D&D 5E Enhancing "Waterdeep: Dragon Heist"

[jimmytheccomic]

I can't see how the module would be negatively impacted by milestone leveling to 5th level once the party gains the Stone of Golorr and determines what the keys are. As that's the mcguffin for the entire story, gaining possession of it seems reasonable place to gain a level. And the only real change would be to make the discovery of the gold come at 5th level instead of 4th, which, again, doesn't seem like too major of a change.

The real question is how this segues into Dungeon of the Mad Mage. If the first level there is tuned for 5th level adventures, your group might be stuck at level 5 for awhile. Then again, that's not too bad of a level to spend some time in...

The segue isn't incredibly strong, I have a hunch that a lot of DMs are going to put the vault in a deep level of the Undermountain.

 

[Demetrios1453]

The segue isn't incredibly strong, I have a hunch that a lot of DMs are going to put the vault in a deep level of the Undermountain.

It's not a matter if the segue is strong or weak (and we don't know the DotMM half of it yet to judge), but whether it keeps the characters at 5th level for awhile at the start, thus necessitating a longer-than-normal stay at that level should anyone take my advice and use the villain lairs to set up a heist or heist to gain keys to the vault.

 

[jimmytheccomic]

It's not a matter if the segue is strong or weak (and we don't know the DotMM half of it yet to judge), but whether it keeps the characters at 5th level for awhile at the start, thus necessitating a longer-than-normal stay at that level should anyone take my advice and use the villain lairs to set up a heist or heist to gain keys to the vault.

Ooh, yeah, misunderstood. Yeah, pulling off the heist will seem like an organic place to level. I'm hoping Undermountain stays a little vague/easy to alter in terms of level ranges.

 

[Guest 6801328]

I'm thinking of making it FOUR keys and putting one in each lair.

Replayability is a nice concept, but with a regular group it's doesn't really work in practice. So there's no point "saving" any of the lairs.

I bought both Blue Alley and The Lady of Trollskull Priory
- Blue Alley looks like a fun, old school mini-dungeon, but there's basically zero connection to the Heist story. You could drop it into any location, in any setting.
- The Lady of Trollskull Priory, on the other hand, I like. It's a nice way to flesh out Trollskull Alley and involve the existing NPCs, and has a couple of (very) different possible outcomes. I'll definitely use it. (It will definitely require some DM improv to bring to a conclusion, though.)

 

[JValeur]

I've uploaded a document with DM's Resources for 'Chapter 1: A Friend in Need' on www.dmsguild.com. It includes thoughts and ideas on how to improve the chapter, a single page of condensed DM's notes, three more VTT-friendly maps (Yawning Portal, Zhentarim Hideout, Xanathar Guild Hideout) and all the enemies of the chapter (except the fleeing mind flayer) neatly arranged on single pages, so they're easy to use at the table.

It is by no means a necessary supplement, but for less than 2 dollars it's sure to save you some time at the very least.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I'm thinking of making it FOUR keys and putting one in each lair.

Replayability is a nice concept, but with a regular group it's doesn't really work in practice. So there's no point "saving" any of the lairs.

I bought both Blue Alley and The Lady of Trollskull Priory
- Blue Alley looks like a fun, old school mini-dungeon, but there's basically zero connection to the Heist story. You could drop it into any location, in any setting.
- The Lady of Trollskull Priory, on the other hand, I like. It's a nice way to flesh out Trollskull Alley and involve the existing NPCs, and has a couple of (very) different possible outcomes. I'll definitely use it. (It will definitely require some DM improv to bring to a conclusion, though.)

I'm thinking of just keeping three keys in three lairs (Xanathar, Jarlaxle, and Manshoon). But with the Cassalantars as the main villians, they will still go on with their plan (without the treasure, they are going to liquidate virtually all their assets and go heavily into debt to make up for it), so that the characters will still need to infiltrate Cassalantar Manor to stop their plan and (hopefully) find a way of preventing their children from suffering a horrible fate.

 

[Guest 6801328]

I'm thinking of just keeping three keys in three lairs (Xanathar, Jarlaxle, and Manshoon). But with the Cassalantars as the main villians, they will still go on with their plan (without the treasure, they are going to liquidate virtually all their assets and go heavily into debt to make up for it), so that the characters will still need to infiltrate Cassalantar Manor to stop their plan and (hopefully) find a way of preventing their children from suffering a horrible fate.

Oh, I like that, too. I was also going to go with Summer, so I might just steal that idea.

 

[jimmytheccomic]

I'm thinking of just keeping three keys in three lairs (Xanathar, Jarlaxle, and Manshoon). But with the Cassalantars as the main villians, they will still go on with their plan (without the treasure, they are going to liquidate virtually all their assets and go heavily into debt to make up for it), so that the characters will still need to infiltrate Cassalantar Manor to stop their plan and (hopefully) find a way of preventing their children from suffering a horrible fate.

I'm a huge Ocean's 11 fan, so my plan for the climax was having the characters need to rob all four lairs in the same night. (Because, as soon as word gets out one lair is robbed, all the other crime lords will move for the vault.) That's actually the reason why I wrote the "Here's to Crime" supplement Robus was kind about earlier in the thread.

In terms of the Cassalantar's children being saved- my plan for that is a higher level adventure where the characters do a "Heist in Hell"- they'll head into Hell, break into Asmodeus' fortress, and alter the contracts to damn the parents and save the kids.

 

[Guest 6801328]

I know this thread is full of spoilers, but....

[sblock]What's with the Mace of Disruption in the Cassalantar's crypt? Kind of nutty for level 4 characters to get their hands on that. I mean, I get its role in that chapter, but still...

EDIT: And, for that matter, a Sword of Sharpness in The Lady of Trollskull Priory...?[/sblock]

 

[robus]

Where is the vault?

So, I’ll admit to a bit of skimming (not finding this the most readable adventure, given the four parallel plots, I probably need to pick a villain and read it that way), but I did not see a location given for the vault?

Did I miss it? If I didn’t, where would be a good place for large, forgotten?, Dwarven vault?

And did anyone else eye-roll on the key options? I’d prefer some thing that needs to be assembled into a contraption/key that opens the door (and has some connection to Neverember...)