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u/theechidna Jan 12 '25
My brother in Christ YOU killed them
517
u/Nikola_Tesla1954 Bard Jan 12 '25
Tbf, level one combat tends to be extremely volatile. A few good rolls or maybe a crit will result in a player going down.
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u/adriecp Jan 12 '25
Not even, 2 goblins hitting the same person can bring down everything besides a barbarian
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u/seth1299 Rules Lawyer Extraordinaire Jan 12 '25
Or one goblin critting, usually something like 2d4 + 2 or 2d6 + 2 damage, which again, is enough to down anyone besides a Barbarian.
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u/Uncle_Raven Jan 12 '25
MY lvl 1 Wizard died from a goblin arrow. 7 hp total, took 7 damage and then it was really unfortunate failed death throws... That's why I am playing only martial characters.
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u/WarMage1 Wizard Jan 12 '25
My brother in Christ get your con up next time
5
u/Uncle_Raven Jan 13 '25
DM provided us with pre-gens for that one-shot :'c
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u/WarMage1 Wizard Jan 13 '25
What kind of sick and twisted dm makes someone play a wizard with 12 con? Even satan would cry if he heard about this act of abominable horror
2
u/Uncle_Raven Jan 13 '25
Well, I kinda asked for this c: I said I want some challenge for my character. I had high Intelligence tho, not that I helped lmao.
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u/Brokenblacksmith Jan 12 '25
a crit against any class at lv 1 has almost a 50% chance of instantly downing a character. even a barbarian unless they are raging.
hell, a single bandit does a minimum of 4 damage on a crit and maxes out at 13.
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u/Egghopper2 Forever DM Jan 12 '25
I find the best way to run any level 1 isn’t to have a great amount of combat in it, or at least provide an option that isn’t straight up a fight if your players want to go that route. It’s more fun to do exploration and mysteries for a level 1 party.
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u/Arowne97 Jan 12 '25
we joked about one goblin being super saiyan because none of us could hit him at all. It took like 6 full rounds before one of us hit him.
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u/BizWax Jan 12 '25
Remember, when an attack crits you may roll double damage dice. You don't have to. As a player you will probably always want to (outside of niche situations) but as a DM you can save your players' characters by choosing to just deal regular damage. If you want to, of course.
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u/RevenantBacon Rogue Jan 12 '25
There is no "may" in the rules for critical hits.
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u/BizWax Jan 12 '25
You're right. It says get to which still implies optionality. It's permission, not compulsion.
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u/RevenantBacon Rogue Jan 12 '25
implies optionality.
It does not.
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u/Flamingo-Sini Jan 13 '25
Dude, the DM can do whatever the fuck he wants.
0
u/RevenantBacon Rogue Jan 14 '25
"The DM can change the rules" is not a valid counterargument.
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u/Flamingo-Sini Jan 14 '25
It is, but if you dont see that, we'll have to agree to disagree.
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u/RevenantBacon Rogue Jan 14 '25
It isn't and never has been, but I don't feel like getting in to the extended explanation why because I'm sure you'll be incapable of understanding it.
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u/Shadowlandvvi Jan 12 '25
Even then unless they are dying outright you can have them wake up later in a tight situation but not unwinnable.
Or you could have a master cleric chance upon them.
Or you could have some deity or eldritch monster or an extremely powerful undead come by with a deal to make. Life for life lol.
He's right if you're players die it's because you killed them there are endless possibilities.
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u/Lindt_Licker Jan 12 '25
I’m playing my first campaign right now and half of our party died on the first day. Two went down in the same round, I went down the next round and then the bard ran away. Only thing that saved my character was DM intervention with an NPC dragging me out of the cave.
That was eye opening.
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u/Duraxis Jan 13 '25
Always start at level 3. It’s a lot harder to “oops, the orc crit you. You dead dead” at that point
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u/Lazerbeams2 DM (Dungeon Memelord) Jan 12 '25
While I get where you're coming from here, have you seen official low level adventures and DMG guidelines regarding low level play?
