Lost Mine of Phandelver Dungeon Master Guide & Tutorial. The Lighthall Platform is now offering free online live classes for Dungeon Masters that I will be facilitating in one week. The student sign-up is free and the link is below, www.lighthall.co/class/d336b3e7-aac8-4070-b57f-a5f421cc793a
I'll start DMing this campaing after the quarantine of covid-19... I bought the Starter Set recenly and it will be my first time DMing D&D. Thank you for the video!
I just DM’ed this for my boys first time playing. My first time DM’ing (or playing). We are all learning still but had fun. We stopped after they cleared Cragmaw Cave, not unscathed though.
@@matthewfrank4275 Awesome. My friend and son ended up getting bested by Klarg and his minions. They were captured, sent to Yimeek, and then booted out so they could have a chance to help Yimeek take down Klarg. Back to Phalandin to recover and gear up. Definitely a big learning curve we all are on.
I ran a home brew but based the first encounter on this one, the player that rolled perception and noticed the ambushing bandits freaked out yelled RUN and hightailed back down the path. Granted he is 9. Lol. My other two kids got stuck in and wiped them out.
Thank you for breaking down that session, how to bring in the characters and how to play through that first ambush in such a clear way. As someone who wants to run this adventure for his family, you've been a great help making me aware of where to sprinkle the hooks and helped me confirm I understand the rules. I've been hooked on your videos recently. I Luke that you also provide more NPC info in other videos. They are very helpful and comprehensive.
@@cerethpainting6606 I've been playing the game with the family and it's great fun. I probably over prepare, but these videos have been really helpful. If you take the plunge running the game, I'm sure you will have fun too.
Thank you! I started Dming and just jumped into the goblin ambush. 15 minutes in to your video I realized I should have the party role play a flash back scene so they can get to know Gundren instead of thinking him as a stranger who hired them for coin.
Hey dude, just had my first session of D&D ( and as DM) and funny enough the whole shoutout\suprise argument instantly came up. Anyway it was great and your videos were VERY helpfull. Cheers from Brazil!
It's surprising how deadly Wizards made this first combat encounter using goblins and their *Nimble* *Escape* with LMoP - "A goblin can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns."
Honestly when I ran this I ignored Nimble Escape. I found that if the first encounter takes ages even though it's just goblins, it really brings the mood down and makes the party feel like combat is just a hassle.
@@kappakiev9672 I only had two players so I reduced the number of goblins from four to two. This made it more manageable while still challenging. They ended up capturing one of them and bringing it back to Phalandin!
Really appreciate this rundown. I would not have played the goblins this way without your advice. Good perspective that they are not just blind xp machines. Thank you!!
Our fist game. We have managed here to stay alive! Our party consists of 4 characters and I played as DM for one of those 4 guys, just for sake of safety on our team. In order not to spoil the game, because as a DM I know all things which are going to happen, so I just play in passive manner listening my team fist and giving advice when necessary. Just finished looking your video and glad to see that we played in same manner and did not make so many mistakes in our first encounter. Actually we succeed to pull out those 2 goblins from bushes. When they run out for attack, our fighter ahead has already taken a ready retreat action in advance, walking back as soon goblins attempt to approach him. Bringing bad guys closer to us, those 2 goblins were involved in close combat. With this advantage our rouge quickly could use his sneak attack and killed one goblin with his first ranged attack. The second goblin did not flee because we were taking serious damages from his friends with bows in bushes and he had definite feeling of victory in spite of his first colleague who has already got an arrow in his skull. The rest of the fight was very similar to your vid with hiding bonus actions of goblins. Happy to see that our game moving in right direction. Also succeeded to sweep goblins in their cave without heavy casualties. Sometimes forgetting that there was a dark condition. But that’s ok, it was challenging and interesting. Sorry for the long story, just excited on the last evening with DnD hehe. Thank’s for vid!
Really good video for running this messy encounter. I'm DMing for the first (real) time soon to give our DM a short break, and after seeing how strange the first encounter is in terms of balance and narrative predictability I decided to just have the goblins be busy carting off Sildar and Gundren to set the ambush, and have the party arrive in Phandalin and turn Sildar/Gundren's disappearance into an additional mystery hook, letting my first-time party experience the RP and NPC interaction side of things first, and have the central Phandalin NPCs nudge them into using a wagon (possibly with empty barrels etc.) as bait if the party doesn't come up with it themselves. When the party goes out to investigate, then they find the dead horses (with more flies) and get ambushed and so get pointed off towards the goblin trail that way. To me, that seems like a better way to get characters invested in the world than having a pre-adventure session with Gundren and Sildar, because my party of friends is liable to goof around without a really solid hook in the world to convince them to care, and being told their characters are friends even with really good RP in the Neverwinter stage is likely not to have the same impact as some formative moments with NPC strangers.
Nice vid. Minor correction, Sacred Flame ignores the cover here. From the Sacred Flame definition in the PHB, "The target gains no benefit from cover for this saving throw."
I am running this adventure tomorrow for some first-timer friends and this was amazingly helpful. Thanks for your generosity in making this video. Also checked out the Gundren Rockseeker video and fleshed him out, connecting the characters to him and among themselves. We had a little session zero chat and briefed them with the backstory. They were THRILLED. They all asked if they were going to have the chance to meet him! So excited to pull the hook on them!
Well, ran the encounter and I must say it was ROUGH! I tried to give them as much hints as possible. I thought the ambush was super obvious, but still caught them by surprise. Taught them the mechanics of preparing actions and using movement and cover. I was rolling out in the open and the first arrow against the exposed Barbarian with pretty high AC was nat19. Took a shot at the wizard with 3/4 cover...nat 18. Left him at 2 HP. And that was just the surprise round. Rolled a crit against their cleric next round, dropped him to 1hp. In one shot! With the disadvantage against hidden enemies the PCs were rolling S***. Looked like they might go down without landing a single hit. The bard hid under the wagon, and tried to buff players whenever he could see their feet, which was hilarious. So to sum up...they are alive but pretty spent. This really shocked them into paying attention. It was pretty awesome.
