My 2 Cents Worth On Phandelver and Below The Shattered Obelisk for Dungeons and Dragons

We did our First Look thumb through of Phandelver and Below the Shattered Obelisk for Dungeons and Dragons, but is it worth it? Today's video attempts to answer that question!
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#gamemasters #Illithid #phandelver

[@petershriver9209]

As somebody who doesn't already have a copy of the mines of phandelver, I appreciate it being reprinted in this. That's one less thing for me to have to acquire while also making the adventure feel more complete.

[@gamemasters]

i think that's part of why they did it too.

[@wayneslater5531]

Same! I don't have Lost Mines, so having it included here isn't a deterrent to me... and i am actually glad that they filled it out into a longer form adventure.

[@L337P1R4735]

Same here I never got the red box and I'm excited by this concept.

[@kurtpearson2793]

I just subscribed! Then I listened to how desperate you are to be triggered by Wotc and.. unsubscribed. It’s not a perspective I’m interested in. But I totally get the feeling. Best of luck to you!! I hope you have great days 👍

[@gamemasters]

@@kurtpearson2793 lol you really should try some stand up comedy.

[@Rushbolt43]

The original printing is a stapled book with no cover. Getting this bound in hardback with the story expanded is well worth the money. Many people consider Phandelver to be the gold standard when it comes to 5e adventures so changing it is not really necessary.

[@gamemasters]

it's a solid adventure on it's own, with the next steps in this book, it's a great campaign setting.

[@velavonnie]

I’m in the most extreme Far Realm obsession at the moment, and this coming out is perfect timing. Seeing something like the Uvuudaum would be amazing!

[@gamemasters]

it really is good timing, especially with Halloween right around the corner, really puts one in the mood of horror.

[@greghamilton9505]

We played Lost Mines and Dragons of Icespire combined. It would have been nice if they included ALL of it together as I much prefer a larger sandbox and slower level progression.

[@gamemasters]

I'll admit.. this one has the potential to be MUCH larger in scope and scale than it initially comes across.

[@ChuckCharbeneau]

I am personally really looking forward to this content. I have a table at which I have combined LMoP and DoIP together into a large sandbox, doing the work to bring several of the story threads together between the two to create a seamless and pretty dense environment...BUT they are almost through the playable content at it's written levels, so having the "What's Next in the Region of Phandelver" hitting the shelves in the immediate future is a fantastic boon for my ability to keep this table active without a larger investment of homebrew content or a deep dive into WotC content available for them at this level on my part.

[@gamemasters]

I usually homebrew the crap out of the adventure books but... this one... I'm just simply going to run it straight through as it is written (I'm sure I'll homebrew a few small elements though just because).

[@davidwasilewski]

Exactly the same for me! It’s a great sandbox and a new book adding more settings and encounters in the region is perfect timing!

[@travisdonaldstanley6420]

The orginal in the box was excellent! All of my campaings are in the world of Krynn... There are no Drow in DragonLance so that is fine. I typically change up about 33% of the adventure.

[@gamemasters]

hehe for me I think I keep about 33% of the adventure, the rest gets tossed out; I essentially mesh it into my own homebrew world, but this one... I think I'm going to run it from A to Z as is.

[@AlternityGM]

I ran LMoP as my first 5e adventure as DM. It was fun and I’m running it again for a new player. I intend to run the Phandelver & Below sequel for my group but since their characters are already beyond 5th level I intend to have them roll new 1st level PCs and then run Dragon of Icespire Peak for levels 1-5 for this group. Then we’ll likely dive into the sequel materials.

[@gamemasters]

that's what we are gonna do, start over from level 1 and go from there..

[@maartenverdouw4688]

What a pleasant review. Thank you! I stick to my decision to not fund wotc anymore, but it is good to hear that they published something enjoyable. Just a question: Why did you record this in a car? 😅

[@gamemasters]

re car: i started my channel by using my car (but don't bother looking up my very first video, it's quite bad haha) mainly because it's relatively quiet. On the day this was recorded it was 105ºF outside so our AC was pumping non-stop, audio in the "studio" was horrid as a result so I turned on the car's AC for a few minutes and recorded. I film in the vehicle every now and again as it's just a different place to record. :)

[@Tuariq1]

I actually love this book - i just transitioned with my players from lmop to this Also lmop is such a great starter adventure so i always reccomend it to newbies

[@gamemasters]

for a new DM, the adventure within is laid out very well, it flows smoothly. For the advanced DM, the adventure is open enough to be able to adapt it into an ongoing campaign. In my book, that simply works and makes it a great product to have.

