Lost Mine of Phandelver – Wave Echo Cave

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**SPOILERS AHEAD**

This is my rendition of Wave Echo Cave!

There are some things I changed to fit my version of the campaign or just make the map editing process easier but, all in all, I think it came out pretty good!

Changes:

1. Minor map layout discrepancy when compared to the prescribed map.
2. Fungal region extends for three zones instead of one (it just felt so out of place with only one section – now its more like parts of the cave are being taken over by nature). This came at the expense of the Starry Cavern.
3. The Forge of Spells is no longer a brazier in a random workshop, but instead a wellspring of magic/mana. I moved it to zone 19, where I had the party encounter the Black Spider (who I made female) just moments before she achieved her collection of this ancient source of power for her nefarious motives. This made the party’s encounter with the Black Spider feel more climactic and urgent. It also gave a sort of stage for the final battle of the campaign.
4. Zone 15 is no longer the Forge of Spells (as mentioned above). Instead, it is a holding area/prison. This is where the Black Spider and her forces kept Tharden and Nundro (whether or not they are alive, therein, was subjective to the narrative impact I wanted to have as DM on the party when they arrived). Essentially, once the Black Spider got close to locating the Forge of Spells (or “Well” of Spells, in my case), she no longer needed the Dwarves and locked them into this room to slowly perish.
5. I blocked of the route from Zone 10 to Zone 19 so the party couldn’t metagame and run straight to the end of the cave with zero combat. This is definitely just my DM style (I wanted the party to feel like the earned their success by drudging through the dungeon a bit) so feel free to remove the cave-in blocking this route if you see fit.
6. I changed a lot of the enemies (not shown) within the cave to fit my campaign story. The prescribed enemies felt too random and inconsistent to me. As such, the spacing in the rooms was designed for the combat unique to my campaign. I tried to leave enough room for multiple renditions of combat but you may need to expand/reduce some rooms to fit your needs.

Hopefully, this map serves you well! As a map intended to conclude a campaign designed for new players, I felt this did the trick! Set the lighting low, play some eerie music and send your party on their way!