Wow thank you so much. My first campaign is soon and I will be running this story. Your vids are the best I’ve found at helping me to prepare for this. Can’t thank you enough
I had a party of experienced rpg videogamers and it was my first game as a DM. They threw everything at me. They haggled for more gold They even tried to kill Gundren at first sight (did the story hook). Hardest thing for me was to come up with sollutions to keep the game going. Im getting so hooked. Love the game so far.
How to do a beginner combat: Let them run into 1/3 of it. See how they are handling it. If they are doing well, the rest show up. If they are doing badly the rest never happens. If the second group gets wasted too easily send in a third, larger group. Alter how many reinforcements show up based on how the players are doing. As the players get better you can send in tougher groups of enemies.
Re: Passive vs Rolled Stealth I wouldn't say that passive Stealth is higher than average (it is the average), but I'll agree that when rolling Stealth for each member of a group of NPCs (separate rolls), the odds that one of them will roll lower than 10 are good.
I just ran this for two new players. After describing them seeing the dead horses, they both decided to stop and make tea. Eventually they checked it out and when they had one goblin left, the monk wanted to beat it to death with teabags. I think it's going to be a theme.
I have just bought the DnD LMoP starter set and I will be DM for the first time. At 59:15 you calculate if Sacred Flame will hit the goblin, Howeve, you add the cover +2. In the rulebook it says "The target gains no benefit from cover for this saving throw". Does that mean that the +2 cover is removed? How to you set the DC for the Sacred Flame hit? Love this video btw. It is helping me tremendously!
Thanks. The live stream has an error, which happens when I too much to tack at once . You are correct that there is no +2 cover bonus applied to the Goblin in the Bushes when hit by Sacred Flame.
The DC or Difficulty Class for Sacred Flame is calculated with the following. Spell DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + spell casting ability modifier. Sorry, I never made a video the calculations for this mechanic.
Hey, awesome video. Sorry that i'm 4 years late to this question but at 33:27 the goblin in the north uses its bonus action to hide. At 44:04 the same goblin attacks the wizard. Wouldn't this goblin have advantage on the attack from being an unseen attacker? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm still trying to learn.
Glad you like it. If a Goblin hides with a bonus action in suitable cover they will be unseen and have advantage on their attack if they don't reveal themselves, correct. I did not apply this to the scenario, because the likelihood of the party being wiped out is very high. That being said, you can do it anyway you like. There are no dumb questions when you are learning. Feel free to ask my more questions during my live streams, during the open discussion section. All the best :)
A little late to the party but I did have a question. Wouldn't the goblins that successfully hid get advantage on their attacks? The one that rolled a natural one should have gotten a second role for advantage.
Unseen enemies get advantage on their first attack if they stay in cover. If a Goblin moves out of cover to make a shortsword attack they don't normally get advantage on the attack.
For players that have created their own characters and have all types of different backgrounds how do you think they should meet gundran rockseeker? Is there a one shot we can do before to establish connections? Thanks
I have two videos on Gundren Rockseeker that will help answer your questions. th-cam.com/video/DSXzwcirE54/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/z7lXT3Jdbuw/w-d-xo.html
I am 100% new to D&D and only know what I've seen in Stranger Things and Community. I am a slow learner and usually overthink things as a person. I've got the Starter Set, and confused by first combat. I've only watched until just under twenty minute mark on your video, but wanted to ask anyway (if you do mention later on then great). I am reading the book alongside as you talked and looking at the premade character sheets that come with the pack. What is the active check? (Around 17.45). You then mentioned the Passive Wisdom Perception number and you can take score from Active or Passive. On the premade character sheets it has a number of 13. Are you supposed to roll D20 and add on that to this number? Or is it simply a - and +? If you roll a six on D20 then for a 13 Passive it is a 7? If it is above 13 then you add that? Because I don't understand what it says in the book. Make a dex check for all goblins with one D20 +6 with their stealth modifier. I first got an 18, so 24 total. But then in book it mentions check Passive Wisdom. But all the premade characters have a Passive of 10-13. Do you roll a D20 and add the number onto it so it increases? Because if not, and if all characters look at horse then they will all automatically be surprised and can't take their turn. Please explain it like I'm 5. I honestly need a Starter Kit to the Starter Kit 😂. It says it has everything DM needs to know but then just suddenly says stuff that I can't find out in book. It even says check Rulebook under Combat for what Goblins do on their turn but I can't see it mention what the villains do and how they attack. Also, what do they attack? Is it the Armour Class? What is the characters health points?
Honestly I'm where you were at this point. I'm so confused, the instructions on the starter set don't seem to make sense to me (starter kit for the starter kit is what I need too!). Did you ever find out the answers to your questions or just give up? I'm thinking as much as I want to play its just not for me, I need someone to sit down and go through all these rules with!
I look to get back into D&D after a 20+ year absence. So I have been watching a lot of videos such as this. I do have a question, Why would the players be surprised by the Goblins or by anything at all when they see 2 dead horses lying in the road? Wouldn't they instantly be on high alert for an ambush long before the Player fighter walks in front of the wagon? Thanks for any input.
If you metagame as a Player it might be obvious. The characters might be expecting something from the obviously suspect situation. But mechanical game surprise is not the same.
D20, character modifier they use for action and I think proficiency bonus? Might just be the modifier + d20. Ie d20+strength mod. Or i believe rangers do d20+dex mod.
I'm about to run this encounter with a group of 6 newbies this Tuesday. How would you recommend I balance this for more players? I was considering throwing in one or two more goblins and having them flee reasonably early
I'm just trying to get my head around 5e after what could be 20 years away from the game! Your tutorials are very helpful, many thanks. Quick question... shouldn't the characters suffer a -5 Disadvantage to their Passive Wisdom (Perception) checks due to the goblins being Lightly Obscured in the bushes? Or am I misunderstanding the circumstances on when should be applied?
Awesome video! Question...do you show players the HP of monsters? And if so do you use the dice as shown in the video or was that only for teaching purposes?
