D&D 5E (2014) Enhancing "Waterdeep: Dragon Heist"

[robus]

Updated the index and the DMs Guild cross-reference.

 

[pukunui]

This timeline gives the PCs about a month and a half between the events of Chapter 1 and the culmination of the adventure. It gives them roughly 15 days between the fireball and the Masquerade Ball. I am trying to minimize the McGuffin hunt and maximize the heist elements of the adventure.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I do like the idea of a masked ball in Castle Waterdeep. Unfortunately, I don't really have the time to do much homebrewing of this adventure. I'm going to have to run it more or less straight, at least this first time through.

I have warned my players that it's not actually a heist adventure, despite the name, and that it's more about stopping the bad guys from getting the gold than it is about stealing it for themselves. They seem to be OK with that.


At this point, I'm thinking I might leave the timeline kind of vague and then I'll just declare it to be the 3rd of Marpenoth and have the Day of Wonders parade whenever it seems most convenient. None of my players pay particular attention to what day or month it is in-game anyway, so I don't know that it really matters.

 

[zingbobco000]

I think this could be useful so I guess I'll show it, but there are encounter edits for those who are running with groups of different sizes. As well as if one is not using milestone leveling and the PCs don't level during a certain chapter or level too quickly.
Chapter 1: A Friend in Need
Chapter 2: Trollskull Alley
Chapter 3: Fireball
Chapter 4: Dragon Season - General

 

[Guest 6801328]

I asked this a while ago, but does anybody have any opinions about a Mace of Disruption (potentially) falling into the hands of level 4-5 characters?

 

[pukunui]

I asked this a while ago, but does anybody have any opinions about a Mace of Disruption (potentially) falling into the hands of level 4-5 characters?

I can only see it being an issue if your follow-up campaign (be it Dungeon of the Mad Mage or something else) featured a lot of fiends or undead. Otherwise it’s not a big deal at all.

 

[lluewhyn]

I like the idea about putting the keys in the villain lairs. Not sure if I'll try multiple lairs or just 1.

My thoughts upon reading about the keys was that they seem to come in at an annoying time- the players have just gone through what might be considered an annoying chain of "Keep Away/Your Stone is in Another Castle" and finally have the stone in their possession to search for the vault, and now they've got more hassle with collecting three more items? I think I might drop mention of them ahead of time so it makes sense when it gets to that part. That also adds more tension as the PCs are no longer the ones who have autonomy while pursuing the McGuffin, but rather the ones being pursued by other factions as they try to rustle up the last things they need.

I also think I'll seed some of the plot elements like rival Zhentarim groups with Manshoon, and other groups also looking for the Stone. This is a unique situation where the PCs are actively working on their quest, but the Big Bads haven't really taken notice of them yet because everyone and their brother is trying to get the stone too. You can also have members of other factions present so PCs can maybe temporarily team up with some of them to progress further.

In Chapter 2, I'm also thinking of:
1. Monitoring how interested the PCs are with maintaining the tavern. Since the PCs know there's a large sum of money present in the city and that's what the plot is about, they may (rightfully) feel that Chapter 2 is killing time and want to move on to the story?
2. Have the parade with the Nimblewrights, with someone there to explain the connection between the parade and the Hall of Gond. That gives a less clunky flow to going there to search for the Nimblewright Assassin in Chapter 3 than simply "By the way, you know that such creatures are often connected with the local temple...."
3. Minimize the parts in Chapter 2 about learning their neighbors except for those that can possibly assist with the investigations later. While I think running a tavern is neat, I'm not sure if this is the best adventure to do it if the PCs get focused on trying find the Stone shortly afterwards, and then go down into Undermountain right after that.
4. Have the PCs find out more about Neverember and the gnome he entrusted the Stone to. At this point, said gnome is Waterdeep's Most Wanted, and is afraid to go anywhere because so many people are hunting for him and his stone. This makes it so when the Fireball goes off in Chapter 3, the PCs immediately have an idea about what's going on.

Any other basic ideas for improving player agency in this adventure?

 

[Guest 6801328]

My latest idea:
1) When the PCs move into Trollskull Manor, there's an office and an attick packed with decades of bookkeeping and paperwork and old junk.
2) When they recover the stone, they learn that one of the keys is in...Trollskull Manor!
3) Digging through paperwork and junk hoping to find it, they find clues that lead them to a secret door in the cellar, behind a wine rack.
4) That leads to a short adventure in a dungeon, with a few (undead?) bad guys, traps, etc., eventually leading to the key.

Now they have a HQ with a poltergeist and a secret dungeon.

 

[pukunui]

I'm prepping for my next session, and I've been thinking about how, as written, there's really no way for the PCs to afford to get Trollskull Manor up and running as a fully-renovated and licensed tavern *before* they get their share of 500,000 gold coins in the Vault of Dragons.

Unless they take out a loan from somebody. Conveniently, the adventure establishes at least four people/groups who are in the moneylending business: Mirt, the Cassalanters, the Irlingstars, and Istrid Horn.

Unfortunately, the subject of how to go about securing a loan is never broached.

Although Istrid's description talks about her rates being comparable to those of the Cassalanters, it doesn't specify what any of their rates actually are.

Anyone got any thoughts on the matter?

 

[André Soares]

I'm prepping for my next session, and I've been thinking about how, as written, there's really no way for the PCs to afford to get Trollskull Manor up and running as a fully-renovated and licensed tavern *before* they get their share of 500,000 gold coins in the Vault of Dragons.

Unless they take out a loan from somebody. Conveniently, the adventure establishes at least four people/groups who are in the moneylending business: Mirt, the Cassalanters, the Irlingstars, and Istrid Horn.

Unfortunately, the subject of how to go about securing a loan is never broached.

Although Istrid's description talks about her rates being comparable to those of the Cassalanters, it doesn't specify what any of their rates actually are.

Anyone got any thoughts on the matter?

Maybe Mirt's rate is based on the renown of the characters with the Harpers... the higher your renown, lower is the interest rate. I think it would be interesting to make the Cassalanters the most tempting offer, paint them in a nice tone and low rates, make the characters like them. Then, even if they're not your main villains, they can affect the story latter.

 

[André Soares]

Ohh... OHHH... just got an idea.

The Cassalanters pay for the renovations, but in return, they ask the PCs to serve the drinks and catering in their charity ball (if they are not the villains)... that's a way to include this encounter in the Adventure if you don't set it in the summer. Make one of the factions discover the Cassalanters plot and ask the players to stop it from the inside.