ChelseaNH
2016-01-28, 03:26 PM
Short version: there is no short version
Long-time social group, so killing characters would be rude. We're running Lost Mine of Phandelver and they're in the final dungeon. Party is mostly pregens: fighter (noble), fighter (archer), cleric, rogue, mage, monk, druid. All 4th level. Gundren Rockseeker is tagging along as a civilian. They had explored most of the mine except for the Boss area (rooms 19 & 20), the streambed (room 18) and the bugbear barracks (room 11).
From the Wave Echo cave, they took the tunnel to the streambed, where they found 2 bugbears digging in the rift, one bugbear guarding and a "drow" (doppelganger) supervising. The non-diggers didn't see them. The party assumed the "drow" was the Head Mage in Charge, so they didn't want to navigate the rift to close. Instead, archer, mage and rogue stayed put for range attacks; the rest would circle around for melee attacking.
The melee group went all the way around the dungeon to the hall leading to room 18. This hall also leads to room 19. They found the door to room 19 and a listen check showed it was occupied. They decided to clear the room so the inhabitants wouldn't hit them from behind when they made their attack in room 18.
They shoved through the door to encounter the real Head Mage in Charge, 2 bugbears and 4 giant spiders. The noble critted the HMiC and the druid finished him off. The monk and cleric started working on the bugbears. The spiders have joined the fray and they're all grinding away.
Back in room 18, the "drow" heard the ruckus and went to investigate. He's lurking outside room 19, not seeing a reason to intervene, so just reading the party. The range attackers fired at the remaining bugbears. The guard headed for room 19; the diggers took refuge out of sight. The guard will watch unless the melee attackers start winning; then he can call in 4 bugbears from the barracks.
The range attackers decided to circle around to find the melee attackers; it will take 10-12 rounds to join up without crossing the streambed rift. So it's not looking good for the melee group.
Assets available to me:
The party befriended the nothic and it was guarding the basement of Tresendar Manor. Then they rescued Gundren, the nothic learned the secret of the mine and went there. It's currently in the smelter room, which the range attackers have to cross. It knows Team HMiC would kill it but the party would let it stay. It has a +1 weapon from the manor and a wand of magic missiles from room 10. The nothic can finish off one or both of the bugbear diggers and lead the party across the rift from the south end.
Both Rockseeker brothers are in room 20 and can hear the fight. They're not going to be 4th level characters, but I could see making them 1st level. A rogue and a barbarian would be helpful; Gundren can be a fighter. So the hostage brothers could pick the lock and help the melee attackers.
From his background, the monk was carrying a Book of Terrible Knowledge to hide. When they found the Forge of Spells, he tried putting this magic book into the forge, and then reading it. I treated each attempt as a wild magic surge, and now the party thinks they have a Wand of Wonder in book form. So if he pulls out the book, something interesting could happen.
Endgame
The fallback position is for the doppelganger to take charge and capture the characters to work the mine under the supervision of the bugbears.
Is there any hope for the party actually winning?
Long-time social group, so killing characters would be rude. We're running Lost Mine of Phandelver and they're in the final dungeon. Party is mostly pregens: fighter (noble), fighter (archer), cleric, rogue, mage, monk, druid. All 4th level. Gundren Rockseeker is tagging along as a civilian. They had explored most of the mine except for the Boss area (rooms 19 & 20), the streambed (room 18) and the bugbear barracks (room 11).
From the Wave Echo cave, they took the tunnel to the streambed, where they found 2 bugbears digging in the rift, one bugbear guarding and a "drow" (doppelganger) supervising. The non-diggers didn't see them. The party assumed the "drow" was the Head Mage in Charge, so they didn't want to navigate the rift to close. Instead, archer, mage and rogue stayed put for range attacks; the rest would circle around for melee attacking.
The melee group went all the way around the dungeon to the hall leading to room 18. This hall also leads to room 19. They found the door to room 19 and a listen check showed it was occupied. They decided to clear the room so the inhabitants wouldn't hit them from behind when they made their attack in room 18.
They shoved through the door to encounter the real Head Mage in Charge, 2 bugbears and 4 giant spiders. The noble critted the HMiC and the druid finished him off. The monk and cleric started working on the bugbears. The spiders have joined the fray and they're all grinding away.
Back in room 18, the "drow" heard the ruckus and went to investigate. He's lurking outside room 19, not seeing a reason to intervene, so just reading the party. The range attackers fired at the remaining bugbears. The guard headed for room 19; the diggers took refuge out of sight. The guard will watch unless the melee attackers start winning; then he can call in 4 bugbears from the barracks.
The range attackers decided to circle around to find the melee attackers; it will take 10-12 rounds to join up without crossing the streambed rift. So it's not looking good for the melee group.
Assets available to me:
The party befriended the nothic and it was guarding the basement of Tresendar Manor. Then they rescued Gundren, the nothic learned the secret of the mine and went there. It's currently in the smelter room, which the range attackers have to cross. It knows Team HMiC would kill it but the party would let it stay. It has a +1 weapon from the manor and a wand of magic missiles from room 10. The nothic can finish off one or both of the bugbear diggers and lead the party across the rift from the south end.
Both Rockseeker brothers are in room 20 and can hear the fight. They're not going to be 4th level characters, but I could see making them 1st level. A rogue and a barbarian would be helpful; Gundren can be a fighter. So the hostage brothers could pick the lock and help the melee attackers.
From his background, the monk was carrying a Book of Terrible Knowledge to hide. When they found the Forge of Spells, he tried putting this magic book into the forge, and then reading it. I treated each attempt as a wild magic surge, and now the party thinks they have a Wand of Wonder in book form. So if he pulls out the book, something interesting could happen.
Endgame
The fallback position is for the doppelganger to take charge and capture the characters to work the mine under the supervision of the bugbears.
Is there any hope for the party actually winning?