Thanks. I don't tell or show players how many hit points a monster has. The dice are for teaching purposes as this video is for a dungeon master not player. Players metagame enough without me helping ;)
With flavor text I read the first part and wait for reactions and questions. No matter what the questions are at first I read the next section as if it were the answer. After that I have to improv but the flavor text becomes my interactions
Love your vids. A Question: what if the PC's decide to use the cart or bull ride the Oxen to attack the goblins? Where would I find the Ox statistics? What damage would the cart cause when running over goblins?
Several options, improvised weapon damage at d4, with dexterity saving roll for goblins is one. I'd give goblins a DC 10 to avoid, because it seems likely. I try to find ways to say yes to your players.
?? At 49:25 the goblin takes a second action? First it attacks the mage (44:20) (which triggers the readied actions of the fighter and the cleric), then it moves 30 feet (3 squares in difficult terrain) (48:42), then hide (49:16) and then the dodge action (49:25)? Ok, it's nimble so it has ONE bonus action to use on disengage or hide. But dodge? I don't get it. And again on your goblin tactics (50:45) "This is what often goblins do: attack - move - hide (that's clear); disengage - attack - and they can hide again." ?? That's 2 bonus actions (disengage and hide; or 2 actions (attack and hide).
Well here's the issue they only have to disengage if there are within melee of another creature. Move is not an action. If they had to disengage then they could not hide but they could attack move and hide. Disengage is a specific action basically you are moving carefully away from someone in melee range you do not get in attack of opportunity. You don't need to disengage when that's not an issue you just move normally which is not an action.
@@solarisdevorak I know what you're saying... but the speaker literally says: "they can disengage - attack - and they can hide again" (50:35). And before that moment, he had a goblin attack (the mage) (44:20), move, hide AND dodge. Ok, he might be confused about all the stuff he did with one goblin because he's also trying to explain everything, which includes triggering 2 readied actions; and from start to finish the narrator takes like 5 minutes (for ONE turn of a goblin).
The player handbook does mention that you get +2 on dexterity saving throws when in half-cover. Does that mean that the goblin's stealth check should actually be 6+2 or is 6 already a natural 4 plus the 2 from half cover?
The Stealth Check is not a Dexterity Saving Throw. The Stealth Check is a type Dexterity Check, which is different (confused?). What the half Cover means is that a Goblin gets +2 on AC and Dexterity Saving Throws. A Goblin with a Shortbow has a AC of 13, then +2 for half cover equals a total AC 15. If a fireball is cast into the bush with the Goblin that has half cover it would normally have a Dexterity Saving throw bonus of +2, then add +2 for the half cover equals a total Dexterity Saving throw bonus of +4.
Thank you for this video! Question: why did the goblins only make ranged attacks? (On page 7 of the adventure book, the second bullet on the top left says that 2 of the goblins make melee attacks while the other two make ranged attacks.)
Thank you for stating this outright. I think the authors wanted to make the encounter winnable for the PCs. I agree with such a goal in general, however I think forcing the enemies to behave in a tactically poor manner to be the wrong way to go about it.
I fill as tho when something hides in the bushes they should have to make a stealth check as soon as they choose to hide. Just because they disappear from sight dosnt mean they disappear from sound.
@@HowtoRPG you have a playlist of this. But it would be awesome if you ordered them in a sensible order to watch them in. I guess they are just in date order right now.
Hey quick question,as of recently I've started DMing for a new group and we are going to be playing lost mines of Phandelver since the majority of the players are almost completely new to d&d. The problem is that one of the players is extremely experienced and has played through lost mine of Phandelver before which he only thought to tell me 3/4 the way through our session 0 while everyone except 1 of the players had already made characters. I thought of maybe doing a last minute switch to a custom campaign but I don't have one prepared. Do you have a solution to this issue?
Just run the lost mine of phandelver, that is what you have prepared. I have a series of videos on the lost mine of phandelver for dungeon masters. You can make small changes to the adventure for the person who has already played, if they think they can't resist metagaming. Ask me more questions if you need too. th-cam.com/video/1vH3bMbvcw4/w-d-xo.html
This player happens to be a metagamer, I know from experience as he was in my last group. Should I just proceed and DM lost mine as it's written or should I try to adapt it a bit? If so do you have any suggestions on what to adapt it into?
Just adapt the adventure. I could not provide you with enough suggestions in a comment or even one video. Move stuff around, change monsters to begin with.
If you can afford to, you could get information for the Dragon of Icespire. It's in the essentials box and the campaign covers the same area and town. This means you could mix and match your campaign to fit what you need. The person that played it before will be thrown for a loop because events in the town and areas will be different to what they've experienced before.
I just started this with my kids and the Goblins rolled a 1 on their stealth check, which turned out to be pretty funny and I let my kids get attacks off first on the Goblins' critical failure. They ended up catching one and my youngest (our paladin) is trying to make him part of the team, so that's a fun mechanic for me to figure out and I have conditions for its loyalty and progress.
Wait, so the fighter was not surprised and saw the goblins hiding. Could he not have shouted out "ambush!" and so the rest of the party aren't surprised?
I would have ruled it the same way he did surprises determined before anyone takes their turns. Just because he shouts someone is still trying to figure out exactly what's going on. Around is amir 6 seconds just because someone hollers doesn't mean you still know exactly what's going on.
Its hard to run this game with your friends who are all 13 years old and all they want to do is attack the enemies ballsack. unfortunately they roll really well.
hmm maps... Neverwinter history includes an alergy to having maps made of Neverwinter itself. That said I think it would work wonders to have some kind of mental/descriptive map of the City, as PCs are assumed to be familiar with the place. Helm's Hold is missing but important location not far from Neverwinter. Phandalin itself has a map, but is missing a double-centerfold-spread of the East-South-West horizon line, one which I describe as looking like the Grand Tetons preceded by a maze of canyons, arroyos, gulches and other features...I still need to find a good list of the names of these mountains...and it doesn't help there are multiple locations in the Savage North named some variation of Ice Spire, which is literally the only named mount in this chain on this map...and isn't even relevant. re: ambush. I reward observant players with a spotting of vultures circling above dead horses, waiting for the goblins to go away. The Tri-Boar trail itself I have made from graded piles of mine waste, mostly from Phandelver itself...this is partly why the mine hasn't been found: did such a good job of dispersing the mining wastes that the mine's location is not obvious (also backdoors where mine waste was distributed from are hidden caves on the cliff side of at least one lake.) p.s. the Neverwinter Online game is a hot mess of Pay-To-Win gameplay, but it does give up many interesting details of the city and environs.
