ccs
41st lv DM
Slow & slightly irritating.
Slow: It was always going to be relatively slow as it was a session of setting up some new plot hooks, describing Waterdeep to players #1 & #2 who have ZERO knowledge of it, player #3 with only cursory WD knowledge, & general RP.
Irritating: Because of vet player #4 who has a bunch of 2e/3.5 FR knowledge - that is both outdated AND doesn't (necessarily) apply to my Waterdeep - continuously talking about details that his character is established as absolutely not possessing. By him. He doesn't seem to understand/care that when I'm describing something it's A) FOR A LATER REASON, B) not solely for HIS benefit. And as long as he's talking our newest player sits quietly, tunes out, & plays on her phone. It's already hard enough to get her to do stuff in-game. She'll get there, but this just makes it harder.
And to top it off? Player #4 had the gall to complain that nothing was getting done. "Well maybe more progress would be made if you shut up long enough to hear the story hooks & let others accomplish their RP/down time goals...."
Story: So after having burnt the the Frost Giants longship, the party arrives in WD aboard the dwarf merchant vessel. They'll arrive several days before the Day of Wonders parade from Dragon Heist. And if they intend to hitch a ride further south on this boat, they've got a weeks downtime.
Things to do:
*Get oriented in a completely foreign city magnitudes greater than what they're used to. Requires considerable description at times. This includes reading the Code Legal & realizing they won't be stabbing their way about.
*New clothes/baths - they've been adventuring for the past 3 weeks in sooty Fire Giant forges, covered in Yakman blood, nearly drowned in sea water, several days on a dwarf run cargo ship....
*Get random $/loot converted to Waterdeep currency. This was actually fun listening to player #4 rant about how he's never had a DM care about this detail & pitch a fit over paying money changers fees. Complaining that the only reason I'm doing so is because that book in front of me TELLS me to do so. In fact it's probably because it's absurd to be paying for stuff in a mix of random foreign coins/coins minted BY FIRE GIANTS, & 400 GP value of "Troll Stuff" back in civilization....
)
*Get a curse removed from a magic sword they found
*Visit the Clerics church so that he can tithe.
*Then visit a few taverns & celebrate their victories by drinking/carousing/whoring.
While on their pub crawl they met Floon & Renear(sp?) Nevermember & related some of their tales of adventures. This earned them an invite to the Yawning Portal the following evening. Floon & Renear are set to meet up with an old friend who's in town - Volo. The pair are sure that Volo would LOVE to hear the groups full story!
And so the session ended with introductions being made all around a table in the YP as the ale began to flow again.
So what's next?
Well into the evening a mechanical assassin is going to stab a shifty looking Gnome, steal the Stone of Gollor(sp?) from him, and shove someone down the YP's well in order to cause a distraction while it escapes.
Will the PCs chase after or rescue the person shoved in the well?
Slow: It was always going to be relatively slow as it was a session of setting up some new plot hooks, describing Waterdeep to players #1 & #2 who have ZERO knowledge of it, player #3 with only cursory WD knowledge, & general RP.
Irritating: Because of vet player #4 who has a bunch of 2e/3.5 FR knowledge - that is both outdated AND doesn't (necessarily) apply to my Waterdeep - continuously talking about details that his character is established as absolutely not possessing. By him. He doesn't seem to understand/care that when I'm describing something it's A) FOR A LATER REASON, B) not solely for HIS benefit. And as long as he's talking our newest player sits quietly, tunes out, & plays on her phone. It's already hard enough to get her to do stuff in-game. She'll get there, but this just makes it harder.
And to top it off? Player #4 had the gall to complain that nothing was getting done. "Well maybe more progress would be made if you shut up long enough to hear the story hooks & let others accomplish their RP/down time goals...."
Story: So after having burnt the the Frost Giants longship, the party arrives in WD aboard the dwarf merchant vessel. They'll arrive several days before the Day of Wonders parade from Dragon Heist. And if they intend to hitch a ride further south on this boat, they've got a weeks downtime.
Things to do:
*Get oriented in a completely foreign city magnitudes greater than what they're used to. Requires considerable description at times. This includes reading the Code Legal & realizing they won't be stabbing their way about.
*New clothes/baths - they've been adventuring for the past 3 weeks in sooty Fire Giant forges, covered in Yakman blood, nearly drowned in sea water, several days on a dwarf run cargo ship....
*Get random $/loot converted to Waterdeep currency. This was actually fun listening to player #4 rant about how he's never had a DM care about this detail & pitch a fit over paying money changers fees. Complaining that the only reason I'm doing so is because that book in front of me TELLS me to do so. In fact it's probably because it's absurd to be paying for stuff in a mix of random foreign coins/coins minted BY FIRE GIANTS, & 400 GP value of "Troll Stuff" back in civilization....

*Get a curse removed from a magic sword they found
*Visit the Clerics church so that he can tithe.
*Then visit a few taverns & celebrate their victories by drinking/carousing/whoring.
While on their pub crawl they met Floon & Renear(sp?) Nevermember & related some of their tales of adventures. This earned them an invite to the Yawning Portal the following evening. Floon & Renear are set to meet up with an old friend who's in town - Volo. The pair are sure that Volo would LOVE to hear the groups full story!
And so the session ended with introductions being made all around a table in the YP as the ale began to flow again.
So what's next?
Well into the evening a mechanical assassin is going to stab a shifty looking Gnome, steal the Stone of Gollor(sp?) from him, and shove someone down the YP's well in order to cause a distraction while it escapes.
Will the PCs chase after or rescue the person shoved in the well?