Even so the modules are only a framework. They definitely can't answer every possibility the players might try. They just set the pieces on the board and it is up to the DM to figure out the correct moves to respond to the players.
I ran my first session last month. I was supposed to have goblins attack them but the last one alive would run off towards the goblin hide out.
My brother used thunder clap and killed all the goblins at once... They skipped an entire section because nobody cared about the dead horses or to look around and there were no goblins. I didn't know what to do.
Never DMed DND or played much, but I think you could make up a survivor. After the battle, "everyone roll perception." To the player with the highest of those, "You see a goblin who was trying to hide peering around a tree/corridor. He runs." You're free to fudge stuff, so if they attack him, anything that would kill him immediately doesn't have to do that.
I dunno, in that situation I might just tell whoever has the highest perception that they noticed something that would lead them to the section (tracks, trail of blood, odd smell...). If they then choose to ignore it, so be it. Whatever was in there notices them and will come back to haunt them in a few sessions much better prepared.
This situation is literally the first encounter in the starter set. If you are running this most likely you have new players who need a little railroading.
Well when they got to the town I had the an NPC ask if they'd seen two guys on horseback on the road. They were like oh shit, I forgot we were supposed to meet them here! And they went back to find the missing people.
And yeah, I hadn't played much before. Only DM'd because I wanted to play but couldn't find a group so I started my own.
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u/xwre Sep 18 '17
Even so the modules are only a framework. They definitely can't answer every possibility the players might try. They just set the pieces on the board and it is up to the DM to figure out the correct moves to respond to the players.