Phandelver & Below: The Shattered Obelisk D&D Review

[@TheGallantGoblin]

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[@Desbele.]

As someone who picked this book up the other day this was a great review. The downsides don't come off as complaining or overly negative, the positive are well constructed. Lots of notes and the big points hit. As someone who has enjoyed my reading of the book and preparing to run it, this is great content.

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Appreciate that! The adventure is going to be great for its intended audience. It's just a matter of determining if you're the intended audience or not. Glad the review was helpful! -Theo

[@AlbeitAbsolute]

This is a great review of the review.

[@DavidGoldberg47]

I was looking for info on what people thought about the adventure and I'm glad I found your very fair review. I appreciate that you didn't go super negative with the obvious shortcomings these last several years of WotC Adventures have, so hearing your level-headed, positive, and informed take was refreshing. You have given me the exact info I was looking for in regards to what kind of adventure this is, what to expect, and how to run it in terms of what to talk to my players about before we start it. Thanks!

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Hey I very much appreciate that! Comments like yours keep me going. So thank you very much. Glad to be of service! -Theo

[@robkendt]

I know I’m slightly late to the party, but I wanted to finish my Shattered Obelisk campaign before providing tips. What I did is built in a crashed mind flayer ship that was its own dungeon, and included Gith into Phandalin as people who escaped the ship hundreds of years ago. These gith served as guides who knew a bit about the far realm.

[@brenosobral9500]

I did predict that the shattered obeslic would not be as great as lost mine. I think the should either do a completely new story with references to lost mine that could be replaced by mentions to any campaing, or, a new high level adventure for levels 6 to 15 that expanded the original lost mine.

[@odinulveson9101]

As a first campaign and not for those who did the original, I think it got great stuff going for it. Though homebrew in, bridge some stuff like as he said, deepen bonds and events with the villagers. Also.. amethyst dragons! If they jam in the promo gem wyrmlings into the PatOB mini set + adult Topaz dragons? Yeah instabuy. Gem dragons also thematically fits the Far realm threat thats looming, as counter force. Gem dragons also make gem stalkers from slain abberations 😉

[@TheGallantGoblin]

I do think they really need to put out a level 12-20 adventure that can follow up from the myriad of level 1-12 adventures they've published. -Theo

[@MsMotherWolf]

I've been taking parts from Ice Spire Peak and at the Shrine of Savris, I had the character who touches the altar receive a vision of the Mind Flayer.

[@WendyGa]

Interesting review. I believe the starter set is out of print though. And Lost Mine is, IMO, the quintessential starter adventure. This expands it and brings it back in print for new players to discover, with cool new foes and realms to explore. Not sure why such a great adventure for new players would need to focus on doing things that experienced players have never seen before. It does feel like spending time in the town and getting the players attached to its inhabitants is important for the flow of the second part for sure.

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Ah, did not realize it had gone out of print, that's a shame. And indeed, it doesn't really need to do things that are innovative, but I think upending the expectations of new players to some degree is a nice surprise. But yes, this is being marketed as a good "second adventure" for folks, and I think that's a good place for it. If you're looking for a classic D&D adventure, this is great. I was just expecting something a bit different. -Theo

[@WendyGa]

@@TheGallantGoblin Totally fair. Hard to make a one size fits all beginners adventure. And it seems that the 2 parts could have been woven together better. Still very much looking forward to diving into it. And I do appreciate the informative review!

[@74gould]

I agree with your over all thoughts on the 5e campaign books... Most of them have some really cool elements, so I often buy 'em & then rework/revamp the stuff I like into whatever I'm running. Honestly, I wish WotC would publish smaller adventure modules (like 48-64 page softcovers for $20) like they used to.

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Yeah, I do like Pathfinder publishes different length adventures. You can get ones that are 1-20, 1-10, 11-20, 1-6, or just the standalone ones for like level 3, 6, or 16. Definitely appreciate the options and I wish D&D did more of that as well. We do get the annual compendium of adventures like Radiant Citadel, but some adventures in between those and full length ones would be welcome. And certainly a level 1-20 adventure would be epic.