[@dwculp]

I'm really looking forward to this one. I actually bought it from WotC as a digital/physical bundle which I've never done.

[@gamemasters]

it's a good one. I'll be running it this weekend.

[@readysetmoses]

My party LOVED LMoP! I’m happy to have it in hardcover instead of the pamphlet in the Starter Set. Also extending the adventure to lvl 12, sounds awesome to me!

[@gamemasters]

the extended adventure is pretty wicked and delves into some advanced mechanics, that's one of the biggest reasons I like it; it's progressive for new DMs but also is challenging enough for experienced DMs and players.

[@Renbedlam]

I purchased the special cover version of this book and absolutely love it. I am not mad about the reprint of mines not only because it leads into the next part for the obelisk but also the changes I have found in it. Also it is a fun remember for me from when I first taught my kids about and how to play D&D.

[@gamemasters]

Indeed, I think overall this was a solid release. Good story, fun adventure.

[@scorpiovenator_4736]

It's going for 37 on amazon now, hopefully, it will go down even further in the future.

[@gamemasters]

yeah, I've never seen their MSRP of $59.99 sticking at that. People simply won't pay that much.

[@DrAndrewJBlack]

Fantastic review

[@gamemasters]

Thank you. This was more my 2cents worth video, I did a more in depth thumb through if you want to check that out.

[@randynunez2666]

I pre-ordered this on dndbeyond and the module on Roll20 for my club, so I have to watch the First Look to see if I gave my players incorrect information on the pre-made characters that may or may not have crossed over from LMoP.

[@gamemasters]

aye, this one does not appear to have any pre-made characters. What specific info did you provide to the players?

[@randynunez2666]

@@gamemasters I provided them backstory information/goals such as avoiding the ruffians and helping the Sister in Phandalin. Thanks for the response!

[@gamemasters]

ahh, you'll be fine then, no reason to change what info you have provided.

[@RottenRogerDM]

I am currently running this. Chapter 1 fights are more deadly. They upped the fight with new monsters or up scaled some encounters. Some of Chapter 5 should been in Chapter 2. Or at least a NPC charter for the town. As always lack of cross reference. Grab you pen in chapter 2 so you pencil in the page numbers of the quests. Assure your players that the body horror does have a solution in the book.

[@gamemasters]

I agree 100%. I really _do_ like this book, but I would have liked to have seen more crossover between the halves. I did that on my side of things, not a major issue, but it still would have been nice.

[@rathenn6959]

I dont own LMoP but was considering getting it for my first DMing adventure outside of a oneshot, so this book being good os verh promising.

[@gamemasters]

the original adventure was really good, but the only way to get it was in a boxed set. Now anyone can get it (well, and it is also free on DnD Beyond (just the lost mines of phandelver tho) ), but this one expands that original adventure into a 2nd half. Overall, it's a good one.

[@MegaMik]

You're a good man. Thank you.

[@gamemasters]

thank you for watching! :)

[@capfreedom]

I read there was no AI in the new dnd stuff. Artist came out with his original drafts.

[@gamemasters]

yeah, there was some kind of big hubbabaloo about it, I didn't really look into it that much.

[@autisticallyaccurate]

Nice Bleep!

[@gamemasters]

that bleep will be revealed Friday!

[@theherbertness24]

I never bought the old starter set, I usually find things like that redundant since i own everything in it bar the adventure anyways, so to see such a highly rated adventure get a hardbacl reprinting, along with a continuation? Thats perfect for me, and the alt cover is sick

[@gamemasters]

we have rather enjoyed the new phandelver adventures, tho i do wish there was more connection between the first half and the second, but that was easily fixed by peppering in some conversation between the NPCs and the players.

[@AndrewWukusick]

I already own Lost Mine and am already partially prepared to run it with my players soon. I was already planning on buying this not knowing it already included Lost Mine. Is there enough difference made to Lost Mine to where I should wait to start until the new book comes, or is it mostly the same other than some race/gender changes to NPCs?

[@gamemasters]

it's more or less the same adventure, a few cosmetic and aesthetic changes, (they moved stat blocks to be next to an NPC as opposed to having it listed in the back).

