How Long Is Lost Mines Of Phandelver

D&D Starter Set As part of this weblog series, I wanted to do cursory reviews of the different Dungeons & Dragons adventure nosotros've played. We're focusing on 5th edition D&D only, by the way.

TIP: For each adventure we play, I write a short recap that's Full of spoilers. If you're a DM, bank check out the Lost Mine Adventure Report.

With these reviews I desire to exercise more than just requite a thumbs-upwardly or thumbs-down. I want to give my opinion on what I liked, of course, but also give you tips if yous're a new Dungeon Master and trying out these adventures. I want to brand sure y'all showtime playing with all the tools and knowledge you need to make it a nail for everyone at the table. Fifty-fifty if information technology's your start time as DM!

That said, the take a chance that comes with the D&D Starter set, "The Lost Mine of Phandelver," is really, really good. Let's intermission information technology on down…

But first, a quick tangent about D&D adventures

Subsequently yous've played an adventure, any time you look back on that adventure, it'll be like looking at an onetime scrapbook (or for yous youngsters, some photos on your Instagram account). You'll feel similar the places you visited–from small boondocks of Phandalin to the secret goblin hideout to Moving ridge Echo Cave–are places you've really walked through yourself.

And the not-thespian characters (NPCs) you meet, from Sildar to Droop to Gundren to the evil Iarno Albrek, are going to resonate in your memory similar one-time friends and frenemies. It'south a lot a fun.

Overview of the Adventure

So let'southward get to the adventure itself. It'due south broken upwardly into at least iv different areas, and possibly six or seven areas if your party takes on all the various side-quests. That'due south not bad for an take a chance that runs about 50 pages (not counting the appendices).

The hazard is for level 1 characters, and you can expect them to level up to quaternary or 5th level when the hazard is done. It takes identify in the world of the Forgotten Realms, where all of the big adventures (the hardcover books published by Wizards of the Coast) take place for 5th edition (aka "5e").

A side note: Because at that place were just three players (Mitch, Drew, and Elizabeth), I ran a graphic symbol as well while existence the DM. Not recommended, only it worked!

Yous can beginning in a tavern (the traditional, nigh cliched way to start a D&D adventure) in Neverwinter, or you can jump right on the road to Phandalin. One of the cool aspects of this adventure is that you tin can do a lot of customizing to fit your players (something a good DM shoul e'er attempt to do), simply they requite yous tools for all your options. Your party will observe trouble exterior Phandalin, every bit well as in the town itself.

The first "dungeon" is actually a cave, and information technology'southward a nice introduction to exploring a hazardous lair for new players. There are only eight locations in the cave, and then you can definitely finish information technology in one session.

That said, the whole adventure will probably take seven-ten gaming sessions to complete.

In addition to the goblin cave, in that location'due south too an entire broad-open town to explore (you might hear this called a "sandbox" adventure, where you wander through boondocks instead of going from i dungeon hallway to the side by side), an secret hideout, a ruined castle, and the big dungeon crawl for Wave Echo Cave (20 locations!).

Y'all also accept a couple "bosses" to battle in each location, which makes information technology satisfying when players complete each location. It also helps characters level upward in a pretty consistent manner.

The adventure is well-written, with some overnice mysteries to solve, and a lot of memorable NPCs to talk to. And Phandalin is a nifty little town with an interesting history, and characters might choose to use Phandalin as their base of operations for future adventures in the Realms.

Too, the maps by Mike Schley are pretty plenty to frame!

Tips for Running the Adventure

I had problem early remembering the goal of the quest, or the "run a risk hook" that gets the characters psyched up to resolve the adventure, risking life and limb along the mode. My advice is to actually play upward the character of Gundren Rockseeker, and make him either a close friend of ane of your Player Characters or a relative if ane of your party is a dwarf. That tight relationship will ensure that your party will non only find him, only besides assist him get revenge and retake his lost mine.

Also, I recommend y'all read and review the tips in the book for the diverse NPCs like Gundren, Sildar, Droop the goblin(!), and all the folks from Phandalin. I put their basic data on an index menu, ane card per NPC, to help me remember their key grapheme traits. Here's some other costless tip — use funny accents and voices for these NPCs. Ham it upwards, considering anybody loves it, especially if you're playing with kids!

I really wanted to get the party to the ruined town of Thundertree after they completed the main quest, but that part of the take chances felt a chip… underwritten. I found some prissy tips here and here to spice up that section, just it still felt a fleck forced. The good news is that I think Reidoth the Druid from Thundertree is going to function as a sort of "patron" to our political party, setting them out on quests so he can help rebuild Thundertree and likewise protect the folks of Phandalin.

Finally, feel free to omit some of the rooms in each of the dungeons, castles, and hideouts to speed up the game. If the game feels like a bit of a slog, bound ahead to the rooms that have the key items, NPCs, or monsters that advance the story. I had trouble doing this at offset, because I'm sort of a "completist," just hit every single room in Moving ridge Echo Cavern isn't the point of the game. The point is to accept fun telling the story of the Blackness Spider who's trying to accept over Wave Repeat Cavern!

Final Thoughts

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for tiny Phandalin. Fifty-fifty those Cragmaw goblins make me smile when I call up of them. And Droop??? Forget about it. 1 of my favorite NPCs, right abroad. I fifty-fifty had him come up back subsequently when the party traveled to Thundertree so he could help salvage the day.

Other than some of the challenges I faced with the more open-ended "sandbox" aspects of the town of Phandalin, and and then trying to continue onto Thundertree with my own ideas mixed with suggestions from more experienced DMs, I actually had no major issues with this risk. It was tough at first, only because I was a DM for the start time Always, simply we had a blast once we got rolling.

My only other proffer would be this: if you're looking for an adventure to run for your first time as a DM, you might desire to look for a "one-shot" adventure from the DMs Guild to run starting time. A one-shot is a brusque risk that you can complete in 3-4 hours. With a one-shot you lot tin can jump right into the action, keep it uncomplicated, and wrap things upward, all in ane session.

And so yous can hop onto an oxcart from Neverwinter to Phandalin for The Lost Mine of Phandelver!

NOTE: All of my reviews won't exist THIS LONG, simply this offset adventure is special to me, because it enabled me to play my first actual game of Dungeons and Dragons. Also, getting through the entire take chances took us TEN sessions. Happy gaming!

DnDDad Thanks for reading! If you're enjoying this blog, feel free to take a look at my books at UnWrecked Printing and Amazon. If something I wrote here improved your gaming experience or y'all just want to say thanks, purchase a book or two!