Lost Mines of Phandelver, Session 3 Thoughts and Observations (Spoilers)

Just how big is this damn place?

After what seems like months of trying to get together, we finally sat down to play our third session of D&D 5E, The Lost Mines of Phandelver.  The group entered the hideout of the Redbrands and discovered that things in Phandelver were worse than they ever imagined....

Things we learned:

• 5E is a blast!  We all love it.  The players love how smooth and quick it plays and I love how easy it is to DM.  It's getting closer and closer to a narrative style game and that's how I was trying to run it (I may have failed).
• 5E can be brutal if the DM pulls no punches, which I didn't.  Though we were down from 5 to 4 players, I felt that the danger and the anxiety amongst the players was ramped up this session. It's very satisfying to have a player say, "Whoa, I might just die here!"  They didn't die, though the Nothic battle put the fear of God into them.  It was downright creepy and packed quite a punch.
  
• Droop was fun to play and I hope the players let him stick around.  If anything, he's good with a mop!
  
• Virgil Zell is a real dick, but he doesn't care.
• Glassstaff got away, which is good news for me.  I've got big plans for that guy!
• Bottom line:  We had a blast and we are all anxious for our next session...whenever that will be.

Welcome to Hell, Texas.

Apocalypse West:  Judgement Day

Sometime in the past, Hell broke loose on our world.  Literally.  Some say it was 30 years ago, some say 100.  Who can tell anymore?  We agree, though, that it was a time when the people before were at war.  The Greys fought the Blues, that is remembered, though nobody knows why they fought.  We just know that what was before was laid to waste...ashes upon scorched earth.  We don't know what happened, though some have ideas and they ain't shy about sharin' 'em, we just know that the world was changed...and not for the better.  People survived, though, as people do, in holes and basements, far from the trappings of civilization.  People survived and rebuilt.  We don't have what we had before the collapse, of course, but we're gettin' there.  Welcome to New Zion, Texas, or, as we say around these parts, welcome to Hell.

Available Playbooks:  The Hardholder, The Black Hat, The Drifter, The Gambler, The Gunslinger, The Junker, The Law Dog, The Lone Rider, The Saint, and the Siren.