Mines of Phandelver Story Overview

Part 1 - "Goblin Arrows"

The adventurers are on the road to the town of Phandalin when they stumble into a goblin ambush. They discover that the goblins (who belong to The Cragmaw Tribe) have captured their dwarf friend Gundren Rockseeker and his escort, a human warrior named Sildar Hallwinter.

The characters must deal with the ambushers and then follow their trail back to the goblins' hideout. They rescue Sildar and learn from him that Gundren and his brothers discovered a famous lost mine. Sildar knows only that Gundren and his map have been taken to somewhere called "Cragmaw Castle."

Part 2 - "Phandalin"

The characters arrive in Phandalin to find it terrorized by The Redbrands, a gang of miscreants led by a mysterious figure called Glasstaff.

A number of interesting NPCs can also be found in Phandalin, laying the hooks for short adventures in part 3. The Redbrands try to run the characters out of town, so the characters return the favor and storm the Redbrand lair.

In a hidden stronghold beneath an old manor, they find that Iarno Albrek or 'Glasstaff', the leader of the Redbrands, is taking his orders from someone called The Black Spider-and that the Black Spider wants the adventurers out of the picture.

Part 3 - "The Spider's Web"

This section provides the characters with several short adventures in the region around Phandalin as they search for more information about the Black Spider and the dwarves' lost mine.

The clues the characters picked up in Phandalin can lead them to spy on a mysterious wizard at the ruins of Old Owl Well, seek the advice of a dangerous banshee, oust a band of ores lurking at Wyvern Tor, and investigate the ruins of the town of Thundertree.

Several of these leads point to Cragmaw Castle, which is the stronghold of King Krol, leader of the Cragmaw goblins.

Here the characters discover that the Black Spider is a drow adventurer named Nezznar, and that the Cragmaw goblins work for him (drow are elves who hail from a realm deep underground). More importantly, they recover Gundren Rockseeker's map to the lost mine, or learn the mine's location from one of the other leads they unearth during part 3.

Part 4 - "Wave Echo Cave"

Following the map or the directions to the lost mine brings the characters to part 4, Wave Echo Cave. That lost underground complex is now overrun by undead and strange monsters.
Nezznar the Black Spider is there with his loyal followers, exploring the mines and searching for the legendary The Forge of Spells.

The adventurers have the opportunity to avenge Gundren Rockseeker, to ensure the prosperity and security of Phandalin by clearing the rich mine of its monsters, and to put an end to the troublemaking of the Black Spider-if they can survive the dangers of the Lost Mine of Phandelver.

Adventure Hook

You can let players invent their own reasons for visiting Phandalin, or you can use the following adventure hook. The backgrounds and secondary goals on the character sheets also provide characters with motivations for visiting Phandalin.

Meet Me in Phandalin The characters are in the city of Neverwinter when their dwarf patron and friend, Gundren Rockseeker, hires them to escort a wagon to Phandalin. Gundren has gone ahead with a warrior, Sildar Hallwinter, to attend to business in the town while the characters follow with the supplies. The characters will be paid 10 gp each by the owner of Barthen's Provision in Phandalin when they deliver the wagon safely to that trading post.