So as I got back from Laos yesterday we kicked off our new 5e campaign today.
We have 2 brand new players, replacing one who moved back to the US. The new players are new to RPGs as well as D&D so had to go a little slow.

I had sent links to the 4 micro settings I posted here and they selected The Hornberg.

We spent a while making characters. I would guess maybe 2 hours all in as we needed to explain the basics of rpgs as well as 5e and there are a lot of choices to make which I think is daunting to new players. Reinforced my opinion that the starter set was wise to go with pregens.

The PCs

Sir Jurgens - Human Paladin - Justicar background
Justice - Sidhe (triefling) rogue - Urchin background
Feramol - Sidhe (high elf) Sorcerer - Sidhe Court background
Arvin - Human Fighter - Folk Hero background
Ander - Human Warlock - Fey-touched background

So this means 3 of the PCs chose backgrounds from the RPGsite over book ones, I was pleased with that as I think it shows we have a knack for creating interesting stuff. Of the players 3 have no concept of min/maxing and only 1 really thinks about optimization at all so its the appeal of the backgrounds that grab them.

Bringing the party together.
I was heavy handed here as I wanted to get into the meat of the scenario.
The trieling rogue was already tied to the paladin as an agreed background. That meant it was easy for me to have the rouge pose as the paladin's servant. the paladin was there at the behest of the Order of Stone to investigate local goblin raids. This means that the folk hero slotted right in as the town's "champion". The elf came in as a local representative of the Sidhe court. I added the Warlock with the weakest of links and I will revisit that to give him and the elf more motivation for the next session.

The Game
The scenario is a basic seven samurai set up. Goblins raiding a village the PCs need to defend the village and eliminate the threat.
The party meet with the village elders in the tavern and it's obvious the villagers are a hopeless apart from Arvin the PC warrior.
That night a random encounter (using a set of magic cards) turns up Pilgrims who arrive with a story of attacks from a group of goblins 10 miles off.  This allows me to build some character give a few hints about goblin tactics the PCs might encounter in the future, let's the paladin try out some paladin powers, lets me feed in a bit of religious background about the setting and let's me set up a Healer in the village in the person of a cleric. As I am using a HP/wound system I figure this might be a Useful Thing as the PCs only have a paladin for healing.
The paladin persuades the pilgrims to stay for 3 days whilst their injured guard can heal.

Next day with a local guide the PCs track the goblins back from a raid they made 3 days ago (I expected them to head off to where the pilgrims were attacked the night before but ... players what you going to do eh?) They head into the woods a mile or so from the village. They draw an encounter with a snake and we see that surprise can be a real bitch as the snake gets the drop on the rogue and the scout and bites he rogue who easily kills it next round but .... the poison is a bitch and the rogue fails a couple of con checks and is down. The paladin just makes it to him before he dies of the poison (2 death saves failed 1 made) and uses laying on hands to neutralize the bite. The party are now scared shitless of snakes and give up on scouting ahead. A short rest later the Rogue is on 3hp and no wounds (as the poison doesn't actually cause a wound) and the party decide to head back to the village so they can get there before nightfall.
Another random encounter, this time with a spiked Fluke - which I played like a Giant leech with a bloodsucking special attack (2d6 per round after it engages, strength save to stay attacked after a successful hit) - nearly kills the paladin's horse but the party survive the sorcerer's critical fumble with a cantrip (I chucked in a random wild magic serge as a result) and there we left it.

Overall.
Worked well need to provide a bit more meat to a couple of PCs next time round. PCs all feel like novices which is great but as they get used to their skills and stuff I think they will be fine. They need to get to second level before they get into a big fight with those goblins as I have given a big chunk of foreshadowing that the goblins are much better organized than you might expect so if they try to toe to toe with them they are likely to loose folk pretty fast.

We are a way into this by now.
Today the PCs, 4 2nd and 1 3rd level managed to clear the remaining orcs and goblin's from an old temple complex. They had already met a couple of patrols and defeated them.
That of course worked well for them as they were able to pick off enemies in small groups.
Anyway they had withdrawn to the top of the temple, managed to kill the goblin wolves below through the sky vent openings in the temple roof, then they waited and the remainder attacked. 5 PCs versus 18 goblins, 3 orc legionnaires, an impressively tough giant spider and an Orc Shaman.
Through good real world tactics and making use of the terrain, they defended then rappelled down into the temple and picked off the goblins in groups so they couldn't be swamped, combined with a couple of well places spells , 2 sleep and 1 shatter, the foes were deleted.

I could have upped it a notch but I played the monsters to the limits of their courage, intelligence and training. The Spider attack (I gave the thing 50 HPs and +6 attack) was defeated by great rolls. The Shamen got separated from their main force and after 3 rounds elected to flee, later being caught and attacking the party as a dire bear.

The important part was the players were terrified for 80% of the battle. 2 of them were very close to going down. The first lived cos his wild magic surge ended up giving him 5hp per round regen, after a critical hit had managed a wimpy 5 damage.The second because the dire bear got a 1 and a 2 on its two paw attacks.
The cantrip attacks didn't in the end feel over powered but this was largely due to some spectacularly bad rolls. The rogue , who had reached 3rd already was devastating with the sneak attacks with his short bow.

I would say that the party's damage output is very high and for stuff like the Giant spider and the Shaman I had to up their hit points considerably from where I would have put them back in the 2e day to get any use from them.

Spider - 50 HP; 2d8 bite; +6 attack; 20 foot jump; +7 stealth; poison; AC 14
Shaman - 80 hp; cleric /druid mix up; cast fear and shape-changed to a bear and was regening .

I spun up a few magic items.
Obsidian Figurine of Wondrous power in the shape of a raven - effectively acts as a raven familiar but with a weak attack
Potions of gaseous form, Healing (although I do so hate it : ) ) and water breathing
The shaman's holy symbol
A ring of regeneration that heals 1d8 hp at the start of your turn (the shaman made use of it but against 5 foes he was shipping too much damage and he rolled badly)
Tabard of the Flame - the in game religion. If worn by a priest or lawful worshiper of the Flame this will act as a 10 diameter "Bless" on all allies whilst the wearer maintains concentration and once per day does a reduced power sunburst (6d6 radiant damage on everyone within 20 feet diameter - save for 1/2 - undead and fiends at disad on the save).  

The party ended up at 3rd level. So whilst that is a lot of magic most is corner case usage and I think it's still nicely contained and they did open the portal down to the underground section of the temple so its not like they will get a full long rest before the Others come up from the depths...