Phandelver Session 3 (Plus some praise for combat) -- [D&D 5th Ed Actual Play]

The session report below was written quickly and poorly, with bad sentence structure and wonky spelling. It's not glittering prose, but I think it does a decent job of hitting the important points of the session.

Before we get to the recap, though, I want to comment on how fun D&D 5^th Edition combat has turned out to be. On my side, monsters have been easy to run. Each monster or NPC has a couple of tricks that make them interesting (two attacks per round for Redbrands, or the goblins' attack-and-hode routine, Bugbears' extra damage, etc.) but remain simple enough that I, the DM, can focus on creating an evocative combat environment. Thanks to the whole “bonded accuracy” thing with 5^th Edition, monsters and PCs both hit a lot, keeping fights tense and exciting.

On the other side of the screen, my players are good at using tactics in combat without turning D&D into a “tactical” game. The party has turned into a very effective SWAT team. The rogues and ranger use their stealth skills to slip into the shadows, where the rogues can use their powerful sneak attacks to pump out a lot of damage in the first round. The war-cleric and paladin rush into combat and draw enemy fire--not by using any special “draw aggro” power, but through pure roleplaying. “Raar raar raar! I'm a vicious iron-clad dwarf IN YOUR FACE swinging a howling sword at your boinloins! COME AT ME, YO!” With the “tanks” in the middle of the fight, the rogues can continue to use their sneak ranged attacks against any monster within arm's length of their armored allies. Meanwhile, the wizard directs his owl familiar to swoop in, use the “help” action, then fly away safely using it's “flyby” ability. This gives the next hero to attack the distracted monster advantage on their roll.

It's cool to see these tactics work even though we only use maps and minis about 50% of the time. I can't wait to come up with some scenarios that monkey-wrench this routine.

Now, onto the session report...

Our Heroes:

Bramble (Green Gnome Rogue/Charlatan)

Kokiri aka “Cookie” (Wood Elf Rogue/Sailor)

Atticus Digby (Half-Wyrd-Elf Bard/Wizard/Noble)

Roanvine (Human Ranger/Outlander)

Skeld (Hill Dwarf Cleric/Sage)

Absent Heroes:
Vandalar (Dragonborn Paladin/Noble)

NPC Buddies

Pietor “Pete” Rabbitslayer (Halfling fighter, in town guarding prisoners)

The heroes continue their assault on the Redbrand hideout. Vandalar's player couldn't make it, so we deiced that the paladin went back into to town to make sure the civilian posse got home okay. We assume she got distracted helping an old lady carry groceries or helping a cat out of a tree—y'know, paladin stuff.

Having already discovered a couple of secret passages in the bandits' base, the team investigates the Redbrand's workshop for hidden doors and finds two. Bramble sets up some bell alarms near one door, and the party continues down the other.

This passage turns out to be the Glasstaff's secret escape route. The heroes stumble into the evil wizard's bedroom, startling the Glasstaff as he sits at his desk. The team is shocked to realize that the infamous Glasstaff exactly matches the description of Sildar Hall's missing friend Iarno Albrek! Wasting no time, the team attacks quickly, beating the wizard into unconsciousness before he has a chance to cast a single spell.

The heroes roll the wizard in a curtain and tie him to the bed then search the room. Digby claims the wizard's Staff of Defense for himself while Skeld searches his desk. Among the wizard's papers, Skeld finds a letter to Albrek from the Devil Spider!

For any letters or notes the PCs find, I try and make handouts like this.

Bramble peeks under the bed and spots the wizard's rat familiar. She tries to talk to it, but the fiendish rodent tells the gnome to “Fuck off and die!” then scampers away through a crack in the wall. Digby uses Mending cantrips to seal all the rat holes he can find.

The Glasstaff's laboratory is in the adjoining room. Along with the wizard's alchemical gear, they discover his spell books and the journal of a dwarven adventurer, Urmon Fellhammer, that describes the history of the Phandelver Pact and the legendary Spellforge.

Fellhammer was a paladin on a personal crusade against the vampire Xyxor. While in Uruth, he heard stories of the mace, Lightbringer. This magical weapon was commissioned centuries ago by priests of Brahma but was lost when Wave Echo Cave and the Spellforge were destroyed. He set out to find Lightbringer with his companions—Jase Gumbleputty (a gnomish ranger and marksman) and Bolinda Plum (a human wizard).

Fellhammer's last entry indicates that his party intended to consult the “Ghost Witch of The Woods” for information.

