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Factions of Phandalin $9.95
Average Rating:4.8 / 5
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Factions of Phandalin
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Factions of Phandalin
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Badger B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/28/2023 08:05:46

This is so much better than it appears in the preview.

Lets start with the price. £8.19 is a lot for a DMSguild supplement when you dont know what you are getting. Its often a gamble.

I am happy to say that value for money was achieved and exceeded. Please read on to see why.

I am not quite sure how you would market this product better but try because its great.

In my purchase I received the following:

The 136 page main booklet. A handouts folder containing all 10 missions as individual handout images to players and a pdf containing all of them. A handouts folder containing all 19 items as individual handout images to players and a pdf containing all of them. A maps folder maps of the locations mentioned. With a bonus map of the Sword Coast.

The artworked are very high resolution and should have no scaling issues when it comes to reproducing it for the table..

The maps have a DM and a PC version with the exception of the Sword Coast regional map of which there is no need to hide details from the players.

The supplement itself is a joy to read. Clearly laid out. Liberal use of good art [NONE of it was AI!! A great bonus!!]. Each faction sets out the same structure enabling a quick way to easily see the dufferences on a galnce.

Each faction gets and average of 15 or so pages, beoken down as follows: a double spread just about the faction. This includes a short introduction, how to join, goals, beliefs, contants, ranks and rewards. How to level up [gaining renown] in the faction. 18 or so side quests split up by 1-6, 7-13 and 14-20. Not sure why it wasn't by tier but its a minor [and possibly the only] flaw.

There are clearly written guidelines on how to progress through the ranks and how to tie in the LMOP and DoIP plot points to progressions. [a bonus if you are a new DM] There are also a sanctioned mission per faction. I think this is one of the underplayed / underadvertised things about this suuplement. Each sanctioned mission is its own one shot. Its not a one page dungeon either. The Emerald Enclave sanctioned mission is an 8 page fully fleshed out map with all rooms having a great set of descriptive notes.

Honestly these could have been made into separate supplments themselves. The dungeons not the factions. Each faction has a separate supplement priced at £1.64 per faction

There is barely any flannel to the product. I have bought some supplements that are 8 pages and only 2 pages of actual content. This baby is 136 pages of the main supplement. 1 is the cover, 1 is the Table of Contents and 1 is the OGL and acknowledgements. 3 in total.

In short, since dm'ing fifth edition, this is the faction guide I wanted for LMOP but never knew about. It will also act as a great springboard for me for my own factions at my tables [I currently run 5 separate campaigns a month]



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Hey Badger, Thanks so much for the review, and I'm so happy you enjoyed it so much! To clarify a few points, The faction supplements sold for $1.99 each include the same content as this full supplement, focusing on a single faction with the background, mission, and necessary statblocks in case someone only wanted to buy a single faction to run. We also do not have any AI art in this product, currently. Our initial release used AI art for the cover, but it has since been updated to art from Ane Bonazza. We also used a number of edited stock images from Pixabay and images from DM's Guild to help give the product a professional look. Our upcoming products will also be made without any AI art, and we're working with Ane to find ways to include more handmade pieces of art to help improve our quality. Thank you again for the feedback, and if there's anything else you'd like to see improved in our future releases, please let me know. We are currently targeting a release in early October for a short adventure, I'm personally working on a similar supplement for the factions of Sigil, and we have a number of supplements over the coming months for the country of Amn just south of the Sword Coast including a setting guide that is currently looking to be over 300 pages.
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