Advent's Amazing Advice
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Welcome to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc., and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more, so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible!
*New 2026: For the New Year, I'm updating all my old work to include a Pre Session Checklist that will include a list of all miniatures you may need, maps, handouts, possible loot, a link to a playlist, and more to make it even easier to start your session!
The Lost Mine of Phandelver is a classic, one of the very first mini-campaigns that new players run. Hell, it's part of the starter set, after all! The issue, though, as with many other modules, is that 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, from figuring out when things should happen to understanding motivations and even organizing encounters.
Well, fortunately for you, 99% of that work is done! Only a few things are really left:
Advent
*New 2026: For the New Year, I'm updating all my old work to include a Pre Session Checklist that will include a list of all miniatures you may need, maps, handouts, possible loot, a link to a playlist, and more to make it even easier to start your session!
The Lost Mine of Phandelver is a classic, one of the very first mini-campaigns that new players run. Hell, it's part of the starter set, after all! The issue, though, as with many other modules, is that 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, from figuring out when things should happen to 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 module, 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!
- Google Docs Notes Part 1 Cragmaw Hideout: DM Notes
- Link to: DM Notes for the Visually Impaired
- Link to: Intro + Cragmaw Hideout Playlist
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