Candlekeep Mysteries

Candlekeep Mysteries is an anthology of adventures by different authors, and it really feels that way—not in a good way. The quality and style vary wildly, making the book feel disjointed rather than cohesive. Despite being marketed as mysteries, most of these adventures aren’t really mysteries at all. There’s little room for actual investigation or player deduction, and many boil down to straightforward combat or exploration. The heavy-handed railroading doesn’t help either—most scenarios leave little space for improvisation, which can make things frustrating for both players and DMs. Newer DMs, in particular, may struggle if their players try to go off-script. On top of that, the book leans way too hard on the same tired gimmick: You opened the book and got sucked in! While it’s fun the first time, it quickly wore thin for my group. Overall, Candlekeep Mysteries has some interesting ideas, but its execution leaves a lot to be desired.

I am currently running through Candlekeep Mysteries for the first time. It's a really interesting set of one-off adventures that I'm pulling together into a full levels 1-16 campaign, just by adding a few extra connecting points. There are several articles and videos online with ideas for doing this, and things to tweak about the adventures if you're planning on having your PCs stay in Candlekeep awhile. The background information about the keep itself is fantastic--where else can you find the not-so-sane ghost of a silver dragon bound in a basement? Unfortunately this wonderful character does not show up in an adventure, but she does have a stat block so DMs can work her in wherever they need to. The adventures I've run so far have been fun; the ones coming up look terrific. There are a couple I've been advised to skip, but doesn't every adventure anthology have a couple of duds? All in all, a solid pick and really fun to play through.

Can't wait to run some of these Adventures in my new Job as Dungeon Master in the local Library ;D Ran huge parts of the Module as One Shots and as part of my Homebrew Campaign and had a lot of fun. Some are so cool I can't get enough running them and I did at many Conventions. Especially "A Deep and Creeping Darkness" and "Shemshime's Bedtime Rime". Two adventures that managed to turn DnD into a real Horrorgame. Sadly the Adventures aren't good organized for DM's as every other official 5e Adventure.

With 17 adventures in one volume, Candlekeep Mysteries is a varied mix of (mostly) decent adventures with some especially compelling ones and some duds. Among the module’s strengths are some mechanically and thematically strong adventures worth the price of the module in and of themselves like Shemshime’s Bedtime Rhyme (a pandemic-style horror of madness), Price of Beauty (a somewhat more open world spa with secrets), and Canopic Being (an excellent mummy tomb adventure), to name a few. Negatives: Not all the adventures are “mysteries” (many are fairly straightforward, linear adventures) and only two are set in Candlekeep proper. Several adventures need substantial GM alteration to make more compelling (one adventure involves evil yuan-ti, but their motivations are largely missing). It is tough to make it work as a single campaign, and most GMs are likely to just run select adventures within other campaigns. Some of them work quite well mixed into Strixhaven, for example.

I have been running Candlekeep Mysteries since 2022 when I worked at a university library with the intent of teaching D&D to college students who had either never played or needed a new group of folks to play with. I would introduce them with the 1st level one-shot, and then advance deeper into the one-shot hierarchy with advancing levels and give players the opportunity to either level their characters as we went along, or to create entirely new characters each time. It is a fantastic teaching tool, that I continue to utilize in my professional GMing career, as well as my personal games.

Candlekeep Mysteries has its fair share of incredible one-shots that offer a wide variety of adventure types. Want a mystery with heavy roleplay elements and interviewing suspects? Or a creepy mystery with unexplained disappearances? Or maybe a good, old-fashioned dungeon crawl? This book has got you covered - there's a little something for everyone. Given that Candlekeep Mysteries is an anthology, some adventures are definitely better than others. My personal favorite is the Level 4, "A Deep and Creeping Darkness," because it includes both exploration/seeking clues and an exploratory, maze-like section at the end. Some other standouts include "The Price of Beauty" and "Sarah of Yellowcrest Manor." That said, the weakest adventures tend to be at the start of the book, and while the level 1 adventure, "The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces" is an okay introduction for players new to D&D, the next two entries leave much to be desired. However, it's all a matter of personal preference, and the fantastic thing about this anthology is that you can absolutely find a story that fits what you and your players want. I highly recommend this book - of the released anthologies, Candlekeep is definitely one of the better ones, and the mystery hooks are great for getting your players invested in what's too come.