Running a Game of 5E D&D

Hello, Nerdachist Ted here to talk about fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. With each edition of D&D there are changes in perception and rules to challenge Dungeon Masters. With the Player’s Handbook and Monster Manual now completely available, running a game is easier but we have yet to get the Dungeon Master’s Guide. I wonder what new secrets or bits of information lie in those pages. I have run two sessions of 5E D&D for the Nerdarchy crew and friends and in just those two sessions it has changed my perspective of being Dungeon Master. 

The iconic Dungeon Master. [Art by Jeff Easley]

Being a 5E D&D Dungeon Master

In previous editions of D&D, especially third and 3.5, a challenge to a party was an encounter equal to their level. Facing an encounter of your level should deplete 1/6th to 1/4th of your party’s resources. This was an easy formula, and it looks like it was carried over to some extent into 5E D&D. Although if you look closely at the wording, It does not say it will deplete the party’s resources but that none one should die.

Having glossed over that while writing my material wound up causing the death of my first player character in quite a long time. Do not get me wrong — I am not opposed to character death — but when it was by a common orc in the middle of town it is a little embarrassing.

Navigating the higher amount of hit points and generally lower armor classes, but not changing the damage amount makes being a DM that much more difficult. As I write this I have had exposure to the 5E D&D Monster Manual for a while, but my own copy for only about 2 days. Reading through it, there are many things that just never existed before.

Reading your 5E D&D PHB will give you the rules for combat, but the Monster Manual gives so much more. You now have Legendary monsters, with Legendary Actions and/or Regional Effects. These really gives your big bad monster more actions and possibilities, and it can also give them some serious staying power.

To my fellow DM’s out there, once you get your hands on these books make sure you know your party’s abilities and take a serious look at your planned encounters because it is not all that hard for low level monsters to wreak havoc across your players. I had a party of six characters, most of which were 2nd level. They faced off against four modified scorpions and four orcs. It was a Challenge 1 or 2; they should have had no problems crushing the bad guys and moving on.

As I expected, it started off going really well for the players. The wizard stepped up and cast one spell that killed all the scorpions. They were presented as imps, but not having the Monster Manual I wanted something small and poisonous and that was what I had access to at the time. The same spell also caught two of the orcs.

The two surviving orcs only had 1 hit point left each. Two small dings and then it should be six on two — easy mop up for any party.  A couple of misses by the party, a noble positioning of one character over a fallen companion and a crit or two by the bad guys and the fight ended with three characters on the ground.

Again it should have been easy work for a party in 5E D&D to stabilize their fallen friends. I mean, a healers kit costs 5 gp and it automatically works. But apparently no one in the party had one and in the round that one character failed their Wisdom (Medicine) check the character rolled  a 1 on his death saving throw.

Having already failed once during combat and the 1 counting as 2 fails, the character died.

So if you are a story-driven DM and you plan on running 5E D&D I advise you do the extra legwork and make sure your encounters are slightly under what the book says they can handle. Just a few words of wisdom.

Stay tuned as Nerdarchy runs more 5E D&D. This is Nerdarchist Ted saying until next time, stay nerdy my friends.