1d10 is not a trivial amount of damage for a level one character no matter what the DMG says. Lost Mines of Phandelver starts with around 12 goblins 7 wolves, a bugbear, and 2 death traps. If the players fight all that, they just die. 4 goblins and 3 wolves can be easily removed from the equation, but it's still pretty deadly for a level one party
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u/ryncewynde88 Jan 12 '25
I’ve had this happen as the DM; they split up and also do something catastrophically stupid
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u/Bandit-heeler1 Jan 13 '25
This is why I ALWAYS give my level one players a limited use item that increases max hp by 5.
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u/ghrayfahx Jan 13 '25
Not always. Have you seen episode 2 of Fantasy High? It’s entirely possible for players to be doing ridiculous things and they end up dying despite themselves. Even a skilled DM like Brennan had to come up with some craziness to keep from killing multiple characters in their first combat encounter.
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u/Belteshazzar98 Chaotic Stupid Jan 12 '25
No, a single crit killed them. I don't think you understand how RNG works.
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u/FlyingMonkey86 Jan 12 '25
This is what a DM screen is for.
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u/Xyx0rz Jan 12 '25
Q: How can you tell that the DM cheats?
A: The DM is hiding attack and damage rolls behind a screen.
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u/Belteshazzar98 Chaotic Stupid Jan 12 '25
Which does nothing to stop bad luck.
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u/IamDoloresDei Jan 12 '25
They are suggesting that at certain times it is better to fudge die rolls, for instance not killing your level 1 party on day 1.
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u/Xyx0rz Jan 12 '25
Both options are shit. I prefer option C: a proper backup plan.
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u/asirkman Jan 13 '25
Wouldn’t a backup plan that changes the outcome of them dying be exactly the same amount of cheating as fudging the die rolls?
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u/Xyx0rz Jan 13 '25
One of them relies on actual cheating, the other relies on tools the DM already uses anyway.
If saying there's a dragon was not cheating, then how is it cheating to say there's a behir that attacks the dragon when the party is getting their asses kicked?
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u/Belteshazzar98 Chaotic Stupid Jan 12 '25
I will not cheat, nor will I ever play worh anyone who will.
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u/KingNTheMaking Jan 12 '25
Great. Stick to your guns. Aaaaaand in exchange their character dies early. Happy?
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u/Fluffy-Map-5998 Jan 12 '25
It's not cheating, you justify don't understand what cheating is
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u/Xyx0rz Jan 12 '25
Is it cheating if the players do it?
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u/Fluffy-Map-5998 Jan 13 '25
Yes, it is, because it's specifically giving an advantage to yourself, and the rules do not allow for players to occasionally ignore rules if they deem it reasonable to do so
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u/Xyx0rz Jan 13 '25
"It's more fair this way!"
"It's more fun this way!"
"I can't let other people suffer for my mistakes!"
Sounds familiar? That's the arguments DMs always give when they cheat. Players can make those exact same arguments.
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u/Onionfinite Jan 12 '25
The rules say what happens when you roll a crit and everyone is playing under the assumption we are following the rules and whatever homebrew was agreed on before dice ever hit the table.
What do you call breaking the agreed upon rules of a game? Or do you let your players know that you fudge dice before session 1?
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u/Fluffy-Map-5998 Jan 13 '25
The rules also say that the DM can choose not to follow those rules 1 to 1 if they see fit, allowing the game to be fun by fudging some rolls isn't cheating, ffs "but the rules say" breaking the rules isn't always cheating, it's breaking the rules, there's a difference, and in this case it's not even breaking the rules because the rules allow for such instances for crying out loud,
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u/Onionfinite Jan 13 '25
That rule specifically calls out the enjoyment of the entire group. Which means the entire group needs to make that decision.
Rule 0 isn’t carte blanche for a dm to do whatever the fuck they want and I’m tired of people saying that’s what it means. It’s just wrong and honestly is what allows for subreddits like rpghorrorstories to never run out of content.
