The Next Dungeons & Dragons Storyline Will Be...

And the new storyline for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition is...

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Waterdeep: Dragon Heist! The plot will focus on an urban treasure hunt and a focus on urban and city-based adventures with special rules for running games in that environment. The adventure itself will have variable goals and antagonists similar to the original I6: Ravenloft module, where the DM chooses what "villain" will be the secret villain of the campaign, which will change outcomes of various events. The adventure itself will also have downtime built into the adventure along with the ability to own property in Waterdeep. The adventure for Level 1-5 will be released on September 18, 2018, with an MSRP of $49.95.

A second announcement is anticipated later this weekend, as the product codenamed "Catacombs" has a release date of November 20 and is also a 256-page hardcover book. This would make Waterdeep: Dragon Heist the codename "Broadway" (which also had a custom dice release announced for solicitation last year with the other products, including "Marathon" which turned out to be Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes).

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Wizards of the coast made the announcement as part of a weekend-long live streaming event on their Twitch channel, "Stream of Many Eyes". Other products announced during the live stream include updates to the Neverwinter MMO and its Barovia expansion, a new official history artbook about Dungeons & Dragons with images throughout the history of the game, and a new series of boxed sets with props and handouts for published adventures released so far as well as for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.

This article will be updated with more information as the Wizards of the Coast live stream continues.

 

[Birmy]

For those who care about such things, there's a product page up now for a Dragon Heist-themed dice set (similar to what they did for Tomb of Annihilation). It comes with a hit point tracker and the standard array of dice, including an extra d20 (which, based on the photo, is huge for some reason).

http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/waterdeep-dragon-heist-dice

 

[GarrettKP]

So Greg Tito (the guy who put this together for WotC) said the stream today starts at 9:30 PT. So there is you slot for the announcement today.

 

[Prakriti]

According to the product page, this is an adventure for levels 1-5.

That's different.

 

[Jester David]

For those who care about such things, there's a product page up now for a Dragon Heist-themed dice set (similar to what they did for Tomb of Annihilation). It comes with a hit point tracker and the standard array of dice, including an extra d20 (which, based on the photo, is huge for some reason).

http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/waterdeep-dragon-heist-dice

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I love how they took feedback from the past set and included a second d20 for when you have advantage. And a hit point tracker.
Sadly, no tin from the looks of things.

 

[Patrick McGill]

Since the level range is 1-5, I wonder what the chances are this book is actually the first of two adventures similar to the Tiamat books? It'd be neat if this is followed up by an Undermountain one.

Edit: Somehow missed this prediction already being made up-thread. Let's cross our fingers!

Not that I would be disappointed if not, because the Dragon Heist book itself sounds really fun.

 

[TwoSix]

I virtually never purchase adventures, but this is looking pretty perfect for my next campaign, since I was thinking of doing something urban. I'm not a FR fan, but I do have a soft spot for Waterdeep from playing Lords of Waterdeep so many times.

 

[Patrick McGill]

According to the product page, this is an adventure for levels 1-5.

That's different.

Mentioned it elsewhere, but it would be neat if this were part 1 in a series, much like the Tiamat books. That's my genie-wish anyway.

Book is proper big for a small level range still, though. Waterdeep must be quite well defined indeed. There was mention of replayability and seeing different parts of the city on each play-through. If it has value as a source-book as well as an adventure I hope they carry that forward into other adventure products.

 

[GarrettKP]

No announcement yet. And ya, possible it isn’t today. I think think the announcement happens this weekend. Maybe tomorrow since it’s only 4 Games so time slots are more open.

 

[Jester David]

I really don't get the push for replayability? It's my understanding that most tables can't keep up with even the current release schedule, let alone want to play the same adventure twice?

This is definitely a different flavor of adventure which is nice, but I'm curious the see the details. I imagine it'll take some masterful DMing to keep the NPCs distinct and interesting.

With the level range being 1-5 it'd be a good one to potentially replay before running another adventure, like Princes of the Apocalypse or Tomb of Annihilation or even Curse of Strahd. And it'd be a good alternative to the starter set as a "newbie" adventure.

 

[Abstruse]

Okay, I'm awake and running on four hours of sleep and not enough coffee and am very cranky... Let's see if there's any actual news...