Hello all 
Me and my friends are trying to set up a D&D campaign. We are all unexpierenced players.
I bought the starter set a couple of days ago and read the adventure that comes with it "Lost mine of Phandelver". We would like try that campaign because it looks pretty straight forward, I was wondering if its doable with 3 players and 1 dm? Or does it work best with 4 players, so we need to add a character played by the DM? Does anyone got any experience with the adventure?
Many thanks!
Sartana
PS. Sorry for my bad English
It's designed for 4 players, but 3 players could also take it on. I say try it as is and if you guys are having trouble then take away a couple of critters from each encounter before resorting to using a DMPC.
And remember that running is always an option if things look bad, and just because something is a monster doesn't mean you have to fight it(but if it's hitting you you might want to fight or run).
The adventure is actually quite tough. We did it with 5 players and found that a lot of us where face down ass up on a number of occassions and we lost 2 character in the course of the adventure as a whole. 5e is rather brutal.
You will definitly need to adjust the encounters a bit else you will be killing the party left and right. That said, these adjustments are usually as simple as reducing the number of enemies. Instead of 5 Kobolds due 4, stuff like that.
sartana1987 wrote:
Thanks for the great advice guys! I hope we can start next week =)
We're running it with three characters. It's a group that works hard at avoiding combat, and it's going well for them. Also, I don't run every enemy as a tactical genius. How much modifying you need to do will depend on your group's approach to the game.
I would recommend not using the milestone option for leveling up the characters. Add up the actual XP they earn. Three characters will level faster than four or five, which will help with the difficulty of the module.
I suggest starting the characters with more hit points than normal. It'll make the first level or two a bit more forgiving of mistakes.
It can be done; I am a player in the adventure rihgt now, and there are only ever 2-3 people in my gorup (counting me, not counting the DM). Good strategy can go a long way.
That being said, I agree with what others have said about maybe reducing the number of foes in the encounters until you have more of a feel for the game. You also might dock some of the enemies (such as the bugrear) a few hitpoints to make them easier challenges. But I assume that since you're the DM you have some talent for improvisation and winging it - don't be afraid to change whatever you feel you need to in order to ensure that everybody has fun.
P.S. We all feel we mess up a bit the first few times (or first few hundred times) we run the game - but as long as you keep things moving and everybody is having fun, nobody but you will ever know if it happens.
Another alternative is to give some of the enemies only 1 Hit Point. So they go down immediately when hit. This also allows a PC with an area attack (Fireball is the classic) to feel cool and powerful by taking down a lot of enemies at once.
Ah yes, the good ole minion from 4e. Making the goblins minions(or at least a few of them) isn't a bad idea. Just remember that whatever ones you don't kill immediately do get to attack. Maybe make their attacks also deal only 1 hp.
Or the alternative of added HPs is a good one. Maybe give them level 2 HPs with the understanding that when they hit level 2 they'll stay at their current HPs(or raise to level 3 HPs, but then at level 3 stay the same).
The module is basically designed for 4 players. If your party has 3 players you can reduce the number of creatures encountered by 1/4. Which is easy if they encounter 4 enemies like they do at the goblin ambush. Or you can reduce the monster HP. 2 goblins encountered at 7 HP each? Okay, that's 14 HP total x 3/4 = 11 HP. So one has the full 7 and the other 4. Just remember to reduce XP accordingly if you reduce monster HP and not simply remove a monster.
I wouldn't reduce the XP. I would just use the milestone rule in conjunction with 1-2 of these other ideas. Really once they hit 3rd level they should be in a position to handle most things(including having a round or two before realizing they should run in some cases). It's the really low HP combined with the swinginess of the dice at levels 1-2 that could get a small party in big trouble.
I'd add a DM controlled NPC to the party of whatever role the group is light on.
In decision moments the group can decide what s/he does.