Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 TheBigBZ Sep 09, 2014 15:34:37	Hi guys,   I'll be GMing (and playing) my first game of D&D in nearly 20 years next week and have a couple of questions:   Question the first (lol):  We're playing HotDQ so does anyone know how far it is from is Neverwinter to Greenest? Question the second:  I'm getting my characters to Greenest by way of escorting a merchant, how much should they earn a day for the job do you reckon? Question the third: How does milestone experience work in conjunction with standard XP?  Is it which ever comes first?  Is there any real benefit to tracking XP?   Thanks!
#2 DM_HEEGZ Sep 09, 2014 15:49:17	1. Pretty far from Neverwinter. By sea, head south to the next major port Waterdeep, then south again to Baldur's Gate. From here it is a land journey to Greenest. I chose to have my PCs start in land locked Berdusk, just east of Greenest, and take the road west through Greenest into Amn (at Nashkel).   2. I offered them a contract rate and not a daily wage for simplicity. At level 1, ten to twenty gold apiece, or 50-100gp for a party sounds about right to escort some Amnish merchants from Berdusk west to Nashkel on their way home. The first adventure in Hoard will naturally trigger halfway along the journey.   3. The awarding of XP is detailed in the actual adventure. I recommend reading it before actually thinking about this one anymore. Its really straightforward in 5e. You definitely need to track XP for leveling up reasons...   Good luck!
(Reply to #2) TheBigBZ	DM_HEEGZ wrote:
#4 MarcCCTx Sep 09, 2014 15:56:42	Question the second: I'm getting my characters to Greenest by way of escorting a merchant, how much should they earn a day for the job do you reckon?   This is why I sometimes start the game in the middle of combat. "If you survive we'll talk about how much money you have..."
#5 DM_HEEGZ Sep 09, 2014 16:23:55	If you are doing organized play for the Adventurer's League, the XP is capped for the first episode. If you are DMing a home group do as you please. We ignored the caps for home play and we stick to them strictly for AL play.   [edit] On second thought, for your first time DMing, I'd ignore XP and focus on selling a good story to your players. Use the milestone XP, and bump them all to 300xp at the end of the first adventure. That way you have less bookkeeping to track and can devote yourself to the story and details. The players will still get to level up, and that is another hurdle to focus on.
#6 Whir Sep 09, 2014 17:16:59	The way milestone XP works is that you do not give experience for combat or Smart Actions™. The PCs simply level when they reach a "milestone" in the adventure. HotDQ is set up so you hit a milestone in all chapters excepting two of them I think. It's a little easier for new DMs and new players because you don't have to keep track of a bunch of numbers.  I moved to the "milestone" system long ago in 3.5 and my players have always liked it. They've leveled up in just one session sometimes, and sometimes it's taken three or four.   What DM_HEEGZ speaks is a good truth: focus on making the adventure fun!
#7 miles2912 Sep 10, 2014 13:54:49	Baulders gate to Waterdeep is about 750 miles.   The module gives a speed of 15 MPH with a day off every week for the animals to rest, they are hauling a freight wagon so the slower speed and rest makes sence.  So about 2 months travel time.   The PHB gives an overland speed of 24 MPH.  This assumes normal mounts not caring a heavy load and or wagons that are not bogged down.  Figure on around 5 weeks.   So Neverwinter to Greenest is about double that distance.  So 4 months with a caravan and 2.5 months normal riding.  Long time.  Pay might be 5sp a day.  2gp a day they have to fight.  Or you cuuld pay a fixed wage.  There are quite a few caravan escort guilds that might want a cut of this however.
#8 MasterVelles Sep 10, 2014 16:25:20	I look at it this way:   Tracking XP per Monster: Only if the PCs are going out on their own and driving the direction of the story and plot, because tracking XP rewards them for taking bigger risks.   Mileston XP: I use this when I'm telling an in depth story and they players are more along for the ride, they still get to do whatever they want in the world, but if they are sticking to the breadcrumbs, then it's just easier for everyone to tell them when they level up, at key points in the story, rather than worry about XP.
#9 TheBigBZ Sep 11, 2014 14:59:09	Thanks for the help guys!
(Reply to #5) Redbeard2	DM_HEEGZ wrote: