Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk Review

Review copy courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Pros

• Lots more art. It’s pretty good, and the painted ones in particular were nice to look at. Some of it is more cartoony and not my thing. There’s a problem here though. Look below in the cons.

• Lots of full colour maps. I like that.

Could Go Either Way

• Not much in the way of new creatures.

• Not much in the way of new character options. No power creep, and nothing new.

• A return to Phandelver. If you don’t care about it from the original starter set at the start of this edition, then it’s not a benefit or an issue.

• First half is a lot more typical D&D. 2^nd half is a lot more weird, almost horror like. Some people only want one or the other. But for people who like both, it’s a delicious combination.

• Adventure goes up to 12^th level. It’s a nice level range that allows for interesting challenges. But it also doesn’t go all the way to level 20. And high level play is an area many people feel is most challenging, and could benefit from some more aid to players.

Cons

• It’s a return. It should be possible to link the previous adventure here into a bit of a campaign. But it’s not an option as written.

• If you try to put these two adventures together into one, you’ll see right away that many maps are reused. That means if you did try to run one after another, your players would play through the same encounter locations twice. Without a break, it’s not so good. It’s more tolerable with a break, like if you haven’t played Mines of Phandelver since release. But really, it redoes that previous adventure and then continues forward.

• The reuse extends as far as the art and images. I don’t like paying again for something I already have.

* Denotes nitpicking.

The cover for Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk.

Introduction

It should come as no surprise that I like long campaigns, and also low level adventures. So I’m happy to see and read large adventures spanning large level ranges. One of the best received and classic adventures in this edition of D&D is Lost Mines of Phandelver. In this new adventure, players are back to the famous town. Is the return worth the time? Let’s jump right back in.

The Adventure

New Player Options

There is not much here. Moving on.

New Monsters

Not much here either. What’s nice is that some of the monsters here are less common, and they tried to give several a personality and motivations. I’d always take well designed encounters with

What You Need to Play

Everything is normal here. You’ll need the Monster Manual and Dungeon Master’s Guide. For monsters and everything else you’ll need to consult those books.

The Adventure Itself

The adventure takes players from level 1-12. The scale of things is also pretty wide. The players will visit many places, all centred around the town of Phandelver. Also integral to a previous adventure, players will get to know the area, town, and inhabitants well over the course of the adventure.

The adventure can really be split into 2 parts. Part 1 is a more typical D&D adventure. Goblins, rescuing villagers, adventuring, it’s pretty classic and also borrows many elements from the adventure Lost Mines of Phandelver. Those who like the more classic D&D experience will like this section. It borrows not only the location, but also maps and encounter locations completely. The encounters are different, as well a show it ties into the overarching story in this adventure. However, it means you’re getting a different version of an existing adventure. And instead of being an adventure from 3 editions ago, it’s from the start of this one. So it’s quite recent. You’ll probably have to choose Lost Mines of Phandelver or this one to run, as one character can’t really do both easily. And if they did, there would be too much repetition. I wish it kind of worked as a sequel that could be run right after as well, though over-levelled for a little bit until the events catch up.

The 2^nd part is the news stuff. It’s also where things get weird. The adversary the players fight against is a big threat to the town they grew to know. It’s also an alien threat. Reality can become complicated as it gets more and more warped. This part goes into a wildly different direction with elements of horror too. I liked this part, and I liked the characterization they have. No-one is very deep here, but what’s here is efficient and effective.

I personally liked that weirdness. It helped make the adventure not overstay its welcome by changing things up. However, it’s something your players need to be on board with. I can see some groups finding the start too derivative and boring, while others finding the 2^nd half to sudden and out there. But for those who like both, it really it’s really a delicious combination that you couldn’t get otherwise. The general progression of the story and where it leads is fun and interesting. So I had a lot of fun running it.

The ramp up from the earlier section is particularly handled well. The choices of locations help give a good impression, and there’s some dungeon delving for the parties who like that sort of thing. Still, effort is spent on giving character to the, erm, characters. It’s not to the depth of Strahd or something. Typically what you see is what you get. However, you do need some characterization to start the role-playing so it can evolve into something more.

The combat encounters are fine, but also not super special. It’s at its best when a puzzle element is at play, or some character building is being done. Often monster choice helps to tell a story through the environment. The tactical considerations though are not as exciting. The presence of cover, accomplishing other objectives, or quirks for certain encounters really isn’t here. I do wish at least one adventure in this edition really tried to go for some tactical encounters and be the best combat adventure of this edition. What these encounters do, especially in the 2^nd half, is bring the character of the location into the encounter.

An example of some of the better art from the book. When it's not reused, it can be really beautiful.

The Art and Book Build Quality

The art is mostly what we’ve come to exist. Some of it is very good and done in this painted style that I like a lot. The scenes depicted are also interesting. Weird creatures, warped reality, and other such odd sights that is nice to see brought to life. There is also my less well liked cartoon-y style present, but that was a feature of this edition for a while already.

