Go to Part 1

After hiding the secret of the Vault’s location in the Stone of Golorr, Lord Neverember chose to further secure it by blinding the Stone: He removed the Stone’s three eyes, robbing it of the ability to both see and communicate its secrets, and hid those Eyes in different places.

In order to discover the location of the Vault, someone needs to restore the Eyes to the Stone of Golorr. (Which is simply a matter of having both in the same location and placing an Eye within an empty socket.) As described in Part 1, the Eyes are currently held by the Cassalanters, Manshoon, and Xanathar. Each of these Eyes have been secured in their respective lairs, and if the PCs want to restore the Stone of Golorr, discover the location of the Vault, and end the Grand Game, then they’re going to have to go into those lairs and get them.

HEIST STRUCTURE

This part of our remix, therefore, restructures the four villain lairs so that the PCs can run exciting and successful heists in them. This includes providing adversary rosters and explicit heist frames for each lair, along with minor tweaks and the like where necessary.

Before we dive in, let’s take a moment to discuss the structure of a heist scenario. It superficially resembles the location-crawl (usually featuring a room-and-key design), but with the – very important! – distinction that the PCs are expected to know the floor plan and some (or all) of the defensive measures present before the actual heist begins. In this it also closely resembles the raid structure, but the difference is that, whereas in the raid scenario the PCs can quickly figure out the floorplan and defensive measures largely through observation in the immediate moment, in the heist discovering these elements usually requires additional effort during the prep phase of the heist.

The heist structure is heavily player-driven, but if the players haven’t done proper heists before, they can prove unusual enough that the DM should let the players know that they have opportunities they might not normally consider viable. (This is particularly true specifically because of the heist’s similarity to the dungeon crawl: Players may assume that they’re “supposed” to engage the heist in the same way that they engage a traditional dungeon.)

The heist structure consists of five steps.

STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE SCORE. For the purposes of Dragon Heist, this means identifying where the Eyes are (i.e., the lairs of the villains). Part 5 will have the revelation lists with all the clues the PCs can follow to figure this out.

STEP 2: GATHER INFORMATION. The next step is for the PCs to gather information on their target. This should include being able to gain access to some or all of the blueprints and defensive measures in the targeted complex. It may also include an event schedule, which will often feature one or more opportunities for performing the heist (by either providing unique access to the target and/or providing cover for the operation).

The descriptions of the lairs below will include brief descriptions of what form the Gather Information phase might take for each lair, but the GM should always remain open to alternative thinking from the PCs.

Re: Blueprints. You may benefit from high-quality player versions of the maps. These are not, unfortunately, available in the book as printed, and due to copyright reasons I’m not going to produce them here. They are available in the Fantasy Grounds pack for Dragon Heist, and I believe they’re also available from D&D Beyond.

You may want to prepare:

• A full blueprint (i.e., the entire player’s map).
• A version with secret areas removed.
• Partial versions, particularly reflecting the limited knowledge of certain underlings who might be questioned. (Although it may be easier to simply sketch these out ad hoc as they come up during play.)

Be aware of the lack of windows in all of these maps. Place them logically or be prepared to tell the players where they’re located.

It’s important for the DM to remember that, in a heist scenario, the expected outcome is for the PCs to succeed in getting this information. That doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed: The expected outcome of combat in D&D is for the PCs to win, but that doesn’t mean it always happens. But DMs can sometimes get a little too enamored of keeping their cards close to their chest, and you may need to consciously remind yourself to fight that instinct: 90% of the fun in a heist scenario comes from seeing a problem and coming up with a solution for it. Only about 10% comes from being surprised by the unknown in the middle of the heist (and that’ll usually arise organically as the heist plays out).

STEP 3: ONSITE SURVEILLANCE. After the initial gathering of information, most heist stories will give the protagonists an opportunity to conduct onsite surveillance before the heist happens. This surveillance allows them to gain information they missed or were unable to gather earlier, clarify the information they already have, and/or discover that some of their information was inaccurate or outdated (and now they have a whole new set of problems to solve!).

