How to Run the D&D Starter Set - Goblin Arrows

My party did in fact charm the three wolves in the first chamber and then used them in the fight against the bugbear. When Klarg attacked one of the wolves, I had his pet wolf roll against Klarg's charisma saving throw to see if he turned against his master under the assumption that the other wolves were its children or at least related / kin. Klarg failed his save and was devoured by his own wolves. This was good as two of the party were rolling death saving throws at that point due to a series of very unfortunate rolls, and the other PCs were running very low on health. Was absolutely epic and the party was so happy to have four very grateful guardians for the rest of the journey on the path to Phandalin.

I had to pull SOOOOO many punches on both the ambush, and in the cave. It really felt like these characters needed to start at level 2.

Fantastic video explains exactly what a DM has to do to make a game involving & interesting to keep players guessing & engaged!

I just started running this campaign last week and i noticed my players are waaay too skeptical of everything haha I made them start in neverwinter meeting with Gundren and Sildar, and then deliver the wagon to phandalin, they checked the wagon and everything on it lookikg for traps or maybe runes. Then after the goblin ambush they headed to phandalin to deliver the wagon, so I described the town using the text box from the adventure and they were suspicious of the town itself and all the ruins that it's built on. Anyway, they headed back to the ambush place and made their way to the hideout, we ended the session there. Reaally looking forward to the next session, we had lots of fun! Amazing video, thank you :)

I just started DMing and chose this as the very first campaing! I can't tell you how nervous I was of not being capable to continue the narrative after the ambush just ended, the bard just OBLITERATED the remaining two goblins at the same time with Thunderwave, so I had nothing pointing them towards the goblin hideout, and my party was adamant about delivering those goods to Elmar Barthen, who thankfully redirected them back to the scene of the ambush (I didn't read part two and was unaware that this happens, never again am I not gonna read the entire book first)

I used the Cragmaw gold tooth idea with my new group last night. They loved it.

New DM and new subscriber here! Thank you so much for this series! I'm about to run this game for the first time this Thursday for my husband and grown kids (18, 22 x 2, and 20). I'm more nervous about DMing for them than DMing for the first time, lol. They're all very creative and love gaming. I've only played D & D once, and it's been a while. But, when they asked me to DM, I couldn't resist! I have taken notes and now will be getting ready. I'll listen to this video once more before Thursday night and I know it will help. I'm looking forward to prepping for the rest of the chapters with help from your videos. Thank you!

The gold tooth idea is amazing for my players. I made a little Tutorial mission at the start because they were all new and they ended up all making tooth necklaces for each other(gotta love the creativity). Now they get a sweet gold tooth to add on to it aswell

I've never played D&D, and neither have my friends. We decided to jump in to this campaign and I volunteered to DM (I've always wanted to run a game after watching D&D streams). This video has been a godsend for easing a brand new DM/GM into learning good habits and crafting an enthralling story. Thank you!

Bout to run this for some friends. this is awesome advice!

Great work with this. I'm running this as my daughters' and their friend's first RPG experience. I was a bit worried about them as they chose to play as 2 rogues and a bard so started them at level 2 so they weren't quite as squishy. They steamrolled the initial ambush with the goblins only managing to do a flesh wound to the bard (a massive Dragonborn), they engaged in a short chase with the last goblin who they just managed to capture after he surrendered on 1 HP. They've now learned everything they could from him, though I did have to encourage them not to head off to confront Grol as their next goal by making it extremely clear that the goblin thought it would be a great idea for them to walk up to a castle full of the rest of his tribe. So next session they head to the cave with the knowledge that all the goblins hate Klarg, that Yeemik wants to see him dead and him in charge, and that Sildar is still alive, there are quite a few other goblins in the cave, and that the path is trapped. I was very impressed with the way they handled session 0 plus introduction encounter. Session 1 will be this coming Saturday and I will definitely encourage them to take a short rest and scope out the cave before tackling it. Thanks for the tips in this series, a truly excellent resource.

This series has been great so far in preparation to DM my first ever campaign for my friends. I love that you pictured Barristan Selmy for Sildar, that was IMMEDIATELY where my mind went as well and the inspiration for his voice and mannerisms for me. Very excited to run this campaign this weekend!

Re. Names for npc’s... I just look at whatever is in front of me, drop my finger on a random word, and use it backwards.

This has been a big help running the game. Your mention of cool things the players can do led me to allow a bit of leeway when they did something. To deal with the bridge goblin, (which the ranger noticed) the players decided to take him out silently. The ranger and sorcerer shot him and the barbarian caught him before he could hit the water so it was a silent kill. The part that I allowed was letting the sorcerer’s cantrip hit even tho it technically didn’t beat his armor class, I reasoned that unaware he wouldn’t have the dex bonus to dodge.

Great video learning a lot! Great story telling because that’s all it really is telling a story!

I just first time dmed my group of beginners. My party killed all the goblins in the ambush, forgetting that one of them was supposed to try and retreat. I had them all go to Phandalin where I got Elmar to have them go back to the site and investigate. They found the goblin path and avoided the first trap, and almost fell into the second. We ended at the Cragmaw hideout, but I think we all did great for the first session. Lesser rules I didn't understand I avoided to keep the game going, and it all came right together.

Just getting back into DM-ing with LoMP, lots of great ideas. Thank you!

Oh man I’m DMing for the first time this Sunday with this set. They’ve videos are a lifesaver!! Thank you! ❤

I was a bit nervous about DMing for the first time, but watching these videos has made me super excited. Cant wait to start with my group now!

Like the first video in the Series, this is pure gold. <3 I love the Gold-Tooth idea sooo much!