The Shattered Obelisk
The Forge of Spells burns again, the hills shudder, and something ancient and alien stirs beneath the bedrock.
$30.00
/ Session
Details
2 players following this game
Weekly / Tuesday - 2:00 AM UTC
Jul 28 / Session 37
Session Duration / 3–3.5 hours
4 / 5 Seats Filled
Top Game Master
One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
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Schedule
Meet your party members
4/5
About the adventure
This game picks up at the transition from Lost Mine of Phandelver into The Shattered Obelisk, and new players can jump in without having played Lost Mine first. The Forge of Spells burns again, and the frontier settlement of Phandalin feels it immediately. The land quakes, the hills run hot, and things best left buried start pushing back toward the light. What should be a triumph turns ugly fast as disappearances mount, tempers fray, and something ancient and alien reawakens beneath the town’s foundations. Fight psychic corruption, mounting horror, and a town trying to remain sane as reality begins to slip. You’ll trace voidglass shards through mines, shrines, and sinking ground, push into caverns touched by alien influence, and face enemies twisted by forces that have remade mind and flesh alike. This campaign welcomes first-timers and veterans at the same table. New players get a clear on-ramp, strong objectives, and a setting that reveals its danger one layer at a time, while experienced hands can lean into sharper tactics, riskier choices, side paths, and the deeper logic behind what is happening. Built from a heavily reworked adaptation of The Shattered Obelisk, this campaign takes Lost Mine of Phandelver’s frontier foundations and drives them into darker, stranger country. It is designed as a premium continuation of the Phandalin story, carrying the party from local upheaval into cosmic threat and, if the table wants it, onward into Vecna: Eve of Ruin. I use the Beadle & Grimm’s versions across the full adventure series to build a lavish level 1–20 campaign that begins in Phandalin and ends with facing Vecna. This is a seat in an ongoing story, not a drop-in ticket - once you're in, the party (and the plot) counts on you being there.
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Tactical / Crunchy
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(27)
4 years on StartPlaying
267 games hosted
Highly rated for: Voices, Storytelling, Creativity
Average response time: 2 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
Watch the short video pitch for the TL;DR version of my origin story: https://youtu.be/htEhWDgKbsU I run character-driven, story-focused games, where player choices, dice rolls, and gumption drive the plot and adventures forward. I prepare situations, people and problems - and then let you decide how to handle it all. I’ve been obsessed with this stuff for most of my life. I grew up obsessed with mythology and fairy tales, and in the mid-80s I fell into D&D through Dragonlance and the old Gold Box computer games. While other kids were outside doing whatever normal kids do, I was pulling apart hit points and monster design to see how they worked. That obsession eventually led me into theatre and film. I directed Troll Bridge, a Pratchett-approved Discworld movie that received a heart-warming amount of attention, and Blood on the Game Dice, a love letter to tabletop gaming. Now days I'm back behind the DM screen, and doing what I can to torment and delight in the name of collaborative storytelling.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
You’ll be creating your character on D&D Beyond with the complete official library to scheme with. We use 5.5e where available, with 5e (2014 rules) filling in the gaps. Homebrew is not on the table. New characters start at level 7 and use point buy with fixed hit points. For gear, take your normal starting equipment - you may sell back anything you don’t want - then add 1,800 GP, plus 2 common and 2 uncommon magic items. You may buy additional equipment and magic items before the game at 5.5e prices. Please finish your sheet with details like height and weight; some traps pay attention to that. Completed characters must be submitted before the game so I can approve and import them into Foundry. You’ll have access to the game ~30 minutes before the session if you want to test dice rolls or poke at macros.
Baerion Caelgrim: Elf | Wizard / Diviner Gyr: Half-Elf | Paladin / Oath of Vengeance Rooke: Kenku | Cleric / Sorcerer / Trickery Domain Tazz Hollowitz: Halfling | Rogue / Thief
What to expect
Preparing for the session
💬 Discord: Install the app (not the browser version), make an account, and join the server link I send after you book. 💻 VTT: Foundry runs in your browser, you don’t need to buy anything. Use Edge for best performance (Chrome’s fine). Turn on hardware acceleration. 📜 D&D Beyond: Make your character there and send me their link before your first run so I can bring them into Foundry. It's free to sign up. 🎧 Audio gear: Headphones required. If we hear pets, fans, traffic, or typing, please enable push-to-talk. 🎬 Tech check: Join Discord 10 minutes early for a quick audio check and chatter. Then we kick the doors off their hinges. 🛰️ Connection: Stable internet. If your Wi-Fi is powered by sadness, plug in. Turn off your VPN and downloads.
What DM Dan Knight brings to the table
🐲 Master subscription on D&D Beyond for sharing the entire official 5e library ⚒️ Foundry VTT on Molten Hosting for accelerated network speeds 🎼 Syrinscape for licensed atmosphere and music 🗺️ Only the best third-party maps, tokens, and animation assets available 🎙️ Discord Nitro for exceptional speech clarity 🌈 A welcoming and inclusive game for everyone of all walks of life I run games from my studio with production-quality camera, lighting and audio. I have a background in film, theatre, AV, and graphic design, so I bring a production mindset to the table. The space is built for your character to take centre stage with a focus on presentation, flow, and narrative punch - so every session plays like a live show built around your party’s story. I run this from a dedicated studio with pro-grade camera, lighting, and audio. My background is in film, theatre, AV, and graphic design, and I bring that production sense to the VTT: clear audio, smooth pacing, and minimal technical friction. This is a professional setup built for immersive storytelling - so every session plays like a live show with your characters taking centre stage. You can see my setup here: https://youtu.be/htEhWDgKbsU
Homebrew rules
➤ Backgrounds are decoupled from ability score modifiers and origin feats, and you can select and adjust those appropriate to your character. ➤ Drinking a potion as a full action provides maximum results on all rolls. Drinking as a bonus action rolls dice as normal. Administering a potion to another is a full action with dice rolls. ➤ From 5th level critical hits provide maximum damage, followed by an additional roll of all dice. ➤ No reactions when surprised. ➤ Gain advantage on attacking targets out of their line of sight. Reactions can be used to face a melee attackers before the attack is resolved.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Headphones
Platforms used
Safety
How DM Dan Knight creates a safe table
I don’t try to decide what’s uncomfortable for you. If the fiction gets too close to home, that’s completely valid. The table runs on an open-door policy: you can step away, call a break, or tap out at any time with zero judgement. Intimacy fades to black and stays offscreen. There’s no racism, sexism, homophobia, or transphobia at the table. Any bias toward fantasy peoples (orc hate, drow misandry, etc) is roleplay only and earns in-world consequences. PvP only happens with prior explicit consent from everyone involved. Villains may perpetuate ugly things, but we don’t linger on it, we keep it offscreen, and player characters never perpetrate it. We always close with a quick debrief so nobody leaves carrying anything heavy. For everyone’s safety, sessions have their audio recorded.
Content warnings
Safety tools used