Bensentials Session 1

Game Date: 3/23/2024

Location: Home Game
Campaign: Bensentials, Session 1

System: D&D 5e
DM: Matt

The Party:

Ben - Changeling Sorcerer (Draconic)

Bryan - Shifter Monk (Way of Shadow) 

Rick - Assimar Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)

The Session: A friend's daughter's boyfriend (...'s brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate) wanted to learn how to play D&D, so I ran the Essentials Kit again. We played for about four hours and got through the first three mini-quests. We spent about as much time building and leveling up characters as we did playing the actual game, but that's only because none of the players had played 5e before.

Dwarven Excavation Quest: The very first hit in combat brought the Monk down to zero hit points. I do think that the oozes in this quest are a little overpowered for level 1 characters, but at least we had three people in the party this time. The other two players were able to kill the monster and heal their fallen friend.

Ghomengarde Quest: Because it worked pretty well in the last Essentials campaign, I had them rescue a wolf whose pack had been killed by the white dragon. They healed the wolf's injuries and it joined the party as a DM-controlled NPC. This job had more exploration than actual fighting, and the battle against the mimic wasn't too difficult for them. 

Umbrage Hilll Quest: With three attacks per round, the manticore is pretty tough. The Monk and the Paladin both went down, but the monster only had a couple of hit points left at that point, so it turned out okay. The woman they rescued was a professional potion brewer, and she brought everyone back up to full health afterward.

Afterthoughts: I think it went well. The players seemed to have a good time. I don't know if we'll meet back for another session, but if we do, we're off to a good start.

Note: Everyone is now level three. They started the Butterskull Ranch quest but had to end the session shortly afterward, so if we do play again we'll start there.