Candlekeep Mysteries is an adventure anthology for the new edition of Dungeons & DragonsThe idea of the book is that any of the adventures can be taken out and used on their own, or incorporated as part of a campaign.

Candlekeep Mysteries contains seventeen adventures, each of which are tied to a book. Candlekeep itself is a castle city within the Forgotten Realms D&D campaign setting, which is said to have the greatest library in the world. Anyone who wants to gain access to Candlekeep needs to bring a copy of a book that doesn't exist within the library. Simply finding such a rare book can be a quest on its own, considering the wealth of literature present in Candlekeep. Once Dungeons & Dragons players have access to Candlekeep, they'll find all kinds of ancient texts and magical tomes, each of which has the power to send them off on their next adventure.

Related: Dungeons & Dragons: What Candlekeep Is In D&D, Explained

It's possible to run Candlekeep Mysteries as a campaign, but most people will use the content in the book for single D&D adventures. There are some adventures in Candlekeep Mysteries that are better to start with for new groups, as it's easier to get into the meat of the adventure, without the players getting distracted.

Dungeons & Dragons: The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces

The only first-level adventure in Candlekeep Mysteries is The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces. The backstory of this adventure involves a town that has been struck with a curse, so the party needs to travel to Candlekeep in search of a spellcaster who can help. The bulk of this Dungeons & Dragons backstory can be safely ignored, as the DM can just start the party outside of the room where the whole adventure takes place.

The D&D party spends most of The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces inside of a Mordenkainen's magnificent mansion spell, as they must seek books that contain the magical password that will let them escape. The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces is an easy adventure for first-time DMs to start out with, as it's not combat or exploration heavy, and it mostly takes place in an area that's easy to memorize. The fact that the party can take a long/short rest whenever they need (or at least for as long as they have access to food and water) means that it's also fairly safe, and they're unlikely to suffer a TPK.

Dungeons & Dragons: A Deep & Creeping Darkness

Dungeons & Dragons Randomly Generated Character Attributes And HP Are Sadistic

A Deep and Creeping Darkness is designed for a level four D&D party, so it's a good starting point for players who want to jump ahead a few levels if they're weary of fighting the same level one encounters over and over again. It's easy to eschew any references of Candlekeep from this adventure, in order to jump straight into the action - simply have the players find a copy of A Deep and Creeping Darkness and put them within a few days of the town of Maerin.

A Deep and Creeping Darkness involves searching for a town near a platinum mine that was abandoned years earlier. They find a map within their copy of A Deep and Creeping Darkness, and they're soon thrust into a horror scenario, where they must explore an abandoned town and battle the creatures that now inhabit the mine. It's easy to remove a lot of the earlier story elements in A Deep and Creeping Darkness, whereas other adventures in Candlekeep Mysteries (like Mazfroth's Mighty Digressions) have lots of extra elements that the DM is expected to flesh out themselves, and can distract the players from their ultimate goal.

Next: Dungeons & Dragons Encounter Ideas For Prolonging Travel

Candlekeep Mysteries is available now.