1. Pay Construction Costs.

Delver wagons are one of the most famous loss leaders in Beast World economics—the real money’s in the add-ons. A wagon would normally be prohibitively expensive for fresh-faced adventurers. A single Beylik Draydriver costs 500 gp, as does a bare-bones wagon. The Ranger Fetish costs 300 gp, and new tires can go for more than 200 a set.

However, a 3rd-level party can usually find a wagon shop willing to sell a “starter delver wagon” for 1,000 gp. This includes a pair of leveling kits, too, starting a crew with a 3rd-level wagon. That’s a 2,525 gp value!* *attachments not included

2. Choose a model.

A brief summary of each, outlined in detail later: 

• Windsprinter. The fastest object on wheels, capable of running circles around any rally. 

• Rocksteady. Reliable to the end, and a little past that. 

• Ironaxle. Unbreakable guard, takes a beating, and beats back.

3. Build the Schematic.

Use the wagon character sheet’s basic outline to determine its general layout. Every new delver wagon comes with up to two windows, one door, one ladder, and one hatch. A crew can also add runner boards to the undercarriage and an overhang to the roof. A quick checklist for drawing the schematic. 

• Where is the door? A “door” is a covered portal, usually in the shape of a rectangle, which serves as a means of egress and entry to the wagon’s cabin. 

• Where are the windows? This determines where full and half cover is on the wagon’s map. 

• Where is the ladder? If the ladder to the roof is interior, also choose a space for the included hatch. 

• Does the wagon have running boards? Which sides do they run along? Running boards make it easier to vault up to the roof, and a delver can climb out of a window to attack in melee without disadvantage. For more information, see the “Wagon Rules” section. 

• Does the wagon have overhang? What walls does it hang over? Overhang makes reaching the roof more difficult for enemies, but also for you. 

• How do you get to the driver’s seat? You can choose to have a hatch from the cabin, or leave it accessible only by climbing in from the outside. 

• Where is the service hatch? A crew member making Wainwright checks to repair wagon damage during combat needs access to the Maintenance Kit and wagon’s undercarriage. The service hatch can be in any floor space of the wagon’s interior.

Making it Yours: Leveling & Customizing Your Wagon

A wagon grows with its crew. More experienced delvers can make use of complex, powerful machines that race across the landscape and offer devastating opposition to the evils that lurk in the Dungeon.

Leveling Up

A wagon’s maximum level is the average level of its crew. A wagon gains maximum hit points, new features, and can install more components and fittings at once when it levels up, according to its model’s Statistics table. At later levels, wagons can hitch exotic draughts and further bend the laws of nature with model-specific features. To increase a wagon’s level, a crew spends gold pieces to buy materials and consult specialists in alchemy, magic, and physics. The cost to reach each level is on the Wagon Level Cost table.

Attachments

Customizing the awning color and where the windows go are important parts of making a wagon one’s own, but most delvers are in the wheeled stronghold game for the attachments. Attachments come in three categories: components, fittings, and furnishings. 

The number of components and fittings a wagon can have depends on its level, while furnishings are only limited by space and the depth of a crew’s pockets. Each furnishing has dimensions listed to help you determine what fits in your tiny house. 

The attachment’s cost pays for the materials necessary to install it, which might be purchased from a professional wainwright, built to order, or even discovered as salvage. 

If an attachment is activated by a creature (usually as an action), the crew must designate on the schematic the space on the roof, in the cabin, or side of the driver’s seat it’s activated from. For example, the twin anchor cable harpoon needs a lever or button to deploy its cables. Up to two attachments can be activated from the same space. Remember that some attachments can only target creatures or objects the user can see. 

If an attachment is used as a weapon, a creature must be in the same space as the attachment to use it. For example, to fire the ballista, you need to stand at its station.

Grade

The power level of a component or fitting is its grade. The maximum number of fittings and components is also the maximum grade a wagon can install. For example, an 8th-level wagon can install up to three components, and those components can be no higher than grade 3. 

Attachment kits are complex, modular packages that let a wainwright bolt new weapons and magic trinkets onto the wagon. The typical cost of each grade of attachment is given in the Attachment Prices table below.

Some GMs will turn a crew loose and let them purchase any attachments they can afford and install. However, others will make some attachments rare (or even illegal) in certain regions. A dragon launcher picked off a list between sessions is fun, but a dragon launcher acquired from a shady weapons dealer in a delver chop shop is even moreso.

Components

Components are usually active, giving crews a new attack or action while operating them. Some components have weapon statistics, while others are activated. They can be installed in one of three locations: the roof, interior, or body. Roof and interior components take up one 5-foot space on the wagon’s roof or cabin map, and every wagon can have two of each. Body components are unlimited and built-in, unless a location is given in its description.

