Introduction
Chapter 2: Trollskull Alley
Board game map tiles: #55
Chapter 3: Fireball
Chapter 4: Dragon Season
Waterdeep City Guard is composed of guards and veterans, while the City Watch is composed of veterans and knights.
10th of Eleint - The Stone of Golorr is stolen
12th of Eleint - Gang war erupts between Zhents and Xanathar
14th of Eleint - Floon goes missing
16th of Eleint - Volo hires the PCs (Missing notice is also posted for Renaer on their board at the beginning of this session)
23rd of Eleint - the Sea Maiden's Faire arrives (PCs will see a flyer on their notice board advertising the upcoming parade and opening of the faire). I chose to have this occur after Chapter 1 because Bregan D'aerthe is not directly involved in those events. However any spies Jaraxle has in the city may be communicating him and hurrying him on his way to Waterdeep.
26th of Eleint - Once in Waterdeep AL adventure occurs tweaked to my own campaign. The McGuffin is a stone eye, one of three that fits into the blinded Stone of Golorr, and act as vault keys. The other eyes will probably be in villain lairs (1 in Sylgar's fishbowl in the Xanathar's lair, the last is undecided). This event will occur as a free-for-all with several faction agents (the villains' underlings plus the PCs who are working for a custom faction of my own) vying to acquire the stone eye during the midst of Bighat's show.
3rd of Marpenoth - Day of Wonder. I will have events occur around this. Maybe some haywire creations, the escaped bear, and the opening of the Sea Maiden's Faire (carnival games, etc.)
15th of Marpenoth - God's Day. I am thinking of having the fireball hit on this day. It might be all the more shocking since magic is frowned upon on this reverent holiday. Before and/or after this date the PCs will have to acquire the Stone and the other two eyes (assuming they acquired the first eye at Bighat's show).
30th of Marpenoth - Liar's Night. Using someone else's suggestion, I am relocating the Vault to Castle Waterdeep and staging a Masquerade Ball on Liar's Night. PCs will have to acquire an invitation and infiltrate, and then find and access the Vault while duping other villains (primarily Jaraxle) and the Watch.
Also known as a short scroll, this is a short, printed document which usually contained tabloid-style news or political rants.
Names:
Waterdeep Wazoo
The Vigilant Citizen (issued 1/ two tendays) - News concerning life of the common folk and guild activities.
The Blue Unicorn (issued 2/tenday) - News concerning the Dock, South & Trade wards.
Daily Luck (issued 1/day) single article denoting horoscopes, or omens from the temples/churches.
Northwind (issued 2/tenday) - News concerning the Castle, North & Sea wards.
DM: The broadsheets are there to give players their possible faction hooks, adventure leads, easter eggs and little hints as to what the greater plans are. All four villians can be included which tie into some of the story lines that are written there. Hopefully the players will outsmart them all, but they have to be clever. (strong investigation rolls on information in the articles provides them with more information or the location of the lead to the name or home of the individual. There have also been deeper hints such as (in the Newspaper) there is an article eluding to Volo visiting the city on a book tour.
Troy Baker (of Gnome Stew) released a broadsheet PDF on DMSGuild
Urban Rangers: Reading a Broadsheet during a short or long rest, allows you to use your Natural Explorer feature for one Ward of your choice for 24 hours. Once used in this way you cannot use the same broadsheet again for the same Ward.
Collected at various posting boards around the city, all city guard/watch posts and all gates into/out of the city and its wards. A wanted poster normally has a detailed description of its subject, known aliases and last known whereabouts. Some come with a reward for information leading to the subject's capture but state to let the Watch/Guards handle the actual capturing.
Urban Rangers: If you read a Wanted Poster during a short or long rest, you may use your Favored Enemy feature on the subject of the poster for the next 24 hours. This does not allow you to learn new languages.
: Add a new villain option and cunning criminal organization to Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Hlaavin, a half-doppelganger/half-illithid crime boss, runs the UNSEEN, an illegal cabal of assassins, thieves, spies, illusionists, and shapechangers that plots to rule the city from the shadows. Written by Dragon Heist designer James Introcaso.
