How to destroy Waterdeep in 1 day?

[MerakSpielman]

I know virtually nothing about the Forgotten Realms. I always thought it would be fun to DM a session where the players were FR buffs. My idea goes something like this: The are given a run-of-the-mill 1st level quest by a run-of-the-mill person in a major city like Waterdeep. They go off to the dungeon and complete the adventure. When they return to Waterdeep, the city is gone. A massive hole in the earth suggests that something just scooped up the city wholesale, leaving nary a trace. All the witnesses they can find are totally insane. Upon traveling to other cities, they find that the same thing has happened to all of them. The gods aren't responding to divinations on the subject, and mystical heroes like Elminster are "missing."

Imagine the FR without major population centers, massive numbers of homicidally insane villagers running through the wilderness, and all high-level NPCs mysteriously gone. Then imagine the reaction to such a setting from people who've been reading the novels since they were ten years old - and imagine me telling them that because of this, none of the events in the novels will ever take place.

 

[KingOfChaos]

Simply placing magical grenades or other explosive at certain areas in the sewer could cause the city to literally collapse into the ground, effectively destroying it This is a real fear in larger cities like New York.

 

[Trainz]

I dont know much about the campaign world that Waterdeep is set in. Is it Faerun or something like that? Where would I go to read on Elminster and those things? Is there a line of books or is it described in magazines, books and other sources all together?

 

[Oaken25]

I know virtually nothing about the Forgotten Realms. I always thought it would be fun to DM a session where the players were FR buffs. My idea goes something like this: The are given a run-of-the-mill 1st level quest by a run-of-the-mill person in a major city like Waterdeep. They go off to the dungeon and complete the adventure. When they return to Waterdeep, the city is gone. A massive hole in the earth suggests that something just scooped up the city wholesale, leaving nary a trace. All the witnesses they can find are totally insane. Upon traveling to other cities, they find that the same thing has happened to all of them. The gods aren't responding to divinations on the subject, and mystical heroes like Elminster are "missing."

Imagine the FR without major population centers, massive numbers of homicidally insane villagers running through the wilderness, and all high-level NPCs mysteriously gone. Then imagine the reaction to such a setting from people who've been reading the novels since they were ten years old - and imagine me telling them that because of this, none of the events in the novels will ever take place.

Bane did something like this once. He did it to Phlan and many other cities and then stuck them in a cavern some where. You can read about it in the original Pools of trilogy, if you can still find them since they are long out of print.

 

[ruleslawyer]

I know virtually nothing about the Forgotten Realms. I always thought it would be fun to DM a session where the players were FR buffs. My idea goes something like this: The are given a run-of-the-mill 1st level quest by a run-of-the-mill person in a major city like Waterdeep. They go off to the dungeon and complete the adventure. When they return to Waterdeep, the city is gone. A massive hole in the earth suggests that something just scooped up the city wholesale, leaving nary a trace. All the witnesses they can find are totally insane. Upon traveling to other cities, they find that the same thing has happened to all of them. The gods aren't responding to divinations on the subject, and mystical heroes like Elminster are "missing."

Imagine the FR without major population centers, massive numbers of homicidally insane villagers running through the wilderness, and all high-level NPCs mysteriously gone. Then imagine the reaction to such a setting from people who've been reading the novels since they were ten years old - and imagine me telling them that because of this, none of the events in the novels will ever take place.

Why bother playing in the Realms in the first place, then? Just to be snarky to your players?

 

[Nightfall]

Well, maybe not insane ones.

Hey just cause you're insane doesn't preclude you from being able to kick ass. My other favorite wizard, Taason the Black, has a monomania about killing things. ALL living things, even a god. Now that's an ambitious SOB.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Why bother playing in the Realms in the first place, then? Just to be snarky to your players?

Yeah, I guess. I think of "snarky" things to do all the time, but never can bring myself to actually DO them.

 

[Vaxalon]

Simply placing magical grenades or other explosive at certain areas in the sewer could cause the city to literally collapse into the ground, effectively destroying it This is a real fear in larger cities like New York.

I work in Washington DC, and while there are lots of threats to worry about, magical explosives in the sewers aren't, as far as I know, something many people around here worry about.

I don't know about NYC, though. They are a bit loopier up that way.

 

[dagger]

OR you could just run a normal FR campaign where the events in the novels don't take place and run the highpowered NPC's like I do (they dont out shine the PC's). *shrug*

 

[Mystery Man]

There was a thread about this some time ago, ask a member to do a search?

I think it was called Waterdeep is burning or something, used to be over in P&P.