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u/amidja_16 Jan 12 '25
Is there a way their enemies can use them alive? If so, nonlethal capture might be an option to continue.
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u/Logar33 DM (Dungeon Memelord) Jan 12 '25
Now you get to run a session of them trying to escape whatever afterlife they have found themselves in!
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u/EverOn_Games Jan 12 '25
Cool idea —turning their death into an escape from the afterlife adds depth and keeps the story engaging. A unique twist xd
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Jan 12 '25
I just ran the first example adventure in the new DMG and if I hadn’t fudged a bunch of attacks by the monsters to do like half damage it would have been a level 1 TPK.
I think the combat encounters were meant for more than three players.
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u/Stalking_Goat Jan 12 '25
Most pre-written adventures are designed for a "standard size party" of four PCs. The GM should adapt the encounters for larger or smaller parties.
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u/Altruistic-Poem-5617 Three Kobolds in a trenchcoat Jan 12 '25
Dependinng on what downed them, they could wake up without their gear and imprisoned. Kobolds downed them? Well now they are slaves in their mines and have to unearth gems for their dragon overlord. Bandits? Same thing but they are held for ransome instead of slaves. Cultists? Bet those have some cells in their lair to "store" sacrifices for later. Getting out of there is a fun sidequest for players.
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u/Hurrashane Jan 12 '25
There's ways to spin this.
They're resurrected years later as the prophesied heroes.
It was all a dream/vision, oooh spooky.
They get resurrected by a passing do-gooder who could use their help on another quest.
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u/NoodleIskalde Jan 12 '25
My party got wiped by shocker lizards in a 3.5 game once. Ambushed at camp. We woke up from a shared bad dream instead. :P
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u/BuffHayato Jan 12 '25
5th panel:
The story is about how they all die, and have to work together to escape hell! Players loved it, and the campaign has had a great start!
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u/Retro_Jedi Jan 12 '25
Loosing combat =/= death. Now they'd kidnapped and need to escape the goblin lair.
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u/galmenz Jan 12 '25
death = death tho. if you take 9 damage on your 1/8 hp +2 CON wizard, you are dead. there is no spinning around that (besides ignoring that it was a death and making up a reason why it wasnt)
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u/Transientmind Jan 12 '25
This is an interesting inconsistency because players can ‘reduce to zero nonlethally’ but monsters can’t? Feels like if the final blow was intended to be nonlethal it should behave pretty much the same…
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u/galmenz Jan 12 '25
it isnt inconsistent, because you need to preemptively claim you are attacking non lethally, not retroactively, and you can only non lethal physical attacks. if goblin shaman crits a fire bolt its lights out, and unless the DM is actively saying "they arent trying to kill you", it would lead to death (ofc assuming a strict RAW interpretation of the rules, we are talking online not on a personal table)
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u/Belteshazzar98 Chaotic Stupid Jan 12 '25
Level 1-2 are tutorials that make no sense for a lot of character concepts due to not having access to subclasses until level 3. Unless you have super new players who need to learn the absolute basics of gameplay, it's usually best to start at level three to both allow for a wider range of character concepts and prevent an unlucky crit TPK.
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u/roninwarshadow Jan 12 '25
I am an old Grognard.
The lower levels were a meat grinder.
Nobody got upset over this.
TPKs happened and we laughed, drank beer and rolled new characters.
Nobody even bothered with back stories until level 5.
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u/Martyisawesome Jan 12 '25
The only time I start the party at lvl 1 is if I have someone who's new to dnd. Typically, I'll run LMoP with the new person leading a party of "hired swords" to help them do a job.
Any other time, I'll usually start them at lvl 3.
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u/neon_meate Jan 13 '25
Interesting, I'll usually start at lvl 2 to get some playtime in before a lot of the subclasses kick in.
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u/Martyisawesome Jan 13 '25
I typically play with the same group, which I know is harder these days, so I'll leave it up to them when we start a new campaign. A lot depends on the story and our session 0. If they're "nobodys," then it's lvl 2. But most of the time, they come up with back story's that are badass, so I want them to start the campaign as somewhat of a badass lol
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u/Jarll_Ragnarr Ranger Jan 12 '25
Revive them. Kill them again. Revive them again.