: Presenting over ONE-HUNDRED short encounters that bring the City of Splendors to life in YOUR game. This supplement includes a plethora of highly replayable random street encounters that draw on the story of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist™, with emphasis on the central themes of intrigue, espionage, and peril. One-shot encounters are presented for almost every location mentioned in "Volo’s Waterdeep Enchiridion" (Chapter 9), meaning you'll never get caught short for a dramatic scene as your players explore the city.
: The infamous Blue Alley lies hidden in the heart of Waterdeep. Built by a secretive wizard, it is a magic maze full of tricks, traps, strange monsters, and rich treasure. Countless adventurers have ventured inside to test their bravery and skill, yet few have returned. And now it is your turn… Blue Alley is a 3-4 hour Dungeons & Dragons adventure for characters of 1st to 4th level. It expands upon the material presented in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, but can be played on its own or as part of any D&D campaign.
: The famous proprietor of the Yawning Portal tavern has declared happy hour on his years of business knowledge! Durnan’s Guide to Tavernkeeping expands on the rules in the Dungeon Master’s Guide and chapter 2 of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist to provide gamers with everything they need to create and manage a fantasy tavern in the world of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS!
Other Content
: The Waterdeep Primer is a Dungeon Master's go to document to learn about or refresh their knowledge of the current state of Waterdeep. The primer is a summary, distillation and update of the AD&D, 3.5e, and 4e printings about Waterdeep. The Primer saves Dungeon Masters time by reducing the amount of searching and reading needed to gain an up to date understanding of the current state of Waterdeep. The Primer will provide you will all you need to know to start creating your own adventures or campaigns in Waterdeep. Once a DM has a base understanding of Waterdeep, they can use the Waterdeep Primer to locate other DMs Guild products that provide more detail and useful tools for running an adventure or campaign in Waterdeep.
: Capture the energy and mood of our favorite heist movies with this special rules supplement, which is strongly informed by the new classic RPG "Blades in the Dark", by John Harper and Evil Hat Productions. This guidebook hacks the “Blades in the Dark” approach for 5e, reaching a middle ground between John Harpers heavy narrative focus, and the mechanical robustness of 5e.
: Down & Out in Waterdeep is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure designed for characters starting at level 0. By the end of this module, the characters will have grown into themselves, determine their origins as heroes or villains of varying classes, and discover what will motivate them to take on life as an adventurer.
Yearning to Breathe Free - Waterdeep: Dragon Heist Primer: This FREE primer is designed to allow you to integrate your reputation with the factions introduced in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist into the Yearning to Breathe Free campaign. This primer also offers a new faction for use in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist - The Order of the Hellfire Hearth.
Denizens of Waterdeep - Backgrounds for a Heist: If you're creating new characters for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, consider these three new backgrounds for use with your character. If you're a DM planning on running the adventure, there's a new faction as well: The Heralds. Across Faerûn, they consider it their job to record and police the noble family lines and their heraldry.
The Nobility of Waterdeep: The upcoming "Waterdeep: Dragon Heist" will undoubtedly be a launching point for many new campaigns. Waterdeep is a grand city with a storied history. Part of that history is the establishment of the noble families who live in the city and bring it prosperity.
: This folio of game handouts provides the front pages of 13 newspapers, broadsheets and scandal rags found in the City of Splendors. As handouts, they serve as table props and boost the game atmosphere for your sessions. The stories and headlines on these pages can provide adventure ideas that can take place alongside Waterdeep Dragon Heist.
: As the party settles in to their new home in Trollskull Alley, the neighborhood welcomes another addition. A lady from a faraway land has acquired the old Priory of the Overgod, a long-abandoned structure at the eastern end of the alley. Shortly after Lady Boguescu and her small retinue move into the priory, strange occurrences begin haunting the alley. The east end of the alley sees an uptick in vermin, and a strange fog seems to fill the alley, regardless of the season. Shadows seem longer. Soon Fala Lefaliir begins complaining that their supplies are spoiling. Will the owners of Trollskull Manor be able to discover the nature of these dark disturbances and put a stop to it? Or will the people of the alley fall prey to the Lady of Trollskull Priory?
: 150 Shops, Stalls and Stores for your RPG Campaign. Originally designed for Waterdeep Dragon Heist, but it location non-specific.
The Yawning Portal Map: Digital map for use in your Waterdeep campaign in the Forgotten Realms! NEW: There are separate maps for the DM and the players! This product includes a PDF document, as well as a zip file with the maps in PNG and JPEG format.