The big issue here is much of the art, even for maps, is from the older adventure. They call it a re-imagining, but it also means you get less new art in the book than others. For art lovers, it’s an important thing to consider. That said, the 2^nd half of the adventure is brand new and also completely new art. This includes new locations and maps. It would be nice for the maps to be slightly different, and completely new visuals being made for this book like some of the previous ones.

I had no issues with the book itself. Binding was good. There were no stuck pages, improper cuts, or any other issues I experienced earlier in this edition. Of course, I could’ve just been lucky this time. But it’s a good sign when my copy isn’t mangled. Instead it was as perfect as I could expect.

The sort of thing to expect from the 2nd half of the adventure. Weird, isn't it?

Price

It’s the new usual price. Nothing different here, though I do wish they tried to make each book cheaper. It’s hard to keep up.

PDF Version Critique

For a long time I’ve asked for a combined PDF and book version. We now have one, but they’re more expensive. Always worth noting. Really, it comes from D&D Beyond. If you don’t like D&D Beyond, you’re unfortunately stuck. Also, to access it you need to log in. That makes it not quite as convenient as a PDF you could just always access on your machine. The closest they come is to have an app so you can read the modules you purchased from your phone. It’s convenient, but still requires logging in so not really an option if you’re going up to your cabin with no internet.

What I felt was Missing

The adventure really would be interesting to people who played the previous adventure in this location, but there’s no way to tie them together. Not even a mention really. And in fact, many aspects of the first part of the adventure is recycles from the older adventure. So it would mean players play through the same maps twice. I really wish more of an effort was made here to make that first part more of a supplement to the original adventure, instead of a replacement.

Free Stuff

Nothing here. I really do miss those free introduction adventures for people.

Summary

So here we are. It’s an adventure that goes from a tradition fantasy into something more weird. That transition and the level range all make for an interesting adventure. The problem is that it’s also a re-imagining of a previous adventure for the first half, complete with reused images and maps. All of that makes the adventure less impressive if you’ve run Lost Mines of Phandelver before, and harder to recommend compared to other adventures. This is even more so the case if you’ve gone through Lost Mines of Phandelver recently. I did enjoy the 2^nd half where things got weird, but it’s also hard to recommend someone buy an expensive book for half of it. If it’s your first time visiting Phandelver, it’s a more appealing option. However, this adventure lacks the “ease of use” compared to its predecessor.

Keys From the Golden Vault Review

 Review copy courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Pros

• Lots more full colour art. It continues to be a highlight of the edition.

• Different adventures have different flavour, and different settings. This contributes to a different feel.

• Effort is made to give each heist its own feel, and different characters are involved in each adventure. The setups are different, and cover a wide variety. From stealing money from a casino, an item from a museum, to artifacts of evil. There’s a reverse heist, where an item needs to be returned.

Could Go Either Way

• Not much in the way of new creatures.

• The adventure is very episodic. Each adventure covers a level, and is completely on its own. This gives it a feel more like an episodic TV show rather than a giant long running narrative. It also makes it easy to repurposed particular levels for your own games. From maps, to largely using the heist as presented when your players want to break in somewhere.

Cons

• A page or two for a unified narrative to tie together the adventures would’ve been nice. I tend to prefer adventures when they have a bigger narrative, but which I can ignore. That way I can use individual adventures as is in one of my existing campaigns, run a whole campaign using the book, or chop up the adventure for parts (usually maps and cool puzzles).

• Despite efforts of different settings, the adventure structure can get too similar. They involve a single location, sometimes with a twist at the end. I’d have liked to see some connective material leading to new locations, and some more twists. Maybe we need to hunt down a stolen artifact first, and then we have a smaller heist.

• There is some 3D art here which is below the standards I’ve come to expect of this edition.

* Denotes nitpicking.

The standard cover for the book. Not bad, but not my favourite.

Introduction

One of the classic D&D archetypes is the thief. A stealthy character who pickpockets, steals, or sneakily back stabs enemies. And now we have a movie playing with that archetype too. But in D&D, this often means a heist. I think it was my third session of D&D where I had my heist. And it’s an incredibly fun scenario to play. However, a good heist is not easy to make. Here we have a book that attempts to give us Dungeon Masters some heists to play through. How does it stack up? Let’s jump right in.

The Adventure

New Player Options

There is not much here. Moving on.

New Monsters

There are a few monsters provided for this adventure, as we've come to expect. They are well fitted to the adventure and there aren't too many. This adventure, even at the level of monsters, tries its best to be creepy just like the module that inspired it. Quite a few of them are specific NPCs and a lot of material is given for playing them.

What You Need to Play

Pretty typical here. You’ll need the Monster Manual and Dungeon Master’s Guide. Everything not added in the adventure, which is a lot, is found in those books. I miss the days when all you needed were the basic rules and adventure. But that time has long passed.

