Week 2: I know nothing

S and I haven't seen each other in nearly two years...so we met around noon at the mall to hang out. We ate lunch, walked around and then talked while I finished the map. S has been through this campaign before but she's good enough at role play to keep her knowledge away from her character.


So it started off okay...
The PCs decide that instead of hiding their cart in order to chase a goblin's trail, they come up with a convoluted scheme that requires them to carry half their supplies. I try to steer them towards the easier solution but to no avail. Z's character Aidenn is now lugging 60lbs. worth of crowbars. So they find the trail, I use a trap to bring in the new player A.


A is definitely the closest I've gotten to meeting an expert on D&D. So I do feel like an idiot at times. He reassured me that he was the same way starting out but I can't help but feeling that he's silently judging me...I did have the problem of him watching my dice rolls like a hawk. Even though he lent me his DM screen it didn't stop him from monitoring my rolls. It was really just a bit annoying.


Oh and then S nearly died...in the first room, of the first cave, in the whole campaign. Here's what happened.


I applaud both S and Z for their desire to truly play out their personalities. Inspiration to both, no doubt! But...ahhh...
Me: The chimney is thirty feet high and narrow, you can feel the draft coming from the top.
Z: F*** it. I'm throwing a rock up the chimney...like a big rock.
Me: Roll a strength check. >.<


So basically both he and S throw some rocks up the chimney alerting the bugbear in the room above. The bugbear sends his minion goblins around the RIGHT way and E and A have to deal with them. The bugbear peers down the chimney and calls out who goes there and guess who answers? You got it. In true character S is proclaiming her dwarven heritage all the way up her ancestral tree. Good on her! But that's not enough.
By now I'm kind of freaking out. S is going to die if she...
S: Can we shoot an arrow up the chimney with a rope attached?
Z: Omg yeah!
Me: Omg are you...? Sigh...roll a D20...
Z: SUCCESS!


At this point I'm plotting my revenge in order to save S from fighting the boss by herself. She climbs the rope. Bugbear be waitin at the top of that chimney. She gets ready to jump back down but the bugbear grapples her and the wolf attacks, she takes 8 damage. So she's down to 2hp. Z doesn't catch her, I roll. 2 damage. She's dying...but not dead. A is able to heal her but I think she's enjoying her character almost as much as E is. Z is also loving the role play part as proven by his antics in the chimney.


But I really need to educate myself on the rules. Cause I'm really feeling the OP on A's character but I can't prove that he shouldn't be able to already heal at will whenever. And what the hell is a cantrip in D&D? So much more studying so little time.