Waterdeep Bestiary: Monsters from 2nd and 3rd edition from Waterdeep-specific sources and monster manuals. The clockroach, dweomervore, ghaundan, greater leucrota, guardgoyle, mageripper swarm, nyth, scaladar, taunting haunt and wilora are featured, all converted to 5e rules. Challenges from 1 to 9, many perfect creatures to challenge a party of 1st to 5th level PC’s!
Treasures and Trinkets: Waterdeep Dragon Heist: This installment in the Treasures & Trinkets series, which provides ready-made treasure parcels to plug into any session, focuses on Waterdeep.
: This prop-deed was written in the styling of a 1699 french deed of a similar nature. The verbage and redundancies stay true to the bureaucratic stylings of the masked lords and high speech one might find from scriveners and scribes.
Trollskull Alley - a Waterdeep: Dragon Heist DM's Resource: Chapter 2: Trollskull Alley is the sandbox of the Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign. It's where you and the players get to set your own pace, create unique stories and forge a lasting relationship with Waterdeep and its residents. But, as is often the case, freedom can become overwhelming. What should you use from the chapter? How do you use it? When? For who? The goal of this document is to help you find the answer to those questions and provide the tools to create a fun and manageable sandbox for your players. You'll find advice and embellishments on nearly everything that's described in the chapter, which will hopefully help you DM the chapter.
: So Volo gave you Trollskull Manor. You even had it renovated and first patrons come to taste your ale. But what’s next? This small module is useful for both DMs and players and offers:- simple rules for making deals and earning money
- 16 upgrades for the manor and tavern, which provide small game-mechanics benefits
- a cool-looking handout: the Deed of Ownership
- 40 random events that occur when the heroes are away adventuring
- a short 2-hour adventure based on the tavern’s history
And of course MAPS! Beautiful, colour, grid or no-grid re-imagined, hand-drawn maps of each floor!
Urban Archetypes: 30 Urban-Themed Subclasses
: Urban Archetypes includes 30 urban-themed subclasses and 17 spells (including lovely spells like Conjure Mugger and Lawyer-Up) for any cityscape campaign or character.
: Heart Hunt is an urban murder mystery adventure designed for 4-6 3rd level characters. Depending on how much the characters explore and number of players, you can expect this specific story to take anywhere from 4-6 hours.
Downtime Businesses: Waterdeep: This product is for DMs whose player characters are looking for a business other than Trollskull Manor to run and operate in the course of their Waterdeep Dragon Heist campaign.
: This adventure gives the characters a chance to explore a bit more of Waterdeep that I had a great time learning about from old source material like FR1 - Waterdeep and the North, City of Splendors, and Ed Greenwood’s fantastic Volo’s Guide to Waterdeep. Interaction, exploration of the city, two combat encounters, and an all new dice game!
: This is a five-hour adventure for 1st to 4th level characters. When playing this adventure, expect to encounter any of the following: a talking goldfish, a table-flipping bugbear, a gnome with ichthyophobia, robot beholders, a disco dance floor, a giant slot machine, a book titled "Wizardry for Dummies," and a chance to steal from a laundry list of magical artifacts out of the Xanathar's personal treasury. This adventure fits very well in a Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign, and there are instructions for inserting the adventure into any number of different places in Dragon Heist.
: Chapter 3: Fireball is the real 'hook' of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. It's where the adventure starts in earnest, as an explosion of fire pulls the adventurers from their leisurely lives at Trollskull Manor and right into the middle of a criminal investigation - and a hunt for 500,000 gold dragons! But how to make sure the party actually get involved? And that they find the clues they need to get where they need to go? And how do you handle the chaos of Gralhund Villa? The goal of this document is to provide you, the Dungeon Master, with tools and thoughts that'll help you make Chapter 3 of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist easy for you to run and enjoyable for your players.
Rumors for DDAL08-01 Map with No Names: Looking for a good way to start your Dragon Heist game? Hand out these spoiler-free whispers and rumors to your players and let the map mania take over! Includes 9 rumors connected to the rumors of treasure maps floating around Waterdeep. Suitable for a variety of character backgrounds.
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist - Infernal Contract: In the private study of Lady Cassalanter stands an infernal tome, the Red Grimoire, whose dark secrets are revealed using the only currency that truly matters - blood. This document is designed to be found either within the study or in the book itself and serves as a visual handout for players.
