TheSword
Legend
Stop reading Ryan, Cat, Bob and Andrew!
In Beth’s review of Keys From the Golden Vault I raised the opportunity of combining it with Dragon Heist and coming up with some nefarious trickery around the Golden Vault organisation.
Perhaps controversially I really enjoyed Dragon Heist and think it gets a really bad rep. I’ve ran through it once with a group different to my usual one. Reasons I like it? Firstly it’s set in my favorite fantasy city, secondly it features four awesome evil factions to face off against. Lastly the premise - everybody chasing an immense fortune - is a really fun one.
There are issues - not insurmountable one - but definite issues. Firstly there isn’t a heist as written. In principle the party is expected to sneak into the Xanathar’s lair or one of the other foes to steal a McGuffin but it’s very forced and doesn’t follow heist conventions. Secondly the NPCs are very ‘fire and forget’, they could be intriguing but seem to either be intended to interact with near the very end of the adventure or be met once and never seen again. Finally (and this is my big beef) it tries to cram everything in 4 levels but simultaneously manages to be very sketchy in areas. Chapter 2 and 4 are really little more than plot outlines and a few maps as is chapter 5.
Now clearly Dragon Heist is intended to catch players up to level 5 so they can tackle level 1 of Undermountain. The problem is, at level 5 Undermountain becomes a doddle for any reasonably competent party. I know, my PCs were level 3 and found it easy. Undermountain is also pretty dull as a simple adventure and is much better used as a setting for other adventures in my opinion - with the traps and denizens of the dungeon used as a backdrop (kind of like the Zombies in the Walking Dead - there is a lot of dross/filler in Undermountain but there are also some really cool parts.
Keys from the Golden Vault is very enjoyable to read. It has heists a-plenty and some very interesting scenarios. What’s more many would fit very well in a city adventure as they have a notably urban feel to them. It’s chief problem is the same suffered by all anthologies - the lack of continuity - again NPCs are fire and forget. It could also get quite repetitive if the same formula is used for an entire campaign.
So here’s the premise. Stretch Dragon Heist out into a 1-10 level sandbox campaign. Use a selection of heists from Keys from the Golden Vault (but adapted to feature NPCs from Dragonheist/Waterdeep) to replace the poor chapters 2, 4 and 5. Chapter 2 is about building the characters knowledge and reputation in the city. Chapter 4 is about initially obtaining the Stone of Grolor and chapter 5 becomes about gathering the four keys (with four different heists). We throw a little Undermountain into the mix and all of a sudden we have a really interesting varied campaign set in the city of Waterdeep (and below) with great organisations, locations and NPCs… an interesting plot - but one that can underpin exploration of the city rather than force everyone to keep up with it.
The nature of the Golden Vault means that heists of increasing difficult could be offered which build and reinforce the NPCs allowing them to combine in unusual ways. If it’s going really well there would be the opportunity for the party to take over the Golden Vault themselves and take on multi-planar heists of much greater complexity for some truly epic stuff.
In later posts I’ll break down my initial thoughts. As always don’t read it you’re one of my players. Let me know what you think.
In Beth’s review of Keys From the Golden Vault I raised the opportunity of combining it with Dragon Heist and coming up with some nefarious trickery around the Golden Vault organisation.
Perhaps controversially I really enjoyed Dragon Heist and think it gets a really bad rep. I’ve ran through it once with a group different to my usual one. Reasons I like it? Firstly it’s set in my favorite fantasy city, secondly it features four awesome evil factions to face off against. Lastly the premise - everybody chasing an immense fortune - is a really fun one.
There are issues - not insurmountable one - but definite issues. Firstly there isn’t a heist as written. In principle the party is expected to sneak into the Xanathar’s lair or one of the other foes to steal a McGuffin but it’s very forced and doesn’t follow heist conventions. Secondly the NPCs are very ‘fire and forget’, they could be intriguing but seem to either be intended to interact with near the very end of the adventure or be met once and never seen again. Finally (and this is my big beef) it tries to cram everything in 4 levels but simultaneously manages to be very sketchy in areas. Chapter 2 and 4 are really little more than plot outlines and a few maps as is chapter 5.
Now clearly Dragon Heist is intended to catch players up to level 5 so they can tackle level 1 of Undermountain. The problem is, at level 5 Undermountain becomes a doddle for any reasonably competent party. I know, my PCs were level 3 and found it easy. Undermountain is also pretty dull as a simple adventure and is much better used as a setting for other adventures in my opinion - with the traps and denizens of the dungeon used as a backdrop (kind of like the Zombies in the Walking Dead - there is a lot of dross/filler in Undermountain but there are also some really cool parts.
Keys from the Golden Vault is very enjoyable to read. It has heists a-plenty and some very interesting scenarios. What’s more many would fit very well in a city adventure as they have a notably urban feel to them. It’s chief problem is the same suffered by all anthologies - the lack of continuity - again NPCs are fire and forget. It could also get quite repetitive if the same formula is used for an entire campaign.
So here’s the premise. Stretch Dragon Heist out into a 1-10 level sandbox campaign. Use a selection of heists from Keys from the Golden Vault (but adapted to feature NPCs from Dragonheist/Waterdeep) to replace the poor chapters 2, 4 and 5. Chapter 2 is about building the characters knowledge and reputation in the city. Chapter 4 is about initially obtaining the Stone of Grolor and chapter 5 becomes about gathering the four keys (with four different heists). We throw a little Undermountain into the mix and all of a sudden we have a really interesting varied campaign set in the city of Waterdeep (and below) with great organisations, locations and NPCs… an interesting plot - but one that can underpin exploration of the city rather than force everyone to keep up with it.
The nature of the Golden Vault means that heists of increasing difficult could be offered which build and reinforce the NPCs allowing them to combine in unusual ways. If it’s going really well there would be the opportunity for the party to take over the Golden Vault themselves and take on multi-planar heists of much greater complexity for some truly epic stuff.
In later posts I’ll break down my initial thoughts. As always don’t read it you’re one of my players. Let me know what you think.