Recently I reviewed Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, the most recent campaign supplement for Dungeons & Dragons from Wizards of the Coast. That review highlighted a number of places where, unfortunately, I felt that Dragon Heist came up a little short in terms of its design. Since writing that review, I’ve had several people ask — based in part, perhaps, on my previous experience remixing the Keep on the Shadowfell and Eternal Lies — if I would “fix” Dragon Heist for them.
Short answer: Yes.
Unlike Hoard of the Dragon Queen, for which I received similar requests, Dragon Heist has a lot of really great material in it. Material that’s worth bringing to your gaming table. The primary goal of this remix is, in fact, to make sure that you can bring even MORE of this material to your gaming table than the published campaign allows, and to re-structure the material in a way that will make it easy and rewarding for you to run the campaign.
With that being said: If you’re expecting something as expansive as my remix of Eternal Lies or as mechanically-oriented as my remix of Keep on the Shadowfell, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. My goal with Dragon Heist is more narrowly focused, although it will perhaps serve as an exemplar of how I often rework published material in order to create a richer, more dynamic, and (importantly) more robust scenario.
EDIT: In the course of writing and developing the Alexandrian Remix, the scope of the project expanded. This is discussed in more detail in Part 7: How the Remix Works, but the originally design-oriented discussion ambitiously grew into a much more prodigious project than I’d originally intended. These essays were not designed for use at the table, and became even less useful as such as time went by. If this is your first time visiting the remix, I recommend reading through this series to understand how and why it works. If you’re looking to actually run the remix, you’ll want to have run-time notes: A description of those can be found in Part 7.
This advice also holds if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed by the minutia of the Remix: Skip to Part 7 and read “How the Remix Works” followed by “A Simple Checklist.” It’s easier than you think!
COLLECTED EDITION
Patrons of the Alexandrian can download a collected edition of the Remix. This includes:
- The Complete Collection, a PDF with all 25 parts of the Remix plus the original review, addendums, and Running the Campaign essays in one convenient file.
- Justin’s Running Files, a Patron-exclusive collection of the documents I actually ran the campaign from (as described above and in Part 7 of the Remix). These are presented in Word format for easy editing and re-arranging to your heart’s content.
Part 1: The Villains
Part 1B: Other Factions
Part 1C: Player Character Factions
Part 2: Gralhund Villa
Part 3: Faction Outposts
Part 3B: More Faction Outposts
Part 3C: Response Teams
Part 3D: Other Response Teams
Part 4: The Eyes of the Stone
Part 4B: Bregan D’Aerthe – Sea Maidens Faire
Part 4C: Cassalanter Villa
Part 4D: Xanathar’s Lair
Part 4E: Zhentarim – Kolat Towers
Part 5: Clues and Timelines
Part 5B: Finding Floon
Part 5C: The Nimblewright Investigation
Part 5D: Backtracking Dalakhar & Kalain
Part 5E: Outpost and Lair Revelation List
Part 6: Golorr Artifacts
Part 6B: The Brandath Crypts
Part 6C: The Vault
Part 6D: Faction Reports (Gralhund/Jarlaxle)
Part 6E: Faction Reports (Cassalanter)
Part 6F: Faction Reports (Xanathar/Zhentarim)
Part 7: How the Remix Works
ADDENDUMS
Addendum: First Impressions
Addendum: The Twin Parades
Addendum: Fancy Props
Addendum: Other Collaborators
Addendum: A Night in Trollskull Manor
Addendum: The Dragon of Dragon Heist
Addendum: Timelines & Starting the Campaign
Addendum: The Blinded Stone
Addendum: Tutors for the Orphans
Addendum: Dragon Heist – Accelerated!
LORE
Forgotten Realms: A Textual History of the Yawning Portal
RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN
Running the Campaign: A Party at Shipwrights’ House
Running the Campaign: The Manshoon Heists
Running the Campaign: Creating the Characters
Dragon Heist: The Final Session
TRANSLATIONS
Chinese
DESIGN GOALS
In remixing Dragon Heist, I have three primary goals.
First, I want to make it a HEIST. Or, more accurately, multiple heists.
