Phandelver and Below, the best new starting point for D&D, gets its own luxury boxed set

A newbie Dungeon Master, I was attracted to Dungeons & Dragons by the opportunity to spend my free time making delightful experiences for my players. And delighted they were when I plopped a giant canvas map of the Sword Coast region onto my dining room table. I looked at my nephews and my wife, all with some TTRPG experience under their belts, and then to the odd man out: my nearly 70-year-old father who has zero previous experience with role-playing games.

But even with the disparity in their skill sets, it was the elegant prop map that pulled them in. While I’d done the work to prepare the scene, and brought everyone together with pizza, I didn’t make the map. Instead, it was an immaculate prop of Beadle & Grimm’s design that truly pulled the party together. Suddenly this imaginary nonsense I’d sold my dad on was a real place — with real roads and real goblins waiting in ambush.

The adventure was Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk, the new best starting point for those just getting into D&D. But I wasn’t just using the excellent campaign book published by Wizards of the Coast. I was also relying on a $350 box of maps and other props made by Beadle & Grimm’s, Matthew Lillard’s publishing company. Like its other boxed sets, this one is loaded with items to help you run a specific campaign.

Photo: Charlie Hall/Polygon

There are monster cards that you can place on your DM screen that have the monster’s stat block on one side and gorgeous art for your players on the other. There are badge pins that the party can earn during the course of play, allowing them to show off their allegiance to the Harpers or the campaign’s other factions. There is a deck filled with magic item cards to help your players stay organized. And there’s even a custom DM screen loaded up with information on important NPCs and when your players are supposed to level up. But the most important part of the package — for player immersion, at least — are the maps.

My big, beautiful canvas map of the Sword Coast helped introduce my players to the world, and it got them on their feet early in the game. But as helpful as it was, the canvas map was nothing compared to the gridded battle maps. The boxed set comes with 32 of them, each one detailing an important encounter.

Heading through the first dungeon — Cragmaw Hideout — I placed the detailed map on my table with sheets of paper blocking the places my players hadn’t yet discovered. As they walked, I uncovered pieces bit by bit. That way, when a goblin guard spotted the party and set off to flood the tunnel, the group authentically panicked. Only by consulting the map were they able to weasel their way into a steep offshoot from the main path. The map not only sold my players on the environment they were adventuring through, it changed how they played.

That’s when the game opened up for everyone — even my dad.

Image: Beadle & Grimm’s and Wizards of the Coast

Our Barbarian rolled well and shot up the steep alley path with a natural 20 while I consulted the adventure booklet next to me (which Beadle & Grimm’s separated out into chapters, making referencing what the party might find on a specific path like this much easier). Our Ranger made it up about halfway, while our Fighter and Druid were stuck at the bottom, trying to stop themselves from being swept away by the flood. Unfortunately, the Ranger stepped on a snake and it bit him until he was unconscious — level 1, folks. Our Barbarian caught the unconscious Ranger by the back of his shirt only to roll a 1 a round later, dropping him. We all watched on the map as I slid the Ranger’s token down onto the ledge with the snake, crushing the enemy, but causing a small cave-in that not only knocked our Fighter unconscious and caused our Ranger to fail a death save, but knocked our Druid into the oncoming flood as well.

Our Barbarian watched in horror as most of his party was swept back to the entrance of the cave. Everyone was eventually stabilized with a healing potion or two, but it was a harrowing and hilarious bonding moment for the entire group. They then went on to conquer the rest of the dungeon and rescue Sildar Hallwinter, a knight whose picture I was able to display for the group thanks to some helpful handouts from Beadle & Grimm’s. But that’s not the point. What matters is I saw three amateur D&D players and one complete newcomer finally get what makes tabletop role-play great in that clusterfuck of a moment.

I originally intended our adventure to just be a one-shot of Cragmaw Hideout to test Beadle & Grimm’s Legendary Edition, as I’m already busy DMing my own game for some friends on a weekly basis. However, I now find myself with four family members who are deeply invested in Phandalin and its many mysteries, all of whom are expecting a second session (which I’ve of course agreed to). But despite having doubled my work as a DM, I hardly feel any pressure at all when it comes to my Phandelver and Below campaign.

Image: Beadle & Grimm’s and Wizards of the Coast

I love DMing my personal campaign, but it’s pretty taxing on my time. I spend multiple hours a week thinking through potential scenarios and trying out various character voices and personalities in the shower to ensure that I can entertain my players when we group up. But outside of character creation, I only thought about Phandelver in the couple of days and hours leading up to our initial session. In fact, it took me longer to corral my players and find a time that we could play than to prepare for the adventure itself.

All of the pieces in the box either helped me sell the world to my players or helped me prepare extremely quickly. Sure, I wish the set was even more friendly to new DMs like myself and came with more than five miniatures (three mind flayers and two intellect devourers). But I very much appreciated that I didn’t have to spend hours staring at a fiddly mapmaking website, fighting with Microsoft OneNote, or cruising Etsy to suck my players in. Not only did Beadle & Grimm’s allow me to free up my time for other important stuff (like my original campaign or my real, human child) but it helped me preserve energy for the actual session itself so that I could be the best DM that I could be for my players, and that is priceless.

Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk Legendary Edition was reviewed using pre-release retail products provided by Beadle & Grimm’s. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships, but not with Beadle & Grimm’s. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.