New DM Running Lost Mines of Phandelver – Balancing Difficulty and Seeking Advice /u/FlowerPast6611 DnD: Roll for Initiative!

Hey everyone! I’m a new DM running Lost Mines of Phandelver for my group, and none of us have any prior D&D experience. Since this was a starter pack, I figured it was a good place to begin.

Initially, we started with 4 players, but during the first goblin ambush, the party got shredded—partly because we didn’t have a healer or any real support. To compensate, I let two of the players run two characters each, so now we have six player characters:

2x Wood Elf Sorcerers Half-Elf Rogue High Elf Bard/Paladin (2nd character) Human Warrior Human Druid (2nd character) Now that they’re getting better at strategy, they’re starting to feel a bit overpowered. I’ve been trying to adjust the game’s difficulty to keep things balanced and entertaining, but their tactical approaches have thrown me off a bit. For example, during the last session at Cragmaw Hideout, they used Faerie Fire on Klarg, then sent Sildar into his room. Sildar rolled a nat 20 crit for 17 damage, which made Klarg no more challenging than his pet wolf.

To encourage a more balanced approach and give the players more tools to play their characters their way, I’ve started handing out simple homebrewed magical items. So far, I’ve only given out one:

A Divine Intervention Token (usable once per day). The bard prays to Milil, and I decide how it affects the game. It’s meant to help balance the odds if they’re overwhelmed, but I control the effects to prevent abuse. I’m also brainstorming items tailored to each player’s playstyle. For example:

Returning Dagger for the rogue, who loves throwing daggers but often has to spend a turn retrieving them. Reactionary AC Boost for one of the sorcerers, allowing them to increase their AC once per encounter as a reaction. The twist is they’d need to decide to use it before knowing if an attack hits or misses. The goal is to let them explore their characters more while encouraging teamwork and creativity. I’ve even considered adding an NPC to demonstrate non-damaging combat moves (e.g., grappling, shoving, etc.).

Finally, I’d love advice on DMing in general. Keeping up with notes and keeping the game flowing has been overwhelming. I know my players need to track their own characters’ abilities and inventory better, but I’m not sure how to nudge them into taking responsibility for this.

Any tips for balancing encounters, encouraging creativity, and managing the workload as a DM? I’d appreciate any advice or suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone! I’m a new DM running Lost Mines of Phandelver for my group, and none of us have any prior D&D experience. Since this was a starter pack, I figured it was a good place to begin.

Initially, we started with 4 players, but during the first goblin ambush, the party got shredded—partly because we didn’t have a healer or any real support. To compensate, I let two of the players run two characters each, so now we have six player characters:

2x Wood Elf Sorcerers Half-Elf Rogue High Elf Bard/Paladin (2nd character) Human Warrior Human Druid (2nd character) Now that they’re getting better at strategy, they’re starting to feel a bit overpowered. I’ve been trying to adjust the game’s difficulty to keep things balanced and entertaining, but their tactical approaches have thrown me off a bit. For example, during the last session at Cragmaw Hideout, they used Faerie Fire on Klarg, then sent Sildar into his room. Sildar rolled a nat 20 crit for 17 damage, which made Klarg no more challenging than his pet wolf.

To encourage a more balanced approach and give the players more tools to play their characters their way, I’ve started handing out simple homebrewed magical items. So far, I’ve only given out one:

A Divine Intervention Token (usable once per day). The bard prays to Milil, and I decide how it affects the game. It’s meant to help balance the odds if they’re overwhelmed, but I control the effects to prevent abuse. I’m also brainstorming items tailored to each player’s playstyle. For example:

Returning Dagger for the rogue, who loves throwing daggers but often has to spend a turn retrieving them. Reactionary AC Boost for one of the sorcerers, allowing them to increase their AC once per encounter as a reaction. The twist is they’d need to decide to use it before knowing if an attack hits or misses. The goal is to let them explore their characters more while encouraging teamwork and creativity. I’ve even considered adding an NPC to demonstrate non-damaging combat moves (e.g., grappling, shoving, etc.).

Finally, I’d love advice on DMing in general. Keeping up with notes and keeping the game flowing has been overwhelming. I know my players need to track their own characters’ abilities and inventory better, but I’m not sure how to nudge them into taking responsibility for this.

Any tips for balancing encounters, encouraging creativity, and managing the workload as a DM? I’d appreciate any advice or suggestions.

Thanks in advance!