One really easy division is to make it easy to obtain floor plans of the target, but to only be able to ascertain limited information about the security measures in place without onsite surveillance.

Each lair will detail at least one surveillance opportunity that the PCs can take advantage of.

STEP 4: PREP WORK. Possibly running in tandem with the onsite surveillance, the team will also need to make preparations for the job. Prep often takes the form of altering the information the PCs have received — creating new entrances, blinding security cameras, subverting guards, etc. It may also involve creating bespoke resources (or simply shopping for necessary supplies).

STEP 5: THE OPERATION. Finally, the operation itself. The PCs try to carry out their plan.

In running the operation, there may be one or more pre-planned twists: Unexpected circumstances that the PCs didn’t anticipate or that they missed in their research. These will often evolve organically from earlier missed checks. Lean into those. Gotchas that the PCs had no way of anticipating and which create unexpected complications for the job (“Oh crap! Mrs. Johnson came home early!”) are also great in moderation, but gotchas that automatically scuttle the entire job and negate all the PCs’ planning generally suck and should be avoided.

Successfully executing a heist will usually involve a series of skill checks. A single failed check should not cause the entire plan to immediately fail. Use fail forward techniques that generate complications on failed checks.

These complications on failed checks are also why you can get away with giving the PCs perfect information during Step 2 and Step 3: Among other things, you can use complications to introduce “oh fuck, he got a new safe” obstacles that effectively alter or reveal gaps in the information the PCs acquired on-the-fly.

(The difference between a gotcha and a complication is that the former are things which you, as the DM, plan to have happen before the heist starts. The latter arise as the heist is happening.)

THE FESTIVALS

As a final note here, this remix is set in the Springtime, during the back-to-back festivals of Fleetswake (Ches 21^st thru 30^th) and Waukeentide (Tarsakh 1^st thru 10^th). There are a couple reasons for this.

First, these festivals are filled with gold- and wealth-filled events, which is very thematically appropriate for the dragon-fueled pursuit of Lord Neverember’s Vault.

Second, and more importantly, these festivals provide wide opportunities for social events – parties, galas, gladiatorial games, etc. – to take place at each of the villains’ lairs. These provide both surveillance opportunities and access for the operations themselves.

The broad date range (and multiple events) give us a lot more flexibility in terms of how this section times out: If we instead aimed for just Trolltide on Klythorn 1^st, for example, and the PCs do things a little slower than we anticipate, then we could easily miss the holiday entirely. If they go a little slower in our case, then we just slide into the next slate of events during the dual festivals.

This long festival season can also explain why Jarlaxle has chosen this moment to appear in town with the Sea Maidens’ Faire: It’s the perfect cover for his traveling carnival.

FLEETSWAKE: This festival is the beginning of the Spring Social Season in Waterdeep. Celebrating the sea, maritime trade, and the gods of the sea, navigation, and weather, it spans the last tenday of Ches, and includes a series of boat races and guild-sponsored galas at the Copper Cup festhall. According to custom, the winners of the various competitions don’t keep their trophies and earnings, but deliver them to the priests of Umberlee at the Queenspire, her temple on the beach by the east entrance to the Great Harbor, at the conclusion of the festival (see below).

