5 Changes for Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk

[@Kkryptex]

Thanks so much, timing of this couldn't be better. Started running a blend of Phandelver/Icespire last year when this came out. I ran it to defeating Zorz but not giving the map. They saved the villagers so it wasn't an immediate threat but looming issue of the "masters" intentions on the obelisk shards. Wrapping up the beyond Icespire chapters and teasing out that this is still an issue when they return to Phandalin by running the mutated cow as Petunia from Butterskull Ranch and last visit they had to find Pip and deal with Gemmules. I'm replacing the 3 dungeons to collect the remaining shards (felt repetitive)with Kryptgarden and another central NPC that had already collected them. (using Hamun Kost as a later villain that isn't in direct conflict yet so willing to trade). I will definitely use your tips to get through the rest of it though. Thanks again!

[@RdotDoyle]

Ah that's a nice cow tie-in. You could definitely put the shards anywhere. You get a tiny bit of lore of the fallen illithid empire in the chapter 6 locations but I don't think it adds all that much

[@OLC62]

I'd love to see this series continue. I just started running this campaign as my first time GMing, and we're just about at this transition period. I found your channel when I started and have taken some of your advise. Had a blast in the first half, and I really think the second turns it up. Looking forward to it!

[@RdotDoyle]

Happy to hear it. There's some valid criticism on this book but I've had a lot of fun with it

[@thefriendlychap4132]

Perfect timing. My players just got into the Redbrand's Hideout.

[@RdotDoyle]

Awesome, watch out for the Nothic

[@DaveSwitch7]

Same! We just got to the hideout

[@tristan9588]

Some of the best dungeon master advice out there. Couldnt agree more about the book getting (sometimes) undeserved flak. For me adding my own flair is the best part of running an adventure, and this book gives you so much cool creepy stuff to twist and tweak as you see fit

[@RdotDoyle]

Thanks! High praise

[@DaveSwitch7]

Yess! Please prepare the full playlist!

[@DaveSwitch7]

I have just bought the book and was reading it now, We are at the redbrand manor right now in the story

[@RdotDoyle]

Awesome, we shall see if there's more on the way for these

[@DaveSwitch7]

@@RdotDoyle lovely!!!

[@captainron7120]

“This ain’t the starter set anymore, baby…” haha!

[@RdotDoyle]

That almost got cut but I loved the line too much

[@sabinakormanyos8294]

Thank you so much for this video, it was awesome! I'm currently in the middle of running LMoP to my friends (of course after I've watched your wonderful videos about it), and this video and the previous one about the Shattered Obelisk really helped me think about, and already start incorporating, things into the last session we had. You rock!

[@RdotDoyle]

Thank you so much for this comment. It's easy to underestimate how awesome input like this keeps creators going, so you rock!

[@sabinakormanyos8294]

@@RdotDoyle BTW if I may, a technical question about this adventure, since I tried looking it up in the book and didn't find it - As I was saying, I started incorporating things from this adventure into LMoP, and when I was hinting at the obelisk's shards (obviously not calling them that) for example in the shrine of luck, one of the players cast detect magic, and I had no idea what answer to give them. We've been old friends, and have been playing together for years, so they didn't mind a delayed response, but as I said, I couldn't find any. Do the shards emit any magical aura? and if so, can you tell which school of magic\vibe would it give? All good if not, but I figure if someone might know, it's you. Thanks in advance!

[@RdotDoyle]

@sabinakormanyos8294 I actually experienced the same issue. I said the PC got a very strange vibe from them as if they were a very strange form of magic or were once infused with magic but are not currently. Not exactly rules as written but that’s how I called it

[@sabinakormanyos8294]

@@RdotDoyle Perfect, that would make a lot of sense! Thank you!

[@rhmagalhaes]

Great timing. I used your LMoP to start my PnB

[@RdotDoyle]

Awesome, glad to hear it

[@UndeadMark]

Heyo!. Im running the second half currently and ... oh boy. Its like they wrote it in a weekend and never played it before publishing. Having just gotten past this part, all good advice. I did a little of this oh my own, but I painted myself into a corner, assuming the shards need to end up in enemy hands and my players really did a good job thwarting the goblin's efforts and I had to heavy handedly had to force their failure and it felt horrible, but as a new DM, i wasn't sure what to do. Having the players recover the shards would have been much better.

[@RdotDoyle]

Yeah it's a tough one. Most of us learn better ways of doing stuff by first doing it a worst way

[@lucasbecker9001]

Pleaaaaaaase break down the rest. So keen to see individual videos on each chapter. Will be running this in a few months and inserting a murder mystery into the town for chapter 2 which i saw in a playthrough from steelysam, but I love your breakdowns

[@WizardsWarpDrives-g7j]

Nice work as per usual Mr Doyle

[@RdotDoyle]

Thanks, I love the logo!

