Questions about my first campaign

[Kaisenborg]

Hello! I’m a first-time DM and also a first-time RPG dude who needs some help with my campaign that I’m creating for my friends.
The Campaign is going to start with the players trap inside a filthy dungeon and they do not remember how they ended up here. The first room is just a big room with a few cages or other stuff to contain people. They will have to fight of some easy opponents just to learn the basic of the game. They will also have no gear what so ever. So the combat will be basic. After the first few encounters that I will have with these guards I want to reward my players with some gear.

Question 1: Now to the first question. What would be a good power level on a sword for example, it need to be enough so that the player feels a boost but not too much so that he doesn’t want to replace it. Maybe I am overthinking this but if you have a good answer and maybe some tips on more armor or items I would love to hear it.
The following rooms will of course contain some more combat and I want them to be challenging. And if I succeed in that, they won’t have enough spells or HP. Because if the first 4 or 5 encounters come right after each other they won’t be able to rest. Since nothing will be safe until they eventually find their way out.

Question 2:
I know this is totally up to me as the DM but since I don’t have any experience I need help.
-Is it supposed to be this way and the player have to be very careful?
-Do I have to make some adjustments, like allowing very short rests and let players get a few HP or maybe 1 spell slot and that they have to pick one or the other.
-If 1 player has a healing cantrip could you have him/her cast that during none battle stuff to keep the HP at full each fight?
- Should I make sure that they find healing potions and healing wands?
What would make the best in your opinion?
I have more questions about encounters but we will get to that later.
This forum has been great for me so far. So I would like to thank everyone for being so nice!

[Ninja_Prawn]

They will have to fight of some easy opponents just to learn the basic of the game. They will also have no gear what so ever.

Prison fight! Shivs for everyone!


Question 1: Now to the first question. What would be a good power level on a sword for example, it need to be enough so that the player feels a boost but not too much so that he doesn’t want to replace it.

You mean a magic sword? Well, the DMG helpfully groups items by rarity - so a rare item is more powerful than an uncommon one - so if you only give out uncommon items at first, you give yourself plenty of room to power them up later.

On the other hand, I'd probably avoid giving out any magic items to begin with. It's a complicating factor that you don't need right now.


Question 2:
I know this is totally up to me as the DM but since I don’t have any experience I need help.
-Is it supposed to be this way and the player have to be very careful?
-Do I have to make some adjustments, like allowing very short rests and let players get a few HP or maybe 1 spell slot and that they have to pick one or the other.
-If 1 player has a healing cantrip could you have him/her cast that during none battle stuff to keep the HP at full each fight?
- Should I make sure that they find healing potions and healing wands?

That's more than one question, darling...

Depends on the DM, the players and the game. You can have all sorts of tones from light & fun to gritty and dangerous. 5 encounters with no rest could be challenging for them (depending on what classes they pick), but it could also be enjoyable. It's certainly not against the law.
Well, you always need to be prepared to make adjustments, but I don't think they'll be needed here specifically. Aim for 6-8 hard encounters per long rest, with one or two short rests per long rest and you should be alright. Some variance is good anyway.
There are no healing cantrips.
Healing potions are always good. See how things go; if the players are struggling, you could try giving them a few extra potions.

[Zanthy1]

I agree with Prawn, and would emphasize the importance of not giving a magic item right at the beginning (This includes any form of Wand). Magic items in 5e are great, but unnecessary, and often add a dynamic to the game that makes everything a little confusing at times and frustrating at others. If you must give them a magic sword, a simple +1 longsword would be easy to do. Its just like what they have, but a little bit better. Plenty of room to grow, but definitely better than what they had before, so they'll hold onto it.

Healing potions are excellent, as they are gone once you drink em. A wand is very powerful, and I would recommend against them, especially at such a low level. Healing potions instead.

[SilverStud]

The above responses are wise indeed. I'd like to throw in my two coppers.

Magic items are generally meant for much later than the initial encounter. Also, they are much more satisfying if you give each one a story or unique abilities rather than the usual, incredibly bland, "+1 whatever." I almost never give my players static bonus items.

Don't sweat the combat difficulty too much. If things are going very badly, you can easily swap out a tough encounter in a blank room for an easy encounter in the supply room, and give them enough heal-juice to survive anything.

[Kane0]

Q1: For 5e? Don't start handing out magic items for a couple sessions/levels. They're rare and powerful, and you want to make them interesting too.
Q2: At levels 1-3 it's best to start small. Characters can die easily so err to the side of caution and play it easy until you and the party get more comfortable and you ran ramp it up
Q3: Try to have a short rest every 2 encounters or so, and two short rests for every long rest. You can make encounters harder to cut this down, find a balance that works for your group
Q4: No cantrips heal HP, but everyone has Hit Die they can use during rests to heal HP. You won't have to worry about this if they get enough rests (see above)
Q5: Potions, scrolls and other consumable items are a good idea, they help when needed without the party becoming dependent on them like wands that usually recharge themselves

[Kaisenborg]

You mean a magic sword?

That's more than one question, darling...





If you must give them a magic sword, a simple +1 longsword would be easy to do. Its just like what they have, but a little bit better. Plenty of room to grow, but definitely better than what they had before, so they'll hold onto it.




The above responses are wise indeed. I'd like to throw in my two coppers.


Q1: For 5e? Don't start handing out magic items for a couple sessions/levels. They're rare and powerful, and you want to make them interesting too.