[@bcw1nc865]

Probably a great campaign but unfortunate timing on release, Baldurs gate 3 has a similar plot and the same levels Thoughts on planescape? It kinda seems to me like the quirkiness of spelljammer without the spelljammers. Maybe walking through doors will be just as interesting as flying on a spaceship.... Nah nm. I do appreciate the campaign covering so many levels compared to spelljammer, but i wish there was at least as many player options as there was with spelljammer.

[@gamemasters]

does BG3 have obelisks in it? I'm playing it but I'm still in somewhat of the beginning area(s). Just kindav curious.

[@Valior86]

That's great to hear there's nothing wrong with this, I haven't bought anything since Strixhaven and I don't think I've been missing out until now. But I really love the original Phandelver so any follow-up on the story would be welcome.

[@gamemasters]

this playlist is the complete story.. well.. heh.. without providing a complete page by page turn lol, check it out : kzbin.info/aero/PL7suBD-0d_3ofEvUhiBnj4tla1rsa_e5w

[@bearthegenxgm]

Glad to hear... still won't buy it... but glad to hear they are doing something proper :)

[@gamemasters]

it's not bad. The storyline is actually pretty good and this _might_ be the 1st book in a long time that I actually run players through from start to finish... (usually I pull info and put it into my homebrew, but... I may just go from A to Z on this one).

[@bamboozledgreatcrowd8982]

I am going to blend icespire peak with this.

[@gamemasters]

that should work fairly well!

[@wayneslater5531]

Great Vid! Thanks for the review! I haven't seen the book yet, but a $60 msrp is kinda ouch...

[@gamemasters]

yeah, that's a touch on the expensive side regardless, that's why I suggest that if one is wanting it to grab it now while it's at about $45.00

[@maul42]

That's going to be the new normal going forward for all hardcovers for all publishers.

[@wayneslater5531]

@@maul42 Honestly, i have to agree with you... but after getting burned on the last few books (cough*cough*Spelljammer) i am reluctant to buy more. A rising MSRP doesn't help. lol

[@Itachi45481]

I don't have the original so that's a good reason to get it

[@gamemasters]

perfect reason!

[@heyyou193]

Many books are reprinted with some new content or erratas fixed and there is little to no complains about it. Just look at how many Harry Potter editions there are! (some with barely any changes except the cover and a few pages)

[@gamemasters]

that's a pretty good view of it too.

[@Artemisthemp]

I have Pre-order Shattered Obelisk, as I promised my players it. Also sound like none of them have played past level 6.

[@gamemasters]

this one will take them to about level 12.

[@Artemisthemp]

@@gamemasters Ya else there was Avernus, which I know.

[@RocKnight11]

Well, I'm not a fan of the changes of this "Special Edition." For example at the Redbrand Hideout WotC decided to make Glasstaff shoot first. And what's the deal with the blinking goblins on the Triboar Trail? They didn't blink in the original adventure.

[@gamemasters]

In this new version Glasstaff doesnt want to fight at all, he runs at every opportunity, even tries to drink a potion of invisibility, but will ultimately surrender. Where does it specify that he shoots first? Re blinking goblins, I cannot find that passage, what page does it say they can blink on?

[@RocKnight11]

@@gamemasters Since you brought up the Star Wars Special Editions, I thought it was a good idea to make a Star Wars joke, Greedo shooting first, the blinking Ewoks, stuff the fanboys got overly angry at in the later editions of Star Wars... I was going for something like that. The book actually seems like a good product, and I'm excited about picking it up.

[@gamemasters]

@@RocKnight11 I get it now hahaha

[@DrAndrewJBlack]

👍🏻

[@junojuno3745]

I'd rather have it have Lost Mines of Phandelver in it and "lose" 75 pages than have to buy both this and that just to get the whole experience.

[@gamemasters]

I dont understand? This includes the lost mine of phandelver adventure. What 75 pages got lost?

[@junojuno3745]

@@gamemasters the people who dislike the idea that it took up that many pages of the book probably would've wanted those pages for more content. But for me, it's better that it's there as part of the package rather than feeling like I have to buy both this book and the other product.

[@tabletopbro]

I definitely won't be buying any WotC products probably ever again. There needs to be systemic change at the company and they need to really put in the work to earn community trust back. Which they're not doing with all the scandals. This book might be great, but ultimately one good book doesn't absolve YEARS of crappy business practices. All that being said, I discovered your channel yesterday and I've been REALLY enjoying it! Even though I disagree with some of your takes I think you put out a really solid product and I look forward to watching more!

