![1453155225680[1].png](https://i.imgur.com/HgSec2c.jpg "1453155225680[1].png")
>my first time DMing
>have a really fun campaign idea
>party starts by wandering through a small crypt to find an artifact they need
>I tell them to make listen checks
>they fail (I just tell them they hear nothing)
>they continue onward
>the rogue gets bored and spots an exquisite looking sarcophagus
>because it's so early in the game, I warn him that is' not a good idea to be poking around ancient crypts without check for traps
>he says "hah, we're level!"
>opens it
>he awakens a withered mummy (CR 2)
>he's separated from the party, but the way I described it he thinks he can take it
>gets hit
>fails fortitude
>now suffering from mummy rot
>rest of the team comes running over, the rogue has lost a full 6 constitution points
>the wizard tries to cast a spell and the ghoul I was having stalking them leaps into the fray
>one-shots the wizard
>The cleric is engaged in melee and tells the fighter to fire his bow
>......he misses...
>he hits the cleric for full damage along with the mummy and kills the cleric
>Mummy provokes an AOO on the rogue, who gets a crit and manages to put it down
>Ghoul misses the fighter
>Rogue fumbles over to the Fighter
>Fighter drops bow for a free action and draws sword, has enough time for an attack
>does pretty good
>ghoul does a full attack
>kills the fighter
>rogue gets another lucky crit
>kills the ghoul
>rogue makes a run for the exit
>makes it 10 feet out the door
>loses another 6 constitution from Mummy rot
>falls flat on his face, dead
>everyone's yelling at me for being a bad DM
>>47497871
Sucks to be them.
Well I don't know what system you were using, but mummy rot makes me think 3.5. In 3.5 diseases take time to incubate and don't (usually) do anything right away.
And undead can't be crit. So maybe you're kinda bad?
>>47497871
why were you putting them against monsters that could one shot them...
>>47497871
>he's separated from the party, but the way I described it he thinks he can take it
i love it when rogues try this shit, and then immediately die for being retarded
>>47497871
>The cleric is engaged in melee and tells the fighter to fire his bow
>>......he misses...
>>he hits the cleric for full damage along with the mummy and kills the cleric
you might be a shitty DM
>>47497871
nah man, this shit is on them. you babied the fuck out of them
>ignores the listen checks. listen checks always mean trouble.
>rogue splits from party
>rogue ignores dm warning. no matter how vague a dm is, a warning is a warning
>fighter shoots into melee
>group apparently has no front line
Was the cleric supposed to be the front line or something? Im assuming the fighter specced into archery and wasnt just being a dipshit.
>>47497871
>......he misses...
>he hits the cleric for full damage along with the mummy and kills the cleric
Unless he crit failed that roll you're a shit DM.
>>47497871
>first time DM
>fun idea
Starts off good
>I put the part up against monsters capable of outright one shotting them in their first encounter
And then you fall off the rails.
>>47497988
Acting on that listen check would have been metagaming.
>>47497910
>And undead can't be crit. So maybe you're kinda bad?
Oh, I forgot that...but then again it's the only reason they killed anything to begin with...
>>47497965
Well, I had them roll a percentile die to see if he missed, and I made it like a 20% chance.
>>47498054
The only one that got one-shotted was the Wizard, he had like 5 HP and ghouls do 1d6+1 for bite.
>>47498125
Did you do stabilization checks down to -10 HP?
>>47497924
This, a ghoul and a cr 2 mummy are like a Cr 3 encounter on their own, letting them get a surprise against a lvl 1 party might as well up it to a Cr 4 encounter, which is ridiculous for a level 1 party
>>47498155
Well it seems like he didn't have the mummy planned right then. My guess is he planned the ghoul to stalk them before ambushing them, and then after killing it, they would've grabbed whatever the DM wanted them to and the mummy would activate as sort of a semi-boss.
>>47497871
>>......he misses...
>>he hits the cleric for full damage
A miss doesn't mean a PC hits their comrade. That's too harsh.
Also, Mummy Rot doesn't take effect that quickly and drastically. It's a slow wasting disease.
You were a bit too harsh with the rules but don't worry, we all make mistakes. Explain to your players it's your first time, then try again.
>>47498203
Perhaps yeah, but in that case, if you want to be a fair DM, you would have the ghoul stay back and attack them on the way out, not only does this break up the encounters to avoid being unnecessarily harsh, but it's in character for the ghoul to want to attack them after they've been "softened up"
There's a time and a place to pit a party against challenging, disheartening odds, the start of lvl 1 is not one of them.
