The Lost Mine of Phandelver: A Complete Music Guide
By Martin Schroer | d20sounds
It started with a game.
In 2020, during the long, quiet months of the pandemic, I ran my first ever D&D 5e campaign — Lost Mine of Phandelver. I had been a tabletop RPG player since the late 80s, but this was my first time as Dungeon Master for D&D’s fifth edition. And somewhere around session three, sitting alone at my desk between sessions, I started writing music for it.
That was the birth of d20sounds.
I didn’t plan an album. I planned a few tracks — enough to fill the next session. But the music kept growing, the campaign kept going, and four months later I had a complete score: 28 tracks, written in every spare minute I had, sometimes 40 hours a week. I was learning as I went — which sounds work in which context, how to build tension without being obvious, how to make a player feel something without them quite knowing why.
Lost Mine of Phandelver is still my most-streamed album. Over 26,000 streams. But more than the numbers, it’s the album that taught me what d20sounds is supposed to be.
The Highlights: 6 Tracks You Need to Know
1. High Road — The Journey Begins
This was the first track I wrote, and in many ways it set the tone for everything that followed. Quiet, unhurried, with subtle nature sounds and a gentle melody — it’s the sound of adventure before anything goes wrong. Use it the moment your players set out from Neverwinter. Let them breathe. Let them talk. The road is peaceful. For now.
2. Two Dead Horses — The First Sign of Danger
I discovered what this track could do by accident. I was running a one-shot and used the opening sequence again — High Road followed directly by Two Dead Horses. The moment the dissonant chords came in, my players went quiet. They knew something was wrong before their characters did. That’s exactly what music should do at the table: communicate what words can’t.
3. Goblin Arrows — The First Real Fight
Powerful percussion, deep strings, guitars, threatening brass. This was the first full combat track I wrote, and I wanted it to feel like a real escalation — not just background noise, but something that makes your heart beat faster. The adrenaline of that first ambush, captured in sound.
4. Stone Hill Inn — A Moment of Warmth
Not every great track is a battle. Stone Hill Inn is the soul of Phandalin — friendly, a little melancholic, with an undercurrent of unease that reminds you not everything here is as safe as it looks. Play it when your players arrive at the inn. Let them relax. They’ve earned it.
5. Wave Echo Cave — The One That Moved My Players
This is the track I’m most proud of, and the hardest one to write. The challenge: the cave always has the sound of waves echoing through it — that’s the whole point, it’s in the name. But I needed music too. How do you layer music over a constant environmental sound without one swallowing the other?
I wrestled with it for a long time. When I finally found the balance and played it at the table at exactly the right moment, I watched my players’ faces. They felt it. I could see it. That’s the moment I understood what this project was really about.
6. Nezznar the Spider — The Final Confrontation
Every adventure needs an ending. After everything your players have been through — the goblin ambush, the Redbrands, the mysteries of Cragmaw Castle — they finally stand face to face with the Black Spider. This track is built for that moment. Let it breathe before the initiative rolls.
The Complete Track Guide
Travel & Exploration
| Track | When to Use |
|---|---|
| High Road | Setting out from Neverwinter · peaceful road travel |
| Triboar Trail | The dangerous road toward Phandalin · any overland travel |
| Rainy Road | Travel in bad weather · contemplative moments |
| Neverwinter Woods | Ancient, mysterious forest travel — beautiful but never quite safe |
| Thundertree | Exploring ruins · neutral atmosphere with creeping dread |
Phandalin: Village Life
| Track | When to Use |
|---|---|
| Peaceful Phandalin | First arrival in the village · daytime exploration |
| A Normal Day | Quiet village scenes · NPCs going about their business |
| Stone Hill Inn | The inn · tavern scenes · downtime |
| Tragedy | Bad news · the aftermath of Redbrand violence · NPC loss |
Combat
| Track | When to Use |
|---|---|
| Goblin Arrows | The Triboar Trail ambush · any goblin combat |
| Goblin King | Confrontation with Klarg · negotiation or fight |
| Redbrand Attack | Any Redbrand encounter · street fights in Phandalin |
| Bugbear Attack | Bugbear encounters throughout the adventure |
| Orc Attack | Classic battle encounter · any large combat |
| Flaming Skull | The Forge of Spells guardian · high-stakes magical combat |
| Nezznar the Spider | The final confrontation with the Black Spider |
Dungeons & Locations
| Track | When to Use |
|---|---|
| Tresendar Manor | Exploring the Redbrand hideout · tense dungeon crawl |
| Cragmaw Castle | Approaching the goblin fortress · stealth or assault |
| Old Owl Well | The ruined watchtower · meeting Hamun Kost |
| Agatha’s Hut | The banshee encounter · ghostly, uncertain atmosphere |
| Skeleton Lake | The underground lake in Wave Echo Cave |
| Wave Echo Cave | Main exploration theme for the mine complex |
Characters & Encounters
| Track | When to Use |
|---|---|
| Dragon Cultists | Thundertree cultists · approaching Venomfang’s tower |
| Venomfang | The green dragon · use as players approach his lair |
| Red Wizard | Hamun Kost · any Thayan-flavored encounter |
| Spectator | The mad spectator in Wave Echo Cave |
| Mormesk | Negotiating with the wraith |
Special Moments
| Track | When to Use |
|---|---|
| Two Dead Horses | First hint of danger · the ambush foreshadowing |
| Conyberry | The destroyed village · aftermath of violence |
| Dead Hero (Bonus) | Character death · saying goodbye to a beloved NPC |
A Note on How to Use This Music
The temptation is to start a track and let it loop forever. Resist this. The most effective approach is to change the music with the scene — even mid-session. When the players are laughing around the table at Stone Hill Inn and suddenly Two Dead Horses starts playing in the background, they will stop laughing. They will look at each other. Something is wrong.
That’s the power of a score written specifically for an adventure. Not just atmosphere — information.
All tracks are available free on YouTube. If this music has made your table a better place, consider supporting d20sounds on Patreon or buying a track on Bandcamp— it’s how I keep making more.
Good luck, Game Master. The road to Phandalin awaits.
— Martin