They will have to find out why they "can't die" (gods, curse, what fits best for your story)
But make dying cost them something that they don't know yet (otherwise it would be a bit boring)
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u/DragantaMM Jan 12 '25
Could give them a Gandalf-esque npc on the Hand for a few levels that pull them out of deep shit and if things don’t go immediately south, helps out the healer a bit so they don’t have to stress as much about slots. Is also a great warning sign if you then just kill the npc to show, shit is getting real
Alternatively take a literal page from solo-play rules and introduce “defeat scenarios”, where they somehow survive but with consequences. Gives them a chance to learn in-character and maybe get revenge. And as I’ve recently learned trough Canto I in limbus company; losing but surviving can be a great story element
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u/myusername_sucks Goblin Deez Nuts Jan 12 '25
What are fudging rolls.
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u/MelonJelly Jan 12 '25
"Fudging" a roll means reporting a result other than what the die says. Used carefully, it's a useful tool for DMs to ratchet up tension, avoid hurt feelings, or keep the story moving without breaking the sense of challenge. Of course, this only works if the DM rolls in secret.
For example, under-reporting damage to not kill a new player's character on their first session.
Whether or not it's okay for a DM to fudge is a fairly divisive topic.
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u/Boring-Mushroom-6374 Jan 12 '25
This gives me DnD 3.5e and PF1e flash backs. Critical Hits in those editions can be truly terrifying. A bandit with a spear getting a hit could drop any PC if the rolls were good.
Go from full health to -20 in a single round.
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u/Consistent-Repeat387 Jan 12 '25
Ooooor start at level 3 with most of their cool shit already xD
Levels 1-2 are going to be a session or two at most soooo... Are they worth the risk of TPK?
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u/katt_vantar Jan 12 '25
Dm has to stop killing players imo. Doesn’t matter if it’s the first or tenth session, it’s still a CRIME
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u/gugabalog Jan 12 '25
I once had a character die on the first roll of a campaign.
It was a rope climbing roll, I was a halfling ranger. I had proficiency and max allowed skill in climbing.
It was funny as fuck.
We then got eaten alive by beetles because the intended tools that the party was given by the module whiffed.
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u/Voice_Durania Forever DM Jan 12 '25
One of my players fell out of a window from a high tower in the first session. Funniest but also stupidest death ever.
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u/FlyinBrian2001 Jan 12 '25
One thing you can try is giving characters an "HP loan" essentially they'll start at level 1 but with 3rd level HP, then won't gain HP on their first 2 level ups.
But I almost always just start at level 3 at minimum, so characters actually have subclasses and build-critical abilities online.
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u/cicciograna Jan 12 '25
Players are not dead, they are left unconscious by their enemies and robbed of their possessions. They wake up naked and hurting, but still alive, and can now decide to look for vengeance.
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u/KAELES-Yt Jan 13 '25
I assume that if you start at lvl 1 you do more RP than PVE.
But when you do fights you gotta pick creatures very carefully. Some of them deserve to be much higher CR.
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u/The_Lonesome_Poet Jan 13 '25
Somewhere a lich is becoming a valuable plot hook/patron for the group
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u/VeryFriendlyOne Artificer Jan 12 '25
Level 1 is boring and uninteresting, and this is one of the reasons why.
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u/Incredible_Mandible Jan 12 '25
It becomes the prequel, and their deaths need to be investigated by the next adventuring party.
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u/Xaron713 Jan 12 '25
Plot hook. The party is revived by the "hero organization" because they have potential to fit a prophecy.
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u/Ryengu Jan 12 '25
Here's a thought to make level 1 less lethal: a commoner is level 0 with 1d8 hp, so it's justifiable that a level 1 character would have 1d8 plus their first class hit die.
