D&D 5th edition’s first adventure finally comes to a close

Way back in 2014, Wizards of the Coast kicked off 5th-edition Dungeons & Dragons with Lost Mine of PhandelverThe original adventure was bundled up with a tiny little book. Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set. Now, nearly 10 years after its original publication, it’s back to finish the job. Phandelver: The Shattered ObeliskA 226 page adventure in full size will arrive on 19th September.

Wizards hasn’t said much about Phandelvers and BelowThe publisher kept this air of secrecy at a press conference held in august. It is known that about a third of this book contains a new version of the adventure. Amanda Hamon was the lead designer and said the goal of that first section of the book was to make the adventure richer for Dungeon Masters so they could share it with their players. In the last two thirds, all hell breaks out.

Kent Davis/Wizards of the Coast

“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.”

After the mysterious ritual is completed, images of idyllic scenes from Phandalin’s bucolic village fade. Instead, a series monstrosities appear. Each one is more terrifying than the last.

Grid View

Wizards shared images of a corrupted cow, magic-wielding goblins, and a flesh meld — a horrific creature whose fleshy bits appear to be held together with bone toggles, like a giant piece of animated, snakelike clothing.

Like all new D&D adventures, this one is being sold at a premium price online bundled with a digital version of the same material for $69.95. Pre-orderers get $10 off the price and can access the digital copy on September 5 – two weeks before it is released. Only local game stores will have a collectible edition, however the book itself is available on Amazon. If you’d like a taste before then, the original adventure is still available for free on D&D Beyond.