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!

 

[gyor]

Nimblewrights as well (CR 4).

I imagine Dungeon of the Mad Mage is where we're likely to see a good amount of new monsters though...

The nimblewrights are cool. They remind me of Warforged, with a Lantanese twist.

 

[collin]

You should publish your finished efforts on DMsguild for others.

Well, I just uploaded the conversion for WDH to Eberron - Sharn to DM's Guild. I hope some folks find it helpful. It was a LOT more work than I anticipated at the beginning. I am looking forward to trying it out on my group of players in a couple months.

I also learned a great deal about publishing on DM's Guild (this was my first time). If I ever do it again, I will know more about how to handle the whole process and hopefully do a better job.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/263444/Sharn-Galifar-Heist-a-conversion-guide-for-Waterdeep-Dragon-Heist?src=newest_in_dmg