Second, I want to eliminate the original “pick a villain” gimmick and instead restructure the campaign to feature ALL OF THE VILLAINS. The goal is to get all of the factions interested in the Vault competing with each other, and then thrust the PCs into the middle of that situation, bouncing around and causing all kinds of chaos.
Third, we’ll be doing a general FIX-UP JOB. This will include an attempt to clean up the broken continuity in the published campaign and also an effort to make the campaign’s scenario structure more robust (by applying the Three Clue Rule, for example).
Because I don’t want to get too consumed with minutia, however, this final point will not take the form of attempting to track down every single continuity error in the scenario. Instead, I’ll be looking to perform a broader reorganization of Dragon Heist’s back story that will hopefully rearrange its diverse parts into a coherent whole, and then trust the DM to resolve the local continuity appropriately using these broad reference documents as their touchstone.
Even if you don’t own Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, I hope you’ll find some points of interest in my design notes and other discussion. But it probably goes without saying that in order to actually use this remix, you’ll need to own a copy of the book.
We’ll begin with the villains.
THE GRAND GAMES
Periodically throughout Waterdeep’s history the byzantine factions of the city — or some significant subset thereof — will become collectively fixated upon some objective. Thus will begin a Grand Game.
Sometimes the goal of a Grand Game will be arcane. Often it is clandestine, although quite public struggles are not unknown. (On no less than three occasions the Grand Game has revolved around the appointment of the Open Lord.) Whatever the case, the intense rivalries of the Grand Game give birth to all forms of subterfuge, covert activities, deception, and intrigue.
This is very much the case with the current quest for Dagult Neverember’s vault. Obliquely referred to by many players of the Grand Game as Neverember’s Enigma, the truth of the vault was sought even before the players realized it was a vault. At first, it was merely known that the disgraced and ousted Neverember was keeping some momentous secret, and those involved in the Game yearned to discover what the former Open Lord of Waterdeep was hiding.
When the vast scope of his embezzlement — a half million gold dragons! — came to light, however, many intuited the truth behind Neverember’s Enigma and its pursuit became even more frenzied.
In terms of the Dragon Heist campaign, we will focus on five factions participating in the Grand Game:
- Xanathar, a beholder crime boss
- the Zhentarim, a network of assassins and mercenaries
- the Cassalanters, a devil-worshipping noble family
- Jarlaxle Baenre, a drow swashbuckler who is the secret lord of a city, leader of the dark elf mercenary group Bregan D’Aerthe, and has surreptitiously come to Waterdeep as the captain of a traveling circus
- the Gralhunds, a minor noble family who is way out of their league
For each of these factions, we will want to know:
- What they’re planning to do with the gold (which is largely, with the exception of our revised version of the Gralhunds, dealt with in the original book)
- How they became involved with Neverember’s Enigma and what their current strategy for pursuing the Grand Game is
- How the PCs first interact with them and become aware of their involvement in the Grand Game
DESIGN NOTES
The concept of the “Grand Game” was created to give a convenient label to the proceedings. As the PCs are exposed to this label, it will help them conceptualize what they have become a part of. It also elevates the hunt for the vault, tying it into the long history of the city and the rivalry of its factions. As the PCs make the choice to join the Grand Game, it will be clear to them that they have crossed a threshold and become part of something larger than anything they have taken part in before. (And thus they themselves have become more important.)
The terminology of “Neverember’s Enigma” is deliberately cryptic. It allows the participants of the Grand Game to speak in code while wrapping their words in elliptical euphemisms, creating a sense of mystery which will invite the PCs to drive forward and discover the truth of what’s happening.
XANATHAR
When Xanathar had the Stone of Golorr stolen from the Palace of Waterdeep, he only knew that he was stealing an object of great importance to Lord Neverember (i.e., Neverember’s Enigma). When he later learned about the missing dragons, he believed that he was now in possession of the whole key to Neverember’s Vault. And he was perfectly happy with that. You don’t need to actually hold the gold if you’re the one who controls its location.
What he didn’t know was that the Stone of Golorr had been blinded by Lord Neverember, who removed its three Eyes. (More on this in Part 4 of the remix.)
Then the Zhentarim came to him with one of the Eyes and said, “We have two different parts of this puzzle. We’d like to make a deal.” Xanathar was enraged at both their presumption and his own folly, slew the Zhentarim envoys, and took the Eye they had brought to him.