While the team is busy looting the wizard's room, there's a sudden knock on the door. “Boss!” shouts a rough, thuggish voice, “There's something weird going on. You'd better come out for a moment!” The Redbrands must have found all the iron spikes the team has been leaving in their doors.

The heroes rush the door and beat the bandit into submission. Down the hall, they can hear the telltale sounds of men putting on armor and readying weapons. The team is once again on the move, readily falling into the commando-like tactics that have served them so well. The two rogues and the ranger slip into the shadows with their formidable stealth skills. Skeld kicks in the door to the next room, surprising the four Redbrands inside. The fierce, mail-clad, sword-swinging dwarf draws the badguys' attention while the rogues and ranger take them out with sneak attacks. Digby's owl familiar swoops in to distract enemies with its “flyby” ability—moving in, making “help” actions, then flying away. The Redbrands lie dead or unconscious before they can mount an effective counter-attack.

When the heroes return the Glasstaff's room with three more hog-tied prisoners, they find the wizard's familiar (who had slipped under the door) trying to chew through its master's bonds. Digby's Chill Touch spell quickly dispatches the fiendish rat.

Lego heroes against lead villains!

Continuing through the hideout, the party hears several rough, brutal goblinish voices and one squeaky, whiny goblinish voice. Taking up familiar positions, the party approaches the room. Bramble tests the door to see if it is locked, but botches her Stealth roll. The rattling door handle causes the voices beyond to pause for a moment. Wasting no time, Skeld tries to kick in the door... and rolls a 1. The door holds, and the voices inside fall eerily silent. Sighing in resignation, Skeld opens the door via the handle and is (not very) surprised to find a massive bugbear waiting for him, filling the entire door frame.

The battle begins! Our heroes focus fire and take out the first monster as they rush into the room. They spot a second bugbear, lurking in the shadows near a bed, while a scrawny, terrified goblin watches form the far side of the room and faints dead away. The party engages the second bugbear and are quite shocked when a third bugbear (who got a 20 on his Stealth roll) steps out from the shadows and drops Roanvine the ranger with a single sneak attack. Things are desperate, as the giant shaggy goblinoid has bypassed the designated “tank” and is among the much squishier rogues and bard. Kokiri bravely lunges at the bugbear and wounds the monster deeply but not fatally. The bugbear swings it's great morning star around and slams the elfin rogue, dropping her to 0 hp. Kokiri slams against the wall and slides down to the floor, leaving a smear of blood behind. With two PCs down and bleeding out in as many rounds, the fight turns tense. Skeld slays the Bugbear he was fighting with a natural 20, and Aces, the sword of Druuj the Slayer, starts wailing alien war hymns (which sound a lot like Motorhead). Finally, with a combination of spells and swords, the third Bugbear goes down. Healing potions revive the unconscious heroes. The team is glad they convinced Gundren Rockseeker to throw some potions in with their payment.

When the goblin (whose name is Droop) revives from his faint, he freaks out at the sight of Digby. “Oh please, most powerful wizard, do not put Droop to sleep again. You spared Droop's life once, spare it once more!”

Digby is confused. “Do I recognize this goblin?” He makes an Intelligence check, and rolls a 2. All goblins look the same to him. “When did I cast a spell on you?” the bard-wizard asks.

“On the trail, when we attacked your wagon. You killed my friends but spared me. You left me tied up with the halfling.”

A look of shock crosses Digby's face. “You're supposed to be dead!”

The goblin wails in fright once more, but the party manages to get the whole story out of the terrified goblin with a couple of Charisma rolls and a well-placed Friends spell.

When the party was exploring the lair of the Cragmaw goblins a couple of days ago, they left their goblin captive (this very goblin, Droop) under the watch of their halfling hireling, Pete. A couple of hours after the party left, “the clayskin came and killed the halfling. It took his shape, and I was able to escape. I ran here, where the Devil Spider's human minions live.”

Roanvine the ranger specializes in monstrosities and recognizes the creature the goblin is describing—a doppleganger. The party realizes that they have left a murderous monster in town, watching their prisoners.

The heroes want to get back to town quickly, but are afraid of leaving the Redbrand's base unexplored. They quickly investigate the couple of rooms they had skipped over. After battling a handful of skeletons and some Redbrand guards, they rescue a captured townswoman and her two children. They have been beaten a bit but don't seem too badly injured. They are, however, quite eager to get back home and bury their father, who was murdered by the Redbrands.