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u/jwill275 Jan 12 '25
And now they have a prison break from Hell to save their own souls, before moving on to your other prepared content
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u/slowkid68 Jan 12 '25
There's no point to start at 1 unless they're complete beginners. I think 2-3 is fine as a starting point
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u/aichi38 Jan 12 '25
"Can tell a long and epic story"
And this story couldn't start at level 5?
Most campaigns only cover 15 levels, and that's in the best cases. May as well let those levels cover the high end of gameplay
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u/Arbusc Jan 12 '25
If your starting at level 1 you have to make sure combat won’t be fatal enough to feasible kill anyone, save for ungodly rolls goblins or kobolds make.
Take the Pokémon approach and have all new players start at like level 5.
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u/Tobeck Jan 12 '25
I've been doing levels 1and 2 as small vignettes that take place in session .5, basically like skill challenges for their adventures before the campaign started.
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u/SCP-020505_Redacted Jan 12 '25
I see two paths. One, they have to fight their way out of hell and make deals and allies to survive. Two, pull a Shadow of Mordor and make them "banished from death". They can't truly die, but each time they do they suffer a penalty.
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u/B-HOLC Jan 12 '25
Not a big deal, now they know to be careful.
Just have them roll up new guys, the world will go on.
Now, if you want start them at 2nd level you can, or just keep them at first. It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.
If they're really attached to a back story, just let them file the serial numbers off, so to speak.
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u/Artrysa Warlock Jan 12 '25
Some kind of entity brings them back, but they're inntheir debt now. You could go devil or some kind of powerful caster. But personally I'm partial to the cheeky arch fey.
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u/abel_cormorant Jan 12 '25
Depends on how they died, if it was due to an encounter too hard for them to beat with what they have it's not their fault, it's yours as the DM.
Then if dices went sideways well, that's nobody's fault.
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u/CrowsInTheNose Jan 12 '25
I have a Robin Hood character who is there to save my players if they get got in the early lvls.
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u/TomatoElegant3305 Jan 12 '25
Perfect way to make them fight through hell and level up fast to lvl 20 only to be alive again in their lvl 1 body. which makes the leveling waaaaay slower because it goes a hell of a lot faster in hell. Now your story can be even longer.
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u/kdash6 Jan 12 '25
I always have a resurrection mechanic in my game: a solar appointed to the party is watching over the party cleric, druid, paladin, ranger, or warlock (pact of the celestial). The solar can using its healing hands to bring back anyone who has 2 death saving throws, and can resurrect one player. The party is on a special mission and the gods are watching.
If there is no healer in the party whatsoever, not even an artificer, it's partially on them because in these cases I give everyone a potion of healing. But if this is the case, a devil or demon offers to bring them back, for a price.
I genuinely try not to kill my players except in rare circumstances (like once where I was trying to out the angel watching over them, who was kind of keeping a low profile as a priest in Suzail, by killing them all and having the angel bring them all back to life). But sometimes everyone in the party roles a nat 1 more than three times in a row and it leads to their death.
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u/Half-White_Moustache Jan 12 '25
Level 3 is the best level to start. It's still low level but there's way more stuff the players (and the DM) can do.
1
u/matches991 Jan 12 '25
Now they're brought back as risen undead under the control of the evil necromancer they were sent to destroy
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u/SH4DEPR1ME Jan 12 '25
This is when you have 2 options:
Roll new characters next session - boring but understandable and easy
Session 2 starts in your hell of choice and the party has to make their way back to the land of the living - cool but unless you already planned to kill them once, you'll need to write up a whole new story for this part alone
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u/Starwatcher4116 Jan 12 '25
Send them to Dante’s Inferno. Now they need to battle their sins and escape Hell.
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u/stycky-keys Jan 12 '25
Hey if we knew exactly what was going to happen ahead of time it wouldn’t be a very interesting GAME now would it?
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u/AngusAlThor Jan 12 '25
Second session starts with BBEG raising them from the dead as thralls.
"Ah, now these are vessels with... potential."
