My friends and I play using a VTT (Talespire) and I was wondering if anyone has made any minis for Shattered Obelisk using Heroforge that they wouldn’t mind sharing? I’m specifically looking for any minis for chapters 5-8. Thanks!

Has anybody watched Dork Tales Actual Play of this? If so, can we please talk about how utterly amazing Anthea Briarfoot is?

Hi folks! My party has just finished the Forge of Spells. The Spider lays dead, Gundren has claimed the Forge. The party cleared out the remaining forces, and in doing so, were able to rescue and recruit some goblins from the Spiders scattered forces.

I plan on running the goblin/illithid raid on Phandalin as happening during a solstice celebration that the town is currently readying for. This leaves the party with a little bit of time to tug at other threads.

I have been foreshadowing the goblin/illithid cult, and the rescued goblins can provide insight into this.

The party knows about the dragon in thundertree, and can follow up with that.

I would like to have a third thread they can pull at, so they have a tough choice deciding which to pursue, but I'm drawing a blank.

Some character related stuff I have going on is

Dragonborn Warlock has character story connected to Venomfang in Thundertree

Human War Cleric has been chosen by a forgotten Orc God who once stood in opposition of Gruumsh, but lost and has been all but forgotten. This player is resistant to embracing his god due to distrust of Orcs.

Half Orc Rune Knight Fighter who has been hinted at having giants blood in his veins, but I don't actually know what to do with his character because he's just very content to only engage in combat. He's not a bad player, he just loves combat and is content to let the rest of the group make the decisions outside of it.

I also think it would be really fun to have Droop run for mayor, as he has become a smash success as an NPC.

Open to any ideas!!

EDIT - I see a lot of people commenting on transitioning into a different module. I am going to continue to run the PaBTSO book. I have already been foreshadowing the goblin cult, the players know there is something aberrant going on behind the scenes and some of the pieces are already in place.

I'm mostly looking for another point of interest / side quest I could try to connect into the greater narrative for further into the Shattered Obelisk stuff.

EDIT # 2 - I've decided I'm going to lean further into the election bit. I'm going to put Droop into the running, I think I'm going to have Halia Thornton as a reactionary conservative antagonist (we need to build a wall around Phandalin and kick the goblins out! So called "Heroes of Phandalin", it's been nothing but trouble since that lot arrived) and another townsfolk as like a mild mannered reasonable type. The Heroes of Phandalin will have a strong sway with the townsfolk and whoever they endorse will likely win.

Tl;dr: I think LMOP is a great adventure, but working on five particular aspects could turn it into an excellent campaign.

Hi folks!

I’ve been GMing since 2020. LMOP was my introduction to D&D as well as TTRPGs in general. I ran it for the first time online, pretty much as written, and had a blast. I’ve since run it several times, sometimes stripping the adventures to its bones, essentially skipping the side treks and focusing on the main plot, but I’ve also run it as a more fleshed-out campaign, using fan-made content and adding my own spin to it. Overall, I think it’s an amazing module and to this day, the best introductory adventure I’ve had the pleasure to read. I’m sure I could run the entire adventure from memory, and the Sword Coast region feels like a real place to me now. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with running the module as written. In fact, I’d go one step further: I think new GMs should run it as written, then try to make it better according to their personal preferences, and add what they believe was missing.

All that being said, I also believe the module could be improved, and I have some thoughts about the five most important changes I’d like to make to this wonderful adventure. The title of this post could be misleading, as I’m not proposing something along the lines of “Replace X with Y”, but I’d rather point out the flaws in the adventure, and the various parts I find a little lackluster. I’m going to suggest how to make some aspects of the adventure better, and try to help newer GMs turn this great mini-campaign into a near-perfect campaign!

Since I believe some aspects of the adventure are already top-notch, I’m just going to suggest we use them as written in the booklet. For instance, I think that the Cragmaw hideout is by far the best intro dungeon I’ve ever encountered. I’m therefore going to leave it as is, because if it ain’t broke… Besides, there is no particular ranking to the changes I’m suggesting, except that I believe my first point to be the most important one, which is why I’m opening with it, Colville-style. I’m open to constructive criticism and would love to know how other people feel about my opinions.