[@gamemasters]

I'm always going to welcome your opinion and I appreciate you stopping by! I too have been quite vocal about WotC's misgivings and underhanded practices, and I've also given them my fair share of criticism. That said, I'll also voice when they _have_ done something right. This is among the first books that I've seen "right" since early to mid-2022.

[@RichardHopkinsLobosSolos]

AI generated art is going to become a thing. I know of a few people who use it to create elements that they put into larger composites. Also, check out the Postcard books from Raconteur Press. They're an experiment from the Three Moms of the Apocalypse that was run any time that any of them went to a convention in 2023. The participants in the contests request a picture prompt and receive an AI generated piece of Art. They then have until midnight on Monday to complete a fifty word short story and submit it. The most recent one as of my writing this (one is currently happening, so I don't know numbers for that one) had 161 requests for a picture prompt. An artist could not do that many pieces of art that quickly.

[@gamemasters]

AI art has already become a thing, many people just dont want to accept it. Going beyond that, however, is that AI _will_ be ever present in many different industries, not just art.

[@didymussumydid9726]

“Half-races are racist” Way to unperson all the mixed-race people wotc!

[@gamemasters]

evidently that's what wotc thinks... kinda stupid to claim that (in my humble opinion).

[@aaronbrown5776]

Ha ha. As a half-asian I remember watching when that was brought up and I was like, "What?" But you know what, I do think Jeremy Crawford is a good designer and he means well. So, whatever, agree to disagree...

[@didymussumydid9726]

@@aaronbrown5776 it’s stuff that comes down from on high. If they can’t show it, then hasbro will get less money from blackrock, which owns the entire us economy

[@matthewgeorge234]

I agree with you but I think the issue is that there are people who are mixed-race who tell them things like that and they assume it's monolithic. I also play Legend of the Five Rings and I've seen people talk about how the current version is racist, so the company made changes for it's D&D version, only to have more people come out and say those changes are actually the racist part.

[@aaronbrown5776]

@@matthewgeorge234 Yeah, human beings are complicated. We have different opinions on things and don't really fall into monolithic categories. Again, however, I've always enjoyed listening to Jeremy Crawford's design notes and such and he seems like a really decent guy. So he is coming from a good place, but I disagree with him on this one.

[@TeeZett89]

i have the same shirt lol

[@gamemasters]

heh lootcrate for the win!

[@dandepalma9305]

but is it $60 good? How about some soft cover adventures?

[@gamemasters]

gosh, i would LOVE if they would return to actual modules like we used to have in the 1980's! I really think that's a major missed opportunity.

[@ReustersPlace]

I’d buy it because I don’t have the original, but now that I know they changed NPCs for stupid reasons,I’ll buy both and go with the original version of the NPCs

[@gamemasters]

I mean.. there really is no impact to the game itself by that change... it's a head scratcher..

[@ReustersPlace]

@@gamemasters it’s a conscious choice to genuflect to the woke minority. No head scratching necessary.

[@NemoOhd20]

you don't have to buy both to change a couple of characters back.

[@NemoOhd20]

Nahhhh... I don't GAF about fighting a space alien in Phandelver... or any of D&D. My spaceships have engines, not magical sails. Even if I weren't repulsed by even the thought of sending money to the people in Seattle that hate gamers, I certainly don't care enough about the little extra bits to pay 60$ for the back half of the book. Plus from I've seen, stealing bits of DOIP, Sleeping Dragons Wake, Storm Lords Wrath and Divine Contention is much more of what I want from D&D and in it's totality could take you to level 20 or so.

[@gamemasters]

okay

[@saraphys5555]

Well, my 2 cents... I wont be picking it up (shocker) because I really just dont get any value out of 5E WotC's "Forgettable Realms"... And, I know, "oh, its neutral enough that you could run the adventure in any game/campagin setting"... really? Really? 'Cuase, last I checked, Goblinoids were part of civilised society in Eberron...and there's no "Far Realm" either, as Xoriat is a planar world. Not to mention the whole Daelkyr thing... Could you play it in Dark Sun, where -*********- dont exist? Could you run it in Greyhawk? ...well, with some modifications, probably... but then the question would be *HOW* the ********* made such a stronghold without the various Societies and Protectors NOT noticing?! Birthright? ...same problem as Dark Sun...dont exist. Krynn? Well, MOST of the ingrediants for it to work are there, but again...there's just that one thing that doesn't work! I often feel like, people who say that "you can run these adventures in any setting"; have never ACTUALLY played original settings before... ...besides which, I dont run WotC adventure modules, because they are godawfully designed! Chris Pramas of Green Ronin Publishing is a man after my own design...give me the bullet points; I dont need White Wolf 2.0's "READ OUR NOVELLA OF THIS ADVENTURE! DIRTBAG!" of text just to know the key information about this town is "Market Square is here. Adventure Hooks are these, so you can decide how the players find them"... YES! I know thats rich, coming from someone who just made a short essay about WotC making Adventures too wordy and long! :P

