Lost Mine of Phandelver Remix Part 10: Sandbox – Old Owl Well

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So here we are, back to the LMoP Remix series. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? Last time I posted one of these I think it was 2019. A lot has happened since then! I’m thinking I may need to go through the parts and update some of them. I’ve read Alexander’s articles on Node-based Scenarios a few more times, and the followup articles he’s written. I think I have a better understanding of it than I did when I started this series. But for now, I’m going to continue writing about the locations in the sandbox section of Lost Mine of Phandelver.

Analysis

• There isn’t a lot of information on this location. Just one encounter, and no map.
• The necromancer is a Red Wizard of Thay. He has no connection to the main story, or any of the NPCs in that story. He could be used as a hook or connection for a future story, maybe.
• According to the text, the necromancer is “happy to talk” if the PCs give him a chance to do so. However, the text doesn’t really give the PCs a reason to talk to him? I think the encounter begins with the zombies, and then the wizard comes out when he hears the racket. There are some mixed design messages here.
• If the PCs do end up talking to the necromancer, he gives them two solid clues that lead to other nodes: one clue to Wyvern Tor (he wants the orcs gone), and one clue to Agatha at Conybery (he wants to ask her a question). The WHY of those two clues is fuzzy though.
• If the PCs fight, they get some XP and treasure (I think). But if they talk to the guy, they don’t get a lot except the clues. There is a quest back in town for solving the undead problem, but it’s easily missed. If the PCs don’t talk to that questgiver, either before or after they go to Old Owl Well, then as written they don’t get any XP or treasure for the entire thing. Which is awful.
• What is the source of water for this well that has supposedly been around for like a century or more? Probably more if you go by the lore dropped by the My Realms blogger. Why hasn’t this well dried up? Why hasn’t it become stagnant, or been contaminated by something? It’s not being attended to or maintained, but the text doesn’t mention any magical reason for it remaining fresh.
• The My Realms blogger drops a whole lot of Forgotten Realms lore that I’m not going to repeat here. Blah blah owlbears, blah blah ancient Netherese whatever, blah blah blah. But the blogger does have an interesting idea for creating a dungeon here. I disagree about the term “megadungeon” since the article only lays out about 6-8 levels. But it’s kind of a hacked-together thing and it’s at least interesting in terms of seeing how someone would pull together pieces of a handful of adventures in order to create something unique.

Problems

1. While the necromancer can give the PCs clues leading to two other nodes, if the PCs don’t talk to him they can completely miss those clues.
2. Mixed design messages: it’s difficult to tell if the designer intended for this to be a combat encounter or a roleplay encounter. There are elements of both. I suppose that’s not a bad thing, since an adventure writer can’t predict what a DM or a group of players will do. But as I mentioned, the PCs only get the clues if they talk to the guy before/during any combat breaks out. If for some reason they just straight up kill the guy…no clues for the PCs.
3. The necromancer is a Red Wizard of Thay. What the heck is he doing on the Sword Coast anyway? I’m not a huge fan of Forgotten Realms and certainly not an expert, but even I know that the Red Wizards of Thay are bad news. If the group knows the Forgotten Realms they will know that Thay is bad news, and he’s a necromancer to boot, so it’s another element that makes it likely the PCs will attack the guy rather than talk to him.
4. Like other “sandbox” locations in this adventure, this location and the NPC that goes with it have no connection to the main story. In a more typical sandbox game, this wouldn’t necessarily be a problem. But in LMoP, this section is specifically designed for the PCs to go around looking for specific pieces of information: the location of Cragmaw Castle, the location of Wave Echo Cave, or both. It would be better if this encounter and its location have some relevance to the PCs and their goals.
5. There is almost no information about this NPC. What does he want? Why is he here alone? Why did the designer give him a name in the first place if he was intended to just be a mook that you fight, or a bystander that gives them marginally relevant information?
6. As mentioned, there is nothing inherent to the location or encounter, as written, to reward or incentivize the PCs for solving this peacefully. The questgiver in the town can very easily be missed or ignored, and that is the only other way that the PCs will get XP or treasure for just talking with the guy.

My Solution

• If it were me, I would come up with some way to get the PCs the clues they need from the guy, even if they kill him. Something like a letter or journal would do. And of course I would add a third clue, to fulfill the Three Clue Rule.
• I might consider building the dungeon mentioned in the My Realms article. It does sound interesting.
• I’m honestly not sure if I would try to connect the necromancer to the main story. But I would probably fill out his profile a little more, just in case I could use him in another story later. And another thing I thought of is: there are already two “Big Bads” who are wizards. What if one or both of them have some connection to this necromancer? He could be from somewhere else instead of Thay. Maybe a schoolmate, or childhood friend, or rival? It wouldn’t connect to the main story exactly, but creating a connection between this guy and one or more of the NPCs would be interesting and plant some seeds for future stories.
• While I like dungeons and find the idea of building a dungeon here interesting, I don’t know if I would go to the trouble. It would depend on the group, and the campaign I was trying to build towards.

Find Your Solution

• Who is this necromancer? What does he want? What does he know? Why is he here? Does he have any connections to the town, the people, the bad guys?
• Figure out a method for making sure the PCs get the clues, whether they kill the guy or don’t. And make sure you have another clue ready, to fulfill the Three Clue Rule.
• It’s really up to you and your group as to whether you decide to build a dungeon here or not. Dungeon crawls aren’t for everyone.

Well that’s it for this installment. Stay tuned for the next one, where I will be talking about Wyvern Tor. Farewell, Gentle Readers!