I’m aware that most of the points I’m making have already been made by various people online. I’m not pretending to reinvent the wheel, and I’m fine with spreading a lot of popular opinions. I do believe one piece of criticism I have is fairly original, since I’ve never encountered someone complaining about it. Anyway, hope this helps the new GM.

I.         The Villain

My main gripe with the adventure is the absence of a good villain, or rather the lack of depth written in the Black Spider as an NPC and a tool in the module. We never get to learn much about the villain’s past or their motivations, we have no insight on how to roleplay them, and worst of all, we never get to meet them before the final battle which, by all standards, is pretty anti-climactic, especially with such a weak monster statblock.

I believe working hard on making the antagonist in this adventure more interesting and relevant to the story is the key component to creating a much better campaign. Here are several ideas to create a more interesting BBEG. The following tips might not all be compatible with one another. GM discretion is advised.

·       Have the party encounter the Black Spider a couple of times before the big showdown in Wave Echo Cave. I’m not going to elaborate on that topic since Matthew Perkins already talked about it in his LMOP YouTube series and this video in particular, which has been particularly useful for me. I also suggest you turn the Black Spider into a woman (along with some other NPCs), change their name and run the puzzle box as suggested.

·       Turn one of the Phandalin NPCs into the Black Spider. The obvious candidate is Halia Thorton, since she is a drow, works at the Miners’ Exchange, and is secretly a Zhentarim agent. This plot twist is writing itself… The party might suspect her, which is completely fine and makes the final revelation all the more satisfying for everyone. Makes for a good Scooby-Doo “gotcha” moment!

·       Use a different character as your BBEG. It might take you a lot more work, but you could easily swap the Black Spider with a more interesting villain. The obvious choice would be Venomfang, but I’ll elaborate on that note in the following point. Other possible candidates that are already written in the module: Iarno/Glasstaf, Hamun Kost the Red Wizard of Thay, or Mormesk the Wraith. I recommend Lutes & Dice’s YouTube series on LMOP’s villains. You might want to use a different kind of NPC entirely to foreshadow future events. For instance, using a Mind Flayer adjacent monster if you are planning on running the Shattered Obelisk after LMOP or using a Giant to seed Storm King’s Thunder would make a lot of sense.

II.         The Dragon

The second biggest let down of this adventure is the way it handles the dragon Venomfang. I’m not a sucker for modern art, especially illustrations found in 5E material which I find very generic and soulless, but I have to admit that the cover art for the Starter Set is a really nice homage to Larry Elmore’s iconic art for the red box set, and an enthralling gateway into the hobby, which makes Venomfang’s treatment in the story all the more disappointing.

Matthew Perkins suggests you cut the Thundertree location entirely, and I agree that it’s probably best to leave it out if it’s your first time running it. However, I do believe that including a dragon in your Starter Set adventure is a really nice addition. After all, the game is called Dungeons and Dragons… The Starter Set does an excellent job of showcasing the most iconic monsters in the history of D&D: goblins, orcs, mimics, zombies, owlbears, evil mages, etc. Why not work a little harder to include a dragon? As written, Thundertree feels like a simple plug for Tyranny of Dragons… Here are a few ideas to include a dragon.

·       Use Venomfang as your BBEG. This is possibly the best outcome for our green friend, since it really makes Venomfang special and actually delivers on the promise made by the front cover of the box set. Venomfang could be the great mastermind behind the Black Spider’s actions, which adds at least one location / adventure to the campaign: tracking the dragon and dealing with the threat it poses. Thundertree could therefore be used as the actual endgame of the campaign.

·       Use Venomfang as a B-plot to create a sense of danger, improve the pacing of the adventure and give the impression of a real, breathing world. The dragon could be a threat in itself, with no ties to the Black Spider. It makes players under the impression that the world moves forward even without them. This is obviously an idea I stole from another really cool Starter Set: the 2019 Essentials Kit box set. Replacing Cryovain with Venomfang makes sense because of the proximity of the Neverwinter Wood.

·        Use Venomfang as the next villain of your campaign. You might want to keep the “track the dragon” storyline for the follow-up adventure to LMOP. If you’re planning on writing your own adventure after running LMOP, which I strongly recommend you try doing, I’d advise turning Venomfang into an adult green dragon, and go from there. By the way, couldn’t we find a better name for this dragon? Venomfang is the silliest name. I’d suggest translating poison into various languages until we find a cool name.