The session ends with our heroes, their prisoners, and rescued captives returning to town, speculating on what the dopple-Pete-ganger has been doing in their absence.  

Lost Mine of Phandelver - Session 2 [D&D 5th Ed Actual Play]

Wherein the team arrives in Phandalin and encounters the Redbrands...

Players

Bramble (Green Gnome Rogue/Charlatan)

Kokiri aka “Cookie” (Wood Elf Rogue/Sailor)

Atticus Digby (Half-Wyrd-Elf Wizard/Bard/Noble)

Roanvine (Human Ranger/Outlander)

Vandalar (Dragonborn Paladin/Noble)

Skeld (Hill Dwarf Cleric of Wotan/Sage)

(NPC) Peitor "Pete" Rabbitslayer (Halfling Fighter)

Taking up from the previous session, the team interrogates their three goblin captives. Only one of the goblins speaks Common and repeatedly tries to sell out his comrades in exchange for his freedom. The heroes don't go for it. The Goblins know that Gundren Rockseeker has been taken to some place called Cragmaw Castle, though they aren't sure exactly where it is. “Supposed to be a day north and east of here, in the forest.” They also know that their chief was working for some “big bosses” that live in the castle.

As the team makes their way back to the Three Boar Trail, they meet up with their wayward companions, Skeld and Vandalar. At last the team in complete, blizzard be damned.

The reunited team arrives in Phandalin well after sundown, and most of the shops and buildings are closed for the night. Skeld and Vandalar wait at the edge of town with the goblin captives while the rest of the team tries to figure out where they are supposed to deliver Gundren's supply wagon, as well as the Lion Shield goods they recovered from the goblins' lair. Sildar Hall thanks the heroes and makes his way to the Stonehill Inn (“I need a drink... in that tavern there, right now.”) with promises to pay the team in the morning.

Several of the buildings in town display this poster...

...which the heroes note for later.

Barthen's Provisions is closed for the night, but Digby manages to talk the owner, Elmar Barthen, into seeing them. Digby buys a gnomish ukelele as his focus or his shiny new Bard level. The heroes impress the storekeeper with their pluck and manners, and he tells them about the Redbrands, a gang of ruffians that have been causing trouble in the town.

The Redbrands get their name from the angry, dagger-shaped scar they have branded on their foreheads.

Meanwhile, on the edge of town, Skeld and Vandalar run into a couple of Redbrands returning from Edermath's Orchard with an armload of stolen cider. A fight erupts. One Redbrand runs off towards the ruins of Tresender Manor while his buddy attacks the cleric and paladin. The Redbrand's two attacks per round give the two heroes a solid fight, but they eventually come out on top, knocking their foe unconscious.

The fracas (and Skeld's radiant spells) draws the attention of the townsfolk. A small mob of villagers shows up (along with the other PCs) led by Mayor Harbin Westler. Westler is a fat, pompus old man who doesn't want any trouble in his town, but some of the other villagers seem relieved that someone's here to take care of the Redbrands.

As things start to settle, Daran Edermath (the owner of the orchard) shows up, demanding to know what's going on. He's a fire-scarred old half-elf leaning on a walking stick who talks like Charlton Heston. He invites the heroes back to his home while they lock the goblins and the captured Redbrand in his woodshed. They leave Pete the possibly-homicidal halfling to guard them (with Digby's owl familiar secretly watching Pete).

Reading this module, I didn't realize how irritating the Greenwood/Forgotten Realms names would be to say constantly. If I could do it over, I would change all the NPC names.

Edermath is a retired warrior and a member of the House of Hrothgar like the PCs. His house is decorated in hand-carved woodwork and mementos of his old heroic career. A faintly-green-glowing sword hangs over the mantle, which Digby identifies as Verdikast, the sword that Daran used to slay the great white owlbear of Thistlethorn Forest. Daran tells the PCs about all the troubles in the town, while the PCs confide their own plans to the scarred old hero. After a good meal, Daran lets the PCs stay in his place for the night.

In the morning, Sildar Hall helps the heroes transport their prisoners to the makeshift jail in the town hall's basement. Sildar also tells the heroes that he can't find his friend Iarno Albrek, another member of the Bastion he was supposed to meet in Phandalin. Would the heroes please keep a lookout for him?

The party interrogates the Redbrand (who is named Hugo) and discover that the gang's boss (a wizard known as The Glasstaff) is working for a mysterious figure known as the Devil Spider. They have a hideout in the basement of the ruins of Tresender Manor. There is a secret entrance to the basement in the woods.