[@gamemasters]

ROFL!!! I too have my own homebrew world , here's how I tackle it: It has "veils" that are "morphatic" in that they can move about and can allow the party to move into different "worlds" (greyhawk, forgotten realms, ravenloft, etc) should I need them to, but moreover, parts of those worlds _can_ become a permanent part of my homebrew world. (it makes sense to us).

[@squattingheads]

the plot is zero connected to the initial adventure. non of the plotholes are filled nothing is expanded on. The soppelgangers, Nezznar and Iarno are still as mysterious as they ever were. So basically you get a typical module with incoherent encounters not fitting a theme. But this time you dont get a intro adventure for your money. The one thing that always worked in these books.Not necessarily good, but they did their job.

[@gamemasters]

the connections are very subtle, and by subtle I mean NPCs in the background and the town itself. As for story, you are 100% spot on, there is zero connection between the two adventures.

[@NemoOhd20]

The thing is it is easy to replay it and mix all that up, make someone else the Big Bad. I rarely play any adventure strictly by the book.

[@macsimo55]

Venom fang exists in this book ?

[@gamemasters]

yup, a young venomfang, just like in the original. lives in the same tower, still flies away when knocked below a certain amount of HP.

[@gamemasters]

yep

[@chrishall5440]

LMoP is one of the tightest 5e adventures WotC put out. Personally, I see no problem with the reprinting of the original adventure here, particularly as the original Starter Set is discontinued. There's something nice too about them releasing it 10 years after the original to kind of bookend the original run of 5e before the new 2024 core books are released.

[@gamemasters]

keep in mind you can get a copy of LMoP from DMdGuild as well as from DnDBeyond, but.. again.. I prefer physical so... I will say that there are some small updates and text fixes (mostly cosmetic and grammatical fixes - for example they put the stat block next to the creature in the adventure instead of posting it at the back - stuff like that).

[@kamegenius6309]

I own 90% of DND 5the editions settings and campaign but I guess my collection is finished. The price increase is absolutely wrong.

[@gamemasters]

I will say this... I've yet to see any books actually sell for the MSRP. All that I have seen have been below that new price point.

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

Good to know If I can find it second hand I’ll think about getting it

[@gamemasters]

might be a while before second hands are out there.. but... it could happen faster since it's just a book of adventure; kindav a once it's done it's done.. so.. yep, it might hit for 2nd hand faster than I think it will.

[@RichardHopkinsLobosSolos]

The gender thing that you mentioned could be magical. Ed Greenwood had Elminster being changed into a woman by Mystra in one of the books several years ago (well before transgender became a major talking point) to better understand the magical weave. There's a cursed item that changes the gender of whoever wears it (Girdle of Masculinity/Femininty), or at least there was, I'm not sure if it's still in the official game.

[@gamemasters]

Aye, except there is no explanation at all in here for it. Dont get me wrong, it doesn't bother me in any way, just.. an out of the blue change.

[@RichardHopkinsLobosSolos]

Probably someone at Wizards going for inclusiveness. It doesn't really shove it into your face so I'll let it go.

[@gamemasters]

@@RichardHopkinsLobosSolos yep, kinda my take on it as well.

[@David_Apollonius]

It doesn't have to do anything with transgenders. They also did it with the Gnomish pantheon in Tome of Foes because... they used to be all male. This is a problem that is not exclusive to RPG's, but to all media. Men are overly represented in fiction. This goes so far as that a feminist DM stated on reddit that most of her NPC's were male. It is a subconscious decision that people make. The best example I can actually think of is the X-men and the Fantastic Four. Originally, both teams only had one girl each and although the Thing is Jewish, that wasn't revealed until 2002, 40 years after the first issue was published. (Because of the Comics Code Authority, but that's a different story.) There just wasn't any diversity. That's not to say that this is the best way to fix it. You could also just sprinkle in some totally new female NPC's.

[@aaronbrown5776]

Definitely going to get this. This and Planescape is the last time I've actually felt excitement of a release since Spelljammer...which turned out not so well, but fingers crossed for the next two. Plus I'm currently hosting a kids campaign with my DM through Ice Spire Peak. So maybe this can tie in...