Re: Maps I'm preparing for a duet campaign of Dragon of Icespire Peak blended with Lost Mines of Phandelver, & I was surprised to find so many significant landmarks missing from the maps (Helm's Hold is a big city, and the ruins or semi-ruins of Thundertree, Leilon, and Conyberry are absent from the player version of the map, plus several things from the Neverwinter Campaign Setting book from 4e...). I can understand why they'd want to limit it to landmarks involved in the adventure, but hiding Helm's Deep & other active & visible landmarks is annoying.
48:15 Goblin flees? Dash? How can he move x2 his normal movement speed and then move again as you say. IMO I rule only 30 total feet of movement is allowed but otherwise show me where this is allowed considering difficult terrain.
the only explanation i could see is that this is their native terrain. It might not be difficult for them as they know exactly where to step? They did take the time to setup pit traps on the trail to their hideout after all. there was forethought into escaping or travelling back to camp. They are living creatures that don't want to die.
Lol. Yes, it was very helpful and I’m watching more right now. I’m running a campaign for new, young players and I’m trying to make it a fun experience. So far so good. Tips from people like you help me smooth out my game. Thank you. That is a line about accents is from the movie “ Dumb and Dumber” by the way. Cheers.
@@guras74 I'm assuming that your not suggesting that I'm dumber than dumb, but let me know if I'm wrong. Try this video as well ;) th-cam.com/video/qOWfr3hGOoY/w-d-xo.html
@@HowtoRPG Being in stealth and sneaking up is different than entering stealth. I could se3 rolling a stealth check to sneak up on someone in what might otherwise seem like 0lain sight.. I might have misheard it, but I thought at one point you rolled stealth for goblin that had already been seen, and hadn't fled. In that case, a dont think you can enter stealth.
@@LoraxChannel I don't remember the exact order, it's possible. This was a live stream I did a while ago when my house was quieter. I often present multiple possibilities in live stream demonstrations so errors are made or they can create confusion for people who expect one way to do something.
For starters, I have no idea what to do when the goblins attack. The book in the starter set says you roll 1 D20 for each of the goblins and add 6 to the total. I got 48. The person playing with me had a perception skill score of 2. How is someone supposed to have a perception skill score higher than 48.
@@lh4039 I can see you are very confused. Try watching my video on melee attacks or ranged attacks, they are short and simple. Otherwise try and join one of my live stream combat tutorials.
Lost Mine of Phandelver Dungeon Master Guide & Tutorial. The Lighthall Platform is now offering free online live classes for Dungeon Masters that I will be facilitating in one week. The student sign-up is free and the link is below,
www.lighthall.co/class/d336b3e7-aac8-4070-b57f-a5f421cc793a
I'll start DMing this campaing after the quarantine of covid-19... I bought the Starter Set recenly and it will be my first time DMing D&D. Thank you for the video!
You are welcome. Don't wait, start now on Skype, Facebook or Discord video chat.
Same! Good luck !
I just DM’ed this for my boys first time playing. My first time DM’ing (or playing). We are all learning still but had fun. We stopped after they cleared Cragmaw Cave, not unscathed though.
@@matthewfrank4275 Awesome. My friend and son ended up getting bested by Klarg and his minions. They were captured, sent to Yimeek, and then booted out so they could have a chance to help Yimeek take down Klarg. Back to Phalandin to recover and gear up. Definitely a big learning curve we all are on.
Google hangouts has been what we are using to play during quarantine and it's perfect for it
2021 and still new DMs learning here 🤚
Thanks Cody.
Me to ...first time to play today ...I'm nervous and re learning stuff
@@blakejones6206 What helps you relax? Do that before the game session.
It me!
I've ran this 3x time and still learning new things about it every play thru lol
One of my players surprised me by being so cowardly as to actually suggest heading back to Neverwinter as soon as they saw the dead horses.
lol. Smart player.
Lol I'd probably quit too if I thought my boss was dead
I would have swarmed them with a goblin ambush on the way back.... cowardess is never rewarded..
I ran a home brew but based the first encounter on this one, the player that rolled perception and noticed the ambushing bandits freaked out yelled RUN and hightailed back down the path. Granted he is 9. Lol. My other two kids got stuck in and wiped them out.
Thank you for breaking down that session, how to bring in the characters and how to play through that first ambush in such a clear way. As someone who wants to run this adventure for his family, you've been a great help making me aware of where to sprinkle the hooks and helped me confirm I understand the rules. I've been hooked on your videos recently. I Luke that you also provide more NPC info in other videos. They are very helpful and comprehensive.
Awesome. Have fun with the family.
Ditto! Played for years, never ran a game.
@@cerethpainting6606 I've been playing the game with the family and it's great fun. I probably over prepare, but these videos have been really helpful. If you take the plunge running the game, I'm sure you will have fun too.
THANK YOU FOR THIS. INCREDIBLE STEP-BY-STEP to get me back into D&D. Love it!
You are most welcome.
Fred, your passion for DND is infectious. Im a new DM and I couldn't do it without you. Thanks for all you do!
Thanks. You are welcome :)
Thank you! I started Dming and just jumped into the goblin ambush. 15 minutes in to your video I realized I should have the party role play a flash back scene so they can get to know Gundren instead of thinking him as a stranger who hired them for coin.
You are welcome Fro. All the best with your campaign.
Hey dude, just had my first session of D&D ( and as DM) and funny enough the whole shoutout\suprise argument instantly came up. Anyway it was great and your videos were VERY helpfull. Cheers from Brazil!
That's awesome. All the best with your game.
Thank you so much for this! I'm a new DM with a disadvantaged group and had week to prepare and this helps so much!
You are welcome 😊
It's surprising how deadly Wizards made this first combat encounter using goblins and their *Nimble* *Escape* with LMoP - "A goblin can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns."
