Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and the old splintering the fan base chestnut...

[Jester David]

There's the rub. I have no doubt one could convert Waterdeep: Dragon Heist to Sharn: Daelkyr Heist or whatever. I'm just suspicious of the idea of doing it on the fly with no real prep -- and making it actually feel like it belongs in the world of Eberron I mean. The powers that be, the relationships between gods and mortals, the structure of the nations and the basic premises of the adventurers' place in the world are pretty different between the Realms and Eberron and Planescape and Darksun.

It is a level 1-5 adventure that takes place entirely in a city. I doubt the gods, nations, and like will matter.

The big thing is getting the pulpy tone of the world. And a large heist seems about perfect for that. Present the PCs as investigators, and Dragon Heist should be perfect in Eberron.

I would think that any adventure that could be easily adapted to any of them on the fly was probably a pretty crappy adventure in the first place.

You do realize you just described every adventure published prior to 1985 as “crappy”, right?

 

[Reynard]

It is a level 1-5 adventure that takes place entirely in a city. I doubt the gods, nations, and like will matter.

Then why are you bothering playing in a world with those elements in the first place. That stuff matters from session 0 on, not just after 6th level.

The big thing is getting the pulpy tone of the world. And a large heist seems about perfect for that. Present the PCs as investigators, and Dragon Heist should be perfect in Eberron.

I agree with the entirety of this statement.

You do realize you just described every adventure published prior to 1985 as “crappy”, right?

No I didn't, but you may have. I said that converting a good module to fit into a world's flavor takes work.

 

[Parmandur]

Why do you think that? You don't think the setting of Waterdeep and the particular factions and Realms elements that implies will be integral to the adventure? And if not, why would WotC bother nailing it to Waterdeep so solidly in the marketing? Have any of the previous adventures been generic enough to convert to a setting as specific as Eberron (or, say, Darksun or Planescape) on the fly?

As mentioned previously, Princes of the Apocalypse had specific suggestions for use in Dark Sin or Eberron. Literally every one of the adventure books is designed to have the FR serial numbers scratched offand be repurposed to other settings. That's one of the benefits of using FR as the base example.

 

[Reynard]

As mentioned previously, Princes of the Apocalypse had specific suggestions for use in Dark Sin or Eberron. Literally every one of the adventure books is designed to have the FR serial numbers scratched offand be repurposed to other settings. That's one of the benefits of using FR as the base example.

How extensive are those suggestions? Does each chapter go into detail? Do they name specific NPCs, factions and other setting elements as replacements for those from the Realms?

 

[Parmandur]

If I understand it correctly, the new book is 1/2 sourcebook on Waterdeep and 1/2 city adventure for levels 1-5.

Wanting to know what all the fuss was about, I picked up the Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron on DDB and totally dig it! My new campaign is going to be set in Khorvaire.

Obvious question - why would I buy Dragon Heist?

To me heist theme is fantastic for Eberron, and I suppose adventure portion could be set in Sharn with some serious changes.

Has WOTC said anything about details included in book to help DM's use in other settings?

Not great value for first part of the book though, aside from cherry picking to flesh out Sharn?

Waterdeep is a fairly generic example of an old pulp trope, the seedy Sword & Sorcery metropolis: rename it Lankhmar, City-state of the Invincible Overlord, Greyhawk, Ankh-Morpork or make up a new name and not much changes. Might have to work harder for Sharn or Tyr, but it is doable.

 

[Sadras]

How extensive are those suggestions? Does each chapter go into detail? Do they name specific NPCs, factions and other setting elements as replacements for those from the Realms?

Gamers have been scratching off the serial numbers of modules in specific settings for EVER - I seem to be misunderstanding why you believe this 5e module would be any different in difficulty to adapt?

 

[jasper]

Waterdeep is a fairly generic example of an old pulp trope, the seedy Sword & Sorcery metropolis: rename it Lankhmar, City-state of the Invincible Overlord, Greyhawk, Ankh-Morpork or make up a new name and not much changes. Might have to work harder for Sharn or Tyr, but it is doable.

I rather name it JasperDeep, City State of the Invincible Jasper, Jasperhawk, Ankh-Jasper, and Jasper's Tomb of Gloom .
As to the OP. Just as here on what we think of particle modules. I generally do a post game write up on the stuff I run.

 

[Reynard]

Gamers have been scratching off the serial numbers of modules in specific settings for EVER - I seem to be misunderstanding why you believe this 5e module would be any different in difficulty to adapt?

I was honestly curious. The only example I have is Yawning Portal which only suggests locations for the various adventures, not any actual adaptation to make them into Eberron (or whatever) adventures.

And i am going to repeat this just because I want to be clear: all I am suggesting isn't likely is that an average DM with an average level of setting mastery could convincingly adapt an adventure deeply rooted in the Realms to one similarly rooted in a setting with a different strong flavor such as Dark Sun or Eberron ON THE FLY.

 

[Sadras]

And i am going to repeat this just because I want to be clear: all I am suggesting isn't likely is that an average DM with an average level of setting mastery could convincingly adapt an adventure deeply rooted in the Realms to one similarly rooted in a setting with a different strong flavor such as Dark Sun or Eberron ON THE FLY.

Adapting modules to different settings requires experience.
As for on the fly - even @Jester David who first mentioned that phrase in this thread included a little planning in the sentence with said phrase.

EDIT: I guess it comes down to the level of detail one prefers or planning one requires to run a game.

 

[Jester David]

Then why are you bothering playing in a world with those elements in the first place. That stuff matters from session 0 on, not just after 6th level.

Then don’t buy the adventure.
If someone doesn’t want to bother then they can save their money and look elsewhere.

No I didn't, but you may have. I said that converting a good module to fit into a world's flavor takes work.

Yes.
But still less than doing an adventure from scratch.

And i am going to repeat this just because I want to be clear: all I am suggesting isn't likely is that an average DM with an average level of setting mastery could convincingly adapt an adventure deeply rooted in the Realms to one similarly rooted in a setting with a different strong flavor such as Dark Sun or Eberron ON THE FLY.

Dungeon Masters who are fans of past settings will overwhelmingly be DMs who were fans of those settings when the were originally published. That inherently means they will NOT be average DMs, but ones with over a decade of experience.

Even a DM who got into Dark Sun with 4e will likely have eight years of experience.