Which Adventure To Play: January 2017 Edition

In late 2015, I published an article that considered and compared each "official" D&D Fifth Edition adventure released at the time. As my fifth most popular article of all time, and with two new adventures released by Wizards in 2016, this seems like an opportune time to update it. If you're a Dungeon Master trying to decide what adventure to run in the new year, this article is for you!

In this article, I'll walk through each hardcover adventure that Wizards of the Coast has released at the time of this writing (plus Lost Mine of Phandelver, which comes in the introductory Starter Set). I'll discuss the selling points of each one, as well as some pitfalls you might expect while running them.

Why listen to me? While I haven't played through each of these adventures to completion, I've spent a lot of time reading each of them along with internet reviews and actual play reports. In addition, I've been a dungeon master for all but Out of the Abyss, and played a character in the Tyranny of Dragons adventures as well as Out of the Abyss and Storm King's Thunder.

Before we start, I'll point out that these descriptions are, by their nature, likely to spoil the content of the adventures discussed. I’ll try not to be too specific about plot points, but if you want to play through any of these adventures blind, don’t read ahead. In other words, SPOILER ALERT!

Getting Started with the Starter Set, Part 4: Wave Echo Cave

Hello, and welcome to Pact of the Tome. This article is the sixth and last in a series written for new Dungeon Masters who have picked up the Dungeons & Dragons 5E Starter Set and are planning to run a game with it for the first time. The first two articles cover the process of bringing a gaming group together and building characters, and each article after that covers one "part" of the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure. I will not assume any prior knowledge about Dungeons & Dragons aside from information in the Starter Set rulebook.

In this article, I'll cover the fourth and last part of Lost Mine of Phandelver, "Wave Echo Cave." This large, abandoned cave complex in the Sword Mountains is the site of the legendary Lost Mine itself, and has been the object of the Black Spider's search for some time. In the final dungeon of this adventure, your players will face fearsome undead guardians, uncover the wonders of the Forge of Spells, and confront the Black Spider in an epic battle. This is the end of the adventure, but it could be just the beginning of your journey as a Dungeon Master.

Part 0: Gathering a Group

Part 0.5: Creating Characters

Part 1: Goblin Arrows

Part 2: Phandalin

Part 3: The Spider's Web

Part 4: Wave Echo Cave

Preparing the Dungeon

Mike Schely's cartographic skill is on full
display in Lost Mine of Phandelver. As a
reminder, you can purchase high-resolution
copies of the maps (with DM annotations
removed) at his website.

Despite its expansive nature, Wave Echo Cave is actually fairly easy to prepare as a Dungeon Master. The dungeon's inhabitants aren't working together for the most part, so you won't need to keep their responses as a group in mind like in Cragmaw Castle. Furthermore, the dungeon is large enough that your group probably won't be able to explore it in one session, so if you're short on time you can focus on preparing areas closer to the entrance.

With the time you've saved, think about how you can make the adventure location come to life in your players' minds. As the ruin of a mine created by the collaboration of dwarves, gnomes, and humans, Wave Echo Cave is a location filled with history. The booming sound of waves from the northeast is a good starting point to develop atmosphere, but spend some time thinking about other ways you can emphasize the adventure and mystery of this place in your descriptions.

Getting Started with the Starter Set, Part 3: The Spider's Web

Hello, and welcome to Pact of the Tome. This article is the fifth in a series written for new Dungeon Masters who have picked up the Dungeons & Dragons 5E Starter Set and are planning to run a game with it for the first time. The first two articles cover the process of bringing a gaming group together and building characters, and each article after that will cover one "part" of the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure. I will not assume any prior knowledge about Dungeons & Dragons aside from information in the Starter Set rulebook.

In this article, I'll cover the third part of the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure, "The Spider's Web." When your group reaches this part of the adventure, they'll have some goals in mind - most prominently, finding and rescuing their kidnapped patron - but they won't have a clear method to achieve them. Instead, they'll follow up on several leads that they've gathered, exploring various locations near Phandelver to work their way toward Cragmaw Castle. By the end of this chapter, they'll have explored several of the locations around Phandalin, found and stormed Cragmaw Castle, and uncovered the location of the Lost Mine of Phandelver itself - and you'll have brought them there!