Dragon Heist Paper Miniatures (Chapter 1)
: I've made some paper miniatures for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist! This pack covers all the NPCs and Monsters for Chapter 1. There are 24+ different designs (i.e. 25), and I've included printouts to get the full quantity of miniatures required for the entire first chapter of Dragon Heist, i.e. if you print the whole thing and prepare them you'll have everyone you need!
: In this document we explore the Gray Hands (also known as Force Grey) — one of the most interesting and unique factions available to player characters in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. With inspiration from the source material, we've crafted three whole faction missions from the brief outlines given in the campaign book, complete with challenging encounter, beautiful battlemaps, entertaining skill challenges and unique treasure. Being a member of the Gray Hands have never been this fun — or this dangerous!
Dragon Heist: The Haunting at Trollskull Manor
: The Haunting at Trollskull Manor is a short adventure balanced for four 2nd-3rd level characters for chapter 2 of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, and is designed to be completed in two sessions as the adventurers confront the ambulant spirit(s) that haunt the manor. It expands upon the grisly history of Trollskull, particularly the dark chapter it spent as an orphanage headed by a cannibalistic hag.
Adventurer's League Content
(Companion Map Pack): Who knows why adventurers are drawn together? The lust for gold, a common foe, or the whimsy of fate? Pull up a stool, stoke the hearth, and let YOUR story begin! A Four-Hour Adventure for Tier 1 Characters. Optimized for APL 1.
(Companion Map Pack): Rumors abound of a map that leads to a treasure of unimaginable value. When chance drops the map into your hands, you have the chance to become wealthy beyond your wildest dreams. But you’re not the only ones with that dream. The chase is on. Part One of the Umbral Aristocracy Trilogy. A 2-4 Hour Adventure for Tier 1 Characters. Optimized for APL 3.
(Companion Map Pack): The treasure hunt has led to the City of the Dead. Beneath that well-manicured park is an ancient crypt where the treasure awaits you! Part Two of the Umbral Aristocracy Trilogy. A 2-4 Adventure for Tier 1 Characters. Optimized for APL 3.
(Companion Map Pack): You’ve been set up. However, the man you were set against is more than willing to forgive and forget, if you are willing join forces to seek a terrible vengeance. Part Three of the Umbral Aristocracy Trilogy. A 2-4Adventure for Tier 1 Characters. Optimized for APL 3.
CALL OF THE KRAKEN: WATERDEEP: Continue your adventures after completing Waterdeep Dragon Heist! In this adventure for levels 5 to 7, one of Waterdeep's factions reaches out with a special assignment: locate their missing agent!
DND Beyond Content
Visitors to Trollskull Alley: There’s a place in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist called Trollskull Alley, and you may soon find yourself spending a great deal of time on this auspicious street. To keep this hub of life and excitement in Waterdeep feeling fresh, you will want to make sure it’s always teeming with new visitors for the player characters to meet. Dungeon Masters, this article is for you. And players?
What to do with 500,000 Gold Pieces?: What if you could get that gold? What could you possibly spend it on? Now there will probably be caveats; a windfall of that size will surely create problems and expenses all on its own, and you will surely have to spend a fair sum of it just to protect yourself from enemies, politicians, and “long lost cousins.” But what if this were a perfect world, and you could keep it all? Let’s speculate on the sheer magnificence of 500,000 gold pieces, and what a group of adventurers could do with it all.
Welcome to Waterdeep! An Introduction to the City of Splendors: The next Dungeons & Dragons adventure, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist will take place in—where else?—Waterdeep, the City of Splendors and Jewel of the Sword Coast! This city is figuratively built atop thousands of years of history, and literally built atop the thousands-years-old mega-dungeon Undermountain. Players and DMs who are preparing to adventure in Waterdeep when Dragon Heist launches on September 6th, 2018, will want to know a little bit about the city before they create their characters—especially if those characters are native Waterdhavians.
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist’s Factions are Perfect for Beginner and Veteran DMs: For most players, their party is the only organization they need. In fact, some more selfish characters chafe at even that much camaraderie. But factions need not be omnipresent guides. In Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, the player factions are a source of information, side hustles, and sometimes even major magic items.