[@coolman4202]

I’m running the Curse of Strahd right now and part of why it’s the best DnD I’ve ever played because it has themes of hopelessness, corruption, and struggle. We’re able to have incredible emotional experiences because of these tones that wouldn’t have the same gravitas without these themes.

[@TheGallantGoblin]

100%. That's an adventure that will hit you in the feelings. And there's just so much there of substance to work with, and so many characters with compelling stories. It's so rich that you can have a totally different experience each time you play by just altering a few little things. Definitely a masterpiece of the genre! -Theo

[@knavesquill9198]

Agreed 100% as a GM that is also running that book. It's got some issues but there are a ton of online resources to help with it and fill in what I feel are gaps and missed opportunities. The heavy themes are great, right up my alley, but man, my players and I have needed a break or two from it. Thus goofy one-shots in other D&D or other game systems. Power to you on finishing it up!

[@hexdteafling]

i cannot sing enough praises about curse of strahd. yes it has plenty of flaws that can be hard to gloss over; harmful stereotypes, quest points that dont lead anywhere, and some imbalanced encounters. but theres a reason why cos is touted as THE BEST dnd 5e adventure to date. the themes of isolation, dread, hopelessness, and genuine fear laced throughout the campaign really speaks to its success. and thats something severely lacking in most releases from wotc recently. i really appreciate the mentions of the importance of themes because thats what ties a story together! i hope whatever new releases wotc puts out remembers that core principle but it is a bit disheartening to see release after release feel so...blasé imo.

[@GGoGGdnd]

Is it still possible to merge the beginning with DoIP like before without It interfering with the mine flayer stuff?

[@Zorogundam19]

I guess it's worth getting the book if I can homebrew a few NPCs to get my characters to care and maybe have a base of operations to really have them go along this adventure.

[@SereneIceDragon]

I ran Phandelver as my very first short campaign ad a DM. I was in the middle of running it when news of Shattered Obelisk came out. I did a couple character focused quests using stuff from Icespire Peak while waiting for it to come our, and it is a little jarring seeing the turn it takes but I am still interested in seeing how it goes! I think I'm going to try to tie in more of the mine as part of why the Mind Flayers have set their sights on this area and make it tie in more. If anyone has done something like this, please let me know how it's going!

[@Enlyss]

Great thorough and honest review! Thanks!

[@d4670]

I started lost mines before shattered obelisk came out lol. I plan to stitch it together by the goblins gaining sonic powers from the spell forge. Perhaps the black spider cast a foul ritual or a goblin fell into it giving all the cragmaw’s sonic abilities. I really wonder how that’ll effect it further down the line

[@TheGallantGoblin]

That sounds like a pretty fun transition between the old and the new adventure! Let me know how it turns out. Good luck!

[@derrickhaggard]

The DM for a campaign I joined states that Lost Mine of Phandelver is the first of many stories in the campaign so we may do Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk as a sequel to LMOP but it's up to the DM.

[@Blazedandproud420]

Great review, just bought it and now I can't wait to run it for my group!!

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Fantastic! I hope you have a blast!

[@spooderous]

Finally, a review that doesn't just talk about the first part of the adventure for the hundredth time.

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Thanks! If you're referring to the slight changes in the NPCs, yeah, that conversation seems really dull and has no impact on the enjoyment of the players at the table. It's still a very solid setup adventure, I just wish the second half more organically carried it forward.

[@Turtlpwr]

3:32 your players, mine are all new and love this.

[@benyblancofrbx]

For the Algorithm!! 🤖👌

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Much appreciated!

[@futureboy314]

Engagement!

[@theragingdm5242]

Continuing the adventure

[@theragingdm5242]

With vecna eve of ruin

[@judemapp8804]

I’ve been loving the WotC campaigns, been running most of them. I think they really hit their groove in 5e and while they are not perfect they are in my opinion by and large the best we’ve seen in D&D. I do have to say that running the adventure is very different to reading the book. DiA was a lot weaker for me while RotF was far greater than the sum of it’s parts.

