Hello Everyone!
I’m currently running a DnD campaign composed of both of the Phandelver modules together with the Essentials kit. This mashup allows for a long sandbox campaign with a fleshed out world and many factions vying for dominance, giving you the perfect opportunity to homebrew connections between them. It’s especially practical when you consider that both the Essentials kit and the Phandelver modules use the same maps for the region and the town the adventure is set in:
Phandalin!
Both adventures use the same NPCs in Phandalin, so additional planning can be as minimal as you want. The modules also don’t interfere with each other, so you can run them more or less out of the box. Keep in mind that the campaign will be more than twice as long this way. I also recommend using milestone leveling, as your players are receiving the XP from two adventures set in the same world, possibly throwing off the balance of some encounters.
Additionally, by running the modules together, the players can choose which adventure path they want to pursue from their home base (Make it a home base and give them some downtime, seriously!) of Phandalin. This can be done after your players clear out the Redbrands, a local crime gang, from their hideout under the decrepit Tresendar Manor. Which you can then offer to the players, giving them a base of operations, a reason to protect Phandalin and a gold sink if they ever have too much treasure (Renovations sure are expensive
Thanks for reading! Go try it out!