During the interrogation, Vandalar steps out to get food. While in the streets, she sees a group of six Redbrands heading towards the town hall. She runs back to warn the rest of the team. The Redbrands (led by a man named Jasper) line up in the street outside the town hall and call out the heroes in classic Western fashion.

A fight erupts! Digby's sleep spell takes out Jasper. Roanvine and Kokiri pepper the bandits with arrows. Bramble sneaks out and around, shanking bandits with sneak attacks, using her innate illusion power to make Batman-esque smoke clouds to help make Hide actions. Vandalar and Skeld bash villains with melee attacks and keep their friends up with healing magic. When the dust clears, the bad guys are all dead. The villagers are elated, but justifiably concerned about Redbrand retaliation.

As the heroes loot the Redbrand bodies, Sister Graelle, the priestess at the local shrine of Chalice (goddess of healing, suffering, and mercy) approaches them. She laments that such violence has come to her town, but heals the heroes' wounds regardless. The good sister also gives last rights over the dead Redbrands, praying they will find redemption in the afterworld.

Sister Graelle is a member of the Tome and Compass society, a organization of explorers. The PCs ask if she knows where Cragmaw Castle is. She doesn't, but she might be able to find out if they do her a favor. She wants the PCs to find the spirit of an ancient elf diviner named Agatha and ask her where the famous explorer Cutter Tork's lost map case is. She has an old silver comb of Agatha's they can use to bargain with the spirit. Another quest!

But first, the team decides they need to take out the Redbrands NOW! They have a plan. Vandalr and Skeld will round up a posse of villagers to cause a ruckus and distraction at the main entrance of the Redbrand's base. When the Redbrands come running out, the townsfolk will scatter and the cleric and paladin will engage the villains. Meanwhile, the other, sneakier heroes will come up through the secret entrance, hitting the Redbrand's from behind.

The heroes seem to think the Redbrands' base is one large chamber. It is not.

As the PCs leave with their posse, they are approached by Linene Greywind, the woman that runs Lionshield Coster. “You're taking these boys with you?” she says, indicating the posse. “These people are my friends. You're going to get them killed.” The heroes assure her that no harm will come to the villagers. Linene doesn't seem quite so sure.

Cut to the ruins of Tresender manor. Skeld, Vandalar and the posse bash on their shields and hoot and holler calling the Redbrands out. They do not come. The heroes send the villagers back to town with booze money and enter the basement themselves. In the cellar, they are confronted by a trio of Redbrands trying to sneak up on them. It's a tense fight in a crowded area, but between the dragonborn's breath attack and Skeld's magic they are able to take out the bad guys.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the hideout, near the secret entrance, Bramble, Digby, Kokiri, and Roanvine encounter a strange, one-eyed monster crawling out of a misty, cold chasm. The thing cackles and gambols about, speaking secrets about the characters that no one else should know.

“You! Your father wears the yellow robes!” it hisses into Digby's head, indicating his father's alliance with the Yellow Warlocks of K'Narth.

“Lost Princess!” it hisses at Bramble, indicating it knows about her past as an exiled noble.

Fed up, the PCs attack the monster (a Nothic, my favorite new monster). It blasts Digby with its entropic gaze, but the wizard-bard makes his save.

“The monster's eye flares with black-light energy, and your flesh doesn't rot from your bones!”
“I love it when that doesn't happen!”

The monster is killed in short order. Thanks to some secret passages that both Bramble and Skeld find, the two strike teams soon reunite.

Digby's Detect Magic spell indicates that the chasm has some weird low-level Necromatic magic. There's also the glow of something else magical glowing underneath one of the bridges spanning the chasm.

Lowering Bramble with a rope, they find a chest full of coins stashed in a cubby hole as well as a magical sword that Digby recognizes as Aces, the sword of Druuj the Slayer. Skeld claims the sword, hoping its dubious legacy won't offend Wotan.

As the session closes, the heroes lock themselves in a store room and take a short rest to regain some Hit Points and other resources.

Lost Mine of Phandelver, Session 1 [D&D 5th Ed Actual Play]

A few weeks ago my home group started out new Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition campaign, using The Lost Mine of Phandever adventure from the starter set. It went great. I tweaked names, settings, factions, and props to better suit my campaign, but there's still plenty of spoilers for that adventure to be found below. 