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Ron Lundeen (who worked on this adventure) liked to describe adventure books like this as the skeleton of the story that you'll play at your table. It's still incumbent on the GM and players to develop their own story, with the book just providing the structure. I just wish books like these would give a bit more guidance on how to tell emotionally engaging stories. -Theo

[@judemapp8804]

@@TheGallantGoblin I understand the sentiment, but I also think we’re kinda spoilt these days in that regard. 5e (and PF to a lesser extent) adventures do provide guidance, and description text and motivations for NPCs. Things that were not just missing from the past versions of these games but from many current systems adventures. A good example is Warhammer Fantasy RPG. Great game, great system, beautiful books - love it, highly recommend it. But you look at the adventures (short or long form) and they are at times like basic writing prompts. No indicators for the DM as to what to do if resolution doesn’t go the exact expect way, little to no descriptive text to help set scenes. I think 5e definitely spoiled us with this, but I could definitely see how people would want more. There is definitely a quality variation in the campaigns but as someone who’s been playing a long time I feel practically spoiled in this current era. And people like you help contribute to that by being there to showcase minis and other products for me, rather than having me blind buy in a dingy game store I had to travel three hours to get to!

[@Adragos17]

Thank you very much for reviewing this adventure! I found it helpful. 😊

[@KD-637]

Never played D&D and neither has my party, was planning on potentially DMing this after getting a few beginner one shot adventures under my(and my party's) belt. Thanks for the great info!

[@HorrorGoreCrew]

Is there still green dragons?

[@knavesquill9198]

Thanks for the review, it was very helpful as I was curious about this one.

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Glad you enjoyed it! -Theo

[@darthknight1]

Is this a retcon of the events of Lost Mines of Phandelver?

[@TheGallantGoblin]

I don't know if retcon is the correct word. This is literally that adventure redone with a few minor changes. -Theo

[@skelassassin]

I’m currently DM’ng this adventure I have 3 people 2 new people and someone who hasn’t played DnD in a while. I think this is the PERFECT starting adventure it’s classic DnD that my players haven’t seen before….now the only problem is trying to figure out where the story goes after lvl 12 xD

[@odinulveson9101]

I'll get it if only for a few thing like an AMETHYST dragon! Thats great! I longed for wotc to utilize the reimagined Gem dragons from Fizban! And what better dragons to help fight against thatn Gem ones? Yes. Amethysts are the strongest and I love the Topaz! Not least they all kinda unoffically acts as a alarm/ counter force vs Far realm/ abberation threats. Sapphires live in the Underdark, allied with giant spiders, svirfneblin and truce with drows, Emerald dragons being their closest intel hunters vs say Far realm threats!. Hope to see more than just Amethyst but still.. awesome!

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Those are some very cool insights! I think we may have more to come about Amethyst dragons as well... -Theo

[@sirblockepicmcswaggins5248]

*Spoilers for P&B:TSO* I saw the dungeon crawls as repetitive too, and while my players have yet to start Zorzula's Rest (aside from that time they went there at 3rd level by accident), I've managed to spice it up a little. I made the Forge of Spells way more significant, and I have the orcs that sacked Phandalin, Wave Echo Cave (and Conyberry in my setting) remain as a major faction, called House Doohring. But I've linked it all to the Mind Flayers below by having the head of House Doohring be infected by a Mindkiller (the MCDM monster created by mindflayers that eats your brain then replaces it, so now a band of raiders has a super smart leader and nobody knows why), and having several player backstories be linked to the mind flayers as well. Missing tribe? Mind flayer kidnap. Missing brother? He is now one of the mind flayer cabal (which I expanded beyond a trio). Mysterious orb, he serves it more than it serves him? A karsite prison of a refraction of Ilvaash, seeking to return to the far realm. It's a lot of fun.

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Hey I love that! Also great way to bridge the original lore over to the new adventure! Glad it’s going well! Thanks for sharing!

[@degrader4173]

These videos are calming

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Thanks, I think! :-) -Theo

[@larrybarnard4762]

Hey there new sub here. I picked up this up today and the reason I did pick it up because it did look "samey". Will have some new players on this one so this is perfect. Have not read through the whole thing but the cover and the first quest gives me a "Caves of Chaos" kind of feel. Anyway will see how it goes. Thanks for the review.

[@darcyw156]

I love those limited addictions! Great review!

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Thank you!

[@jamesc7824]

Just wanted to say great videos, I've been chain watching them since discovering the channel.

