If you have 5, you may want to add one additional enemy to each minor combat, for instance, the first combat at the goblin cave-have 3 goblins on watch rather than 2. LMoP is balanced around a party of four characters. If a player also has multiattack, the enemy and player are balanced. If an enemy has multiattack, they are a greater threat than if an enemy has a single attack. If there are more PC's than enemies, it will generally be an easier fight than CR says. Regardless of what CR says, if there are more enemies than PC's, it will generally be a harder fight than CR suggests. The balance of combat is not based on CR, but on the number of Attacks. If the party can get to level 2 before fighting him, the odds of success double. The first mini boss (Klarg in the Goblin Cave) is a beast. It provides valuable XP (200 XP for 4 wolves). It prepares them for Random Encounters later in the adventure. It communicates that the world is dangerous outside of town. This will allow them to pay more attention to the details when you get to the encounters in the adventure. It gives the players a chance to experience combat before the adventure begins. This small encounter will do a couple of things: Have a pack of wolves attack the party BEFORE the first event in the Starter Set, with one less wolf than the number of players (5 players = 4 wolves). Sildar and Gundren leave Neverwinter one day ahead of the party, allowing the party to stock up on supplies as needed.Ģ. Sildar is connected to one or two of the PC's. He doesn't really want to trust unknown adventurers, but he does trust Sildar. They may have never played before, won't take notes of these NPC's names, and won't care about them. It's assumed the characters know these guys, but your players DON'T. Start with a scene in Neverwinter where Sildar and Gundren recruit the party for the quest. It's free, and it has the basic material from the Dungeon Master's Guide you need most. Right now, you'll want to download the free Basic Rules from DnD Beyond or the Wizards of the Coast website. You also don't need the Dungeon Master's guide until further down the line. The larger published adventures do require you to have a MM, though.

You'll only need to Monster Manual when you finish Phandelver. The Starter Set comes with everything you need to run it.

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