Yes. Strange.
Maybe it’s to make this a “wake up call” for the characters that this adventure is more dangerous than you expected.
Honestly when I ran this I ignored Nimble Escape. I found that if the first encounter takes ages even though it's just goblins, it really brings the mood down and makes the party feel like combat is just a hassle.
@@kappakiev9672 I only had two players so I reduced the number of goblins from four to two. This made it more manageable while still challenging. They ended up capturing one of them and bringing it back to Phalandin!
Really appreciate this rundown. I would not have played the goblins this way without your advice. Good perspective that they are not just blind xp machines. Thank you!!
You are welcome 😊
Our fist game. We have managed here to stay alive! Our party consists of 4 characters and I played as DM for one of those 4 guys, just for sake of safety on our team. In order not to spoil the game, because as a DM I know all things which are going to happen, so I just play in passive manner listening my team fist and giving advice when necessary. Just finished looking your video and glad to see that we played in same manner and did not make so many mistakes in our first encounter. Actually we succeed to pull out those 2 goblins from bushes. When they run out for attack, our fighter ahead has already taken a ready retreat action in advance, walking back as soon goblins attempt to approach him. Bringing bad guys closer to us, those 2 goblins were involved in close combat. With this advantage our rouge quickly could use his sneak attack and killed one goblin with his first ranged attack. The second goblin did not flee because we were taking serious damages from his friends with bows in bushes and he had definite feeling of victory in spite of his first colleague who has already got an arrow in his skull. The rest of the fight was very similar to your vid with hiding bonus actions of goblins. Happy to see that our game moving in right direction.
Also succeeded to sweep goblins in their cave without heavy casualties. Sometimes forgetting that there was a dark condition. But that’s ok, it was challenging and interesting.
Sorry for the long story, just excited on the last evening with DnD hehe.
Thank’s for vid!
Glad you had a good time. Dragon of Icespire Peak and Lost Mine of Phandelver Q&A live tomorrow :)
@@HowtoRPG Noted! 👍
Really good video for running this messy encounter.
I'm DMing for the first (real) time soon to give our DM a short break, and after seeing how strange the first encounter is in terms of balance and narrative predictability I decided to just have the goblins be busy carting off Sildar and Gundren to set the ambush, and have the party arrive in Phandalin and turn Sildar/Gundren's disappearance into an additional mystery hook, letting my first-time party experience the RP and NPC interaction side of things first, and have the central Phandalin NPCs nudge them into using a wagon (possibly with empty barrels etc.) as bait if the party doesn't come up with it themselves.
When the party goes out to investigate, then they find the dead horses (with more flies) and get ambushed and so get pointed off towards the goblin trail that way. To me, that seems like a better way to get characters invested in the world than having a pre-adventure session with Gundren and Sildar, because my party of friends is liable to goof around without a really solid hook in the world to convince them to care, and being told their characters are friends even with really good RP in the Neverwinter stage is likely not to have the same impact as some formative moments with NPC strangers.
Thanks. You sound like you have it well in hand.
best tutorial I have ever seen for dnd, all others are pretty much just random people playing it
Nice vid. Minor correction, Sacred Flame ignores the cover here. From the Sacred Flame definition in the PHB, "The target gains no benefit from cover for this saving throw."
Thanks.
I am running this adventure tomorrow for some first-timer friends and this was amazingly helpful. Thanks for your generosity in making this video.
Also checked out the Gundren Rockseeker video and fleshed him out, connecting the characters to him and among themselves.
We had a little session zero chat and briefed them with the backstory. They were THRILLED. They all asked if they were going to have the chance to meet him!
So excited to pull the hook on them!
That is wonderful. I do have a very large series of videos on the Lost Mine of Phandelver, you might find helpful.
Well, ran the encounter and I must say it was ROUGH! I tried to give them as much hints as possible. I thought the ambush was super obvious, but still caught them by surprise. Taught them the mechanics of preparing actions and using movement and cover.
I was rolling out in the open and the first arrow against the exposed Barbarian with pretty high AC was nat19. Took a shot at the wizard with 3/4 cover...nat 18. Left him at 2 HP. And that was just the surprise round.
Rolled a crit against their cleric next round, dropped him to 1hp. In one shot!
With the disadvantage against hidden enemies the PCs were rolling S***.
Looked like they might go down without landing a single hit.
The bard hid under the wagon, and tried to buff players whenever he could see their feet, which was hilarious.
So to sum up...they are alive but pretty spent. This really shocked them into paying attention. It was pretty awesome.
I appreciate turning away the players at the start of every video. Thankyou for all these guides, they really really help
You are welcome Nathan. It's not going to stop them watching.
Wow thank you so much. My first campaign is soon and I will be running this story. Your vids are the best I’ve found at helping me to prepare for this. Can’t thank you enough
Glad I could help, Darrin. All the best.
I had a party of experienced rpg videogamers and it was my first game as a DM. They threw everything at me. They haggled for more gold They even tried to kill Gundren at first sight (did the story hook). Hardest thing for me was to come up with sollutions to keep the game going. Im getting so hooked. Love the game so far.
Thanks for the great video! Lots of helpful concepts that I'm sure will be super helpful to be familiar with as I head into my first DM session.
Thanks Nevin. All the best with your campaign.
How to do a beginner combat:
Let them run into 1/3 of it. See how they are handling it. If they are doing well, the rest show up. If they are doing badly the rest never happens.
If the second group gets wasted too easily send in a third, larger group.
Alter how many reinforcements show up based on how the players are doing.
As the players get better you can send in tougher groups of enemies.
You can also waste the Goblins' first round shooting the horses of the wagon.
They want the loot. Kill the horses and let the PCs run.
Good stuff I am working on session zero now. Did two out of four. Us adults never can get together
Thanks. You can only do what the others allow you to do.
Re: Passive vs Rolled Stealth
I wouldn't say that passive Stealth is higher than average (it is the average), but I'll agree that when rolling Stealth for each member of a group of NPCs (separate rolls), the odds that one of them will roll lower than 10 are good.
