Introduction - Lost Mine of Phandelver

Introduction. This book is written for the Dungeon Master. It contains a complete Dungeons & Dragons adventure, as well as descriptions for every creature and magic item that appears in the adventure. It also introduces the world of the Forgotten Realms, one of the game's most enduring settings, and it teaches you how to run a D&D game. The smaller book that accompanies this one (hereafter called "the rulebook") contains the rules you need to adjudicate situations that arise during the adventure. Running the Adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver is an adventure for four to five characters of 1st level. During the course of the adventure, the characters will advance to 5th level. The adventure is set a short distance from the city of Neverwinter in the Sword Coast region of the Forgotten Realms setting. The Sword Coast is part of the North-a vast realm of free settlements surrounded by wilderness and adventure. You don't need to be a Forgotten Realms expert to run the adventure; everything you need to know about the setting is contained in this book. If this is your first time running a D&D adventure, read "The Dungeon Master" section; it will help you better understand your role and responsibilities. The "Background" section tells you everything you need to know to set up the adventure. The "Overview" section describes how the adventure is expected to run and gives you a broad sense of what the player characters should be doing at any given time. The Dungeon Master The Dungeon Master (DM) has a special role in the Dungeons & Dragons game. The DM is a referee. When it's not clear what ought to happen next, the DM decides how to apply the rules and keep the story going. The DM is a narrator. The DM sets the pace of the story and presents the various challenges and encounters the players must overcome. The DM is the players' interface to the D&D world, as well as the one who reads (and sometimes also writes) the adventure and describes what happens in response to the ch...