It would have been pretty disheartening to me if that was how my first ever session went. When I started off DMing my current group 3/4 players were new to the game and I sorta made up the combat stats and rerolled some crits that would have instantly knocked a character out.
Now I’m a more strict but when they ran into the bbeg and decided to knock on their door (with a bad disguise and led by the experienced player lol) after being told not to come back. I decided not to be too hard on the players and now they aren’t really scared of the bbeg.
If sticking to the outcome of an extremely unlikely series of die roles is being too hard, your players are playing the wrong game.
It would have been pretty disheartening to me if that was how my first ever session went. When I started off DMing my current group 3/4 players were new to the game and I sorta made up the combat stats and rerolled some crits that would have instantly knocked a character out.
Now I’m a more strict but when they ran into the bbeg and decided to knock on their door (with a bad disguise and led by the experienced player lol) after being told not to come back. I decided not to be too hard on the players and now they aren’t really scared of the bbeg.
Choosing not to roll dice avoids needing to follow the outcome. That was a smart decision on the door knocking!