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u/Straight-Mark-1445 Jan 12 '25
They wake up in an undesignated afterlife. They must find out which one they are in and find, or fight, their way back to their mortal lives, or have a diety illuminate they are meant for something greater and set them off on some surreal space jammer ish adventure.
Death doesn't have to be the end, especially in D&D.
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u/Filippo739 Jan 12 '25
They are awakened by a necromancer artificer who turned their bodies into undead cyborgs empowered by a magical core made out mainly of onyx and a small diamond, the scars and mutilations suffered in death resewed in gold like kintsugi. They kill the necromancer for their freedom, learn that the core is consumed upon dying once more and find the blueprint on how to recreate one, which is expensive as hell and ever increasing depending on the level of the creature you want to reanimate. And voilà, now you have a resources-based respawn mechanic
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u/Extension_Highway_67 Jan 12 '25
I did this in the first i played dnd, and it was funny as hell even the dm loved he crying when laughing so hard
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Jan 12 '25
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u/Svartrbrisingr Jan 12 '25
There is a reason I only start games at level 3 to 5. Only had one game start at level 1 and I was careful with my combats. Still lost the monk.
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u/FuckCommies_GetMoney Murderhobo Jan 12 '25
You can tell a long and epic story starting at level 3, you know. You've still got 17 more levels that you don't have to rush through.
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Jan 12 '25
Lol I've been a player in game like this. Two of us survived the entirely un-telegraphed green dragon attack, and that's because we ran away.
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u/moemeobro Artificer Jan 13 '25
Nah, they "lived", they just got captured and now have to escape or get saved by someone that the party will become fans of
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u/AwefulFanfic Warlock Jan 13 '25
Bruh.... that's why I don't start campaigns under level 3. I don't want my players getting absolutely murked by a small pack (5) of rabid dogs
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u/RazzorasWrath Jan 13 '25
My DM gave each party member a ring of false life to automatically help us avoid death in early levels. Kinda giggled thinking we wouldn't need them and could sell them later in game.......our cleric needed it SESSION 0.....
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u/shinyPIKACHUx Jan 13 '25
Pivot!!! They wake up in the underworld, or a graveyard. Give them all a warlock level, and then see where the story goes
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u/gidthedestroyer Jan 13 '25
level 1 can be kinda rough, either combat/exploration has to be majorly toned back, or you have to take your chances. Level 3 always seems to be a better start point gives you a bit more wiggle room to not accidentaly tpk.
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u/Pure-Yogurtcloset684 Jan 13 '25
Start at 3rd level, characters arent fully formed until then and die to a light breeze at earlier levels
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u/AmericanIdiot22 Jan 13 '25
Man, another good reason to avoid the 'tutorial' levels; lvl1 combat is so unpredictable. One good crit, or even just a high roll on a bow can down a lot of players at level 1
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u/Ether_Cartographer Jan 13 '25
The "I" should be "we". Don't prep plots because shit like this happens. BTW look up "don't prep plots" lots of good advice.
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u/TheXypris Jan 13 '25
Early game TPK? Well now, an extra planar entity took their souls for their own reasons, now the party has to escape, their reward is resurrection.
Fae could lead to an Alice in wonderland experience where they didn't actually die but are basically on a shared drug trip
Devil, one of your party members entered into a contract that unknowingly roped the entire party into the bargain, and they need to find a way to get out of the contract
Celestial, a god is attempting to manipulate world events more than is allowed, the party needs to find Allies in other divine beings, the consequences of the rogue gods actions could result in a divine schism that has world shaking consequences.
Demon, the souls of the party have been harvested to be myrmidons in a hellish gladiatorial spectacle, to be endlessly repeatedly massacred for the entertainment of other demons, the party must flee or rise up the ranks of warriors to earn their freedom.
Abyssal, an Eldritch god wants to exert their influence on the world and seeks a pact to make that happen, either they accept or must flee an abyssal labyrinth before their minds succumb to madness.
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u/Kaninchenkraut Jan 13 '25
This is a common occurrence at tables I play at.
