Exploding wagon trap. How to?

[The Shadowdove]

So tonight I'm dming my second 5th Ed game with a new group on roll20.

They're hunting down a group of crafty bandits who've been raping the land around some farming/trade route.

At some point they're going to leave s wagon full of X explosive and detonate it somehow. Probably via flaming arrow.

There are archers on a 30ft cliff overlooking the fake camp, which is surrounded by trees.

We have 5 party members, each is level 1 except for a level 3 npc.

Rogue, fighter, paladin, warlock, and dex fighter as an npc.


How should I play out the scenario?

Details !

What rolls am I / the players making.

What kind of explosive?
What's the dc/radius/damage?



Thank you so much D&D gurus!

-Dove

[Kane0]

Ooh nice.

Okay, so my group usually defaults to Alchemist's Fire for that sort of thing, in a confined space like a barrel or chest it could make a decent 'explosion'.

So damage would be relevant to how close you are:
Within 10': 1d10 fire damage
Within 20': 1d8 fire damage
Within 30': 1d6 fire damage
If you want it to be less lethal you could lower the damage by one step (1d8, 1d6, 1d4), up to you. Level 1 characters cant be expected to have much HP, your looking at as low as 6 with poor Con scores or as high as 14 with high Con.

A Dexterity save would halve damage, set the DC around the 10-12 mark depending on how hard you want to make it. I wouldn't put it past 14 myself.

It would be set off with a flaming arrow or two launched from a hiding bandit, probably allow a passive perception to notice him before they walk into the trap.

NOTE: Beware your players learning this trick and using Alchemist's Fire in a similar manner, which may or may not be awesome, depending on how you think you can deal with their shenanigans.

Edit: It might be worth waiting a couple levels before trying a trap + ambush like this, especially if the bandits can fire on the party without risking casualties or significant return fire. Also at higher levels you can change the damage to 3d10/2d10/1d10 or something and makes a more interesting encounter.

[Calen]

If in doubt make it up!

Off the top of my head.

Everyone inside a 10 foot radius needs to make a CON saving throw. Fail take X damage. Success take half damage.
Everyone inside a 20 foot radius needs to make a dEX saving throw. Fail take Y damage. Success avoids damage. (Maybe force players prone in both cases if you want to follow up with some combat.)

Damage wise depends on how nasty you want this to be versus the follow up.
Nasty - X could be 3d4 of Force, Bludgeoning damage and Y could be 1d10 of Piercing, Fire damage.
"Nice" - X = 2d4, Y = 1d8

[Slipperychicken]

What rolls am I / the players making.

What kind of explosive?
What's the dc/radius/damage?


You could check out the stats for kegs of gunpowder. Those do 7d6 fire damage, 10ft radius, DC 12 reflex/half. You could throw a few of those on the cart.

[Kane0]

You could check out the stats for kegs of gunpowder. Those do 7d6 fire damage, 10ft radius, DC 12 reflex/half. You could throw a few of those on the cart.

7d6 would absolutely wreck level 1 dudes, even with a save for half.
Also that seems very wasteful for bandits, who are using bows not guns.