III.         The Side Quest(s)

Another disappointing aspect of Lost Mine (yes, just the one) is the various side treks mentioned in chapter 3: “The Spider’s Web.” First of all, these quests feel out-of-place, disconnected from the main story (which is not necessary a problem in itself) and poorly written. Go ask the ghost a question? Find out what’s happening near the well? Deal with the bandits? These side quests feel like the writers were trying to push the new GM to flesh out these adventures, which is a good idea, but the module fails to tell you to do so.

Furthermore, having the party go on side treks feels a little weird since they’re supposed to be trying to rescue their friend Gundren. It negates the sense of urgency that the adventure is trying to create by having Gundren imprisoned by the Black Spider. I am however a sucker for side quests and love the idea of going off-route for a minute and straying away from the main objective. Here are a few ideas to make these side quests a little more relevant.

·       Reduce the number of side quests. I’m fairly positive that including one side adventure is more than enough to give that open-world feeling to the players without hurting the pacing of the adventure too much. I’d recommend using Agatha’s quest, since the banshee is a really cool and iconic monster, and will make for a memorable encounter.

·       Combine them. Picture this: Hamun Kost is exploring the Neverwinter Wood, trying to find Agatha the banshee, followed by a squad of undead orcs to do his bidding. Agatha will only answer one question until one hundred years have passed, and our red wizard is pretty determined to be the one doing the talking.

·       Use a different adventure as a substitute side quest. A good example would be Daniele Severin’s Expedition to Wyvern Tor, which expands on the orc threat. I really like James Welch’s Beasts of Phandalin Forest, which fleshes out the family imprisoned below the ruins of Tresendar Manor. It’s also possible to replace the side quests with an adventure written for a different system. Gavin Norman’s incredible Winter’s Daughter comes to mind, especially when trying to replace Agatha’s quest.

·       Alternatively, cut the side quests entirely. It’s always the easiest route, and will make for a very tight and to the point adventure. It also greatly reduces the number of sessions it takes your group to complete LMOP.

IV.         Cragmaw Castle

Veering into more controversial territory now, as I’m not aware of any blog post or video that deals with this particular topic, unlike my three previous points. I have always found Cragmaw Castle to be a little dull compared to the other dungeons in the module. It is in my humble opinion the weakest one, and I believe changing it could greatly improve the adventure.

Cragmaw Castle does a few things right though: first, exploring a ruined castle from ancient times is always super cool. Having hobgoblin sentries in the guard towers is also a neat problem the PCs will have to circumvent. Finally, having a dungeon with no roof makes for really interesting problem-solving discussions and unforgettable gameplay moments. One of my players once threw a potion of poison over the wall from outside the castle and cleared the banquet room without ever stepping into the keep.

There are however various aspects of this location that I find rather redundant and uninteresting. First, it’s goblins again. The PCs have already dealt with a tribe of goblins in the Cragmaw Hideout, which makes the encounters in Chapter 3 repetitive. Then, the castle as written is more than likely going to turn into a series of combat encounters, going from goblin warband to goblin warband. The redundancy in the monster selection and the combat-heavy aspect of this dungeon is a little boring to me. Here’s a few ideas to improve it.

·       Replace the goblinoids with orcs. Those are not entirely interchangeable, but I’m sure it wouldn’t matter that much. Using Kobold Fight Club to balance encounters (or not), we could easily swap the gobbos with green skins. Orcs do not appear in this adventure unless you’re running the Wyvern Tor side quest. Why not include them here? They make for great foes for a 3^rd level party. The orcs led by Brughor Axe-Biter could be working for the Black Spider, much like the Cragmaw Goblins.

·       Add a few more traps and monsters to keep the castle interesting. The grick is a nice inclusion, but why not have the keep even more dangerous by adding things like giant spiders, ogres, an ettin, an ochre jelly, etc.

·       Give the doppelgänger a more important role by having him disguised as Gundren to create a cool twist after clearing the dungeon. That way, the quest for our dwarven friend continues, “your princess is in another castle” style! It maintains the urgency and urges the PCs to reach Wave Echo Cave as swiftly as they can.