Thus began the gang war between the Zhentarim and Xanathar. Xanathar was convinced that the Zhentarim had the other Eyes. (They didn’t. Although that changes shortly after Dragon Heist begins; see below.) The Zhentarim, for their part, wanted both vengeance AND their Eye back (and the Stone of Golorr itself for good measure).
The gang war, in turn, became the point at which everyone who knows what’s really going on in Waterdeep (or likes to think they do) became aware that a Grand Game was in progress. In the process, Dagult Neverember became aware that it was Xanathar who had stolen the Stone of Golorr and he reassigns Dalakhar to infiltrate Xanathar’s organization and steal the Stone back.
ZHENTARIM
The Zhentarim were originally founded as a mercenary force by the wizard Manshoon, but they’ve been a fractured organization ever since the Manshoon Wars, when multiple clones of Manshoon warred for supremacy.
Most of Manshoon’s clones were destroyed during the Manshoon Wars, but yet another has recently returned to Waterdeep (claiming, as they all do, to be the one true Manshoon). When he peeled off a large hunk of the local Zhentarim network that had been established by the Doom Raiders (see p. 198 of Dragon Heist), he became aware that Lord Neverember had used the local Zhentarim’s resources to embezzle hundreds of thousands of gold dragons from the government.
Manshoon wanted to know where that money has gone. He knew that Neverember didn’t actually have it in his possession, so he sent agents to infiltrate Neverember’s household in Neverwinter to find out. Those agents weren’t able to fully ascertain where the gold was, but they did identify the Eye as the key to getting it. They stole the Eye from the Protector’s Enclave and brought it to Manshoon, who through a combination of divinations and other espionage efforts eventually connected it to the Stone of Golorr which Xanathar had stolen.
CHAPTER 1 – A FRIEND IN NEED: After he lost his Eye to Xanathar, Manshoon needed to get back in the game. His agents eventually concluded that Neverember’s son, Renaer, might have another of the Eyes. They were right, although Renaer didn’t know it: His father had given him an elaborate, ivory mourning locket in honor of his mother. The Eye was hidden inside it.
The full dynamic in the first chapter, therefore, is this:
- Zhentarim agents snatch Renaer Neverember and his friend Floon Blagmaar.
- While questioning Renaer in Area Z5, they realize that the Eye is in the mourning locket and take the locket from Renaer.
- Renaer is hauled back down to Area Z2 and tied up next to Floon. Upstairs, the Zhentarim break open the locket (it can still be found in Area Z5), remove the Eye, and give it to a courier to carry to Manshoon.
- Floon is then hauled upstairs for questioning (the Zhentarim want to see if he might be worth a ransom).
- Xanathar’s agents storm the warehouse. They immediately find “the prisoner” (i.e., Floon), assume he’s Renaer, and several of their agents hustle him out to their sewer hideout. Meanwhile, Renaer takes advantage of the confusion downstairs to slip his bonds and hide in Area Z2.
- Xanathar’s agents do a perfunctory sweep of the warehouse and then take off, leaving the kenku behind to kill any Zhents who show up.
Renaer will be able to tell the PCs that he was questioned by the Zhents about the half million dragons his father stole from the city; then they ripped off a locket that was very precious to him. If they find the locket and see the (now empty) secret compartment inside it, Renaer can also tell them that he had no idea that the compartment existed or what was stored inside it.
DESIGN NOTES
The opening scenario thus introduces the PCs to both the Zhentarim and Xanathar. It should also become clear that they’re both interested in the money Dagult Neverember stole, but the exact nature of what’s being fought over (i.e., the Stone of Golorr) should remain a mystery at this juncture.
The other thing we’re doing here is cleaning up one of the scenario’s major continuity errors: Why was Renaer kidnapped? At this point in the timeline, the Zhentarim already know that Xanathar has the Stone of Golorr and that the Stone is the only way of finding the vault. Questioning him “about the whereabouts of the Stone of Golorr”, as the adventure suggests, makes no sense.
