Oh how far we’ve come.
The Lost Mines of Phandelver was the first D&D module I ever played. Hell, it was also, years later, the first module I ever ran as a DM, resting on the laurels of having previously adventured through Cragmaw cave, explored Phandelin, dealt with Redbrand Ruffians, and discovered the mysteries of Wave Echo Cave.
And I’m sure I’m not the only one who got their start in Dungeons and Dragons that way.
Wizards of the Coast have recently announced that they’ll be bringing players and DMs alike right back into that starting area of a module with Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk, a module that will revitalize the story told in 2014’s starter set and tack on an additional 2/3rds of a story following the showdown at Wave Echo Cave.
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The 226-page adventure will be available as of September 19, and while not much has been said about the goings-on within those pages, we did get a hint from lead designer Amanda Hamon from a press briefing this August.
“We wanted to show, at the beginning of the book, what it looks like before all of these things happen,” Hamon said, “before the villains target this town, before this ritual occurs, before any horrors befall this area. We wanted to show DMs, who could then show players, what it’s like and where it is that the characters are fighting for, what they’re trying to preserve and what they’re trying to go back to.”
The hardcover module is available for preorder from Amazon for $45 US or $80 CAD. If you’re looking to get started with a visit back to Phandalin before that September 19 release date, the original version of the adventure can be found, for free, at D&D Beyond.