Not a Fan of Phandelver

We’re going to get a bit controversial as we’ve decided to punt on “The Lost Mines of Phandelver” D&D 5e module over at D&D Beyond. Let’s see what the fuss is and where we’re going next…

So here at 3DRPG, we’re currently printing miniatures, making terrain, and creating DnD content (for you to hopefully insert into your own game) by running two different campaigns from two different D&D Beyond 5e modules: Acquisitions Incorporated and The Lost Mines of Phandelver. These are both free to play on D&D Beyond so regardless of what we think, be sure to give them a read and see if they tickle your RPG fancy.

Phandelver has a very high rating as one of the best starter modules you can pick up for your next new campaign. This module also has an excellent Facebook group that continues to pump a lot of interesting and helpful weekend content. And yet here we are kicking it to the curb – but why oh why?!

The module starts out wonderfully! The Cragmaw Hideout and the Redbrand Ruffians Hideout are excellent! They’re great map crawls, for sure. However, “the why” starts to go off the rails with several side encounters before the party ventures into the infamous Wave Echo Cave.

We just got hung up on the overall story’s mission and how all the chapters tied together. Sadly, for us, it just became a confounded mess in terms of who the party had to defeat and what exactly the adventurers needed to do to secure an ultimate victory.

DM Ben even took this module on his Caribbean vacation last year as delightful reading material for the plane and beaches! And despite reading it many times, he just couldn’t get a handle on where this story was ultimately going. He typically draws a little flow chart with notes in outline format to help him map out what terrain, minis, NPCs, villains, and such will need to be created. That DM exercise started to go off the rails as we moved into “Part 3: The Spider’s Web.”

We only get to play so many campaigns in our lifetime, right?! So if the module isn’t a total blast, we don’t like to “force” our way through it. Thus, we’re sad to say that it’s time to call it on The Lost Mines of Phandelver and transition to another module. We still might build out Ech Cave with all our Dwarven Forge cavern pieces because it looks like a great crawl, but we’ll save that for a later date.

Our work group is truly enjoying the Acquisitions Incorporated module so DM Ben is going to pivot his family game into that very same module. Our Phandelver adventurers are level four and have nearly completed the Ruins of Thundertree. Creating some home-brewed content (see below) and adjusting monster levels/stats to bridge the story shouldn’t be a huge problem. And we think (and hope) you guys will enjoy watching us accomplish this feat.

So the Phandelver adventuring group just finished a battle with the Cultists in Thundertree Ruins. The party ultimately made a truce with the Cultists (as battling them and the outdoor zombies simultaneously was pushing their combat limits).

These mysterious robed figures will introduce the group to their leader, who invites them to dinner safely inside, away from the countless waves of undead and twig blights. Halfway through the meal, the party will start to feel the effects of drugged food and wine and lose consciousness one by one (Con Save, DC 22). Anyone who succeeds in that high save is just overpowered by the unaffected Cultists.

If the party refuses to drink or eat (a great insult to their hosts), the leader will excuse himself during the meal and unleash a powerful gas that the group will be unable to resist and become unconscious via the same DC. Again, any character that beats the DC won’t be able to overcome the gang-rush by the Cultists.

And that’s where our module transition will begin with the “Feast Gone Wrong” encounter (as described above). This will be followed by a series of short encounters strung together as a fact-finding mission and run by the DM as a building skill challenge.

DM Ben has mapped out the transition like so:

• Feast Gone Wrong | group gets captured
• Behind Bars | start gathering intel
• Waterdeep Express | time to hit the road
• Chance to Live | a chance to regain their freedom

The adventurers can survive this series of events outlined below, but at what price?! What percentage of their possessions and treasure are lost? Did any character lose a level (or even die) from the taxing journey? Have they made any new friends…and how many more enemies? These are the things we will get answered by the time they set foot in Waterdeep to meet Omin Dran.

So follow us over the next few weeks as we detail how these homebrewed encounters are built out, including all the 3D-printed miniatures and terrain! Hopefully, you can grab the RPG content you want and slip these ideas into your own DnD campaign! We’re here to serve!