• Ches 21 – Selûne Sashelas: A celebration of Selûne, goddess of the moon and navigation, and Deep Sashelas of the Seldarine, elven god of the sea. It is supposedly based on a mangled legend dating back to the time when the elven city of Aelinthaldaar stood where Waterdeep does today and telling of a time when the elves of the sea said farewell to their brethren upon the land and moved into the deep ocean. The elves largely declare this to be a bunch of hogwash, but nevertheless the “historical event” is commemorated by the Twin Parades: A huge line of ships (varying greatly in size) proceeds from the harbor, loops up the coast, and returns. Simultaneously, a land-based parade proceeds from the Docks and through the streets of Waterdeep.
• Ches 25 – Shipwrights’ Ball: Held at the Shipwrights’ House, what was once a guild celebration has turned into one of the biggest social events of Fleetswake.
• Ches 29-30 – Fair Seas Festival: Much feasting on seafood, the harbor is strewn with flower petals, and the City Guards go from tavern to tavern to collect offerings for Umberlee. Collection boxes also appear at large festival gatherings. Upon sunset of the final day, the collected coin is placed in chests and dumped into the deepest part of the harbor. (See Dragon Heist, p. 185 for anyone who thinks they should try to loot it.)
• Ches 30 – Highcoin Balls: When Lord Peirgeiron was High Lord of Waterdeep, he threw the Highcoin Ball on the 30^th of Ches which would last all through the last day of the Fair Seas Festival. It was considered the absolute necessity for those intending to be on the scene that season, and those who missed it became an afterthought for the rest of the year. After Lord Peirgeion’s passing, a number of noble families tried to pick up the tradition. The result are the Highcoin Balls, which now generally begin after sundown (when the ceremonies of Umberlee’s Cache take place). It’s not unusual for guests to wander from one party to the next.

WAUKEENTIDE: This festival has long gathered a number of older holidays under one name, stretching those celebrations and rituals into a holiday season that lasts a tenday in homage to Waukeen, the goddess of wealth and trade.fs

• Tarsahk 1 – Caravance: This gift-giving holiday commemorates the traditional arrival of the first caravans of the season into the city. Many parents hide gifts for their offspring in their homes, telling the children that they were left by Old Carvas – a mythical peddler who arrived with the first caravan to reach Waterdeep, his wagon loaded down with toys for children to enjoy.
• Tarsahk 5 – Goldenight: This festival celebrates coin and gold, with many businesses staying open all night, offering midnight sales and other promotions. Some celebrants and customers decorate themselves with gold dust and wear coins as jewelry.
• Tarsahk 7 – Guildsmeet: On this holiday, guild members gather in their halls for the announcement of new policies and a celebration of business concluded for the year. These gatherings culminate in a gala festival and dance sponsored by several guilds, which lasts from dusk till dawn and overruns the Market, the Cynosure, the Field of Triumph, and all areas in between.
• Tarsahk 10 – Leiruin: In times long past, Waukeen caught Leira, the goddess of illusions and deception, attempting to cheat her in a deal, and buried her under a mountain of molten gold as punishment. A commemoration of that event, Leiruin is the day for guild members to pay their annual dues and for guildmasters to meet with the Lords of Waterdeep and renew their charters for another year. In the evening, the Leiruin Feasts are held, in which gold coins (and other golden treasures) are baked into random items of food to be won by those who are lucky enough to receive them.

HOLIDAYS AT THE TAVERN: See the notes on hosting the Deadwinter Day Feast at Trollskull Manor on page 162 of Dragon Heist for some light, adaptable notes on how the various holidays of Fleetswake and Waukeentide can come home to roost.

DESIGN NOTES

The Highcoin Balls are derived from this wiki. I’ve sought for an original source in all the Waterdeep lore I own and have been unsuccessful, leading me to suspect that it may be an original creation of Joseph D. Carriker, Jr. for his campaign.

NOTES ON THE LAIRS

The notes on the various lairs below include revisions made to some of the keyed areas in those lairs. After years of doing this, I’ve discovered that, rather than attempting to simply annotate the changes to an area, it is usually easier to just “overwrite” the entire area. (That way, as the GM, you only need to check to see if any area has been updated. You don’t have to simultaneously try to combine and interpolate text across multiple sources.)

Therefore, that’s the approach I’ve taken below. If an area appears in the notes below, you can simply ignore the original key entry in Dragon Heist and use the entry as found here. (Unless noted otherwise.)

Remember that NPCs now appear on the adversary roster and should be ignored when they appear in the Dragon Heist room keys.

Go to Part 4B: Bregan D’Aerthe – Sea Maidens Faire