Fittings

Fittings grant passive traits. These quality-of-life attachments include armor, specialized wheels, and new means of getting around the wagon. They can be installed in three locations: the wheels, cabin, and frame. one set of wheels and two cabin fittings can be installed. Any number of frame fittings can be installed.

Furnishings

Only a fraction of a delver’s life is spent trying to survive the delve. Furnishings help make the rest of the time more comfortable and pleasant. Any number of furnishings can be installed in a wagon, so long as there’s space for them. If a crew runs out of space, it’s time to invest in some extraspatial cube furnishings.

Windsprinter

The Windsprinter was introduced to the delving world three years ago, in the summer of 1362. It became a hit the same way it does everything: quickly. 

This model is finely tuned to reach speeds that blow back fur and make eyes water. The materials of its frame are a lighter mix of Vinyotian birch wood that are (allegedly) alloyed with mithril, though this might be a marketing exaggeration. 

The results speak for themselves. Windsprinters are fast, and can be fitted with attachments to make them even faster. They don’t sacrifice control for speed, either; Windsprinters support all standard modular wheel types. They can be switched on the fly to sprint even in harsh conditions. Advanced Windsprinters can be hitched with the Jackal-Reared Axe Beak, one of the fastest land creatures that exist.

Hit Points at 1st Level: 27 

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 3d6 (or 11) per Windsprinter level after 1st

Weight Capacity: 8,000 lbs

Racing Weight

• This model rolls out of the wainwright’s shop ready to prove itself on the race track. At 1st level, a Windsprinter adds +2 to Drive checks made to sprint while racing (see “The Racing Condition” for more information).
  
  Additionally, when the wagon moves on its turn, hostile creatures on its roof must make a Dexterity saving throw with a DC of 8 + the wagon’s Drive modifier. On a failed save, the creature is pushed 10 feet toward the back of the wagon and knocked prone.

Flexible Axles

• At 6th level, the Windsprinter is retrofitted with axles that spring back to their shape. The wagon regains 1 Maneuverability when it undergoes maintenance. The number of Maneuverability regained this way increases to 2 at 10th level, and 3 at 14th level.

Grazing Wheels

• At 11th level, a tuned-up Windsprinter is balanced for smooth traversal, sitting on wider wheels that allow it to glide with grace over challenging ground. Difficult terrain doesn’t cost extra movement. Additionally, it can retain the racing condition on difficult terrain without a Drive check.

Jackal-Reared Axe Beak

• At 12th level, the Windsprinter can exchange its Draydrivers for a pair of Jackal-Reared Axe Beaks, provided it can find someone willing to part with two of them.
  
  When hitched with these exotic draughts, a Windsprinter’s speed becomes 100 feet.

Brake Jump

• At 17th level, footholds on oiled tracks are installed on the roof of the Windsprinter, which allows its crew to use its stopping momentum to fly through the air.
  
  As a reaction to the Windsprinter moving at least 60 feet in a straight line on its turn, its driver can pull a lever to release the footholds. Until the start of the driver’s next turn, any crew member on the roof that performs a long jump adds the distance the wagon traveled to its maximum long jump distance. It has advantage on the first melee attack roll it makes after jumping on its turn.

Ironaxle

Heavy blows demand sturdy walls. In the face of gargantuan beasts who swing with the force of a rockslide, there’s no better choice than the Ironaxle. It’s not bad in an actual rockslide, either. Other wagons can take a beating, but this wagon invites one. 

The Ironaxle’s unique frame is carved from Arnerian lignum vitae lumber, and reinforced with steel crossbars. It is the hardiest of all delver wagons.

Hit Points at 1st Level: 45

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 5d6 (or 18) per Ironaxle level after 1st

Weight Capacity: 6,000 lbs.

Angus Ram

• A robust body and heavy ram across the yoke make the Ironaxle itself a viable weapon. At 1st level, the wagon has the following action. When the driver takes the Attack action, it can substitute one attack with this action.
  • Ram. Melee Weapon Attack: wagon’s Drive bonus to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 2d6 bludgeoning damage. This damage ignores Enormity.

• Charge. If the wagon moves at least 20 feet in a straight line toward a target before hitting it with a Ram attack, the target takes an extra 1d6 bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a Strength saving throw equal to 8 + the wagon’s Drive modifier or be knocked prone.

Heavy Duty

• The Ironaxle is made with mass in mind, and its heavier attachments demand a sturdy chassis.. At 6th level, treat the wagon as one size category larger for the purposes of grappling and resisting a creature’s special abilities.
  