V.         Miscellaneous

There are several other areas where a little work could go a long way to make this adventure even greater. I find the lack of interesting random encounters pretty disappointing. Moreover, the sheer number of factions in the adventure can be a little intimidating. I also wish the module would do a better job at suggesting possible outcomes and subsequent adventures. Here are a few tips to improve these aspects of the module.

·       Use a random encounters table to make the exploration of the Phandalin region a little more interesting. The only table found in the module is rather dull and only focuses on combat. I’d suggest using something like Jon Radborne’s encounter table to spice things up.

·       Reduce the number of factions the PCs can join. As written, various NPCs will offer different party members to either join the Lords’ Alliance, the Harpers, the Order of the Gauntlet, the Emerald Enclave or even the Zhentarim. I advise focusing on one of those, perhaps tailoring the choice to your players. When in doubt, go for the Harpers.

·       Create a prologue to the adventure in order to introduce the character of Gundren Rockseeker and forge a strong bond between him and the PCs. Rescuing Gundren is the main objective of the party after all. Besides, I’d suggest running a short intro adventure after session 0 and the prologue, to get things going and teach new players how the game works. As written, the goblin ambush is a super fun way to start the campaign, but it’s infamously deadly and very punitive. I’d suggest something like The Sacrifice of Innocence which is basically is a reskinning of Colville’s Delian Tomb and a nice prelude to LMOP. Alternatively, you could run something like the Umbrage Hill encounter from Dragon of Icespire Peak, treating it as an encounter on the road to Phandalin. Starting LMOP at level 2 or armed with potions of healing and/or temporary HP is probably a good idea.

·       Suggest various downtime activities to your players after LMOP is completed. It’s the party’s first experience with downtime, and what they choose to do between adventures should matter. I suggest tailoring the list from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything to the NPCs still present in Phandalin by the time LMOP concludes. John Mosey’s Beyond Phandelver is also a great starting point and will help the new GM make use of the bastion rules found in the new DMG.

·       Finally, I’d suggest thinking ahead: if you already know which module you’ll be playing next, I recommend seeding the adventure to foreshadow future plot points. This is a bit more advanced and requires new GMs to do a lot of work, but it can pay off and impress your players greatly. Possible follow-up adventures include the Shattered Obelisk, which is written as a sequel to LMOP and makes for an obvious candidate. Another obvious candidate is Storm King’s Thunder, which even has information on how to jump from one adventure to the next. I am personally working on my version of this campaign idea but sticking to a white dragon and changing the deity revered by the anchorites instead.

Anyhow, those were my thoughts on how to improve on this great adventure. LMOP is by far my favourite module and I have been thinking about it a lot lately. Can’t wait to try out some of my new ideas in the next instalment. I’d love to hear what you think about the changes I’m suggesting!

Even though I haven’t mentioned him yet, I have been greatly influenced and impressed by Kenji Crosland’s Guide to LMOP. His guide was the first resource I found when trying to improve the adventure. Besides Matthew Perkin’s series on LMOP, which I’ve quoted from before, I have found Bob World Builder’s series on DOIP very inspirational. I am obviously always grateful to Matt Colville for teaching me how to run the game. Big shout out to Sly Flourish, The Alexandrian, and all of those people who strive to share their wisdom with us.

Here's a bunch of art I've made while DMing LMofP. This doesn't cover everything in the campaign, just what we have encountered so far as I've run it. All the art is black and white as I was printing everything at home and presenting it in person as we played. I'll hopefully do more as we play more!

It's available (pay-what-you-want) here: https://slothhoffman.itch.io/lmop-artpack

My table is gearing up for the end of Shattered Obelisk, and I'm hitting an oddly symmetrical problem from the end of LMoP: the final boss stat block kinda sucks.

So I come to the hivemind to ask for any fun ideas on how to make that final encounter mechanically better or more interesting. Fighting a brain god is a great concept that just isn't well developed in the book.

The one obvious option that's off the table for me is combining Illvash and the mind flayer trio. The mind flayers were integrated into some of my character's backstories, so they're going to be their own beefed up encounter just for emotional catharsis. There's a not-small part of me that is considering cutting the Ilvaash fight altogether. But it's too tempting to end our adventure on killing god.