Player Characters:

Bramble (Green Gnome Rogue/Charlatan)

Kokiri aka “Cookie” (Wood Elf Rogue/Sailor)

Atticus Digby (Half-Wyrd-Elf Wizard/Noble)

Roanivy (Human Ranger/Outlander)

Absent Characters

Vandalar (Dragonborn Paladin/Noble)

Skeld (Hill Dwarf Cleric/Sage)

The PCs are all new members of The House of Hrothgar (also called the Hrothgarem) with the rank of “Unblooded.” Hrothgar is a deified mortal hero from Time of Old—a slayer of monsters, defender of the weak, and liberator of the oppressed. The House of Hrothgar is an organization committed to ideals of Hrothgar. During the Nights of Fire, the House of Hrothgar was all but wiped out. Most Hrothgarem are now either old men or inexperienced adventurers. That's our team.

Vandalar and Skeld's players weren't able to make the first session, due to an unfortunate snow storm. We decided that their characters, too, were stuck in a blizzard (unusual for late-summer in the Marchlands.)

I gave each character a couple of rumors to help get them involved in the adventure and setting. This turned out pretty well.

Our heroes start in the city of Horizon in the Sundered Shield tavern. The master of the local branch of the Hrothgarem, Sondhiem Stonearm (an old dwarf with a rune-encrusted arm of living stone), has given them their first assignment. They are to assist the dwarf Gundren Rockseeker and his human associate, Sildar Hall, by escorting a wagon-load of supplies to the struggling mining town of Phandalin.

Gundren is short, even for a dwarf, with a great big hat and a massive red beard that hangs past his knees. Pretty much only his beady eyes and broad nose are visible on his face. Gundren covers their bar tab for the day and agrees to provide the party with a few healing potions, too.

Sildar is a lanky, bald man in his mid-50s with a massive handlebar mustache. He's a member of the Bastion (an organization dedicated to keeping the Marchalnds free of foreign influence). His chainmail is old but well-kept, and he carries a fine sword whose hilt bears the black bird symbol of Lord Rook (ruler of Horizon).

Gundren and Sildar head out for Phandalin that afternoon “to take care of business.” The PCs' wagon will be ready in the morning. They will pick it up at Runcible Hawk's General Sundries. They have a day and night to kill.

As a green gnome, Bramble can talk to small animals. She decides to spend some time talking to cats and recruiting them to the team. She finds two grubby alley cats living in an old storm drain—a scrawny gray thing named Mouser and a big fat orange cat named Fafhrd. She convinces them to leave the city with her “to go on an adventure. She has to take Mouser and Fafhrd's box of “cat junk” (old fish heads, bits of shiny foil, and unidentifiable clumps of fur and filth) with them. They are horrible, disgusting animals.

One of Digby's rumors mentioned the abandoned village of Thundertree and its infestation of undead. The wizard was able to sweet-talk the Horizon branch of the Compass and Tome society into letting him look at their maps until he finds the location of the old town.

With out paladin and cleric stuck in a blizzard, the party decides they needed some NPC back up. They convince Stonearm to assign them another unblooded Hrothgarem. Peitor “my friends call me Pete” Rabbitslayer, dual short-sword wielding halfling warrior, joins the team.

Pete is a curly-headed halfling with a face full of freckles and an upbeat “golly gee-wiz, buddy, I sure am glad to meet you guys!” attitude. And here is where I fall in love with 5^th Edition as a DM. I am able to stat up Pete in about 30 seconds. +2 mod from Dex. +1 from Con. Fighter, two shortswords, scale mail, folk hero, DONE!

The next morning, the team, their new cats, and  their NPC buddy head out of town, traveling south along the Old Warrior Road. A couple days pass and they turn East onto the Three Boar Trail. They soon encounter the remains of Sildar and Gundren's horses, peppered with arrows. Before Bramble has a chance to talk to the carrion crows, they are attacked by Goblins!

Digby's glowing Mage Armor spell marks him as a spellcaster, and the goblin archers target him. The young wizard goes down with the first hit. A lucky 20 on his death save lets him instantly stabilize. Someone pours a healing potion down his gullet, and he's soon back into action.

The rogues lead one of the melee goblins into a sneak attack on the other side of the wagon, while Pete eviscerates another goblin with his short swords. Roanvine skewers an archer goblin with an  arrow. The once-again conscious Digby spots the second archer and zonks him with a Sleep spell. The team's first combat is tense, but quick, and now they have a captive goblin.