I just ran this for two new players. After describing them seeing the dead horses, they both decided to stop and make tea. Eventually they checked it out and when they had one goblin left, the monk wanted to beat it to death with teabags. I think it's going to be a theme.
😆
Extremely helpful, thanks mate
You are welcome 😊
I subscribed. Wish I would have seen this before but still learning. Will watch more of your videos as I prep.
Awesome, thank you. I fine this tends to happen a lot.
I have just bought the DnD LMoP starter set and I will be DM for the first time. At 59:15 you calculate if Sacred Flame will hit the goblin, Howeve, you add the cover +2. In the rulebook it says "The target gains no benefit from cover for this saving throw". Does that mean that the +2 cover is removed?
How to you set the DC for the Sacred Flame hit?
Love this video btw. It is helping me tremendously!
Thanks. The live stream has an error, which happens when I too much to tack at once . You are correct that there is no +2 cover bonus applied to the Goblin in the Bushes when hit by Sacred Flame.
The DC or Difficulty Class for Sacred Flame is calculated with the following. Spell DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + spell casting ability modifier. Sorry, I never made a video the calculations for this mechanic.
This is a great walk-through, thanks! Subscribed!
Thank you, welcome to the community.
Hey, awesome video. Sorry that i'm 4 years late to this question but at 33:27 the goblin in the north uses its bonus action to hide. At 44:04 the same goblin attacks the wizard. Wouldn't this goblin have advantage on the attack from being an unseen attacker? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm still trying to learn.
Glad you like it. If a Goblin hides with a bonus action in suitable cover they will be unseen and have advantage on their attack if they don't reveal themselves, correct. I did not apply this to the scenario, because the likelihood of the party being wiped out is very high. That being said, you can do it anyway you like. There are no dumb questions when you are learning. Feel free to ask my more questions during my live streams, during the open discussion section. All the best :)
A little late to the party but I did have a question. Wouldn't the goblins that successfully hid get advantage on their attacks? The one that rolled a natural one should have gotten a second role for advantage.
Unseen enemies get advantage on their first attack if they stay in cover. If a Goblin moves out of cover to make a shortsword attack they don't normally get advantage on the attack.
Yes! Thank you - that's exactly what I've been looking for!
Great.
For players that have created their own characters and have all types of different backgrounds how do you think they should meet gundran rockseeker? Is there a one shot we can do before to establish connections? Thanks
I have two videos on Gundren Rockseeker that will help answer your questions.
th-cam.com/video/DSXzwcirE54/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/z7lXT3Jdbuw/w-d-xo.html
Thanks man! Here to learn as a future DM hehe😅
I am glad it was helpful. All the best with your game.
This is good I am a dm and one of our new players was a wizard and she almost died twice
I am glad you liked the video.
I am 100% new to D&D and only know what I've seen in Stranger Things and Community. I am a slow learner and usually overthink things as a person. I've got the Starter Set, and confused by first combat.
I've only watched until just under twenty minute mark on your video, but wanted to ask anyway (if you do mention later on then great).
I am reading the book alongside as you talked and looking at the premade character sheets that come with the pack.
What is the active check? (Around 17.45).
You then mentioned the Passive Wisdom Perception number and you can take score from Active or Passive. On the premade character sheets it has a number of 13. Are you supposed to roll D20 and add on that to this number? Or is it simply a - and +? If you roll a six on D20 then for a 13 Passive it is a 7? If it is above 13 then you add that?
Because I don't understand what it says in the book. Make a dex check for all goblins with one D20 +6 with their stealth modifier. I first got an 18, so 24 total. But then in book it mentions check Passive Wisdom. But all the premade characters have a Passive of 10-13. Do you roll a D20 and add the number onto it so it increases? Because if not, and if all characters look at horse then they will all automatically be surprised and can't take their turn.
Please explain it like I'm 5. I honestly need a Starter Kit to the Starter Kit 😂. It says it has everything DM needs to know but then just suddenly says stuff that I can't find out in book. It even says check Rulebook under Combat for what Goblins do on their turn but I can't see it mention what the villains do and how they attack. Also, what do they attack? Is it the Armour Class? What is the characters health points?
Honestly I'm where you were at this point. I'm so confused, the instructions on the starter set don't seem to make sense to me (starter kit for the starter kit is what I need too!).
Did you ever find out the answers to your questions or just give up? I'm thinking as much as I want to play its just not for me, I need someone to sit down and go through all these rules with!
Shouldn't the DM trigger a passive perception check if it is higher than Goblin's stealth check before making them bother doing an active check?
Brilliant mate! Finding this very helpful.
I am glad it was helpful. I have about 47 videos on Lost Mine of Phandelver for DM's. A lot of NPC information.
I look to get back into D&D after a 20+ year absence. So I have been watching a lot of videos such as this. I do have a question, Why would the players be surprised by the Goblins or by anything at all when they see 2 dead horses lying in the road? Wouldn't they instantly be on high alert for an ambush long before the Player fighter walks in front of the wagon? Thanks for any input.
If you metagame as a Player it might be obvious. The characters might be expecting something from the obviously suspect situation. But mechanical game surprise is not the same.
Great tips what are you adding when rolling to hit? Strength modifier + d20?
Thank you. What attack are you talking about?
@@HowtoRPG using d20 to hit and then what modifier do you add to that roll.
D20, character modifier they use for action and I think proficiency bonus? Might just be the modifier + d20. Ie d20+strength mod. Or i believe rangers do d20+dex mod.
I'm about to run this encounter with a group of 6 newbies this Tuesday. How would you recommend I balance this for more players? I was considering throwing in one or two more goblins and having them flee reasonably early
Don't adjust it at all. The first battle new player's have can swing wildly, so don't worry about making it challenging 😉
@HowtoRPG awesome I'll do just that. I already had them run through a preliminary encounter to get them up to speed but I'd rather not risk it
@@SevenIsaCannibal7 The first battle can be tricky for experienced people with a group of 7 sometimes. All the best 👍
I'm just trying to get my head around 5e after what could be 20 years away from the game! Your tutorials are very helpful, many thanks. Quick question... shouldn't the characters suffer a -5 Disadvantage to their Passive Wisdom (Perception) checks due to the goblins being Lightly Obscured in the bushes? Or am I misunderstanding the circumstances on when should be applied?
