Phandelver and Below - How much are Chapters 1-4 like the Lost Mine 2014 Version?

[Gawain the Great]

I have just purchased the brand new FGU version of Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk.

I'm enjoying the content very much. I want to run the whole 8 chapters of the adventure, but I have a question regarding the prior "inspiration" from the original Lost Mine of Phandelver 2014. How much are the chapters 1-4 of the new adventure identical to the Lost Mine adventure?

I have one player in my group who DM'd the Lost Mine version of the story back when it first came out. There are parts of these new Chapters 1-4 which I really like and would like to keep (modifying them slightly for higher level players), and I don't want to discuss the details too much with him for obvious reasons. Since I never saw/read the original Lost Mine, I don't know how much the present "inspired" version overlaps with the first version.

If it is simply too close in story, content, encounters, etc., I'll just skip on to Chapters 5-8, but there's so much good stuff in chapter's 1-4, I'd like to be able to use.

I've noticed that the module was "developed by Zacchaeus," so very well done!

GG

[LordEntrails]

Identical? No. But very close. My reading of various reviews say that Below just takes LM and adds a cosmic horror element and extends it. My take-away would be that if someone has done LM, they will not the NPCs, they will know the plot lines, they will know where things will generally be headed. But, that shouldn't stop the fun, and it certainly doesn't prevent you from making minor tweaks so those familiar with LM are surprised. Change names, or just change who the good and bad guys are. i.e. Bob the Smith is the good guy and John the Grocer is the bad guy, just rename Bob to Mary and make her the bad guy while John become Sam the Grocer and is now the good guy.

Here's a pretty good review you might like: Digging Into Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk | EN World Tabletop RPG News & Reviews (https://www.enworld.org/threads/digging-into-phandelver-and-below-the-shattered-obelisk.699775/)

[Zacchaeus]

The main plot lines and locations in the new version are the same as the original. Certain encounters have been changed and there’s new stuff which foreshadows the later chapters. Some parts of the original have also been rewritten. Overall, it’s the same adventure, just with some new bells and whistles.

[Gawain the Great]

Identical? No. But very close. My reading of various reviews say that Below just takes LM and adds a cosmic horror element and extends it. My take-away would be that if someone has done LM, they will not the NPCs, they will know the plot lines, they will know where things will generally be headed. But, that shouldn't stop the fun, and it certainly doesn't prevent you from making minor tweaks so those familiar with LM are surprised. Change names, or just change who the good and bad guys are. i.e. Bob the Smith is the good guy and John the Grocer is the bad guy, just rename Bob to Mary and make her the bad guy while John become Sam the Grocer and is now the good guy.

Here's a pretty good review you might like: Digging Into Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk | EN World Tabletop RPG News & Reviews (https://www.enworld.org/threads/digging-into-phandelver-and-below-the-shattered-obelisk.699775/)

Thank you for the assessment and tips. I appreciate it. I agree with your ideas, too. A few tweaks here and there might be sufficient for this one player to be able to enjoy a "new" adventure even in an older plot.

[Gawain the Great]

The main plot lines and locations in the new version are the same as the original. Certain encounters have been changed and there’s new stuff which foreshadows the later chapters. Some parts of the original have also been rewritten. Overall, it’s the same adventure, just with some new bells and whistles.

Thank you for your prompt reply and discussion of the compare and contrast of the two versions of essentially the same story. It's such good stuff that I think I may work on it a bit to make it a bit less recognizable, but still usable.

It's a great module, so far. Thanks again! I appreciate the detail and the way you all have laid out the information.

[Gawain the Great]

The main plot lines and locations in the new version are the same as the original. Certain encounters have been changed and there’s new stuff which foreshadows the later chapters. Some parts of the original have also been rewritten. Overall, it’s the same adventure, just with some new bells and whistles.

Quick, odd question: I'm going through the Module and changing things (like names) to fit what I need. Do I need to save the Module in some way so that I don't lose my changes? If this were a file in the Modules folder, I could easily do that. Since I bought it though FGU Shop, I don't think there's a file listed in the Modules folder. If you all update this Module for any reason at some point, would I lose all my changes to it?

Thanks for the great stuff.

[LordEntrails]

No, your changes are saved upon exit and every 5 minutes to the campaign file. Your safe, but be aware your changes only exist in that campaign and not other campaigns you load the module into.

[Gawain the Great]

No, your changes are saved upon exit and every 5 minutes to the campaign file. Your safe, but be aware your changes only exist in that campaign and not other campaigns you load the module into.

Ahhh. Excellent safety tip. That makes sense. Glad ti have that on the radar!