Part 4: Wave Echo Gave
FifteenmileseastofPhandalin,inthedeepvalesofthe
SwordMountains,liesWaveEchoCave.Therichmine
ofthePhandelver’sPactwaslostfivehundredyearsago
duringoreinvasionsthatdevastatedthispartoftheNorth.
Inthecenturiessince,countlessprospectorsand
adventurershavesearchedforthelostmine,butnone
succeededuntiltheRockseekerbrothersfoundthe
entranceamonthago.Unfortunately,theRockseekers
didnotrealizetheywerebeingtrailedbyspiesworking
forNezznar,theBlackSpider,andtheyinadvertentlyled
thedrowvillaintotheirprize.Nezznarandhisfollowers
dealtwiththetwoRockseekerswhowereguardingtheir
find,thenarrangedforGundren’sambush.Learningofthe
adventurers’involvementwithGundrenortheirexploitsin
andaroundPhandalin,theBlackSpiderhasgivenorders
forthecharacterstobedealtwith.Meanwhile,Nezznar
hasbegunhisexplorationofWaveEchoCave.
ThedrowissearchingfortheForgeofSpells,where
thehumanmagesofoldPhandalinenchanteddwarven
weaponsandgnomegadgets.However,Nezznar’s
explorationhasbeenhinderedbytherestlessundeadand
dangerousmonstersthatlurkinWaveEchoCave,forcing
himtoproceedwithgreatcaution.
TheadventurersnowhavethechancetoaidGundren,
avengehiskin,andputastoptothenefariousschemes
oftheBlackSpider.Andofcourse,thehoardofpowerful
magicrumoredtobehiddenintheminesisarichprize.
CharacterLevel
Thispartoftheadventureisdesignedforcharactersof
atleast4thlevelandassumesthateachcharacterhas
earnedatleast2,700XP.Iftheadventurersskippedtoo
manyoftheoptionalinvestigationsandencountersinpart
3,theymightnotbe4thlevel,andmanyoftheencounters
inthissectionmightbedifficultforthem.
ExperiencePointAwards
Inthispartoftheadventure,XPisawardedfor
overcomingmonsters,asinparts 2 and3.However,
XPawardsformonstersisnotgivenintheencounter
description.Instead,theamountofXPthatamonster
isworthisnotedinitsstatblock(seeappendixB).You
calculatetheawardbytotalingthevalueforeachmonster
thecharactersovercome.AdditionalXPawards,andthe
reasonsforthem,aredescribedinthetext,underthe
“AwardingExperiencePoints”heading.
WanderingMonsters
Monstersroamthroughallareasofthemine.Random
encountersremindplayersthatmonstersaren’t
necessarilyconfinedtospecificareas,andthatnopartof
thedungeonissafe.Encounterswithwanderingmonsters
areaneffectivewaytokeeptheplayersandcharacters
ontheirtoes,alleviateplayerboredom,andtaxparty
resources.However,havingtoomanyrandomencounters
canbecometedious,sousethemsparingly.
Ifthecharactersspendalongtimeinagivenarea,you
cancheckforwanderingmonstersbyrollingad20.Ona
rollof17-20,anencountertakesplace.Conversely,ifthe
playersseemrestless,youcandecidethatanencounter
occurs.Rolladl2andconsulttheWanderingMonsters
tabletodeterminewhatthepartymeets.
WanderingMonsters
d!2Roll Result
1-3 Stirges(2d4)
4-5 Ghouls(ld4)
6 Gricks(ld4)
7-8 Bugbears(ld4)
9 Skeletons(ld6)
10 Zombies(1d6)
11-12 OchreJelly(1)
GeneralFeatures
Themineiscold,damp,andsurprisinglydrafty.A
noticeablebreezeblowsthroughmanyofitspassages,
flowingfromarea 1 towardarea16.
Ceilings
Tunnelsare 10 feethighunlessnoted
otherwise.Roomshave20-foot-highceilings,while
naturalcavernshave30-foot-highceilingsdotted
withstalactites.
Doors
Unlessnotedotherwise,alldoorsare 6 feettall,
4 feetwide,andmadeofsix-inch-thickcutslabsofstone
fittedwithironhandlesandhinges.Thedoorsarelowand
wide—perfectfordwarves.
Walls
Thewallsarehewnstone.Inafewareas(14,15,
19,and20),theyaredressedwithwell-fittedstoneblocks.
Floors.Allfloorsaresmooth,naturalstone.
Light.Noneunlessotherwiseindicated.Theboxed
textassumesthatthecharactershavelightsources
ordarkvision.
Stalagmites.Foundinmanyofthenaturalcaverns,
thesespiresofrockriseupfromthefloorandcanbeused
forcover(see“Cover”intherulebook).
KeyedEncounters
Alltheencountersinthispartoftheadventurearekeyed
tothemapofWaveEchoCave.
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PART4-:WAVEECHOCAVE