New DM Panic...

[Lost_Nomad]

so in a couple of days I'm going to be DMing for our group and I've just had a major panic attack

I followed the DM guide and made encounters that are all medium with maybe one hard

the group just told me their Classes (they are all Level 4)
1 fighter
1 bard
1 warlock
1 cleric
and 1 undecided

the thing I'm worried about is that since there is only one 'Tank' in the fighter, the encounters aren't gonna be winnable

Any advice greatly welcomed

[Cybren]

If you're following the encounter building guidelines in the DMG you will probably never see your players challenged unless they get sloppy, complacent, or drunk

[djreynolds]

The cleric and bard both have healing word, cleric has a shield... you'll be fine

[Potato_Priest]

If you have a DM screen you can fudge rolls in the player's favor if difficulty actually becomes a problem. It probably won't be, though. Clerics are almost as tanky as fighters most of the time. Good luck DMing!

[hymer]

First off, you'll be fine. Tanks can be useful, but are not a requirement.

Second, be honest with yourself and your players. Before you start the session, tell them you're nervous because this is your first time as DM, and you may make the occasional mistake.

Thirdly, if the 'major panic attack' isn't hyperbole, talk to someone about that. Please.

And fourth, if you have the PC stats, you could try running some mock battles on your own and see how it goes. Then you can see for yourself that things are fine.

[Lost_Nomad]

Thanks guys

I'm starting to feel a bit better about it

also I don't know what Hyperbole is but it was a real panic attack, I am seeing someone about all that messed up crap :)

Merry Christmas (or Dungeons and Dragons equivalent)

Nomad

[Ninja_Prawn]

First off, you'll be fine. Tanks can be useful, but are not a requirement.

Second, be honest with yourself and your players. Before you start the session, tell them you're nervous because this is your first time as DM, and you may make the occasional mistake.

Thirdly, if the 'major panic attack' isn't hyperbole, talk to someone about that. Please.

And fourth, if you have the PC stats, you could try running some mock battles on your own and see how it goes. Then you can see for yourself that things are fine.

Seconding all of this.

It is actually better practice for the DM to construct encounters in a vacuum, without knowledge of the party's specifics. That way you're not unfairly targetting everything at their weaknesses. Angry explains (http://angrydm.com/2014/10/the-angry-guide-to-kickass-combats-part-3-lets-make-some-fing-fights-already/) it better than I can.

It the party needs two tanks, the cleric (or possibly warlock or bard, depending on how they're built) will need to step up. Creating a challenging situation that rewards good tactical decisions is, like, one of your main jobs!

And yeah, 'medium' per the DMG leads to fairly soft encounters. You need a lot of encounters like that to create challenge through resource attrition.

Edit due to ninja: hyperbole is a literary form of exaggeration. It's where you deliberately exaggerate for dramatic effect (not because you're a drama queen).

[hymer]

@ Nomad: You're welcome, Merry Christmas to you too, and good luck on everything! :smallsmile:

[RumoCrytuf]

so in a couple of days I'm going to be DMing for our group and I've just had a major panic attack

I followed the DM guide and made encounters that are all medium with maybe one hard

the group just told me their Classes (they are all Level 4)
1 fighter
1 bard
1 warlock
1 cleric
and 1 undecided

the thing I'm worried about is that since there is only one 'Tank' in the fighter, the encounters aren't gonna be winnable

Any advice greatly welcomed

*Lights Pipe of Dragonfire and takes a long puff, exhaling flame*

Listen here, young blood. As a DM, you are a God. The world you build, it is yours. These abominations called "Players" are invaders in your perfect design. They must be removed. Use your limitless might to conjure forth creatures that would make dragons tremble. Bring these pathetic "Adventurers" to their knees. Give them goals that would seem noble to them, bait them into a sense of heroism and pride... THEN DESTROY THEM!!! CRUSH THEIR WORTHLESS HOPES AND DREAMS AND MAKE THEM BUUURRRRNNNN!!!!!

All joking aside. Stay calm, don't be afraid of difficult encounters. I assume you're playing with a screen. If you are intent on your players surviving, fudge the rolls sometimes. However, as a DM, I would like to keep some honesty on the rolling spectrum. On natural 1s or 20s, always keep those truthful. If you are not playing with a screen, let the dice decide the players fate. If they are unforgiving, the players should face their fate with dignity.

Are you worried about not having balanced encounters? Play the fights out how they would in real life. Are the bandits being blasted by the Warlock? Have them swarm him. Is the cleric too good at keeping everyone alive? He dies first. You have to fight as if the enemies were in the fight of their lives, and the PCs should do no less. Remember, if these encounters were real life, bandits wouldn't see players and think to go murderhobo. Perhaps they want all their valuables, or one of them as a slave, etc... The thing is, you've got options. Keep your head up, and may the dice be with you!

[Dualswinger]

Another important thing to note is that YOU are in control of the enemies, which allows for you to play them according to character rather than tactics if need be. A low intelligence/prideful creature such as goblins, orcs or bandits are going to be much more focused on the armoured guy all up in their business rather than the dude in just robes, at least until the notice they're a Mage.

While you ARE challenging your players, the foes you put in their path can still act according to their own minds. If you feel the party is overwhelmed, and the Mage does a big flashy magic display, let some of the more cowardly creatures flee for reinforcements. You don't need to actually change a future encounter because of it, just pretend that some of the next fights creatures are the fleeing members of the first fight.

[Hawkstar]

First off - that looks like a really solid party composition. You have your Soldier, your Skillmonkey, your Arcanist, and your Cleric. MOST parties of 4 or 5 don't have more than one "Soldier" (Fighter, Paladin, Barbarian), and the Cleric is designed to be tough in combat as well, and the Bard's not useless.

So, don't sweat it.

[djreynolds]

[QUOTE=hymer;21526004]
Thirdly, if the 'major panic attack' isn't hyperbole, talk to someone about that. Please.

QUOTE]

It is nice to see people looking out for each other

[Addaran]

Worst come to it, when players are down and failed their 3rd death saves, just tell them they are stable instead. If all the them "die", they can wake up captured. Then they either get the "quest" to escape, the enemy send them do X in exchange for their life or you set up a scene where a bunch of ranger find the camp, attack the enemies while one free your players. They'll get a new alliance and possibly be in debts to them (especially if some of the saviors died) so now you have a reason for your next quest.

You can be honest with your players that you "cheated" for them to not die, because you're new and still getting used to the balance. Some kinf of practice run for you and them. And that it won't happen again.

[Errow]

I've been DM-ing for about a year now, and I remember being in the same boat. Except I quickly discovered Medium difficulty was hardly a challenge unless enemies played smart and used cover.

One really good resource for setting up combats is the Kobold Fight Club website. It's been super useful for me in building encounters. Google it and profit!

Another good trick that has helped me is to use terrain to make medium encounters more interesting or difficult. Having multiple "waves" of easy-difficulty encounters can be a great way to control the difficulty too. Wave #3 might not ever show up if Wave 2 is strong enough, etc. Good luck!

[Armored Walrus]

At 4th level the cleric is still a tank anyway. In my live LMoP campaign that we just finished up, the cleric pre-gen has the highest AC, most HPs, and, of course, can heal herself. I wouldn't worry too much. You can always pull punches if you happen to down them, or let them wake up captive, or other non-lethal loss options.

[comk59]

It's also good to keep in mind that Monsters don't always want to kill the party. Maybe they just want to ransom them off. Maybe the Kobolds are going to slather the party in honey glaze and carry them to a slumbering dragon. Defeat can be as interesting as victory sometimes!