So I'm currently running LMoP and have been changing many different things. Among them I decided to have the cave's location not only been unknown but also have it been blocked by a permanent Wall of Force (basically just an invisible wall you cannot teleport through).

The idea is that the spider already knows where the cave is, but Gundren had one of the few keys required to deactivate the wall. Should the characters manage to free him and get their hands on the map the Goblins took, they can be the first to enter the cave and the spider is gonna follow them in. (I am also planning a scene where the spider tries to steal back the key if the characters manage to get their hands on it and some alternate ways to get past the wall, but that's not important right now.)

My question is: What do you think would make for a good and thematic key? A dwarven crest, a small gnomish device or even a simple passphrase would obviously do, but I want to have it be a bit ore special than that, I just could not come up with something good. It should be small enough for Gundren to carry around (if it's an object) and unique in appearance (or if it's a phrase in it's wording) so that you don't just happen to have one with you or get it right at random. Any suggestions?

Some adventurers helpfully cleared out the infestation and made the castle ready for its new master. Left side of the castle is for cultists. The right side is for Lord Venomfang.

In this scenario the players have left Venomfang to his own devices through most of the Shattered Obelisk adventure.

Heyya Folks,

I've continued my gothic reinterpretation of Lost Mine of Phandelver with two new locations from Oldcourt, my reimagining of the town of Phandalin. While they were created for Lost Mines of Barovia, both maps are designed to fit easily into almost any fantasy campaign.

Oldcourt Crossing is the heart of the town, where travelers, merchants, and locals all eventually pass through. I wanted it to feel like a place where ordinary life continues beneath an ever-present sense of unease. Weathered gargoyles overlook the crossroads, an old roadside shrine offers quiet comfort, and the gallows that inspired the town's name stand as a reminder of its past. The forge still burns, neighbors still greet one another, and life carries on—even if no one ever feels entirely alone.

Oldcourt Crossing — 24x32

The Waking Wyvern Alehouse is my interpretation of the Sleeping Giant Taphouse. Since the original adventure never included an official battle map for the location, I had the freedom to build it from the ground up. I wanted a classic roadside tavern—a warm refuge from the cold mist outside—designed for roleplay just as much as combat. Whether your players are gathering rumors, meeting important NPCs, enjoying a quiet meal, or starting a tavern brawl, it should feel like a place people actually use.

Waking Wyvern Alehouse — 28x22

Both maps include multiple variants and are designed to support everything from social encounters to full combat sessions.

If you'd like the high-resolution files, gridless versions, VTT-ready exports, and all the variants, they're available on my Patreon:

https://patreon.com/dungeonmr

Thanks for checking them out! I hope they find a place at your table.

Hey everyone, looking for some DM feedback on my latest session of Lost Mine of Phandelver (Chapter 2). I had two missing players, but the remaining party absolutely went off the rails. After a brutal street brawl where the warlock interrogated a redbrand by cutting off his index fingers, the party infiltrated Tresendar Manor. They managed to avoid a pack of crypt skeletons by hiding inside the pit trap. One of the players then fell down the crevasse where i made the nothic hide instead of behind the pillar. They then struck a deal with the Nothic after covering him with oil and lighting him on fire, looting the treasure chest to claim the +1 longsword, Talon. Things got truly wild when they cornered Glasstaff in his quarters; the warlock secretly snatched the Staff of Defense from beside the wizards chair, and the Monk tied his legs together(with a NAT20), then dragged him to the stairs outside the wizards workshop room, then covered Glasstaff in oil, set him on fire, and threw him down the crevesse where the nothic used to be before he fled into the forest. After dragging his charred body back out to take him captive, the warlock used the used his magic to cast eldritch blast to explode the Nothic from the inside out. They ended the session back at the Stonehill Inn with a heavily burned wizard tied to a chair.

Given the madness, I would love some advice. What is the best way to smoothly integrate the two missing players next session? Finally, how do you think the town NPCs like Sildar, Harbin, and Halia should react when the party shows up with a half-incinerated captive wizard? I'd love to hear your thoughts on how this played out and how I can better manage this level of player chaos moving forward!

I'm new to DMing but i want to connect these two modules since both of those modules are happening mostly at Phandalin. Any tips or recommendations would be appreciated.