JARLAXLE BAENRE
As Dragon Heist begins, Jarlaxle is unaware of the Stone of Golorr or the Grand Game which is being played. His current agenda, as described in the campaign, 
is to convince the leaders of Waterdeep to support Luskan’s bid to join the Lords’ Alliance. Freshly arrived in his cover identity as Captain Zord of the Sea Maiden’s Faire, Jarlaxle is coordinating and ramping up his local intelligence operations.
NIMBLEWRIGHTS: One of Jarlaxle’s main objectives right now is the sale of nimblewrights. Built by the technomancers of Luskan, he’s brought several dozen of these constructs with him and is selling them at surprisingly compelling prices.
Why? Because he’s actually harvesting data from them. In Jarlaxle’s stateroom onboard the Scarlet Marpenoth (Area U4, see p. 143) there is a specialized crystal ball that allows him to look out through the eyes of any nimblewright and even review what they’ve seen. (We might think of this as a “recording”, but Jarlaxle refers to it as a record of witness.)
After the PCs identify that a nimblewright is responsible for the fireball in Trollskull Alley, they’ll be able to trace the local nimblewrights back to “Captain Zord”. If they speak with Jarlaxle about the nimblewright they’re seeking, he’ll first want to know why they’re looking for it. Following up on whatever the PCs tell him, his agents will discover the hunt for the Stone of Golorr (or he’ll simply review the record of witness for the appropriate nimblewright and discover the Gralhunds’ schemes).
Alternatively, the PCs might decide not to talk to him and instead sneak in and steal his records of sale (or access the records of witness in the crystal ball for themselves). Which is great because, bang, you’ve got a heist pointed at Jarlaxle’s ship.
DESIGN NOTES
If the PCs perform a heist on the nimblewright proprietor instead of speaking with Jarlaxle, it’s very possible that Jarlaxle won’t become aware of the Grand Game and his agents will not become involved in later stages of the scenario. That’s fine, though, because we’ve already gotten maximum bang for our buck from the player-initiated heist, right?
Full details on how the nimblewright-focused investigation is structured will be found in Part 5 of the remix.
CASSALANTERS
The Cassalanters were actually interested in Neverember’s Enigma even before they knew that 500,000 dragons were on the line: Lord Neverember was not the first person to hide secrets within the Stone of Golorr, and through their fiendish researches the Cassalanters have identified a number of other lucrative and powerful lines of inquiry they would like to pursue (see Part 6 of the remix).
They discovered that Neverember had hidden one of the Eyes in the crypt of Lady Alethea Brandath, Renaer’s mother. They went to the crypt and extracted the Eye from the magical wards Dagult Neverember had placed around it. (Ironically, they were literally standing on top of the Vault itself and didn’t know it.)
When the Cassalanters learned about the embezzled gold, however, their priorities quickly shifted: They saw an opportunity to save their children from the pact they had made with Asmodeus.
A PLEA FOR HELP: After the explosion, during the time that they’re investigating the nimblewrights, the PCs are contacted by the Cassalanters, who request an audience. The Cassalanters’ own agents were in Trollskull Alley that day because they, too, were tracking the Stone, so they know that Dalakhar was trying to bring the Stone to the PCs.
When the PCs arrive at the Cassalanter estate:
- They are given an opportunity to “accidentally” meet the Cassalanters’ children, who come running into the Entrance Hall (C1) while the PCs are waiting.
- Lady Cassalanter comes out personally to gather the PCs from the Entrance Hall and shoos the children away. She leads the PCs to the Reading Room (Area C4), where they can look out over the Butterfly Garden (Area C25). The children have scampered through the mudroom and are playing out there now. (Make sure to mention the black dragon head mounted on the wall of the room.)
- Lady Cassalanter introduces her husband and they tell the PCs a modified version of their plight: The twins were cursed at their birth by Asmodean cultists to lose their souls on their ninth birthday. The Cassalanters have discovered a ritual which can save them, but it requires them to sacrifice “one shy of a million gold coins”. They are quite rich, but even in leveraging everything they own they still can’t raise that monstrous sum. If they could get their hands on Neverember’s ill-gotten gains, though… Will the PCs please help them?
- And then, of course, Lady Cassalanter turns to gaze wistfully at her children frolicking with the butterflies.
Obviously they don’t tell the PCs that the ritual also involves killing 99 people. (Unless they have some reason to think that the PCs would think that to be a great idea.) They don’t technically need all the money, and are willing to cut the PCs in on 10% of it or agree to return the surplus funds to the city.
