Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk (Part 1 Cragmaw Hideout)

Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk stems from The Lost Mine of Phandelver a classic and beloved starter set that many new DMs run. Even with this being the most recent release it still has an issue, the same as with many others...it doesn't describe the best way to transform the book's contents into an actual session. The Book-to-session conversion can be difficult between figuring out when things should happen, understanding motivations, and even organizing encounters.

Well, fortunately for you, 99% of that work is done! Only a few things are really left:

• Read the book, I know surprising, but It can be extremely confusing when you don't know where everything leads to.

• Consider the needs of your group. As you've heard or are about to hear a million times, every table is different. If you plan on combining this with a campaign, you'll have to make tweaks here and there.

• These notes aren't meant to be the end-all-be-all. Tweak to your heart's content, and don't consider any of what's written to be set in stone. For me having notes like this helps give me the confidence to go off the rails and follow along with what my players want. It helps me understand where things were meant to go and why. Having that understanding allows me to guide the players and create other new and interesting stories. These are all things that will come with experience, though, so don't freak out and enjoy the journey!

Advent's Notes: I was surprised with how few changes were made in the book considering how long this adventure has been around and all the wonderful things the community has come up with, I was even more surprised when they started adding more monsters to Cragmaw Cave. It's already pretty rough in there and with the additional creatures, it's almost assured there's going to be a TPK. I've kept most of the fights the way they were in The LMoP with only a few minor adjustments, the most important changes are just subtle nods to the Psi Goblins that will be encountered later on.

Campaign Info: As of March 2024 I've officially completed Act One of Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk! I've also compiled all of my prep for it in a single easy-to-access post which is available to all my Heroes and Legends. You can find HERE!

I've discussed this on Discord as well as answered a few questions and thought I would clarify some information here; campaigns are super time intensive, so I have to choose wisely which ones I prep. The first half PaB:TSO is just an updated version of The Lost Mine of Phandelver which I had already fully prepped; so I thought I would go through all my prep and update it to match and help all those who are starting to run the campaign! I may one day prep the second half; however, I'm trying to focus on the more popular Campaigns such as Curse of Strahd, before I work on others.

With what I've released, you'll have a great kickstart through most of the campaign and there are plenty of helpful members on the Discord that can guide you along the rest of the way! I hope that with what I've prepped so far you can have a truly Amazing campaign!!!

List of changes made (By Me)

• Updated first goblin encounter to be with a custom Psi Goblin

• Kept DC 12 Perception from LMoP when spotting goblin on bridge in Cragmaw Hideout

• Removed Giant Poisonous Snake from the unstable tunnel

• Removed the DC 10 Acrobatics check to avoid triggering the collapse instead only DC 10 Acrobatics if players attempt to climb.

• In the flood section, changed the effect to 1d6+prone from 2d6+prone.

• In the den, enemies changed from 5 goblins + 2 goblin bosses to 5 goblins + 1 goblin boss.

• In the pool's cave enemies changed from 3 goblins and 2 wolves to just 3 goblins.

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes Part 1 Cragmaw Hideout: DM Notes

• Link to: Intro + Cragmaw Hideout Playlist

• List of changes in Phandelver and Below: Change List (Credits: DMoplenty)

• Download The AAA Collection below!

Included in The AAA Collection are:

• A Word document with all my notes, including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights

• Special PDFs for all the encounters. This includes all the enemies' stat blocks organized neatly, along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP.
  An additional PDF with Sildars stats should he join the party as an ally

• Custom maps of Cragmaw Hideout. I enlarged and printed this out for my players as a battle map! (Credits: Azalkor and Go_Ravens)

Index:

Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk Act 1

• Part 1 - Intro and Cragmaw Hideout

• Part 2a - Phandalin

• Part 2b - Redbrand Hideout

• Part 3a - Reign of Iron

• Part 3b - Thundertree

• Part 3c - Cragmaw Castle

• Part 4 - Wave Echo Cave

• Part 5 - Side Quests

As always, If you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc. please let me know!

Cheers,
Advent

Credits:
Art & Campaign: Wizards of The Coast