The team leaves the trussed up goblin with Pete and the wagon while they follow their trail back to their lair. They spot both the traps on the trail, but Roanvine accidentally trips the snare trap while he's trying to disarm it (natural 1) and has to cut himself down.

The goblins have made their lair in cave that turns out to be an ancient Dragonborn structure. The entrance is flanked by crumbling statues, and the once-precisely cut walls and floors have eroded to rubble. A wide stream passes down the main corridor. The whole structure appears to have once served as some sort of mill or refinery over a thousand years ago.

The PCs are about to enter their first dungeon. The cleric and paladin are absent, and the party left their NPC fighter back at the wagon. I give the players the option to quit for the night and wait until next session when their tank and healer are here, but they decide to press on. I am a bit concerned, because I have heard reports that this first dungeon can be a bit tough for new characters.

I needn't have worried. The two rogues, the wizard, and the ranger are all strained in Stealth. They go through the goblin lair like a black-ops team of Jason Bourne ninjas. They subdue the wolves with food and kind words, and split up the goblins and their bugbear boss using distractions and minor illusions. The party turns the goblins' clever “flood the chamber” traps against them, washing away opposition and weakening the bugbear enough to take him out with arrows and spells from the safety of the bridge above. Digby uses his familiar (Wyrd Owl Yankovik) to deliver touch spells with fly-by attacks. Brambles disguises herself as a goblin and lures monsters into kill-box ambushes. The dungeon assault is clever and exciting and successful. They have also managed to capture three more goblins.

The team rescues Sildar from the goblins. He tells them that the monsters have taken Gundren, his map, and all their gear (including Sildar's magic sword) to someplace called Cragmaw Castle. The team decides to take a long rest before continuing to Phandalin, so they use Digby's owl to send word to Pete to come to the caves with the first goblin captive. When Pete arrives, he is covered head-to-foot in blood and smiling widely.

“Golly guys, that goblin was sayin' just awful things about you. Also about your mother, Buddy. Also he tried to escape, yeah. So I had to kill him, y'know. Gosh I hope you aren't upset.”

The team is concerned about Pete.

The session ends, and everyone present hits level 2.

Lost Mines of Phandelver Rumors

At the start of our Lost Mines of Phandelver campaign, I gave each of the player characters a couple of rumors to help give them some buy-in to the adventure and the setting.

Rumors for Vandalr, a Dragonborn Paladin/Noble
A group of ruffians known as the Redbrands have been throwing their weight around Phandalin, bullying the villagers and making life miserable. Their leader is known as The Glasstaff.

The mayor of Phandalin, Harbin Wester, is a weak and pompous man, more interested in filling his belly and his coin purse than helping the town.


Rumors for Kokiri, an Elf Rogue/Sailor
A year ago, you were almost killed in a bar fight by a gang of thugs called the Redbrands. You've heard they've set up shop in Phandalin.

The mayor of Phandalin has put out a bounty on the orcs that have been prowling the mountains near Basilisk Spur. 100 gp goes to the party who takes care of the problem.


Rumors for Bramble, a Gnome Rogue/Charlatan
A book you swindled from a dwarf merchant in Horizon says that the ghost of an elvish diviner resides in the woods west of Conyberry. The book says if you gain her favor, she will answer any one question for you.

A shipment to Phandalin from the Lion Shield Coster (a merchant company) has been waylaid by unknown bandits. There is a standing reward of 50gp for the return of the stolen goods.


Rumors for Digby, a Half-Elf Wizard/Noble
Kost, a Yellow Warlock agent has been conducting an archeological dig the ruins of Old Owl Well, an ancient wizard's tower.

The town of Thundertree was destroyed by an earthquake almost 30 years ago. Deep fissures in the ground released alien vapors that caused the dead to rise.


Rumors for Roanvine, a human Ranger/Outlander
You have heard rumors that a green dragon has made its lair somewhere in Red Widow Woods, south of Horizon.

A unknown beast has been killing sheep and cattle in the hills south of Phandalin. It's only a matter of time before some poor villager falls victim to its depredations.


Rumors for Skeld, a Dwarf Cleric/Sag
Wotan granted you a vision. In your dreams, you saw a ruined dwarven keep overrun by goblins. The old altar of Wotan has been defiled and rededicated to unholy, pagan entities. Such an affront must not stand!

Before the town was destroyed by orcs three centuries ago, Phandalin was ruled by the Tresender family, widely rumored to be a bloodline of warlocks.