THE FEAST: If the PCs agree to help and succeed in delivering the gold to the Cassalanters, they receive invitations to the feast where Ammalia poisons 99 guests in the garden pavilion and the final ritual is performed.
You may be tempted to have the Cassalanters betray the PCs by having them be among the 99, but I actually recommend the opposite: If the PCs have delivered as promised, the Cassalanters are more than pleased with their work and are looking forward to a long and prosperous friendship with them. They’re invited to feast in the Banquet Hall (Area C15) where all the non-sacrificial guests are celebrating.
If the PCs haven’t discovered the Cassalanters’ true motives, it will be far more effective for them to be horrified by their implication in the mass murder.
DESIGN NOTES
As far as I can tell, Renaer’s mother has never been given a first name, so I’ve provided one. If I’m in error on this (I haven’t, for example, read the novels the Neverembers appear in) please let me know.
Note that everything the Cassalanters tell the PCs is true… from a certain point of view.
Really enjoyed your review of Dragon Heist, and am even more excited to see how this remix develops. Your suggestions about the Cassalanters in particular are fantastic, and had my evil DM smirk coming out.
Hi, I’m a long time reader of your fantastic stuff! This comes up with a wonderful timing because I just accepted to run this adventure in the new setting, Ravnica (also starting from Tier 2). I don’t know if you are familiar with it, but I am having a difficult time translating the various factions: Zhentarim are probably House Dimir, the Cassalanter a noble family indebted to the Orzhov (or maybe the Rakdos?!), but the Xanathar’s Guild? And Jarlaxle, a Rakdos entertainer or an Izzet artificier? But most of all there’s no governing Lord in Ravnica, so I was thinking about an Orzhov banker. If you have any insight about it I’d be curious, and I’ll follow closely this series of posts!
Wonderful effort, thanks! I will definitely be using this to fix all the continuity errors.
However, in the book as-written, wouldn’t it still make sense for the Zhentarim to question Renaer? They know Xanathar HAD the stone, but since it was stolen, wouldn’t the Zhentarim be interested in trying to find out more about the vault from Renaer?
Generally speaking, the Stone of Golorr sucks the memory of the Vault out of your head when you lose attunement to it. (We’ll be strengthening that aspect, but it’s true in the original, too.) Given the circumstances, it’s fairly clear that the Zhentarim know this. (Everyone in the adventure is pretty clear that the only path to the Vault lies through the Stone.)
The other way you could fix this, though, would be to have the Zhents bring in someone to cast remove curse on Renaer in the hopes that it would restore his memory of the Vault. (It wouldn’t because he never had those memories, but the Zhents wouldn’t necessarily know that.) That would also be a good way to give the PCs a clue about how they can recover their own lost memories if they later attain the Stone, learn the location of the Vault, and then lose that memory.
@Matthew: I’m not familiar with Ravnica so can’t really make a specific suggestion. I will note that you don’t need a government leader. You just need someone really rich who wants to hide their money in the vault. They don’t even need to still be alive.
@Matthew:
The Orzhov have a hidden vault of 10-zino coins deep in the Undercity or in the Rubblebelt proper (the Rubblebelt used to be an Orzhov district and there are plenty of lost ruins there)
The Obzedat know that the vault exists, and the location, but the key went missing when the Gruul took over, and they are NOT going to spend money on a rush job, they’re waiting for the Boros to wrap the 4th district conflict – if that takes a century, so what? They have time.
Governing Lord of Ravnica is Jace Beleren, but Lavinia of the Tenth or Agmand Sarv would make a reasonable substitute.
Cassalanters – An Orzhov Ministrant who wants the money to pay back the debt he owes to the The Church of Deals. Has resources, but does not have much time. (Teysa is currently AWOL, so I’d make someone up)
Jarlaxle Baenre – Dack Fayden, **greatest thief in the multiverse***. Completely fits the bio to a T.