Only if the DM thinks it is appropriate.
I hope to run this, re-skinned to fit a greek mythology campaign.
Awesome video! Question...do you show players the HP of monsters? And if so do you use the dice as shown in the video or was that only for teaching purposes?
Thanks. I don't tell or show players how many hit points a monster has. The dice are for teaching purposes as this video is for a dungeon master not player. Players metagame enough without me helping ;)
I have a series of videos on Lost Mine of Phandelver by the way.
With flavor text I read the first part and wait for reactions and questions. No matter what the questions are at first I read the next section as if it were the answer. After that I have to improv but the flavor text becomes my interactions
Love your vids. A Question: what if the PC's decide to use the cart or bull ride the Oxen to attack the goblins? Where would I find the Ox statistics? What damage would the cart cause when running over goblins?
Thanks. That's a complex question, let me think about it. Not something I can answer in a comment.
Id imagine the cart goes too slow and goblins can move out of the way. Or you could use horse stats and horseback riding if cant find ox stats
Several options, improvised weapon damage at d4, with dexterity saving roll for goblins is one. I'd give goblins a DC 10 to avoid, because it seems likely. I try to find ways to say yes to your players.
@@LoraxChannel excellent ideas! Thank you.
?? At 49:25 the goblin takes a second action? First it attacks the mage (44:20) (which triggers the readied actions of the fighter and the cleric), then it moves 30 feet (3 squares in difficult terrain) (48:42), then hide (49:16) and then the dodge action (49:25)? Ok, it's nimble so it has ONE bonus action to use on disengage or hide. But dodge? I don't get it.
And again on your goblin tactics (50:45) "This is what often goblins do: attack - move - hide (that's clear); disengage - attack - and they can hide again." ?? That's 2 bonus actions (disengage and hide; or 2 actions (attack and hide).
Well here's the issue they only have to disengage if there are within melee of another creature. Move is not an action. If they had to disengage then they could not hide but they could attack move and hide. Disengage is a specific action basically you are moving carefully away from someone in melee range you do not get in attack of opportunity. You don't need to disengage when that's not an issue you just move normally which is not an action.
@@solarisdevorak I know what you're saying... but the speaker literally says: "they can disengage - attack - and they can hide again" (50:35). And before that moment, he had a goblin attack (the mage) (44:20), move, hide AND dodge. Ok, he might be confused about all the stuff he did with one goblin because he's also trying to explain everything, which includes triggering 2 readied actions; and from start to finish the narrator takes like 5 minutes (for ONE turn of a goblin).
If the fighter saw the goblin at minute 57 can he then attack or was the search his action for the round?
Searching is an action in Dungeons and Dragons 5E, so you don't normally get to attack.
This was awesome! Thanks so much.
Glad it was helpful, Beau.
Hello ! Great vid !
Should I read the context on page 3 in order to start the game ?
Thanks. The information on page 3 is for the Dungeon Master, not the players. Use the read Aloud text on page 6 for the players.
@@HowtoRPG Thank you very much!
@@Ald3baran Happy gaming. I have a series of videos on running Lost Mine of Phandelver, by the way.
The player handbook does mention that you get +2 on dexterity saving throws when in half-cover. Does that mean that the goblin's stealth check should actually be 6+2 or is 6 already a natural 4 plus the 2 from half cover?
The Stealth Check is not a Dexterity Saving Throw. The Stealth Check is a type Dexterity Check, which is different (confused?). What the half Cover means is that a Goblin gets +2 on AC and Dexterity Saving Throws. A Goblin with a Shortbow has a AC of 13, then +2 for half cover equals a total AC 15. If a fireball is cast into the bush with the Goblin that has half cover it would normally have a Dexterity Saving throw bonus of +2, then add +2 for the half cover equals a total Dexterity Saving throw bonus of +4.
Thank you for this video!
Question: why did the goblins only make ranged attacks?
(On page 7 of the adventure book, the second bullet on the top left says that 2 of the goblins make melee attacks while the other two make ranged attacks.)
You are welcome. Because Goblins don't benefit from fighting in melee and would not do it unless there was no choice.
Thank you for stating this outright. I think the authors wanted to make the encounter winnable for the PCs.
I agree with such a goal in general, however I think forcing the enemies to behave in a tactically poor manner to be the wrong way to go about it.
Also, where did you get your +3 from on your 16 D20 roll? Where did the +3 come from?
I fill as tho when something hides in the bushes they should have to make a stealth check as soon as they choose to hide. Just because they disappear from sight dosnt mean they disappear from sound.
They do.
This is very helpful, thanks! Love the accent too.
I am glad you found the video helpful. I have a series of video's on the Lost Mine of Phandelver, you might be interested in.
@@HowtoRPG I can see. I'm going to binge them!
@@HowtoRPG you have a playlist of this. But it would be awesome if you ordered them in a sensible order to watch them in. I guess they are just in date order right now.
@@Domina7ion The order is determined by what people found most useful.
Hey quick question,as of recently I've started DMing for a new group and we are going to be playing lost mines of Phandelver since the majority of the players are almost completely new to d&d. The problem is that one of the players is extremely experienced and has played through lost mine of Phandelver before which he only thought to tell me 3/4 the way through our session 0 while everyone except 1 of the players had already made characters. I thought of maybe doing a last minute switch to a custom campaign but I don't have one prepared. Do you have a solution to this issue?
Just run the lost mine of phandelver, that is what you have prepared. I have a series of videos on the lost mine of phandelver for dungeon masters. You can make small changes to the adventure for the person who has already played, if they think they can't resist metagaming. Ask me more questions if you need too.
th-cam.com/video/1vH3bMbvcw4/w-d-xo.html
This player happens to be a metagamer, I know from experience as he was in my last group. Should I just proceed and DM lost mine as it's written or should I try to adapt it a bit? If so do you have any suggestions on what to adapt it into?
Just adapt the adventure. I could not provide you with enough suggestions in a comment or even one video. Move stuff around, change monsters to begin with.