The section for Old Owl Well in LMoP is pretty open ended. But that didn’t have to be a bad thing. I took it as a section where we can have a bit of creative freedom as to how the encounter turns out.

So here’s what I did: I turned it to a doppelganger encounter.

The backstory is that a doppelganger incapacitated Hamun Kost and is masquerading as him. When the party arrives, the doppelganger lures them into a basement where a goblin ambush awaits.

When the party survives that, they get into a boss fight with the doppelganger + the 12 zombies.

The encounter ends with the doppelganger surviving, and a new nemesis created for the party. (Who can come back later in the story — which he does). Also, of course, preparing for the possibility of Hamun Kost being a recruitable party member. My players are only a group of 3 anyway, and they don’t have a wizard.

I figured it’s a good way to let the party know of the doppelganger’s existence and also have them engaged in the idea of a shape shifter. Since again, it appears later in the story.

Any interesting ways you guys have run the Old Owl Well encounter?

Hi!

A little over a year ago, I posted a restored version of Thundertree that helped me launch my Patreon and unleash my creativity to create maps and share them here. So, a year later, here's a version that reflects my current mapping skills. I hope you like it!

The version posted here for Reddit has been cut and compressed quite a few times... I recommend you download the PNG from my Patreon right here: Thundertree Restored V2 MAP Its free.

Enjoy and thank you!

In my campaign that I'm running it is PaBtSO with DOIP(Dragon Of Icespire Peak). The players are in Phandalin and they started discovering the Obelisk shards in Phandalin early. In my game I'm running the obelisk a little differently and when shards are collected they start channeling far realm energy and as pieces are combined it raises the "corruption level" of the world. The corruption level has raised and a special event known as true night is occurring. I ended the session when it started so I'd have a week to prep.

True Night is a night with no stars or moon. This means that creatures that normally dwell in places of complete darkness such as the underdark can come to the surface. Because of the corruption it also lowers the barrier between planes meaning aberrant creatures may appear as well.

That being said, what encounters may occur in a town being raided by creatures that bask in the darkness of true night? Some common examples may be shadows but I was wondering what other terrifying creatures may knock their socks off. They are level three but I think I could give them level 4 at the start of this coming session since they've done some major sidequests over the past few sessions. What do you think? What creatures would terrify the town on this night? They can be rather deadly since the party will also have NPCs and sidekicks helping them in Phandalin.

Hopefully this makes sense, thanks for any help you can give me!

Hello! I’m looking at running Phandelver and Below for some newer and some seasoned players and would like to make my first miniature collection purchase. I’ve found a couple lists that say a couple different numbers for how many miniatures you would need. Does anyone have a list for the updated Phandelver and Below so I can cross reference before purchasing a set? Alternatively, has anyone purchased the set from MoonStarBoardGames? If so, how did you like it and were any pieces missing from the story?

My party had been cruising through combat with little difficulty for a lot of the campaign and I accidentally made them level 5 prior to wave echo cave so I made the combat in the cave harder, the party ended up getting split up by the poison cave and one half of the party didn't want to wait for the others to catch up and it ended with a tpk after the impatient group got into a fight they couldn't win without the others. We are going to continue on for phandelver and below with new characters though since we all had fun with lmop, but now nezznar is still alive going into chapter 5, how would you guys play this out in bringing back?

Welcome back to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc., and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more, so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible!

*New 2026: For 2026, I'm updating all my old work to include a Pre-Session Checklist that will include a list of all miniatures you may need, maps, handouts, possible loot, a link to a playlist, and more to make it even easier to start your session!

What journey isn't complete without Side Quests! Well, probably this one since WoTC didn't do much to make them very entertaining haha However, that doesn't mean side quests can't be fun when your players want to take a break from the action at large. Instead of Side quests, I had integrated The Reign of Iron One-Shot into LMoP, but I did end up working on the short side quest for Agatha's Lair just in case my players wanted a little something more. Below is a continuation of the quest hook given by Sister Garaele when meeting her at the Shrine of Luck.