  The bulkier chassis also gives the Ironaxle some extra room for component ammunition. Any component that can be used more than once before needing replenishment gains an additional use before needing replenishment.

Plated Shell

• At 11th level, steel sheets turn the gaps in an Ironaxle’s armor into its strongest defenses, survivor bias be damned. The wagon gains resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks. Additionally, the Ironaxle treats falls as 40 feet shorter when determining fall damage.

Steam Engine

• At 12th level, an Ironaxle’s front end can be rebuilt to accommodate the pinnacle of ligonine-laetine research: the steam engine. While slower than a pair of horses, this coal-fueled automaton pulls a wagon with unreal strength and adds even more survivability to the overall vehicle. When an Ironaxle wagon is fitted with a steam engine, its speed becomes 30 feet. The wagon’s weight capacity becomes 15,000 pounds, and its maximum hit points increase by 30.

Mobile Fortress

• More metal than wood, the Ironaxle is retrofitted with an armored canopy, turning it into a true mobile fortress. At 17th level, creatures on the wagon’s roof have half cover.

Rocksteady

As the age-old Oric saying goes, “the best ability is reliability.” In that, the Rocksteady is unparalleled. It just works. Even on the verge of falling off its wheels, the Rocksteady powers forward. 

The Rocksteady is the everyman’s wagon. The cabin is a no-nonsense profile, constructed from strong, impact-resistant hardwood. A Rocksteady undercarriage is the pinnacle of streamlined engineering to ensure that no matter what comes your way, the floor won’t fall out from under you.

Hit Points at 1st Level: 36

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 4d6 (or 14) per Rocksteady level after 1st

Weight Capacity: 7,000 lbs.

Quality Control

• Rocksteady wagons have parts that are easy for a wainwright to get to, making the double-check at the end of any repair easier and more thorough. At 1st level, a Rocksteady wagon doesn’t suffer breakdowns until reduced to a quarter of its maximum hit points.

Holistic Structure

• Also at 1st level, the entirety of a Rocksteady wagon is retrofitted to work in harmony, allowing diagnosis and repairs to be made from anywhere. Wainwright checks to patch the wagon’s hit points can be made from anywhere within 5 feet of it.

Quick Rig

• When under fire, the Rocksteady is easy to keep rolling. At 6th level, a member of its crew can make a Wainwright check as a bonus action from anywhere on the wagon. The effects of a breakdown are suppressed for 1 round for every 2 the check’s result is above 10.
  
  Additionally, when a crew member uses a Wainwright check to patch the wagon, it is repaired for an extra 1d12 hit points. This increases to 2d12 at 10th level, and 3d12 at 14th level.

Body-Reinforced Components

• The Rocksteady can hide a component’s moving parts in a more defensible location to keep them operating, no matter what. At 11th level, as part of tuning, a member of the wagon’s crew can choose a component. That component is immune to breakdowns until the wagon’s next tuning. At 18th level, up to two components can be protected this way

Autotrotter

• At 12th level, a crew lucky enough to find a pair of autotrotters, or a means for the crew wizard to create them, can hitch them to a special harness system on the Rocksteady wagon.
  
  When autotrotters are hitched to a Rocksteady, its speed becomes 30 feet. It also gains the following features. 
  • Spell Storing. A creature wearing one of the two included sets of the wagon’s autotrotter spurs can store up to two spells of 3rd level or lower. To do so, the wearer must cast the spell on the wagon. The spell has no effect, but is stored within the wagon. When commanded to do so by the driver, or under a condition specified by the spellcaster when the spell is cast, the wagon casts the stored spell, requiring no components.
    
    The spell is cast on a target designated during the original casting, such as “on a creature within range that attacks the wagon” or “on a crew member on the roof.” When the spell is cast, the stored spell in the wagon is lost. If a third spell is stored in the wagon, it replaces the oldest stored spell.
    
    If the autotrotter already has stored spells when hitched to the wagon, they remain until cast, and unhitched autotrotters take stored spells with them (if two spells are stored, each creature takes one). 
  • Programmable Draught. The autotrotters pulling the wagon can take instructions from a crew member, and execute those instructions without supervision. They remember instructions indefinitely, but can only store up to three statements at the complexity of “if x, then y” at a time. For example, the autotrotters can continue moving until they reach a fork in the road, then take the right path.

Mostly Unstoppable

• At 17th level, a Rocksteady wagon can hang on by a thread, even when almost utterly destroyed. When the wagon is reduced to 0 hit points, it isn’t wrecked until it takes at least 4 damage from a single source.