Part 0: Gathering a Group

Part 0.5: Creating Characters

Part 1: Goblin Arrows

Part 2: Phandalin

Part 3: The Spider's Web

Part 4: Wave Echo Cave

Where to go?

In the last part of Lost Mine, your group most likely explored the Cragmaw Hideout, got to know the town of Phandalin, and delved into the dungeons underneath Tresendar Manor. Unless things went differently than the adventure expects, they likely did these things in a predictable order. In this chapter, your players will get to choose what leads they pursue and what parts of the adventure they'll tackle first.

What does this mean for you? You'll have to be more prepared and willing to improvise than previously. There's a list of information the characters may have gathered on page 27, and it'll be worthwhile spending some time reading up on each of the different locations mentioned - Agatha's Lair, Old Owl Well, the Ruins of Thundertree, and Wyvern Tor. Except for the Ruins of Thundertree, each of these locations is fairly straightforward to run so long as you're prepared.

Which adventure to play?

With Wizards of the Coasts’ recent policy of releasing just a few big adventures each year, Dungeon Masters who want to run a published adventure for D&D Fifth Edition have a choice to make. I've written this article to help DMs make informed choices about the adventures they'd like to run. Since we're approaching the holidays, this is also an excellent opportunity to pick out the perfect adventure for the DM in your life. Take note, players!

Why listen to me? While I haven’t played through each of these adventures to completion, I’ve read through them all along with reviews and actual play reports of each campaign. In addition, I’ve played through most of Lost Mine of Phandelver, all of Hoard of the Dragon Queen and The Rise of Tiamat, and about a third of Princes of the Apocalypse.

One last note: all of these descriptions are, by their nature, likely to spoil the content of the adventures discussed. I’ll try not to be too specific about plot points, but if you want to play through any of these adventures blind, don’t read ahead!

Getting Started with the Starter Set, Part 2: Phandalin

Hello, and welcome to Pact of the Tome. This article is the fourth in a series written for new Dungeon Masters who have picked up the Dungeons & Dragons 5E Starter Set and are planning to run a game with it for the first time. The first two articles cover the process of bringing a gaming group together and building characters, and each article after that will cover one "part" of the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure. I will not assume any prior knowledge about Dungeons & Dragons aside from information in the Starter Set rulebook.

In this article, I'll talk about the second part of the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure, "Phandalin." At this point, you've already played through one or more sessions, so your group should be getting a handle on how play D&D. With this chapter, it's time to kick things up a notch. Your players will have the opportunity to explore the town of Phandalin, interact with the people who live there, and confront the dastardly Redbrand gang. By the end, you'll have a solid grasp on all three pillars of D&D - combat, exploration, and interaction - and your group will be well on their way to becoming established heroes.

Part 0: Gathering a Group
Part 0.5: Creating Characters
Part 1: Goblin Arrows
Part 2: Phandalin
Part 3: The Spider's Web
Part 4: Wave Echo Cave

Planning Your Session

The town of Phandalin is custom-built to be a memorable
home base for your party of adventurers. Make sure you
make the most of it!
Cartography: Mike Schley

Goblin Arrows has a simple structure - the players are ambushed on the road, then track the goblin antagonists into their cave hideout and explore it. Phandalin is more complicated; the players have a whole town to explore, with cartloads of non-player characters ("NPCs") to talk to, several quest hooks to investigate, and a criminal gang to confront. In addition, there's a large dungeon under Tresendar Manor filled with foes, puzzles, and traps. You'll need to spend some time preparing beforehand to ensure you give your players the best experience.

Keep these things in mind as you read the adventure and take notes:

Getting Started with the Starter Set, Part 1: Goblin Arrows

Hello, and welcome to Pact of the Tome. This article is the third in a series written for new Dungeon Masters who have picked up the Dungeons & Dragons 5E Starter Set and are planning to run a game with it for the first time. The first two articles cover the process of bringing a gaming group together and building characters, and each article after that will cover one "part" of the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure. I will not assume any prior knowledge about Dungeons & Dragons aside from information in the Starter Set rulebook.

