Waterdeep: Dragon Heist First Impressions

I love heist/caper stories and urban fantasy adventures so the minute the D&D team announced Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Now that I've got it? I'm still excited.

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My full review will follow after I finish reading the book but a few quick impressions.

1. The choice of four villains to choose from is a nice touch for replay-ability. Each villain is tied to a season. The full reading will reveal why.
2. I like the adventure flowchart and encounter chains.
3. It has a pronunciation guide! That makes a DM's life much easier.
4. Players have three additional factions they can play, one of which is Force Grey. Critical Role fans will love that.
5. Lots of cool NPCs are in the adventure, including well-known ones like Laeral Silverhand, though she may not be the same as the last time you saw her in an official Waterdeep adventure.
6. The building maps are nice and could be reused in other adventures.
7. For background material, it includes a section labeled “Volo's Waterdeep Enchiridion” that should get DMs new to Waterdeep up to speed.

After the freeform aspects of Tomb of Annihilation, the fact that Waterdeep: Dragon Heist has a bit more structure while still a sandbox is a smart choice. Being set in Faerun's most famous city also presents some nice dilemmas for players. Murder hobo tactics are likely to get them killed or imprisoned, so players should have to be more strategic – of course, that's never guaranteed.

While these are just quick takes based on a flip through of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, they definitely whet my appetite for more. City-based adventures aren't explored enough in D&D, in my opinion, Waterdeep is a rich enough setting to allow for as much variety as any wilderness or dungeon setting.

This article was contributed by Beth Rimmels (brimmels) as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. We are always on the lookout for freelance columnists! If you have a pitch, please contact us!

 

[jasper]

Pistols are to be found. They are martial range weapons doing 1d10 pierceing, 30/90 loading.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Pistol Kensai!

 

[MNblockhead]

I dunno, I find his maps to be very muddy, even the Volo's ones: https://jaredblando.com/volos-guide-to-monsters/

What's strangest of all is that his book on how to make fantasy maps is fantastic, but the maps he creates for WotC seem to be in an entirely different style. The M:tG Ixalan map, for example, is a muddy mess:

Yeah, I actually like his Patreon "story-driven adventure maps" better than many of his published works. See: https://www.patreon.com/JaredBlandoCartography/posts

They are vibrant with a lot of detail but still easy to play on. I'm guessing for the WoTC maps he has to follow style instructions so that the maps fit with the color schemes of the book. That said, I do like the conceptual examples of monster lairs in Volo's, especially the Mind Flayer lair. It is not something that you would try to blow up and print or use in the VTT for a battlemap. But it is evocative and helps conceptualize how a lair of these alien creatures might be laid out.

 

[Gradine]

Pistol Kensai!

...and the Gunslinger followed.

 

[collin]

The Black Network and the Zhentarim are the same thing.

I thought of the Zhentarim as the more ruthless, physical arm or division of the Black Network. Did I miss on that?

 

[pukunui]

I thought of the Zhentarim as the more ruthless, physical arm or division of the Black Network. Did I miss on that?

You can certainly play it that way. By default, though, "The Black Network" is just a nickname for the Zhentarim.

The Zhents used to be much more overtly evil prior to the 4e time jump. They were once something of a fanatical cult / evil empire based out of Zhentil Keep (in the Moonsea region to the east of Anauroch), and the Harpers were constantly (and openly) at war with them.

These days, though, it would seem they've "reinvented" themselves as a Mafia-like organized crime syndicate attempting to con people into thinking they're "just" a somewhat unscrupulous mercantile org that deals in mercenaries and both legit and illicit goods.

In terms of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, it would seem that one of the Manshoon clone's long-term goals, should he reclaim control of the Zhentarim, would be to return the organization to its 1e-3e roots as an overtly evil, Bane-worshiping group hell-bent on world domination.

 

[gyor]

Well I finally got the book, sooner then I expected.

Well organized for the most part. Neat adventurer. The big weakness is chapter 2 and the way factions, renown, and backgrounds are handled. AL needs to clarify weather or not the players can keep the gold generated by running the Tavern. If none of the players join the factions because they want to keep their current background, there is little to do in Chapter 2.

3 Archwizards in the book is cool.

Water deep got 2 new temples in North Ward, one to Imater named after a Saint, and a second that replaces the function of the Plinth in Trade Ward which was destroyed in 3e, a Temple to all the Gods called Holyhands House.

Between Holyhands House and the Temple of the Seldarine, all the Gods that don't have their own temples are covered. Still most of the major Gods like Sune, Tempus, Tyr, Lanthander, Mystra, ect..., have Temples of their own.

 

[jimmytheccomic]

Some of you mentioned earlier in the thread that you'd be interested in a sub-system rules hack for running heists. I've actually just put mine up on the DMs Guild- I've been working on it for a year or so, I ran it a few times at Origins and got a good response. It's got a heavy "Blades in the Dark" influence to it.

I have a character focused "planning" phase that keeps the emphasis less on working out every tiny detail, and more on giving mechanical advantages based on what the characters themselves are doing to prepare. During the heist itself, there's a "Flashback" system that gives the players opportunities to surprise each other and themselves, giving it an "Ocean's 11" vibe. Hope it would be useful to someone, and hope plugging it here is okay!

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/252431/Heres-To-Crime-A-Guide-to-Capers-and-Heists

 

[Demetrios1453]

One thing I like about the NPCs in the book is that we finally get some examples of non-monster NPCs of CR 13+. We have three wizards, a rogue, and a monk-cleric mutilclass within that CR range statted out in the book. These are really useful as examples should anyone want to create similar high-level NPCs as powerful allies or foes in their own campaigns. Given that Dungeon of the Mad Mage will, by necessity given its advertised level range, also need high-level foes, I imagine we'll get even more examples there. (MToF also has its high-level drow foes, but they are a bit more in the "monster" bin and not the "NPC" bin, although they can be helpful in this as well).

 

[Kendra Lawrence]

I may have to get this, though I would mainly use it for whatever lore it contains.