Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 SnakeEyes097 Oct 03, 2015 21:19:49	So the short version is that my group is all first time players, and I am a first time DM. I bought the 5e starter set, we made our characters, and got started on the included adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver. The players successfully dealt with the goblin ambush on the path, followed the trail to the cave, killed the guards, then all got killed by the wolves in the first room. It was serious dice luck, the dice loved the wolves and all four players had poor luck, and they all ended up at 0 or fewer hit point. Then they all failed three death saves.   We all had a lot of fun, and all are going to come back for another session. My question is, should I just restart them all alive at the mouth of the cave? They didn't see any parts other than about 40' up the path, and the wolf room. Or, should I have them wake up "captured"? I'm inclined to just restart at the wolves, and continue the adventure. What do you normally do when your entire group unexpectedly gets wiped out?
#2 Rhenny Oct 03, 2015 23:12:56	I'd ask them what they would like to do.   Either of the alternatives you present are fine.  Or they can make new characters and try to rescue their original PCs (or at least find out if the wolves ate them).   Lol.   Remember, it is a game so you should all decide what would make the story best or provide you all with the most entertainment.   Cheers.
#3 Slagger_the_Chuul Oct 04, 2015 0:10:03	Have them survive, but give them some kind of interesting wolf-related curse (probably not lycanthropy; something relatively minor, but occasionally troublesome).  My maxim is to make problems into part of the story.
#4 Imaculata Oct 04, 2015 0:41:41	Maybe they are rescued by unlikely allies, and are now in debt with these folk.
#5 Mad_Jack Oct 04, 2015 22:12:21	Since you're all new to the game, you should probably restart it, either from the beginning or from wherever they died. At least until you have more experience with the rules and such, letting them have that "reset button" could be helpful. But ask your players what they'd want to do.   Also, check to see if your dice are balanced if they keep rolling really low...
#6 iserith Oct 05, 2015 6:20:31	SnakeEyes097 wrote:
#7 alienux Oct 05, 2015 10:58:01	Another angle on this is to try to figure out why they died when they did before starting again. Did they take a rest at any point before fighting the wolves to recover some of their resources? How many players are there, and if there are less than the adventure suggests, did you adjust the number of monsters accordingly? Did the players consider other ways to overcome obstacles (including fights) instead of just fighting?   It's just part of D&D that sometimes one or all characters can die the way you described, either through unlucky dice rolls or bad choices, but since you're all first time players, some of the above are good things to keep in mind to help avoid it happening as much, or possibly at all.
#8 DM_Craig Oct 05, 2015 14:02:02	"You wake up in your beds at the Stonehill Inn in Phandalin, and realize you all had the same dream..."   But seriously, I would go with either:   A) Full restart. It's early enough that the players shouldn't be too attached to their characters and can try again.   B) They wake up captured, like Iserith suggested.
#9 SnakeEyes097 Oct 05, 2015 18:32:18	Thanks guys, this is all really good advice. They all seem to favor just starting at the cave entrance, since they saw nothing except the wolf room. I think I should have fudged the wolf rolls a bit, it was really just very poor luck, and we didn't have experience or gear to see us through. They had just completed a short rest before entering the cave, so they all had full health and all but one of the cleric's spell slots. Now I know better, and they all have a bit more experience in how to handle encounters.   Thanks everyone for giving me good, constructive feedback! I really appreciate it :D
#10 DM_Rober Oct 07, 2015 17:58:44	i'll give you an advice. i'm player for D&D during 16 years, and DM for 10 years.    The first rule that i learned, is that the DM is God in the game. You can modify, alter or change every situations.    If the situation goes wrong for the player's character, you as DM can change the rolls of the enemies for others poor, and help the player's. (Remember the DM rolls are secretly in his screen table)   The most important thing, is have a good fun, don't give the luck in the random, remember you can change the random for a poor or better roll for an adjust/balance the encounter.    I recommend you restart in the first room wolves encounter.    Extra: you can give an extra level to the player characters , because this is the first time that you're DM and is possible that you cannot control or can balance the encounter situations. Maybe this upgrade level can help the player's character more.   Have a good fun.