telltheplayerwhathappens.Likewise,ifthere’snoway
anyonecouldaccomplishthetask,justtelltheplayerit
doesn’twork.
Otherwise,answerthesethreesimplequestions:
- Whatkindofabilitycheck?
- Howhardisit?
- What’stheresult?
Usethedescriptionsoftheabilityscoresandtheir
associatedskillsintherulebooktohelpyoudecidewhat
kindofabilitychecktouse.Thendeterminehowhard
thetaskissothatyoucansettheDCforthecheck.The
highertheDC,themoredifficultthetask.Theeasiestway
tosetaDCistodecidewhetherthetask’sdifficultyiseasy,
moderate,orhard,andusethesethreeDCs:- Easy(DC10).Aneasytaskrequiresaminimallevelof
competenceoramodicumoflucktoaccomplish. - Moderate(DC15).Amoderatetaskrequiresaslightly
higherlevelofcompetencetoaccomplish.Acharacter
withacombinationofnaturalaptitudeandspecialized
trainingcanaccomplishamoderatetaskmoreoften
.thannot. - Hard(DC20).Hardtasksincludeanyeffortthatis
beyondthecapabilitiesofmostpeoplewithoutaidor
exceptionalability.Evenwithaptitudeandtraining,a
characterneedssomeamountofluck—oralotofspe-
cializedtraining—topulloffahardtask.
Theoutcomeofasuccessfulcheckisusuallyeasyto
determine:thecharactersucceedsatwhateverheorshe
setouttoaccomplish,withinreason.It’susuallyequally
easytofigureoutwhathappenswhenacharacterfailsa
check:thecharactersimplydoesn’tsucceed.
Glossary
Theadventureusestermsthatmightbeunfamiliartoyou.
Afewofthesetermsaredescribedhere.Fordescriptions
ofrules-specificterms,seetherulebook.
Characters.Thistermreferstotheadventurersrun
bytheplayers.TheyaretheprotagonistsinanyD&D
adventure.Agroupofcharactersoradventurersis
calledaparty.
NonplayerCharacters(NPCs).Thistermrefersto
charactersrunbytheDM.HowanNPCbehavesis
dictatedbytheadventureandbytheDM.
BoxedText.Atvariousplaces,theadventurepresents
descriptivetextthat’smeanttobereadorparaphrased
aloudtoplayers.Thisread-aloudtextisoffsetinboxes.
Boxedtextismostcommonlyusedtodescriberoomsor
presentbitsofscripteddialogue.
StatBlock.AnymonsterorNPCthatislikelytobe
involvedincombatrequiresgamestatisticssothattheDM
canruniteffectively.Thesestatisticsarepresentedina
formatcalledastatisticsblock,orstatblock.You’llfindthe
statblocksneededforthisadventureinappendixB.
Tenday.IntheForgottenRealms,aweekistendays
longandcalledatenday.Eachmonthconsistsofthree
tendays—thirtydaystotal.Magic ItemsandMonsters
Wheneverthetextreferstoamagicitem,itsnameis
presentedinitalictype.Foradescriptionoftheitemand
itsmagicalproperties,seeappendixA.Similarly,whenevertheadventuretextpresentsa
creature’snameinboldtype,that’savisualcuedirecting
youtothecreature’sgamestatisticsinappendixB.Abbreviations
Thefollowingabbreviationsareusedinthisadventure.
DC=DifficultyClass XP=experiencepoints
gp=goldpiece(s) pp=platinumpiece(s)
sp=silverpiece(s) ep=electrumpiece(s)
cp=copperpiece(s)Background
Morethanfivehundredyearsago,clansofdwarvesand
gnomesmadeanagreementknownasthePhandelver’s
Pact,bywhichtheywouldsharearichmineinawondrous
cavernknownasWaveEchoCave.Inadditiontoits
mineralwealth,theminecontainedgreatmagicalpower.
Humanspellcastersalliedthemselveswiththedwarves
andgnomestochannelandbindthatenergyintoagreat
forge(calledtheForgeofSpells),wheremagicitemscould
becrafted.Timesweregood,andthenearbyhumantown
ofPhandalin(pronounced&/7-duh-lin)prosperedaswell.
Butthendisasterstruckwhenoressweptthroughthe
Northandlaidwastetoallintheirpath.
Apowerfulforceoforesreinforcedbyevilmercenary
wizardsattackedWaveEchoCavetoseizeitsrichesand
magictreasures.Humanwizardsfoughtalongsidetheir
dwarfandgnomealliestodefendtheForgeofSpells,and
theensuingspellbattledestroyedmuchofthecavern.
Fewsurvivedthecave-insandtremors,andthelocationof
WaveEchoCavewaslost.
Forcenturies,rumorsofburiedricheshaveattracted
treasureseekersandopportuniststotheareaaround
Phandalin,butnoonehaseversucceededinlocatingthe
lostmine.Inrecentyears,peoplehaveresettledthearea.
Phandalinisnowarough-and-tumblefrontiertown.More
important,theRockseekerbrothers—atrioofdwarves-
havediscoveredtheentrancetoWaveEchoCave,andthey
intendtoreopenthemines.
UnfortunatelyfortheRockseekers,theyarenottheonly
onesinterestedinWaveEchoCave.Amysteriousvillain
knownastheBlackSpidercontrolsanetworkofbandit
gangsandgoblintribesinthearea,andhisagentshave
followedtheRockseekerstotheirprize.NowtheBlack
SpiderwantsWaveEchoCaveforhimself,andheis
takingstepstomakesurenooneelseknowswhereitis.Overview
LostMineofPhandelverisdividedintofourparts.Inpart
1,“GoblinArrows,”theadventurersareontheroadto
thetownofPhandalinwhentheystumbleintoagoblin
ambush.Theydiscoverthatthegoblins(whobelongtothe
Cragmawtribe)havecapturedtheirdwarffriendGundren
Rockseekerandhisescort,ahumanwarriornamedSildar
Hallwinter.Thecharactersmustdealwiththeambushers
andthenfollowtheirtrailbacktothegoblins’hideout.
TheyrescueSildarandlearnfromhimthatGundren
andhisbrothersdiscoveredafamouslostmine.Sildar
knowsonlythatGundrenandhismaphavebeentakento
somewherecalled“CragmawCastle.”
Inpart2,“Phandalin,”thecharactersarrivein
PhandalintofinditterrorizedbytheRedbrands,agang
3
INTRODUCTION