Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

Dungeons & Dragons 5e on Discord, Owlbear Rodeo, Theater of the Mind

About the adventure

Welcome to Waterdeep! A port-city along the western coast of Faerun, Waterdeep is known to be one of the busiest and most well-known cities in the land. This city is known for being a trading and commercial hub. Many have made their riches here; after all, why else would it be nicknamed "The City of Splendors"? Art and literature thrive here. It was originally built over the mega-dungeon known as the "Under-Mountain". One could spend an entire lifetime in Waterdeep and never run out of stories and rumors about both the city and its secrets. Think of Waterdeep as being akin to Victorian-era London. It is bustling with magic and commerce, but still has the feeling of a dark ages world. If you're not familiar with Waterdeep, that's totally fine! This module was created with newer and veteran players in mind. This story tends to be more lenient on roleplay and investigation. This isn't to say that combat won't be involved; it certainly will. But please keep in mind going in that this is a RP-leanient module. I enjoy getting very into character during sessions. That includes voices, accents, and detail during combat. I have training and a job that pertains to combat in real life, so I can be realistic with how detailed in-game combat is. (To a degree, at least. It is Dungeons and Dragons, after all!) This doesn't mean that we won't likely break character and have some laughs. That's totally okay, and encouraged. PLEASE NOTE: Whenever character creation is finished for session 0, we'll use the rest of that time to begin playing. :) I only have three character creation rules (these will be highlighted again below): 1. No Warforged or Gith. I'd highly prefer if you played a race that was at least occasionally seen in Waterdeep. But Warforged and Gith are the only strict no-nos. 2. No Mystics. :) 3. I roll death saves for players. I also hide the results. This creates a sense of urgency when some players are down during combat. I will keep a record of the death saves, so that after combat, I can prove I wasn't favoring/punishing a player.

Additional Details

How to prepare

You will need a mic, as well as a free Discord account and access to a web browser. We'll be using Owlbear Rodeo for combat, which is a simple website made for online play during the pandemic. The Discord has a bot pre-set up so that we can all roll with no chances of cheating.

What I provide

I will provide the Discord, Owlbear Rodeo room, and tile sheets for combat, as well as any PDFs the players may need for character creation. I have ALL D&D 5E BOOKS on pdf and will provide the ones needed for character creation, free of charge.

Gameplay details

As soon as possible, I will message players after they have signed up, thanking them for doing so and offering a safety net of sorts. This is in order to be aware of any potential triggers players may have. Because this is an official D&D 5e module, I don't expect any sensitive topics to really be brought up. Still, I want my players to feel comfortable and safe. Additionally, at any time (including mid-session), any player can shoot me a private message telling me that they're uncomfortable. I won't announce it, or put the person on blast. Instead, I'll make sure to move the subject at hand along. Additionally, sessions will follow an "open door" policy. This means that, at any time and for any reason, players may leave the chat or mute themselves with no judgment. Breaks will be offered, both for the players and myself, about halfway through. It'll likely be a ten-minute break, but can be fifteen if the players really need those extra minutes to talk about the first half of the session. I'll reiterate this policy, as well as the other safety tools, at the beginning of every session and after the break.

Content warnings

(none)

Safety tools used

(none)

How will character creation work

We'll make characters at session 0. Feel free to message me with potential ideas, or come to the table with them. We'll be making characters together, starting at level 1. Dragon heist is designed for level 1-5, and may very well lead into Mad Mage if it goes well. Players can make them however they want, including pen and paper, DnD Beyond, or GSheets. As long as I can have a copy of your character at each level, and understand/approve the sheet upon creation, you're all good! I recommend players come to session 0 with an idea already in mind. I only have three character creation rules: 1. No Warforged or Gith. I'd highly prefer if you played a race that was at least occasionally seen in Waterdeep. But Warforged and Gith are the only strict no-nos. 2. No Mystics. :) 3. I roll death saves for players. I also hide the results. This creates a sense of urgency when some players are down during combat. I will keep a record of the death saves, so that after combat, I can prove I wasn't favoring/punishing a player. Homebrew is okay, provided you run it by me first and I approve it. Homebrew is a TON of fun. But not when it breaks the game.

Players can expect

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