New DM running Mine of Phandelver

[Missing]

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster.

I'm soon to start running a game for a mix of new and experienced players. The party will have a half-orc barbarian, a dragonborn sorcerer and a wood elf fighter (longbow focus) so far with one player yet to decide.

This will be my first time running a 5th ed game though I've run other editions and was looking for any tips or warnings regarding the Lost Mines module. In general and in regard to party make-up, ie will they struggle without a cleric or rouge etc

[LordEntrails]

They can be fine without a cleric or rogue. You don't need a rogue to handle traps, some backgrounds give proficiency in Thieves' Tools and that all you need. Since you can heal completely with long rests you can get by without in combat healing if you can end combat fast enough.

LMoP is designed for first time DMs and new players. It's well done. Read it through once completely, and then read ahead a few sections before each session.

I like Sly Flourish, he has an article on running it; http://slyflourish.com/running_phandelver.html

A few others that you might find helpful;
- http://www.neuronphaser.com/lost-mine-of-phandelver-notes-and-errata-for-dungeons-dragons-5th-edition/
- https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?739599-5th-Tips-Advice-Warnings-on-running-Lost-Mine-of-Phandelver
- https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/tips-tactics/2376-lost-mines-of-phandelver-extras
- https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/2jqvpu/dms_quick_reference_guide_to_lmop_spoilers/

Many more if you Google it.

[The_Hansard]

This is perfect timing (for the initial question and the response) as I'm about to DM for the 1st time as well and run LMOP (using the basic rules).

Essentially I got jack of not having D&D to play so I've volunteered to DM for a group of mates. No idea if I'll be any good or not

[nickl_2000]

This is perfect timing (for the initial question and the response) as I'm about to DM for the 1st time as well and run LMOP (using the basic rules).

Essentially I got jack of not having D&D to play so I've volunteered to DM for a group of mates. No idea if I'll be any good or not

A few things for that first time that I found helpful for me.
1) if you don't know the rules to something don't spent forever looking it up. Make a ruling and stick with it for the season then look it up later. If you make a mistake fix it later, its better to keep the flow of the game going.
2) be permissive, if the PCs are doing something crazy, let them do it. There may be a bad result, but let them choose their method.
3) have fun with it yourself. If you aren't having fun, you will burn out.

[Requilac]

If you are looking for some advice specific to LMoP, than I have one major thing too recommend. Foreshadow or give your players hints of a monsters abilities before they go to fight them. A lot of the creatures from LMoP have a lot of nasty tricks up their sleaves that ought to surprise the players in a rather unpleasant manner. The biggest one to name is that the PCs will most likely not be powerful enough to defeat the green dragon mentioned later in this module. Give them hints of its immense power ahead of time so that they don’t charge in thinking they can beat it just to eat a TPK. There is also a banshee later in this module who can literally knock any creature within 60 feet of it to 0 HP if they fail a wis save. Let them be aware of that before you go in. Also make sure to emphasis the cunning of goblins’ at gragmaw castle ahead of time. They are little going to try to Tucker’s kobold the players by shooting arrow through murderholes while a large force is fighting them head on. They could easily die here so make sure to tell them of that ahead of time.

[seventh_soul]

Watch out for stirges. I dmed Phandelever and random encounter can roll up 10 stirges. TPK, almost 50 damage each against lvl2 PCs. Npc cleric had to revive them all except the ranger who has a + 7 stealth and rolled nat20.

[johnbragg]

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster.

I'm soon to start running a game for a mix of new and experienced players. The party will have a half-orc barbarian, a dragonborn sorcerer and a wood elf fighter (longbow focus) so far with one player yet to decide.

This will be my first time running a 5th ed game though I've run other editions and was looking for any tips or warnings regarding the Lost Mines module. In general and in regard to party make-up, ie will they struggle without a cleric or rouge etc

People have covered the module itself fairly well. I'd say that Wave Echo Cave itself is underwhelming, but some of that is be being a bad 5E DM--I have 3rd edition habits.

