“Peril in Pinebrook” is free to download on DnD Beyond. Find more reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

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Designed by: Shawn Merwin

Peril in Pinebrook is a short, free, 1st level adventure designed to gently introduce players and dungeon masters to Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition. It’s inspired by upcoming book The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons, and free to download on D&D Beyond.

Although Pinebrook is a solid starter adventure, don’t mistake it for its older cousins, Dragon of Icespire Peak or Lost Mine of Phandelver (or the recent remaster Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk).

This is a 10-page adventure with extremely stripped down, barebones rules aimed at very new and younger players.

The two or three pages of rules go over the importance of the d20, attack rolls, skill checks, difficulty class, and 5e’s signature advantage/disadvantage system.

And that’s about it! No saving throws, no initiative, no status effects, no actions/bonus actions and zero information on spellcasting.

There’s some helpful advice on how to run an RPG, but otherwise the designers want the group to get into the game as quickly as possible, which is probably for the best when younger folks are involved.

Four pre-made character sheets are available, though they’re more like character index cards. In lieu of attribute scores, each PC has listed attacks and skills with relevant modifiers, as well as HP and AC. Class abilities (of which each PC has one) are listed as either per encounter or per adventure, such as the elf wizard being able to cast magic missile twice during the adventure.

They’re easy to read and understand, and leave space for notes and character drawings. I particularly like the description box that lists X or Y as descriptive prompts for players to choose, such as Absent-Minded or Focused.

The adventure is little more than a series of encounters, but that’s also probably right the call for a super simple game of D&D. Railroading isn’t all that bad, and in this case, it obfuscates the rails with a pseudo-dungeon crawl.

The adventure begins with the players out on patrol with their leader. They stumble on an adorable baby silver dragon, and they’re tasked with bringing it back to the dragon cave nearby.

Pro tip: If you want to get kids invested quickly, insert fun and/or adorable creatures for them to interact with!

pinebrook pic

The PCs are given a handout of translations to talk with the dragon (also cute) before setting off.

The entrance to the lair features their first combat encounter with a group of living icicles.

Combat in Peril in Pinebrook doesn’t worry about positioning, movement, range, or initiative rules. We simply take turns around the table from left to right, then the enemies go. Everyone’s in range to hit. Everything is an attack roll, and all damage is done with a d6.

I appreciate the limited rules, but I am bummed we’re only using a d20 and a d6. Kids would certainly “ohh” and “ahh” over the unique shapes of d4s, d8s, etc. And I would argue that saving throws and status effects aren’t much more complicated if we introduce them gradually and keep them simple (like a poisoned condition conferring disadvantage on ability checks).

After the battle the party enters the icy cave. Instead of allowing the party to explore the space on a map (as with a traditional dungeon crawl), the DM guides everyone along a series of encounters.

These linear encounters are nicely varied to break up the action. They include scaling a wall, answering a puzzle (whip out that handout!), and surviving a fall down some icy slides (making skill checks instead of saves).

The final battle is against some egg snatching creatures that resemble frogs. Enemies only have HP, AC, and a single attack, so it’s up to the players and narrative descriptions to make the battles exciting.

The lack of maps and environmental factors during combat is a bummer. I get keeping things simple, but my group always prefers the visual, wargame element to D&D combat. I imagine most new players and kids would appreciate seeing a map, standees, etc.

At the very least, give me pictures of these monsters we’re battling! The only art in the small book is dragon-related, presumably lifted directly from The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons.

Despite my mostly nitpick complaints, this is a solid intro adventure, and a noble attempt at slimming down the 5e rulesets to their most basic form. It uses dragons in a really fun way, fakes a dungeon crawl, and keeps everything short and simple to create a positive first-time experience with D&D.

Pros:

  • Teaches basic rules and game flow in three pages, adding more as you play.
  • 4 easy-to-use half-page character sheets.
  • Linear series of encounters that still feels like a mini-dungeon crawl.
  • Baby dragon!

Cons:

  • No maps or non-dragon related art.
  • Doesn’t teach saving throws, status effects, movement, or actions.

The Verdict: Aimed at younger and brand-new players, Peril in Pinebrook does a lot of things right while keeping the rules simple and fun.

Find more reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

Support my work by using my affiliate links and pledging via Patreon.