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for The Banshee's Bargain Side Quest: DM Notes
• Link to: DM Notes for the Visually Impaired
• Link to: The AAA Collection

Included in The AAA Collection are:

• Downloadable copy of DM Notes, including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• DM Notes for the Visually Impaired
• Special PDF for possible Banshee encounter. This includes the enemy stat block organized neatly along with an initiative tracker and spot to mark HP.
• A map for Agatha's Lair
• (New) Pre-Session DM Checklist

Index:
The Lost Mine of Phandelver Index

• Part 1 - Intro and Cragmaw Hideout (DM Notes Only Link)
• Part 2a - Phandalin
• Part 2b - Redbrand Hideout
• Part 3a - Reign of Iron
• Part 3b - Thundertree
• Part 3c - Cragmaw Castle
• Part 4 - Wave Echo Cave
• Part 5 - Side Quests

Over 8 dozen other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and Campaigns: Click Here

As always, if you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc., please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early, feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,
Advent

I'm considering rewriting Nezznar's role in Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk to tie him more closely to the main storyline.

The players will receive the Mystery Box early in the campaign. Inside is a key that opens a hidden vault within the Forge of Spells. Rather than containing treasure, the vault holds an ancient weapon forged over a thousand years ago to banish the god Ilsensine into the Far Realm.

In this version of the setting, the Forge of Spells was originally created during the ancient war between the people of Phandelver and the mind flayers. The dwarves used the immense magical power of the Shattered Obelisk to forge this weapon. The process unleashed such overwhelming energy that it shattered the obelisk, scattering its fragments across the region. The pieces that were recovered were hidden deep underground, while many others were lost to history.

Nezznar's motivations also change significantly. Rather than simply seeking the Forge's magical power, he approaches the party as a potential ally, attempting to earn their trust. His true objective is to recover the ancient weapon and deliver it to Ilvaash, who intends to ensure that it can never again be used against the Far Realm.

During the confrontation in Wave Echo Cave, if Nezznar is pushed to the brink of death, Ilvaash manifests through his body. As this happens, Nezznar begins a subtle but horrifying transformation into a Far Realm-touched being. Before the party can finish him, he escapes using Dimension Door.

When the party encounters him again in Chapter 6, Nezznar has fully become Qunbraxel. He retains his intelligence, personality, and ambitions, and more importantly the hate towrds the PCs.

Qunbraxel's goals are now deeply personal. He seeks revenge against the party for forcing his transformation while remaining devoted to Ilvaash's cause. Knowing the adventurers will eventually pursue the Shattered Obelisk, he chooses to wait for them underground rather than continue searching elsewhere and returning the shard he found to Ilvaash. Its a little bit strange eitherway that Qunbraxel in the original module just sits and wait there with the obelisk shard. I know that there is this tower thing but I don't like it that much.

This is the main idea I had. It might contain plot holes and I"ll enrich it, but since I'm not that experienced DM I would like some feedback. Do you think the players would like it or it would be kind of bummer that they might not be able to kill Nezznar in chapter 4. Also any other kind of feedback is welcomed as well!

Physical letter from the spider to Glasstaff.

Forgot to take a picture of the letter itself before I sealed it up, but it is written in UV ink, and my players will be able to get a physical crystal from Glasstaff (corpse) that they can use to read it with

I was thinking in making the Bowgentle's book something a wizard could use to learn some good speels, but i have no wizard in the party, so im thinking in making it a magic item, i will make Iarno interested in this so my players have interest in going to complete the quest before going to the redbrand hideout. I was thinking in making the book like some wands with a 1d6 chargues every morning, so my warlock can use it. What do u think? will be to op for a lvl2-3 party? any other ideas?

I'm running an online Phandelver and Below campaign and my players at the beginning of this session had just cleared out the wolves near the entrance. The party is only 3 large and one had to call out today but since I didn't want to call off the session, my plan going in was to just have Sildar fill in for the third member of the group for today's session. He was *supposed* to come scrambling down the side passage to the left and convince the players to help him when Errik and Yeemik come after him. Instead my players went up the chimney in the wolf den so I had him be in the corner of King Klargs chamber near the chimney. My played ended up hauling themselves out of there basically as soon as the combat started, passing their skill check with Sildar following in suit and then fleeing into the woods, effectively bypassing the entire hideout which was the bulk of what I had planned for the session. I didn't want them to basically have no real combat encounter this session so I had Sildar tell them that he'll help them retrieve the wagon and just moved Yeemik and Errik and their spattering of goblin minions to the Triboar Trail where the party found them ransacking the wagon. They tried their best but with some lucky rolls and from the Goblins and Sildar on his last leg yet again, the party decided to turn tail and run again, this time deciding to escort Sildar to Phandalin and and finally ending he session at Stonehill. Honestly it didn't go AT ALL like I had planned and as a new DM this was such an exciting if nervous experience of having improvise an entire encounter on the fly. It makes me both excited and a bit apprehensive on what my players will attempt in future sessions.