In this article, I'll cover the first part of the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure, "Goblin Arrows," which will likely be your first game of D&D. "Goblin Arrows" is a fairly straightforward adventure where the player characters enter a dungeon to rescue a kidnapped friend. By the end, you and your group should feel comfortable with the basic elements of D&D.

Part 0: Gathering a Group
Part 0.5: Creating Characters
Part 1: Goblin Arrows
Part 2: Phandalin
Part 3: The Spider's Web
Part 4: Wave Echo Cave

Preparing to Play

So you're getting ready for your first session of D&D. Excited? You should be. Worried? That's normal too, but with a little bit of preparation I can assure you that you'll be fine.

As the Dungeon Master, you're responsible for a lot - knowing and adjudicating the rules, describing the world to your players, and playing as the enemies and allies they meet along the way. The good news is that all of this will come fairly simply once you've gotten a handle on it.

What's the best way to prepare? Reading through the Starter Set rulebook and the first part of the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure is essential. In particular, the "Introduction" section of Lost Mine covers some very important basics for being a Dungeon Master. The rest of this article suggests material to focus on, but there's really no substitute for knowing the rules and the adventure well.

If you learn best by watching and listening rather than reading, you could check out some YouTube D&D videos to get a feel for the game. The folks at Wizards of the Coast put together a few videos where they play through the Starter Set, which ought to give you an excellent idea of what gameplay is like - here's a link to part one.

Getting Started with the Starter Set, Part 0.5: Creating Characters

Hello, and welcome to Pact of the Tome. This article is the second in a series written for new Dungeon Masters who have picked up the Dungeons & Dragons 5E Starter Set and are planning to run a game with it for the first time. The first two articles cover the process of bringing a gaming group together and building characters, and each article after that will cover one "part" of the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure. I will not assume any prior knowledge about Dungeons & Dragons aside from information in the Starter Set rulebook.

In this article, I'll discuss the process of building D&D characters with the rest of your group. As the Dungeon Master, you don't need to create a character, but you'll want to make sure your players have them!

Part 0: Gathering a Group
Part 0.5: Creating Characters
Part 1: Goblin Arrows
Part 2: Phandalin
Part 3: The Spider's Web
Part 4: Wave Echo Cave

Using the Premade Characters

The Starter Set already comes with five characters which match the adventure perfectly. The box includes character sheets for each of these on high quality paper, but you can also print out copies from the Wizards of the Coast website (see the Starter Set Characters link).

Getting Started with the Starter Set, Part 0: Gathering a Group

Hello, and welcome to Pact of the Tome. This article is the first in a series written for new Dungeon Masters who have picked up the Dungeons & Dragons 5E Starter Set and are planning to run a game with it for the first time. The first two articles cover the process of bringing a gaming group together and building characters, and each article after that will cover one "part" of the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure. I will not assume any prior knowledge about Dungeons & Dragons aside from information in the Starter Set rulebook.

Part 0: Gathering a Group
Part 0.5: Creating Characters
Part 1: Goblin Arrows
Part 2: Phandalin
Part 3: The Spider's Web
Part 4: Wave Echo Cave

The D&D Fifth Edition Starter Set is considered by many
experienced players to be the best introduction to D&D
in a long time. If you're considering getting started, I
heavily recommend it - and if you're on the fence, it's
only $20 at your local game store, or $12 on Amazon.

So you've got the Starter Set. Hopefully you've had the chance to flip through the included rulebook, the pre-generated characters, and the adventure/Dungeon Master booklet, Lost Mines of Phandelver. Maybe you've also talked to some of your friends about playing. What next?
In order to play D&D, you need a group of fellow players! At minimum, you'll want at least three players and a Dungeon Master, but many groups include up to 5 or 6 players. Finding people willing to give the game a shot can sometimes be a challenge, but it's absolutely worth it - D&D is best with a good-sized group where everyone can bring something different to the table.