Lessons from going from 3E to 5E.
1. Use the stat arrays from the books. Giving your players hero stats at the beginning throws off the math of the game severely. The whole point of 5E is that Bounded Accuracy keeps things from going off the rails 3E-style. If you got used to working around PCs with 18s or 20s in their main stat because in 3E, what's another +2 anyway--don't do that in 5E.

2. 5E focuses very heavily on resource management. Keep track of resources expended and when you can use Short Rests or Long Rests. (My campaign was so sporadic that rather than try to piece it together 2 or 3 months later, I just handwaved that everyone was at full and let's start the game where we left off. Don't do that.)

3. Some things that were bone-chillingly terrifying to PCs in 3X are not TPK risks anymore. PAy attention to when the statblock says Resistance (half damage) and when it says Immune (nope). It's almost always Resistance--the party without a magic weapon is not defenseless against that incorporeal undead.

4. Keep a bookmark for the Conditions page in the PHB. You end up looking at it a lot.

5. Spellcasting. Most spells aren't "fire-and-forget" anymore. Most enduring effects have a duration with Concentration. You can only have one Concentration spell up at a time, but you can take other actions (including cast spells) while Concentrating on a spell.

6. If you have an experienced group, Wave Echo Cave might be underwhelming.

1. Bearded Devil. I forget exactly why.

2. Maze of tunnels with an Ochre Jelly in it. You give me a maze, I'm sticking a Minotaur in it. Now the Ochre Jelly is an avoidable environmental hazard as you and the minotaur try to stalk each other around a bunch of tunnels.

8. Fungus room. In the module, it's just a "walk in the room, make a Con save, be poisoned or not." I made a grid map of the room, placed fungus in some spots but not others, threw in some zombies and some skeleton archers. So the players can advance, and the fungus is an environmental hazard in the combat, or they can go in another direction and avoid the roadblock. I figure if one of the monsters can't get past the fungus room, it should be a real obstacle.

[Missing]

Thanks for all the tips. I've read through the whole module a couple times now and feel pretty comfortable with it. Will see how my players go with the Cragmaw caves before I start messing about with anything else later on.



If you are looking for some advice specific to LMoP, than I have one major thing too recommend. Foreshadow or give your players hints of a monsters abilities before they go to fight them. A lot of the creatures from LMoP have a lot of nasty tricks up their sleaves that ought to surprise the players in a rather unpleasant manner. The biggest one to name is that the PCs will most likely not be powerful enough to defeat the green dragon mentioned later in this module. Give them hints of its immense power ahead of time so that they don’t charge in thinking they can beat it just to eat a TPK. There is also a banshee later in this module who can literally knock any creature within 60 feet of it to 0 HP if they fail a wis save. Let them be aware of that before you go in. Also make sure to emphasis the cunning of goblins’ at gragmaw castle ahead of time. They are little going to try to Tucker’s kobold the players by shooting arrow through murderholes while a large force is fighting them head on. They could easily die here so make sure to tell them of that ahead of time.


The green dragon is something I was already going to be careful with, though I suspect the experienced player will be able to help keep the party from rushing it. :P

[The_Hansard]

Lessons from going from 3E to 5E.
1. Use the stat arrays from the books. Giving your players hero stats at the beginning throws off the math of the game severely. The whole point of 5E is that Bounded Accuracy keeps things from going off the rails 3E-style. If you got used to working around PCs with 18s or 20s in their main stat because in 3E, what's another +2 an cast spells) while Concentrating on a spell.


Are high stats going to be big problem? I was planning on having my 4 players play blackjack for stats (in order) with a bust being an 8. So there's a good chance of players having higher than normal stats.

[johnbragg]

Are high stats going to be big problem? I was planning on having my 4 players play blackjack for stats (in order) with a bust being an 8. So there's a good chance of players having higher than normal stats.

That's what I'm hearing in my thread. http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?546196-How-to-upgrade-encounters-in-5E-without-chancing-TPK