[@superdmdave3505]

I wanna see a baldurs gate 3 module. That would be epic

[@TheGallantGoblin]

With the success of the game, I wouldn't be surprised if that was something on a white board in a room at Wizards HQ. -Theo

[@mangasprai]

the presence of mindflyers just because of BG3 is already sad enough

[@xenomyst]

I like to throw the tavern building from Waterdeep Dragon Heist into Phaldalin

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Hey, I love that!

[@tonyortiz-cy3de]

Awesome 🎉 now only if they make a box monster set for LmoP

[@TheGallantGoblin]

I'd love an NPC set myself. -Theo

[@IohanTrezze]

Your content is awesome!

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Thank you!

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Thank you!

[@joshchamberland462]

Was enjoying the video all in all, but the Stars Hollow reference got the subscribe.

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Where you lead.... I will follow!

[@night9caster]

Great review 🤘

[@BrotherHood-xh9sg]

0:04, what? This feels like when a student has to bs his way in the introduction. There is no way Lost Mines of Phandelver is your favorite adventure.

[@TheGallantGoblin]

It is though. The way the town is set up with lots of little manageable adventure hooks, interesting little mysteries, and fun characters, it's just a delightful little sandboxy setup that I've run numerous times with all sorts of different outcomes. Some of my best D&D memories are from things that happen in Phandalin. And it's always worked as a place my players have cared about as their home. I think it's just a great little module.

[@ThreeBlindMiceFilms]

While I assume the price on this book is the new standard pricing going forward for new books, it seems insane to me that they would choose to start with a book whose first 1/3rd is a reprint of something that’s been free (digitally) for years. Hasbro/WotC be Hasbro/WotC I guess hahaha… I’ll probably still pick it up second hand at some point. I like having campaign books I can use as a “sandbox sourcebook”. It’s fun for me as a DM to have pre-written campaigns I can customize and tie together and into my players characters. Mix and match, like you said you like to do.

[@Tonberry88]

I'm currently running this and my Players are near the end. Unfortunately they have ruined almost all backstory integration...rip

[@TheGallantGoblin]

How did that happen??

[@Tonberry88]

@@TheGallantGoblin Refusal to take Greater Restoration or any Resurrection spells. They let one of the Characters die near the end of Illthinoch aswell lol. Kinda hard to integrate a Backstory so late...

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Ooff... well, we just set the scene and let the players tell their own story sometimes. It might not match up with what we had in mind, but as long as everyone had a memorable and fun time.

[@100vampires4]

For total newbie DBs I would recommend Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, and follow up with this once they have their feet under them. DoSI has a really fun adventure, that feels like an open world, but it really easy to run, and builds to a nice dragon battle.

[@odinulveson9101]

Agree! Just homebrew in the seafaring bit from Stormwreck -> Neverwinter -> Phandelver. Aaaand you can cap it of with The essential kits Dragon of Icespire Peak and its extra smaller add on events+ adventures. Talk about a solid starter trilogy+ adventure!

[@TheGallantGoblin]

I think that's fair. I still prefer Phandalin to Stormwreck, but I'm probably biased as that was my entry into D&D. But I'm happy that there are multiple points of entry now! -Theo

[@vinoup1]

Love the Gilmore girls reference

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Yay! I found the one other Gilmore Girl fan in the audience! :-D -Theo

[@thedragondaddydm6182]

Actually very thankful they didn’t try to put any deeper meaning and it’s just an adventure too many games these days try to do that and in their attempt they forget to make an actually good game

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Yeah, completely fair. This adventure wasn't especially for me, but it's definitely a solid one for a lot of folks, and hopefully I got that point across. -Theo

[@bruced648]

I would prefer short adventure modules that can be pieced together. the large 'campaign' books that encompass the entire life span of an adventurer is useless to me. even this book, which describes itself for beginning characters that will advance to level 12, becomes a one-shot adventure for the characters.