[@TwinSteel]

Pulling together / editing down the cast and giving the PCs a chance to bask in their success: good move - giving the characters fun games to play in a festival only to essentially have a bomb go off in the middle is a great way to give the players the same shock and confusion, the characters should be having - “We’ll Do It Live!” - fully agree that it’s a must to keep what the PCs have already done matter - I wonder what would happen if the PCs decided to actually join - could be an interesting hard right turn - yes, take every chance you get to up the ante - love the idea of a magic item factory - could be a draw for some interesting magic item eating creatures - definitely should contribute to the idea of the city being their home base, furthering their connection to it - mechanical consequences to narrative - events is primo - love generating the mutations with the players: investment breeds interest - if they’re part of the creation process, they’ll naturally have more fun with it in-game - good move having pros and cons for the mutations - great stuff 👍🏿

[@RdotDoyle]

I like these concurrent comments, it's cool to get insight on the viewers mind set while they watch. I looked up your buddy, great stuff. I'm going to reach out next week

[@TwinSteel]

@@RdotDoyle thanks - I’ve been trying it out - also saves me from posting something that you end up addressing later 😄 - that’s great news - really glad you like what you saw - Josh will be pumped

[@RuneGM]

Definitely hoping for a full series on this. I bought the adventure right before I ended up making the decision to leave 5e for shadowdark. I still want to run the adventure and "convert" it to shadowdark because I feel the horror aspects of the story would fit pretty well with shadowdark but the adventure seems so rigid and linear that it would clash with the free form sandbox that shadowdark works best with.

[@RdotDoyle]

Yeah the more systems you run the more you realize you can translate things. This one is pretty linear in general, and while I love and gravitate more wide open world design I kind of accept it here because Phandalin is in real trouble if we go sidequesting and fart around for awhile.

[@PittsburghPat]

Great title!!

[@RdotDoyle]

Thanks Pat!

[@cffusionz355]

Started my DM journey in October and your original series really helped me. My players are currently on ‘Chapter 3.5’ because chapter 3 wasn’t suited to the style of game my players want. Just about to start Wave Echo Cave, so a playlist on what’s come couldn’t come at a better time. I really hope you’re able to make that playlist. Thank you I love your content.

[@RdotDoyle]

Thanks for taking the time to let me know! Happy to have been of service

[@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket]

I'm preparing to run this oddly enough as a squeal to the Witchlight campaign, previously we did the Acq Inc campaign and I was a player, we were based out of Phandalin so now things are kinda coming full circle with the next generation getting to do the Wave Echo Cave then the new bits too. We never actually played the starter set so now seems like the right time as 5e seems to be ending for the new D&D 5.5e Nxt 2024. (sorry I have to mock the name).

[@RdotDoyle]

Ah very cool. Yeah, I'm all for mixing and matching as many elements as suits you

[@Sylancewillfall]

Im currently about to enter wave echo cave, i have planned a travelling circus/caravan forced to move due to the mind goblins causing mischief. I was planning a more social journey, being able to seek out vendors and specific shops, armour, weapons, general magic items. With the night ending in the fighting pits with an NPC they had fought at the start of their adventure. All the while if they explore the town they find the goblins looting and gathering the shards. If not then the goblins go unnoticed. Turns out the goblins needed a distraction to steal the shards without interruption

[@RdotDoyle]

ah cool, that's another interesting approach

[@wizardsling]

For the life of me, I can't understand why they didn't thread the new and old content together better in the written adventure. It really wouldn't have taken that much more work to drop in more foreshadowing in the lvls 1-5 parts. Harumph.

[@RdotDoyle]

Harumph indeed. I think they would have been better off just not even touching LMoP and doing this as a true sequel. Why revisit the OG only to do the tiniest amount of ineffective foreshadowing? That's why I like my way of letting the two stories breath better

[@HowtoRPG]

Hi Ryan. I have been watching the views and like count go up and down as I watch. Is this bots being removed or funky KZbin bug?

[@RdotDoyle]

Hey hey! That's pretty weird actually, no idea. I don't have full analytics because this just went up, but I don't see any dislikes on this one. You can undo a like I believe, but you can't undo a view, so I have no idea how that count could go down ever. KZbin has had weird reporting glitches in the past that they go adjust.

[@HowtoRPG]

@@RdotDoyle Yep. Just thought I would let you know. See you in a few days.

[@LeeGray929]

Any quick recommendation for going from dragon of icespire peak right into Phandelver? I was thinking about skipping right to chapter 5

[@RdotDoyle]

Great question! I think you could take the same approach I lay out here without changing much. Insert a stretch of downtime / time lapse, let the PCs invest in the town, then maybe the celebration is about the slaying of Cryovain or ending the orc threat

[@rhmagalhaes]

Can you merge PnB with DoIP and DoSI and make it a huge campaign ? How would you approach it ? Since you had that 1m in between chapters.

[@RdotDoyle]

Great question! The short answer is absolutely. The approach would depend on your taste and what the players respond too. Easiest answer is to take your favorite bits from DOIP and insert them into the sandboxy section of LMOP between the Redbrands and Cragmaw Castle. You could also insert some DOIP into that interlude of downtime I describe. Orcs make trouble, it becomes clear they've been driven out by Cryovain: the gang climbs a mountain and slays a dragon. Almost like a one/two shot that takes place within that downtime segment, which I might make a year if I were doing it this way. Is that helpful?

[@chooweezane]

FIRST!!

[@culturalproduct]

So not interested in psionic goblins. The whole book just feels like too much over the top. Lots of window dressing and not much story substance. Anyhow, I’m thinking maybe I can modify it so the mindflayers are removed and all the goofy meaty dungeon stuff. Forgot to say, if one is going to run this, your suggested changes are great. Not a fan of the forge going into mass production. We haven’t got there yet, but my plan is for the cave to collapse, the forge sinks into somewhere out of reach, and is lost.

[@RdotDoyle]

Yeah, this one isn't for everybody. I'm for it because I think we gotta go over the top to match the ton of tier three