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Previously on Tomb of Annihilation
Starring:
Mannix, level 6 Human Inquisitive Rogue/Wizard
Khaless, level 6 Half-Drow Assassin Rogue
Gillian, level 6 Triton Bard of Whispers
George, level 6 Tortle Battle Master Fighter/Rogue
Therin, level 6 Hill Dwarf Druid of the Moon
What’s an adventuring party to do when faced with a gathering hostile force deeper in the dungeon? Hope into the nearby mine carts and race downward, meeting everything head on!
Despite the awkwardness of the tokens and complexity of the situation, I was very much hoping that we’d get a chance to use the mine carts. Wyrmheart Mine becomes way more interesting if the mine carts are used to navigate the unique 3-story spiral design.
Thankfully they did just that, climbing into two mine carts in order to quickly race down and try get the jump on the massing kobolds below.
The way I ran it as a DM was to move the carts 60 feet at the end of each round. This gave everyone and everything a chance to react and perform actions as they stopped by various stages of the track. Literally an on-rails dungeon crawl.
The initial kobold room was expecting the PCs to come down the stairs, so the party avoided a potentially nasty surprise round. We had one full round of dealing with a room full of kobolds, but the PCs were able to unleash some very effective AoE spells: Gillian’s Tidal Wave and Therin’s Wall of Thorns, both from powerful magic items.
The kobolds got in a few effective hits, however, including a shredder grenade that killed one of their own, and a basket of centipedes landing in one of the mine carts.
Therin’s Wall of Thorns effectively ended the encounter, though the two most powerful kobolds, the chieftain and sorcerer, survived as the PCs raced down deeper, with poor Hew Hackinstone trying to run down behind them.
They hit the winged kobold area next, who had prepared attacks. The dice were with me as they flung some rather sharp and heavy rocks at the party. Gillian had to spend a few rounds casting Healing Word as everyone started dropping to around 50% health. George’s Vine Whip sword proved especially effective at reaching and killing the flying kobolds.
The mine carts continued to race around the track, with the PCs taking down all but one kobold, who was ordered to beseech the dragon’s aid. It flew down as fast as it could, but not as fast as the mine carts. Khaless hopped out, aimed her bow and killed it as soon as it got within line of sight.
With the abrupt bottom in sight, Gillian slowed her cart to a stop, but Therin decided on a more dramatic approach, ripping off the brakes as he felt the thrill of being a dwarf in a mine. Poor Mannix hung on for dear life. I let Therin wild shape before slamming into the wall at the bottom, mitigating some of the damage, but causing a loud explosion to reverberate throughout the mine.
It was a hell of a fun mine cart ride, and I feel satisfied that the PCs’ health and resources have been sufficiently drained. But the ensuing sounds and chaos have alerted their final foe. The showdown with the dragon awaits.
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RogueWatson 