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Yeah, a varied release schedule of adventures of different lengths would be really great. -Theo

[@lexcellent99]

This kind of seems to me like they're leaning on popularity from the original Phandelver module as well as goblins and mind flayers popularized by Baldurs Gate without much intention into the end product of those things coming together

[@TheGallantGoblin]

I tend to doubt that Baldur's Gate 3 played a huge role in the development of this book considering the length of the timelines involved. I tend to think it was more of a happy coincidence. But yeah, I was a little disappointed that the two halves felt disconnected. -Theo

[@bearbeard6604]

Stars Hollow? Gilmore Girls?

[@TheGallantGoblin]

All turned to mind flayers!!!

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Oy with the poodles already!

[@Sylancewillfall]

Great video

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Thanks!!

[@nicolasantoniomolinacaric7826]

I buy the adventure but the version.

[@TheAnc1entOne3509]

For the algorithm!

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Thank you kindly!

[@scorpiovenator_4736]

I read through a copy of the adventure and it was disappointing. All those Obelisks made it look like a major adventure, that included vecna as was teased in icewind dale, the last truly great adventure

[@DrAndrewJBlack]

Yes, for the Algorithm!!! 🤖 💰

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Huzzah! Thank you! -Theo

[@wock3476]

I found TSO to be both too simple and too complicated. There isn’t enough written in the book to make memorable characters to get your party attached to and the dungeons gets way to overly complicated for a starter book. An example would be the every first dungeon (a goblin filled cave-outpost) where there is way to many moving elements for a first time party/DM to run without a lot of set up (especially for the DM). The too-simple-part comes from when the Party meets Sildar, the first important named NPC they would usually run into. I have the book open I front of me so trust me when I say; there are TEN WORDS in his introduction that explain who he is, the only two things being he’s kindhearted and 50 years old. The other NINE PARAGRAPHS in HIS introduction are the book bombarding you with unending plot details through Sildar’s mouth. To simple of a character; way to complicated of a plot for the first dungeon and NPC. A lot of legwork’s need to be done (especially for the first half) for anyone to make this a beginner-friendly campaign, which is even crazier to think that a beginner DM could do that in the first place.

[@ryanflorian2047]

expected more orcs just seams odd the place was taken over by orcs and then abandoned only to be repopulated by undead they killed all these dwarves and took over the mine why abandon it? where are the blood elementals and scarlet scourge? the undead aren't mindless these are intelligent undead so why are they in the mine? shouldn't they be hanging out with the banshee?

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Wave Echo Cave, you mean? The adventure doesn't mention orcs, just that it was taken over by a "powerful bandit force reinforced by evil mercenary wizards." Maybe the undead and monsters are just drawn to the magic there. But, of course, you can alter it up if you like.

[@Heldermaior]

Meh, the second part of the adventure is completely unrelated to the first... I mean, I made the spider a Gith and that made the connection to thensecond part a lot more interedting. Also, the Squids getting a lot of the obelisc parts is badly done. Oh no, they got 6 parts now so we have one extra Ilithid to deal with in the final room... What a horrible consequence... Oh no... Narratively it makes zero difference. Sprout some abyssal monstruosities here or there and permanently kill characters and now we are talking. When I used to play 3.5e we used to hate the DnD adventures of a friend of ours because of shit like this. This is amateur levels of writting. Still, I can lift interesting things from it and bolt them on something else.

[@lucasanderson1516]

Shattered Obelisk sounds incredibly underwhelming...like, weren't they teasing the obelisk thing for years throughout the adventures? Not every game or campaign has to have an incredibly deep and profound theme(s) but it should have SOME themes beyond "stop evil monsters." Nothing in this adventure sounds remotely inspired? At best, it seems like a remastered, hardcover Phandelver plus an extra excursion into bland mindflayer mutation stuff. And in all honesty, I never found the OG Phandelver to be particularly profound or amazing either. It was just a very decent basic intro to 5e that got the job done but even then I made real mods to the barebones premise for my starting party.

[@TheGallantGoblin]

Yeah, I have to admit to being underwhelmed with the obelisk reveal as well. It ultimately reads as if they are just meant to be catalysts for whatever story you want to tell at your table, which is fine... but I still like satisfying canon answers. But yeah, Phandelver ends up reading like a fairly straightforward series of dungeon crawls and fetch quests, which just doesn't excite me at this stage in the 5e life cycle. If this had come out earlier, I would have been happy, but these days, we have plenty of straightforward adventures... let's innovate.