The Adventure Itself

The adventures cover a wide range of levels, many scenarios, and items to steal. There is quite a lot of variety here. From infiltrating a tournament, stealing from a museum, to disrupting a magical ritual. The variety in the premise and setups of these heists is one of the strengths of these adventures. There are 13 adventures here, covering a level range from 1 to 11. Each level gets an adventure, while two special levels get 2 adventures. That also means there’s a variety of possible combatants and targets. It’s not all simple human targets.

There’s some options included to help make the adventures into a campaign with advice for players to make a base and make it into a proper operation. There’s also some advice on how to add complications to a heist by moving the target item. And a favourite of mine, there’s some great options for alternate crews that try to interferes and steal the item before the party does. Often, they have more evil plans for the item. This section was great. I wish it was longer. A nice 10-20 page section on different options would’ve helped take the book from a collection of adventures, to a masterclass in heist adventures. I hope future adventures look more at aiding Dungeon Masters, reuse, and look to address multiple different uses.

I wish there were more cool secondary items to steal too. Often the main target of the theft is the most interesting, but of course the party will be forced to part with it. I’d like some additional curiosities for the party to be able to pocket for themselves. They don’t all need to be powerful items either, as unique and situational items are also fun to receive. Something as simple as a cloak that can change colours can help make a character unique. Though some powerful items would be nice, especially given that we should be able to play these adventures as a campaign. One misstep here though is that it seems like a good party is assumed. Some groups like to play more morally dubious players, especially in a theft based campaign.

One of the big issues here is that there is no connective parts of a campaign. So running a full satisfying campaign is hard. Just doing one heist after another when they share a similar structure and there’s no overarching narrative is not the best player experience. As a result, these adventures are best in moderation for the heist component of a campaign or as one-shots. Or you as the Dungeon Master need to come up with good connective tissue to make an overarching fun narrative. It’s not an easy problem to solve, and I really wish there was something here.

The structure of missions is also fairly similar from adventure to adventure. There is a location described. A heist must be performed to get some important item (or in one case put it back in a reverse heist). There are often some tricks in the mission itself like decoys, a possible double cross at the end, and it’s finished. You don’t need to go to multiple locations. You don’t get role-play sessions of returning the object. You don’t get an extended chase, or find out the person you gave the item to is a doppelganger. They do try to give each adventure its own feeling and difference within that structure. But some wildly different structures would be nice too. Maybe even have a part 1 and 2 heist spread across 2 levels and locations?

One of the better examples of art within the book. I quite like this style.

The Art and Book Build Quality

The drawn art continues to be in the typical D&D style we’ve come to expect. The same slightly cartoony style is there. I wish there more realistic images playing with light, but it’s not bad. The maps are also well drawn with many nice details. Some look hand written. Some have tears in them and represent in-game maps. These look generally good, and what we’ve come to expect.

Wait, but I said drawn. Is there some art that isn’t drawn? Yes, unfortunately. Two adventures have pictures at the start which don’t look good compared to the art surrounding it. It’s done in this 3D style with what looks like posed 3D models. To be clear, I’m not against 3D art in general. I’ve seen some truly beautiful screenshots from video games. Movies and TV series are increasingly using 3D game engines like Unreal. And you can do some truly incredible art with truly beautiful lighting. However, the art here falls well below that. I’d prefer we get more art like I admired back at the start of this edition with beautiful hand drawn lighting, But if you need to do 3D, it should look better. Luckily it’s only 2 images in this book.

The book itself is the same cover and binding as the previous books. The cover follows the same art style. My copy had no physical issues either. All in all, the physical condition and quality of the book remains high.

One of the maps from the adventure. I like the art and character, and the way it looks like a real drawn map from the inside.

Price

So, the price has gone up. I’ve been at this for a long time now. So I expected it to eventually come. But still, given the books would already benefit from a price drop, it’s particularly painful. Sales continue to be plentiful though, so it’s tough to get an exact price.

PDF Version Critique

For a long time I’ve asked for a combined PDF and book version. Now you can pay a bit more to get both. It’s good that this option exists, though the online version is D&D Beyond. Also given the costs involved, it would’ve been nice if they always came together at a lower price.

What I felt was Missing

There really needs to be some connective material to be able to run this book as a single adventure. The Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos book did a pretty good job of this. Each year could be run on their own, or combined to have a single cause of all the events. Here, they are very disconnected. Having 2-3 adventures to bring everything together, some kind of double cross, that sort of thing would go a long way. Games like Hitman have done this for years, while also being somewhat a close comparison. As it is, the adventures feel disconnected.

Free Stuff

Nothing here. I really wish we got some connective material here, and opening adventure, something. This part has gotten worse since the Curse of Strahd time. Or how about a teaser adventure at level 1 to get people excited?

Summary

It’s a good collection of adventures. They cover a variety of heists, with a variety of situations. The main weakness is that each one follows a pattern of arriving at one location, and trying to steal something. Running this as a full campaign can be tough, unless your party really likes heists. There’s no glue to hold a campaign together, except as an episodic TV show with a heist of the week. But combined with the structural similarities, I think they’re best run as one-offs or as the basis of a heist for your campaign, before returning to business as usual.