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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Amphytrion" data-source="post: 9760807" data-attributes="member: 7046181">I don't think the adventure itself is very well done -- I think the lack of DM guidance to fairly elementary player choices is a major flaw, as is its paper-thin approach to everything. I would not recommend it to a starting group (or experienced ones, for entirely different reasons, which I'm not focusing on here). Its desing errors are something I would expect out of a novice designer, not out of WotC's team.I think "making it your own" can be a virtue, but its usefulness is proportional to DM experience, and therefore I think it's a poor goal for a Starter Set. Dragon Heist is one of my favorite modules of all time, and you very much need to make it your own to run the adventure. I still wouldn't recommend it for a beginner DM. There are organizational aspects to Heroes of the Borderlands that are brilliant and will be helpful (the NPC cards, for example), but that has nothing to do with the adventure itself. I remain an enthusiastic supporter of the components included even if I think the adventure is quite disappointing. This may very well be so, and I fully believe you. I am not familiar with the original. I do not think that excuses the failure here.They didn't even need to pick Keep on the Borderlands; they could have chosen any other adventure.Thank you for the breakdown by inflation. This reinforces my belief that the price is quite fair, despite my disliking of the adventure.I don't think this is useful for a starting DM. A starting DM doesn't even necessarily understand that there are multiple campaign settings. It's preferable to have some basic answers (e.g. what is the religion of the temple in town, what is the cult even about), than to keep it vague so that starting DMs can shop around campaign settings (which I do not think they will!).I also don't think it is that useful for an experienced DM, since that DM can swap settings fairly easily if he has a particular preference. So we have sacrificed fairly elementary descriptions and answers (which players will ask about) for no good reason, really.Non-combat resolutions is not an invention of this adventure, and WotC has traditionally included them for much of 5e's lifespan.Lost Mines of Phandelver had negotiation/parlaying opportunities in each and every one of its dungeons (and that was 10 years ago), and it also managed to have enough description not to strand the DM, and it managed to include descriptions of what the NPCs knew and could impart to the party should the party decide to speak to them. All of that was feasibly included in the adventure booklet, and I consider that basic adventure design, which makes its absence here all the more puzzling.</blockquote>

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