Thank you all for great input and i will take all this is consideration now. Im sorry for being unclear because I didnt intend on giving my players anything magical, my intentions was giving them just a regular short sword or anyting among those lines and i couldnt find what stats these kind of equipment would have. if they would hvae +1 or +2 or which Dice rolls they had.

And im also sorry for the question bundle that i threw. The question was how i would go about with the HP and all those other things were just suggestions for you to understand in what way i was thinking... Honey :smallwink: "wink wink"

I hope this is making sense. Im not to good with making mt point in this format. I am also not totaly sure how to use the quote markers and such but i hope this answers all of you. Thank you again for the answers. You are the best :smallsmile:

[Ninja_Prawn]

my intentions was giving them just a regular short sword or anyting among those lines and i couldnt find what stats these kind of equipment would have. if they would hvae +1 or +2 or which Dice rolls they had.

That was what I thought at first, but then I thought "nah, no one would be afraid to give out a non-magical sword."

So. Yes, definitely make sure all the characters have regular weapons, shields and armour after their first fight. Most classes have features that only work if they've got real equipment, and the game balance assumes they'll have certain amounts of AC most of the time. To be honest, having them completely naked is probably a more complicated introduction than starting with weapons, because then you have to deal with the rules for improvised weapons, unarmed strikes for people who aren't monks, ACs that could be below 10... but I digress.

The weapon table is on page 149 of the PHB (armour is on 145).

As for dice rolls...

When you attack with a shortsword, you roll 1d20. You then add either your strength modifier or your dexterity modifier (because shortswords have the finesse property). If you are proficient with short swords, you then add your proficiency bonus, which depends on your total level. For example, fighters are proficient with all weapons. So if I'm a level 1 fighter with 16 strength, I roll 1d20+5 for my shortsword attack.

For damage, it's just the weapon's damage die (1d6 for shortswords) plus the same strength/dexterity modifier as before. That means 1d6+3 for the fighter.

Sometimes there are other modifiers, such as spells like bless or class features like fighting styles, but you can cross those bridges as you come to them.

I'm currently playing a couple of characters: Norgrim Bladebreaker (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=999343), a dwarven champion, and Sorawyl Kassonor (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=691366), a half-elf diviner.

Norgrim is a fighter, so he's proficient with the shortsword. He's also level 5, which means his proficiency bonus is +3. Therefore (using strength) he rolls 1d20+6 to hit and 1d6+3 for damage.

Sorawyl is a wizard, so she isn't proficient with the shortsword. Her strength and dexterity modifiers are both negative, so she rolls 1d20-1 to hit and 1d6-1 for damage. If she was proficient, she would roll 1d20+1 to hit and 1d6-1 for damage.

[CaptainSarathai]

Im sorry for being unclear because I didnt intend on giving my players anything magical, my intentions was giving them just a regular short sword or anyting among those lines and i couldnt find what stats these kind of equipment would have. if they would hvae +1 or +2 or which Dice rolls they had.

My suggest right out of the gate?
Please, DO NOT run a campaign
You are obviously incredibly new - not just to DMing, but to D&D and possibly even pen&paper RPGs in general.
This is not bad, but
if you haven't even bothered to read the player's handbook yet, then you are not at all prepared to be writing anything playable for D&D. At all. End of debate.

If you have someone you can play with who has any D&D experience at all - they should DM, while you play a character.

If that person has no DM experience, or nobody in your group has D&D experience - then you need to buy the Starter Box. It costs $20 US.
It has a cut-down version of the DMs Guide, Player's Guide, prewritten characters, and a very nice campaign for levels 1-5. Everything is made as easy as possible for new players, including new DMs, and is written as a sort of "tutorial level."
Play that campaign .
Determine if D&D is for you and for your group. Decide if you really want to pour in the amount of effort that it would take to create something like that basic campaign for yourself, and then run it for 6 months.

DMing in 5e is NOT just being a storyteller
It's so, so much more than that. D&D is a rules-heavy game. The DMs Guide is 320 pages of rules, and you will use all of them. The Player's Handbook is also 100% rules, and while players themselves only really need to know their own class and then the back half of the book, the DM needs to know the back half plus the rules for every class at their table.

This is why even good DMs will still run published campaigns
These include published works like 'Horde of the Dragon Queen', 'Out of the Abyss,' 'Storm Kings Thunder' and so on.
It takes enough time and effort just to learn and remember the rules, and then referee and guide those rules to a group of people. There's nothing wrong with using pre-made campaigns just to lighten the work load a bit. New, learning DMs rarely have the time or energy to create a solid campaign for themselves.

This post is NOT meant to hurt your feelings, or stop you from playing D&D
D&D is a great game, and an amazing way to pass time with dedicated friends. Rather, this post is meant to be honest, because:

Good DMing is Rare, Mediocre DMing is Hard, and BAD DMing IS MISERABLE
for everyone

Bad DMing can ruin this game, and make people never want to play it again. Bad DMing is not fun, bad DMing is a waste of time.

A mediocre DM is one who knows all the rules, and can keep the group organized and moving along at a decent pace, while making sure that everyone has fun, and coordinating and scheduling the game nights.

A good DM is one who goes above and beyond this, and makes the game memorable and exciting for everyone involved. Good DMs spend inordinate amount of time, their own effort, and often, their own money to make sure that other people are enjoying themselves.

There are lots of resources online to provide tips for how to be a decent DM. USE THEM. It is your responsibility to seek out as much information as you can, and apply it
Other people's enjoyment of this game depends on you, so put in some d*** effort.