D&D 5E Phandelver starting to show up in the wild. NewbieDM looks to be the first!

[Paul Farquhar]

Oh sure. That's why I specified the ones in the basement. The ones that interact with the village are common thugs, the ones ''admitted'' in the inner sanctum would be twisted (but just a little...).

It's still rather early in the narrative for a story of this type. You normally just hint at something weird, and build towards shocking revelations at the climax.

But experienced D&D players are probably used to this stuff anyway, so it doesn't make much difference. "Not another one with a mass of worms instead of eyes!"

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

It's still rather early in the narrative for a story of this type. You normally just hint at something weird, and build towards shocking revelations at the climax.

But experienced D&D players are probably used to this stuff anyway, so it doesn't make much difference. "Not another one with a mass of worms instead of eyes!"

Cant argue with that!

At least my players are pretty squeamish: Just put a simple CR 0 rat in a basement and they'll hesitate for 30 minutes, making plans to kill without approaching or, gods forbid, touching it

 

[Zaukrie]

DnDbeyond has some info today....on the town and area, with spoilers which was odd for me....it also mentions Icespire and the other box set, but not any of the other locations from that version. I'm hoping to kill my current game and run this (with Icespire additions), as I already have a great update to gnomengarde that actually fits the new story (assuming its the story I think it is).

I want the starting town to be relatively boring, but some fantasy would be good for me. And, the game should be PG .....DMs can tone it up or down from there....

 

[TheSword]

Its not about novelty, its about excitement. My players were definitely not excited when they realized Phandalin has nothing to offer. Mostly human NPC and human bandits. And nothing special about the town. Its the least fantastical you can go without actually playing in a medieval setting. It doesnt need to be novel, put the oldest fantasy clichés and tropes in there for all I care, but let the players feel the genre theyve commited too.

Well excitement comes from different places. Maybe it comes from fantastical examples of things. Maybe it comes from clues and intrigue, strong player motivations and goals and a level of mystery. I firmly believe you don’t need a town balanced on the edge of an active volcano to build dramatic tension.

 

[Scribe]

I wonder how soon it will be available in my local book store, I better start checking

 

[Demetrios1453]

Honestly, starter towns can work either way, either mundane or fantastical. It really depends on the DM, group, and the actual adventure. If suddenly we're going to experience way-out Far Realms stuff, then making the town mundane in contrast (and to provide a respite from all the weirdness) might not be a bad thing.

 

[Retros_x]

Well excitement comes from different places. Maybe it comes from fantastical examples of things. Maybe it comes from clues and intrigue, strong player motivations and goals and a level of mystery. I firmly believe you don’t need a town balanced on the edge of an active volcano to build dramatic tension.

I absolutely agree with everything you said, but nothing in Phandalin is exciting. There are no fantastic elements, nor clues and intrigue, nor mystery. Strong player motivations are often missing with new players too, if the DM is not experienced and takes care in a good session 0 to help them with that. Please don't tell me delivering a wagonload of provisions to a bland town with bland mostly human npcs threatened by human bandits counts for you as an exciting introduction to fantasy roleplay. And even if we put excitement by side, I think some fantastical examples just should be in a fantastical game.

No. They don't. And which tropes they are familiar with will depend on their background. You may think "hobbits live in funny houses" but to the author, the world he was describing (pre-war rural England) was more familiar than the one he was living in.

I had the houses from the movies in my mind, which probably most new players would also have in their mind. And there is still the rest of my list and much more. And yes, most players know fantasy tropes if they did not live under a rock for the last 60 years. I think we should not cater our products for the few who might never heard of these tropes to not overwhelm them, which is also quite condescending. If you invite for a fantasy roleplaying game, I think its fair for the players to expect fantasy, and Phandalin has besides some goblins almost nothing phantastical for the first 2 chapters. Only in the second half there are some memorable events, locations and enemies incoming, mostly Thundertree and Wave Echo Cave.

 

[bedir than]

Honestly, starter towns can work either way, either mundane or fantastical. It really depends on the DM, group, and the actual adventure. If suddenly we're going to experience way-out Far Realms stuff, then making the town mundane in contrast (and to provide a respite from all the weirdness) might not be a bad thing.

I will set up a campaign that starts fantastical and gets more mundane as the players suck all the magic out of the world with each spell they cast

 

[TheSword]

I absolutely agree with everything you said, but nothing in Phandalin is exciting. There are no fantastic elements, nor clues and intrigue, nor mystery. Strong player motivations are often missing with new players too, if the DM is not experienced and takes care in a good session 0 to help them with that. Please don't tell me delivering a wagonload of provisions to a bland town with bland mostly human npcs threatened by human bandits counts for you as an exciting introduction to fantasy roleplay. And even if we put excitement by side, I think some fantastical examples just should be in a fantastical game.

And yet it is the most highly raved about product in 5e’s entire run. Loved, seemingly, by almost all who run it.

Your fantastical is potentially my outrageous.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I will set up a campaign that starts fantastical and gets more mundane as the players suck all the magic out of the world with each spell they cast

You jest, but its something that I see frequently in 5e. After a few levels, you have a dragonman shapeshifting into a huge bear launching laser moonbeam from its mouth! And that's only one character! There's not much in the MM that can out-weird a bunch of D&D characters.

I can understand that things can feel bland in Phandelver when you arrive in town with a owlin dragon sorcerer, a tabaxi barbarian and a warforged bard.