[@gamemasters]

for a kids' campaign, this one has some fairly gnarly imagery and context (lots of illithids, an elder brain, lots of icky slimy stuff, and general horror, but nothing majorly over the top graphic.. well.. there is the Feeding Trench and you also move through a maze that is shaped like a brain...)

[@aaronbrown5776]

@@gamemasters The kids are all teenagers, so should be fine. :)

[@torreyintahoe]

I'm disappointed with it. It's very one dimensional being all dungeon crawls and I don't like the whole mind flayer, alternate plane aspect of it. I wanted something diverse and well rounded like the original Phandelver adventure.

[@gamemasters]

I've a feeling that this is a lead into a much larger thing that will be coming out in January, 2024..

[@shcon]

Can I assume you're talking about a Vecna tie-in? They mention Vecna once I'm the book... and I chose to lean into it.

[@fortnitecat9000]

I have a question! So are there any major changes to the LMoP section of this book? I’m interested in running Shattered Obelisk for my players but would really love to start asap! And if the beginning is the same as LMoP other than those character changes you mentioned would it be safe to then transition into Shattered Obelisk once it releases?

[@gamemasters]

as best I can tell so far there are no major (or even minor) changes to the adventure itself, it ends (in this book) at chapter 4 and the new stuff starts at chapter 5. I'm going through right now and doing a line by line comparison (I plan to release that video tomorrow).

[@TruexNORSEMAN]

It is weird to me that they changed Elmer to a woman as well as Reidoth to a woman. Just feels like some random unnecessary changes. The Black Spider also is now just "The Spider" which I can only assume they thought black Spider was racist? Just some weird changes here and there but I'm still actually excited to get to expand upon lost mine as I still hold it as one of the best

[@gamemasters]

aye, I didn't fully get the changes, but it wasn't anything that gave me reason to get my knickers in a bunch. I really liked the adventure itself.

[@PMMagro]

The orignal Mines of Phalender.. is a great starter adventure. Some parts are not fleshed out but it is a nice one, Icespire Peak is not as good but easy to add in (LMoPh cleary the better story). I wil probably get thsi one if it adds interesting stuff and is not extremly expensive (or half teh book just charts I don't care about etc).

[@gamemasters]

the expanded storyline, from chapters 5 on, is really good. It is, however, do milestone experience, which I have never been a fan of BUT... I easily changed that and was able to add a good deal of my own content to this adventure to flesh out that difference. I won't say that that works for everyone, but at my table everyone loved it.

[@TheTroopersCorner]

I am running a group who’s brand new to D&D through this adventure & they are loving it. I got it on sale for about $25 & for that price it’s well worth the cost especially since I don’t have to do a lot of work except some DM notes in the margins.

[@gamemasters]

I rather liked it and it's working out fairly well as a pre-adventure to Vecna Eve of Ruin

[@seppa193]

Retry. Is the Dragon of Icespire Peak (which is also in Phandalin) adventure also included in this book? If not, can this adventure be easily inserted somewhere?

[@gamemasters]

no, dragon of icespire peak is not included here. this is the lost mine of phandelver adventure but expands it to also include The Shattered Obelisk campaign.

[@L337P1R4735]

I appreciate that you are honest with your opinion if i thought you were just getting mad for likes i wouldn't watch your videos. Im really excited about the deck of many book it sounds great, looking forward to hearing what you think of it when you get a copy.

[@gamemasters]

I'm... a touch hesitant about the book of many things, mainly because of the new cards, tho I am super curious as to how they will mesh with the already existing ones. Aye, when my review copy of that comes in, I'll for sure be covering it. Thank you for watching and checking out my little corner of youtube!

[@jonb2046]

I ran my first D&D campaign with a group last year through Lost Mines. It was fantastic and I am thinking of bring the party back together. My kneejerk reaction is to think this would be a great way to pick up where we left off. Is it worth a level 5 party starting in the middle of this adventure?

[@gamemasters]

easily could be done.

[@gojirajenkins8528]

Thank You for the comparison of the Dvd and Blu-ray editions of classic kick ass films The Star Wars comparison is spot on for something beloved getting a retread Most people are so angry over the OGL decision from WOTC they have been on the warpath to take down WOTC and bash DnD I like DnD and I love to read the books even if I am not running them Keep up the good work and thank you for your honesty

[@gamemasters]

Yep, I'm looking at the game and not the company behind it. I won't lie, however, I do keep the company behind it in context, but I still attempt to give a fair shake. Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the youtubes!