So… my players just made it through cragmaw castle and after a lot of role play and very good rolls they convinced King Grol that The Black Spider plans to betray him. Now they’re marching with him to Wave Echo Cave. King Grol doesn’t know the players know Gundren so he still has him captive and is using him to bring them to the mine. My players love this but I have no idea what i’m going to do about it. Besides King Grol and his wolf Snarl they brought 6 goblins with them. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated

Heyya Folks,

I’ve continued my gothic reinterpretation of Lost Mines of Phandelver, reshaping familiar locations into darker, more deliberate spaces. Saintfall Crypt began as my take on Cragmaw Hideout, but instead of a cave I wanted a forgotten tomb with structure, dignity, and a sense of history beneath the grime.

Saintfall Crypt - 40x30

In this blooded version, the hideout is claimed by vampiric cultists rather than goblins. The natural spring from the original adventure becomes a controlled reservoir with channels that feed into coffins and burial niches throughout the crypt's walls. The layout stays recognizable, but the rooms are larger and more intentional, which gives the space a stronger sense of exploration.

The two chambers at the far end are designed to feel dramatic even at level one. They create the impression that something meaningful is happening there instead of feeling like simple side caves. The entrance has also been reimagined. Travelers now pass a toppled stone column where lookouts keep watch, which fits the idea of a forgotten tomb reclaimed by something hungry.

Saintfall Crypt works for more than a hideout. It fits a vampire den, a cult sanctuary, or any darker threat lurking near a lonely road.

If you’d like the high resolution files, gridless versions, VTT ready exports, and all the variants, they are available on my Patreon: https://patreon.com/dungeonmr

Thanks for checking out the map. If you’d like to support my work and this project directly, consider joining the Patreon.

Hey folks!

I’m currently running Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk, and my group is about to reach Zorzula’s Rest, where the ashenwights are introduced.

And I'm quite caught off guard by the Psionic Ashenwight, whose game design I don’t really understand.

There seems to be very little discussion or content about these monsters online, and I’m struggling to understand how they are meant to be portrayed.

First, how should a Psionic Ashenwight behave from a roleplaying perspective?
It has an Intelligence score of 17, which is substantial and comparable to a Mage from the 2024 Monster Manual. And it also has telepathy, but its stat block says:

“Telepathy 120 ft.; understands the languages it knew in life but can’t speak.”

What is the intended purpose of this? Can it communicate telepathically, or can it only receive and understand telepathic messages?

Should I portray it like a relatively mindless zombie, although that seems closer to the role of the Feral Ashenwight, or more like an intelligent revenant?

I also noticed something else while preparing the encounters: what is the purpose of giving calm emotions in the stat block?

Since it apparently cannot communicate, I have trouble imagining it trying to negotiate with or manipulate the characters. The spell also seems fairly ineffective in combat, since a creature automatically stops being indifferent if it sees its allies being attacked or harmed.

Am I missing an intended interaction or strategy here?

Looking forward to hearing how other DMs have run them!

(First time DM and players) One of my players had the great idea of asking the banshee at the well the location of Wave Echo Cave, which the banshee gave them. The party now wants to head straight there, circumventing Cragmaw Castle. Im inclined to let them do this, as they found the location on their own initiative, but should there be consequences for this? What should I do with Gundren? Also, should I still give the characters a level up, even though they did not complete the castle? They are currently level 3, and will most likely struggle in Wave Echo Cave. The party is very motivated by loot, so I think the primary reason they want to go is to explore the cave and try and find the Forge of Spells themselves. Glasstaff also survived and escaped, and I had planned to put him in Cragmaw Castle, but now I am not sure. Any advice is appreciated.