft movement range, size large, and no ranged attacks. You're fighting in an area where there is no area you'll ever get the full speed, because there's a narrow passage at least every 80ft. Even if you go with another, medium form, you still cannot win in beast mode, though you may occasionally force them to use an action to dash. If you go into druid mode, you're just a puny druid in a stand-up plink-off. The only way a moon druid wins is if the DM specifically has the enemies choose to ignore a simple tactic that their MM entry specifically says they use.


The Chimney is difficult terrain at best, and given the description, you wouldn't be able to fly up it. But I'll let RAW rule that one, because it doesn't make a lick of difference. Goblins just hide on other side of the opening, and smash the hell out of you when you appear. No amount of Stealth changes that.

By the time you get to area 8, you've killed the goblins on the other side, and the chimney goes down, not up. Again, you are just plainly incorrect.


Your average health will be 31. That's baaarely outside of the range of one Fireball, and you don't have Evasion. If you hit the Flameskull, it will Fireball you, period. End of story. You only get away if you MISS because then Skulker prevents the shot form revealing your location.

You're just factually wrong. Again, I don't know how you think stating falsehoods without evidence is a sound counter to the calculations I've provided. An assassin 4 / warlock 1 with 14con 14cha has hp (8+2)+(5+2)+(5+2)+(5+2)+(5+2)=38 and temp hp = 1+2 = 3 for an effective total of 41, not 31. And he has a less than one in a billion chance of losing a combat to a flameskull. I proved this with math. You stomping your feat and saying, "Nu-uh, ONLY moon druids are an option!" is not a valid counterargument.


The fact that you know how the Skulker feat works (you do right?) because don't under the concept that its the shot that reveals your location and not your hitting, boggles my mind.

PHB page 159: When you are hidden from a creature and miss it with
a ranged weapon attack, making the attack doesn't
reveal your position.

Before then, yes, making the attack reveals your position. I've accounted for that consistently.


Again, Readied Actions -> Ranged attacks completely nullifies your tactic. There's no way around that sans magic, which your build doesn't have.

Claiming a thing to be true does not make it so. Especially when I have thoroughly demonstrated it to be false with concrete examples and thorough statistics.

Unless, I suppose, you think you can ready actions before combat and trigger it on someone else's first turn? That's explicitly wrong for surprised creatures ("If you’re surprised, you can’t move or take an action on your first turn of the combat, and you can’t take a reaction until that turn ends") and implicitly wrong at all other times given language like "you can take the Ready action on your turn so that you can act later in the round using your reaction," which indicates that you need to wait until you get a turn before you can take that action. Otherwise, that'd be absurdly counter-RAI, broken, and give the advantage to low initiative characters.