[@snieves4]

Certain encounters of this made me scratch my head. The psychic goblins was amazing. Was very cool. The encounters with- Drow Gorgon looking at statues Drow cant find a way to rescue their own dad? Gorgon is gonna be in there just chilling out?

[@gamemasters]

I think the medusa was included only because of it's iconic statue, but I agree.. why was she there to begin with? it says that she has a galub duhr with her (which is immune to petrify)... Yeah.. some parts do make you scratch your head.

[@vincentvandoggo_8907]

I really don't understand why does everybody keep saying that LMoP is so great. I think the story is kinda flat (i mean, a random dwarf discovers a magic mine and the bad guy wants it, that's it) and all the NPCs and quests are very basic, at least in Icespire peak you know you will have to face off against a dragon and save people's lives

[@gamemasters]

why it's great : it covers _most_ of the basic rules of D&D in a way that doesn't say "step 1, roll this; step 2, open up this book and flip to that page and read x monster's stat block and by the way, here is what a stat block is; step 3, ask the players what they want to do next". AND THEN it moves on to more advanced mechanics and again presents it in such a way that doesn't assume you are an expert nor does it assume you are a beginner. It's balanced for a new DM but offers enough challenges for a veteran DM while at the same time being balanced for new players as well as being challenging enough for experienced players.

[@michaelgrey7854]

So Wizards do not believe in inter-racial relationships? Weird point of view considering thats a common among us humans. Quite a narrow point of view in my opinion.

[@gamemasters]

I may not be understanding the context here, it's been a while since I recorded this video..

[@yosakie]

Love this channel. You are such a help for me. Thanks for you hard work man. Keep up the good work

[@gamemasters]

thank you for watching! What's something specific you'd like to see? What's a burning question you might have?

[@yosakie]

@gamemasters nothing at the moment. Thanks anyway. When I think of something, I will definitely ask

[@michaelradzichovsky9366]

IMHO, the race and gender swaps are lame but can be easily ignored.

[@gamemasters]

i can't say that it bothers me at all. It's there, easily changed if it needs to be.

[@jeevesosiris]

Really looking forward to this book. I already have the first release, but am happy to get a new version and have a follow up.

[@gamemasters]

If you enjoyed the original, you'll enjoy this one. It includes all of Lost Mine of Phandelver which ends at Chapter 4, then continues with The Shattered Obelisk at Chapter 5.

[@gamemasters]

it's a good follow up too! Shattered Obelisk is a good solid story to continue from the Lost Mine.

[@marco0445]

Nice and neutral review you have my sub :)

[@gamemasters]

thank you for watching. My aim is.. to be the eyes that we once had when we could go into a game store and simply.. browse a book to see if it's any good. MANY game stores are closing up so I just want to try to bring that content to viewers. I'll do my best to keep my own opinion out of it.. but some stuff is either over the top cool and other stuff falls super flat (in those instances I won't be able to help myself haha). But thank you @marco0445 for checking out my small corner of the youutbes.

[@cameronpearce5943]

I wonder if the inclusion of the Drow was more to show Drow as just regular people? Was the change in Ice Spire Peak too? Before the One-DnD Half Race thing

[@gamemasters]

not too sure. I'd imagine it was something that came about at about the same time that the Monsters of the Multiverse came out in which there were certain monsters/creatures that had an alignment that could be all over the map.

[@bradleyhurley6755]

That is an interesting take. Though given how many people have already criticized WotC for removing half-race people from the game when there are plenty of half-race people in real life, this is probably going to be the biggest issue with the book.

[@bradleyhurley6755]

@@gamemasters Drow specifically are no longer always evil. It just so happens that the only Drow who are typically evil are the drow that Drizzt happened to live around, as all the other Drow societies don't follow that pattern. It was changed in an announcement for the Drizzt celebration, but I don't think has been fully implemented yet, as Drow are in the player's Handbook now and that hasn't been updated yet. There are a lot fewer (if any) race that is always evil now. While I think certain monsters remain typically evil, anything that has a typical human like society has pretty much been moved away from being always evil.

[@snieves4]

@@bradleyhurley6755being part african, carribean native and european spaniard, im confused with the problem of “half races”. At some point in our history many of us are part Neanderthal….maybe thats the problem.