If you can afford to, you could get information for the Dragon of Icespire. It's in the essentials box and the campaign covers the same area and town. This means you could mix and match your campaign to fit what you need. The person that played it before will be thrown for a loop because events in the town and areas will be different to what they've experienced before.
I just started this with my kids and the Goblins rolled a 1 on their stealth check, which turned out to be pretty funny and I let my kids get attacks off first on the Goblins' critical failure. They ended up catching one and my youngest (our paladin) is trying to make him part of the team, so that's a fun mechanic for me to figure out and I have conditions for its loyalty and progress.
Sounds great. Have fun with your kids :)
Wait, so the fighter was not surprised and saw the goblins hiding. Could he not have shouted out "ambush!" and so the rest of the party aren't surprised?
I would of ruled it that way.
I believe he stated in the video that as soon as they are spoted the ambush is triggered before he can shout.
In my book both actions (first goblin arrows thrown and fighter yelling) would take place at the same time
I would have ruled it the same way he did surprises determined before anyone takes their turns. Just because he shouts someone is still trying to figure out exactly what's going on. Around is amir 6 seconds just because someone hollers doesn't mean you still know exactly what's going on.
How can that 2nd goblin take a shot, run, dodge , hide? Is that not 2 actions and a bonus?
He shot, moved and hid.
Its hard to run this game with your friends who are all 13 years old and all they want to do is attack the enemies ballsack. unfortunately they roll really well.
You have my simpathy. Try running a Scooby Doo style adventure.
@@HowtoRPG ugh that sounds awful.
@@adamsloan1037 lol
hmm maps... Neverwinter history includes an alergy to having maps made of Neverwinter itself. That said I think it would work wonders to have some kind of mental/descriptive map of the City, as PCs are assumed to be familiar with the place. Helm's Hold is missing but important location not far from Neverwinter. Phandalin itself has a map, but is missing a double-centerfold-spread of the East-South-West horizon line, one which I describe as looking like the Grand Tetons preceded by a maze of canyons, arroyos, gulches and other features...I still need to find a good list of the names of these mountains...and it doesn't help there are multiple locations in the Savage North named some variation of Ice Spire, which is literally the only named mount in this chain on this map...and isn't even relevant.
re: ambush. I reward observant players with a spotting of vultures circling above dead horses, waiting for the goblins to go away. The Tri-Boar trail itself I have made from graded piles of mine waste, mostly from Phandelver itself...this is partly why the mine hasn't been found: did such a good job of dispersing the mining wastes that the mine's location is not obvious (also backdoors where mine waste was distributed from are hidden caves on the cliff side of at least one lake.)
p.s. the Neverwinter Online game is a hot mess of Pay-To-Win gameplay, but it does give up many interesting details of the city and environs.
You sound like a smart guy. Your level of detail is beyond my skills. Thanks for sharing.
@@HowtoRPG nonsense...I try...you do.
Re: Maps
I'm preparing for a duet campaign of Dragon of Icespire Peak blended with Lost Mines of Phandelver, & I was surprised to find so many significant landmarks missing from the maps (Helm's Hold is a big city, and the ruins or semi-ruins of Thundertree, Leilon, and Conyberry are absent from the player version of the map, plus several things from the Neverwinter Campaign Setting book from 4e...).
I can understand why they'd want to limit it to landmarks involved in the adventure, but hiding Helm's Deep & other active & visible landmarks is annoying.
48:15 Goblin flees? Dash? How can he move x2 his normal movement speed and then move again as you say. IMO I rule only 30 total feet of movement is allowed but otherwise show me where this is allowed considering difficult terrain.
the only explanation i could see is that this is their native terrain. It might not be difficult for them as they know exactly where to step? They did take the time to setup pit traps on the trail to their hideout after all. there was forethought into escaping or travelling back to camp. They are living creatures that don't want to die.
That’s a lovely accent you have. New Jersey?
Thanks Steven. Was the video helpful?
Lol. Yes, it was very helpful and I’m watching more right now. I’m running a campaign for new, young players and I’m trying to make it a fun experience. So far so good. Tips from people like you help me smooth out my game. Thank you.
That is a line about accents is from the movie “ Dumb and Dumber” by the way. Cheers.
@@guras74 I'm assuming that your not suggesting that I'm dumber than dumb, but let me know if I'm wrong. Try this video as well ;)
th-cam.com/video/qOWfr3hGOoY/w-d-xo.html
What does it mean to “start to meta game”?
You tell me.
Worrying too much about the mechanics of the game and not letting themselves be fully immersed in the story.
Rhys Darby is that you?
No. From the same country, but not related by blood. lol
Love the accent mate :))
40min, “it’s not cheating…”
Are there people that think the DM chiming in is cheating? It’s a group storytelling game, not a PvP competitive game.
Can't stealth in plain siight.
Generally yes, but there are exceptions. Such as sneaking up behind someone. Stealth has plenty of movement for a DM.
@@HowtoRPG Being in stealth and sneaking up is different than entering stealth. I could se3 rolling a stealth check to sneak up on someone in what might otherwise seem like 0lain sight.. I might have misheard it, but I thought at one point you rolled stealth for goblin that had already been seen, and hadn't fled. In that case, a dont think you can enter stealth.
@@LoraxChannel I don't remember the exact order, it's possible. This was a live stream I did a while ago when my house was quieter. I often present multiple possibilities in live stream demonstrations so errors are made or they can create confusion for people who expect one way to do something.
you just wasted 1 hour of my life
How about you explain the issue for you?
For starters, I have no idea what to do when the goblins attack. The book in the starter set says you roll 1 D20 for each of the goblins and add 6 to the total. I got 48. The person playing with me had a perception skill score of 2. How is someone supposed to have a perception skill score higher than 48.
@@lh4039 I can see you are very confused. Try watching my video on melee attacks or ranged attacks, they are short and simple. Otherwise try and join one of my live stream combat tutorials.
@@HowtoRPG Also, if a goblin throws a knife at me, for example, how do I figure out if it hits me or not?
@@lh4039 Thrown weapons. Yep I have not made that video. It's on the topic list.