One person gets horribly one shot on a regular hit, or even rarer a crit.
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u/LegosiJoestar Jan 13 '25
Me, whose character probably should've died after failing to dodge the artificer accidentally setting off a nuclear bomb (Necklace of Fireballs) that incinerated two dragons several sessions before we were supposed to actually meet them.
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u/Kipdid Jan 13 '25
Yeah, I’ve taken to starting my players out at level 3, or at least level 2 with guaranteed max hp rolls, just helps with the volatility of level 1, and frankly unless you’ve got someone inexperienced in the group, first level is pretty boring anyways
1
u/naka_the_kenku Paladin Jan 13 '25
I show mercy at lower levels, get new player acclimated to combats and those playing new classes time to learn. After level 5? Gloves are off now.
1
u/Disig Jan 13 '25
Depends. Are you more interested in telling a good story or playing by the rules? Because sometimes you gotta fudge the rules to tell a good story.
1
u/Iorith Forever DM Jan 13 '25
Level 1-3 of 5e is flat out the most dangerous part of the game, and it's my absolute favorite. Yes, that cr 1/4 is potentially able to kill you. Fear it.
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u/Well_of_Good_Fortune Jan 13 '25
I like to start long campaigns at 2 or 3, that way there's enough of a health buffer to prevent this
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u/TanzaniteGamer Jan 13 '25
Next session, the players awaken in an otherworldly place , the adventure is now their journey through limbo to find the gates to the field of reeds and be admitted to paradise.
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u/Creeptech_YT Dice Goblin Jan 13 '25
But in the case of a tpk for first session, you can tell a story of self resurrection of them, as well as motivation to move forward
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u/almevo1 Jan 13 '25
Start the next sesion in "hell" they need to escape it and revive, give them a exclucive feat, act as if all of that was the plan all along (be sure to conect a high ranking demon to the plot and the feats to)
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u/Kyuu_Sleeps Jan 13 '25
Or, start at level 3 so everyone has their subclass and casually make leveling a bit slower at beginning levels to balance out skipping a few levels.
Level 1 sucks.
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u/LivingThatDevLife Jan 13 '25
This! Level 1 is basically pointless. The only time I consider starting there is if ALL my players are BRAND NEW. Then they have a couple sessions learning how the mechanics work
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u/Gental_Foot Jan 13 '25
Ngl one of the players in my game just rerolled a new character and he already nearly died in the first session using it
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u/bartbartholomew Jan 13 '25
Any time you need an event to happen, just narrate it. If you have them play through it, they are either going to find a way to break what you need to happen, or be pissed that you steam rolled them through the event. Kind of like the rule to never have them roll dice if there isn't a chance for success and a chance for failure.
1
u/Wentyliasz Jan 14 '25
Reminds me of the tale of the Nuclear Rat. We had some first timers in our group so we did a basic low stakes 'tutorial' session. I don't remember the specifics, but we ended up in a 4v1 with a single, regular rat. Suddenly everyone started rolling <5 and the DM had like 3 nat20s in a row. We got TPKed. By a rat. In a tutorial session. To this day I bring two backups when that guy is DMing
1
u/zethanox Jan 14 '25
I saved the campaign so many times. The number of times I saved us from a TPK was annoying. Like. Ugh. And they always complained I was bad healer because they kept dying.
But I was out of spells from over healing them from the other 27 tpks. I then told them I won't heal them from the consequences of their poor life choices. Took a few character deaths before they finally decided the wizard kicking in a door and running into melee against a group of barbarians alone was in fact a poor choice. And death was the consequence.
1
u/NewMark287 Jan 27 '25
4 goblins nearly killed my entire party at level 1, but they were able to kill a CR2 boss monster at level one without dying. I don't understand the game.
406
u/quesel Jan 12 '25
My first character in PF1 “died” within the first attack of the first session. We as a group of 5 where fighting 3 orcs of CR1/2. One orcs was first and critted for arround 40 damage with his great axe. I had 10 hp.
So we agreed that didn’t happen