[@bradleyhurley6755]

@@snieves4 idk. In the playtest they had that you basically pick your face features and then which set of features you wanted. I'm not sure how that is going to work in actual play though as I feel like a lot of people are going to end up half human.

[@RetroMythologist]

Wizards now considers half-elves as "racist"?????!!!!! Elrond is rolling in his grave.. Where does this end..... ?

[@gamemasters]

...at the end. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@Go4TheKneez]

Wish they changed Lmop a little bit, most people have already ran it already.

[@gamemasters]

i'm working on a video that shows the changes, it won't be a word for word comparison, but it will show the cosmetic and aesthetic changes.

[@NemoOhd20]

It is easy to do yourself. There are a plethora of changes that can be made with just a few pencil edits.

[@bigdye1976]

I wanna see take 1,2 and 3 😂

[@gamemasters]

heh, it was simply me just trying to say the word Phandelver. Oh, and in one take 4 vehicles zoomed by behind me.

[@kameronbelcher]

My raggedy shredded Lost Mines of Phandelver could use an upgrade, the reprinting is a very pleasant surprise.

[@danteviperbrandolini]

Extremely Amazing Content by the best person to ever do it! That person is you, Gamemasters! You already know how much I'm a huge fan of yours! Anyway, I ordered the book on Amazon with the Giftwrap option. It's an extra 3.99, but helps with getting a book without corner dents (Fingers Crossed) It will be @ my house in a couple of hours in the morning! I followed all your amazing videos on this book all the way! Thx 4 being so awesome @ what you do, Mr. Gamemasters! 😉😉

[@gamemasters]

woots! :)

[@danteviperbrandolini]

@@gamemasters I got my package @ 6:00am this morning, Mr. Gamemasters! I did not open the box yet, cause the package looks so pretty! LOL...I need help! You're the best ever!

[@gamemasters]

@@danteviperbrandolini LOL did you get the collector's version?? that thing is wicked cool looking.

[@danteviperbrandolini]

@@gamemasters Yes, It's super cool looking, but I was in a hurry & Amazon only had the regular cover & to be honest, I absolutely love it, they did a decent job with it, lots of nice artwork & its has pretty colors! You're the best, Mr. Gamemasters. I'm 50 bucks poorer cause of you! LOL 😉😉

[@danteviperbrandolini]

I didn't open it yet, cause I'm a nut! LOL

[@joshvonbosch]

0:58 , im about to run this as our first campaign next week and i see it that wa y : i dont have to sepnd another 20 or so

[@gamemasters]

funny thing.. as I predicted, it's not super expensive any more. You can get it off of Amazon for about $30 now : amzn.to/3Sa0XXy

[@joshvonbosch]

@@gamemasters sad time to live in europe for me , its around 50 on amazon and around 45 at my hobby store for me , prob gonna be able to pick it up from the store tomorrow

[@gamemasters]

OUCH!!! If you can use digital, I know it's less expensive that way.. but personally.. I am not a fan of digital.

[@joshvonbosch]

@@gamemasters feel that , i could get the pdf but i prefer having stuff i can easily read through on the toilet etc

[@gamemasters]

@@joshvonbosch I 1000% understand!!!

[@simonpearson7044]

good to see an honest and fair review

[@Mankcam]

I would of paid for a hardcover of the original scenario, so this is all a bonus to me. Probably the only WotC book I've been interested in since Rime Of The Frost Maiden. Phandelver And Belpw looks pretty good!

[@gamemasters]

the storyline is, as mentioned, pretty solid, especially in the later parts.

[@josephballard1]

Good review! I just found your channel looking at videos for Phandelver Below. I am about to run Lost Mines combined with Icespire peak transitioning into tyranny of dragons. But now I'm considering swapping that plan for running this. My only concern is that my group is about to finish a dungeon crawl adventure and may not want to crawl into the Underdark. So I haven't watched your spoiler video yet.

[@gamemasters]

It does delve a little into the under dark as well as into the Far Realm.

[@matthewgeorge234]

Don't mind me reading lips on that spoiler...but that makes me happy to see.

[@gamemasters]

I'll reveal the bleep in a video later this week, but yep.. it will be a nifty caVe(r)n to reveal...

[@mykediemart]

Im neutral on repackaging but a little put off on the race/gender swaps, I am more interested if more plots hooks are foreshadowed. I also wish the cover art was more evocative of the adventure

[@gamemasters]

the cover art mimics exactly what the adventure entails; I won't give away spoilers here but I will say this.. the goblins are attempting to put the shattered obelisk back to being whole.