>>47497910
I think it's 3.0, since the "hit your allies rule" was a thing in 3.0 and changed in 3.5
Mummy rot takes a minute to activate. Rogue would've died regardless unless the Cleric pulled something out really quick.
>>47497871
>mf as I progressed down the green-text
God damn.
>>47497871
Sounds like this was the first session. Just let the dumbos try again and hopefully be a bit more cautious now that they understand they aren't playing paper World of Warcraft.
>>47497871
Biggest issues I see are having the fighter accidentally shoot the cleric, messing up how diseases progress, and having really dangerous single monsters ambushing the party in groups.
I think you should have led off with a few skeletons to put them on guard first, and made sure the Ghoul attacked them before or after the mummy showed up, rather than having them face both at once.
Heck, the Ghoul itself was probably too much for them, seeing as how it one-shot the wizard and killed the fighter in one turn.
Level 1 characters are way more fragile than you'd expect. They can be dropped to 0 hitpoints very quickly.
>>47497899
Yeah, GM isn't the one with the dead characters.
>>47498915
Technically he's the one with the undead characters.
>>47498727
>>47498894
>>47498246
>>47498205
guys...what if this DM is just a giant peen and shouldnt be the DM
Unless this is a veteran group and everyone is a hardass and its stated that we're starting hardcore, this never should have happened. It looks like DM just shit on his friends and is bitching to us about them saying hey wtf are you fucking doing dude.
>>47498976
If he's a giant peen then he won't rewind like I suggested and let them just pick up and try again. If the party had at least stuck together they probably would have won the fight and been able to at least escape, and if Bilbo Bungle hadn't stuck his hand in the cookie jar of death they would have probably noticed the ghoul at some point and dispatched it by itself.
Sounds like a fun adventure, OP. Maybe next time your players won't be such pussies. Death happens. You should have them roll up new characters and have them have to fight the undead versions of their previous characters, who are now hanging around the small crypt. Stuff like that is always fun, and they'll take delight in doing things proper.
>>47497871
My personal policy for when things start going south for a party member is to hurt them JUST ENOUGH for them to know how stupid they were being, but lay off of whatever else I might have had written up so that they get the opportunity to scrape by and lick their wounds. In this case, I probably would have dialed down the effects of the mummy rot, nerfed the mummy itself to a "lesser mummy" (whose stats I'm making up on the spot), and suspended other monsters in the dungeon from acting until they dealt with it.
As a DM you have to think on your feet, you can't just blindly run your notes without paying attention to whether or not your assumptions about how well they would be handled were correct or not. So yes, unless you and your party agreed from the outset that the campaign would be a tournament module, you're a shit DM. But you can always get better.
>>47497871
Could be worse honestly
>Throw level 1 party into a dungeon for no reason with no explanation
>Have a few balanced encounters
>Suddenly throw them into a room just full of doors
>As soon as they open one of the doors, a sphinx walks out and incapacitates two of the players with some bullshit status effect
>Immediately summons 8 bullywugs who kill the entire party during the surprise round
OR
>Throw the new player into some bullshit dream sequence almost immediately
>Have some mcguffin in the middle of a pond, with all sorts of warnings saying don't touch the mcguffin or the pond
>Refuse to let him do anything except get the mcguffin
>Throw a CR 12 encounter at the party the next night because "you took the orb lol"
>Is surprised when the entire party dies save for the guy who ran away from the party before the fight started and wildshaped into a bug
The worst part?
>The DM was the only person in the group with any real roleplaying experience
>>47498155
A cr 3 encounter is considered very difficult for a party of 4 level 1's and would account for 225xp for that level.
Something that could shoot a party up 1/4 of the way to a new level is not exactly calf rope.
![1452978235554[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/l8yNwnN.jpg "1452978235554[1].jpg")
>>47499161
>Is surprised when the entire party dies save for the guy who ran away from the party before the fight started and wildshaped into a bug
I don't care who you are, that shits hilarious.
>>47497871
You're a bad DM, but far worse, a frogposter.
>>47499396
Sure, but to give a CR 3 (I argue 4 with the surprise round of initiative, only for a lvl 1 party though) to FRESH Lvl 1 characters who probably don't have any significant items for healing or buffs or even a masterwork weapon seems unnecessary, especially when you factor in mummy rot and ghoul paralysis
>>47498968
Look, their characters changed their life/death status, his didn't. They sound like sore losers and/or lifeists.
>>47497871
It's your first time so don't take that criticism too harshly.
These guys have good advice so i won't reiterate.
>>47498894
>>47499137
>>47497871
Undead are immune to crits
>frogposting