Xanathar – Who lives underground, specializes in assassination, and hates everyone? – the Golgari – currently lead by Vraska, who is second on the Azorious’ “Most wanted list” as “The Unseen”
Manshoon – The Dimir, lead by Lazav
Outstanding work here, Justin. Thank you for your efforts, and for sharing this with the community. I bought Dragon Heist when it came out, planning to run it for a second group of (seasoned) players in addition to my regular home game. The thought was that having something pre-generated would make running 2 games a manageable task. As noted in your original review, my hopes on that front were dashed pretty quickly. While parts of the adventure were salvageable, it was impossible to run this without substantial effort on my end. More troubling, I found the story to not only be muddled, but also not terribly compelling. I simply wasn’t interested in running this mess, and so I set it aside.
Perhaps the greatest compliment I can give you is that your remix has re-inspired me. I’m now actually excited to run this material. The second group (which I postponed while scrambling to get something else going for them) will be back on in January. Again, my sincere thanks for your efforts.
The article states:
“The other thing we’re doing here is cleaning up one of the scenario’s major continuity errors: Why was Renaer kidnapped? At this point in the timeline, the Zhentarim already know that Xanathar has the Stone of Golorr and that the Stone is the only way of finding the vault. Questioning him “about the whereabouts of the Stone of Golorr”, as the adventure suggests, makes no sense.”
I only have the roll20 version of this document, so it’s possible that I’m missing something. But the Introduction states:
“The intended target was Lord Neverember’s estranged son, Renaer Neverember. Agents of the Zhentarim waylaid him because they want to know everything that Renaer knows about the cache of dragons.”
At what point in the book does it say that the Zhents or the Xanathar’s are questioning Renaer about the Stone of Galorr and not the cache of Dragons Itself?
As I understand it, at the beginning of the book Dalakhar has stolen the Stone of Galorr the Zhents and the Xanathar’s each think the other side stole it. And they both want to talk to Neverember to find out what he might know about the Cache of Dragons as an alternative to finding the Stone. Is that wrong? Is there a continuity error in that?
@DougieStar: Page 23, in the “What Happened That Night?” section. “They took him to a warehouse in the Dock Ward, so they could question Renaer — the son of Lord Dagult Neverember — about the whereabouts of the Stone of Golorr…”
You are correct that there’s also a layered continuity error here where there’s some overlapping inconsistency about why the Zhents captured Renaer and what they asked him about depending on which section of the book you’re reading. And also whether or not they actually DID ask him anything before the Xanatharians arrived: According to one section of the introduction they didn’t; according to Renaer’s boxed text on p. 26 they did and he’s able to relay exactly what their agenda was as a result.
As noted, I’m generally not going to try to untangle this minutia in specific detail. Instead, I’m going to make broad, declarative statements that simply override any contradictory portions of the original book.
I believe the intent should be that Xanathar accused the Zhentarim of stealing the stone while they were attempting to forge an alliance. Now the Zhentarim want to discover why the Stone of Golorr is so valuable, so they kidnap Renaer and unintentionally Floon. The purposes say for the location of the Stone of Golorr and the hidden cache of dragons. And they clearly start that interrogation.
But Xanathar agents were tracking the Zhentarim, possibly discovered due to the Ol Xoblob shop where the ambush happened by. Xanathar agents took out the Zhentarim and took Floon while Renaer was able to escape notice. It would seem Renaer’s knowledge in the Box Text was what he learned from the Zhentarim during the brief interrogation.
I think it all fits but during Chapter 3 it definitely falls apart. It makes a lot more sense to have the Gralhund Nimblewright take the Stone of Golorr as the Gralhunds plan to backstab the Zhentarim.
I like the idea of replacing the keys though I am not sure the best way to go about it just yet but it makes more sense that the keys be fairly irreplaceable rather than silly. This way performing a heist is integral to the plot. The eyes of the Stone make for a pretty interesting idea. It is just a matter of figuring out how they got into various hands that makes it tricky.
Hey Alexander, I’m really enjoying your take on DH and I’m excited to read what comes next, but I have a question.
If Dalakhar stole the Stone of Golorr, why wouldn’t he steal the Eye that was with Xanathar?
Good clarification, Ayrton: Dalakhar didn’t know about the Eyes. Neverember had separated the Eyes from the Stone as an additional layer of security. He learned that Xanathar had the Stone, but was unaware, at least when he sent in Dalakhar, that Xanathar had also come into possession of one of the Eyes, so he gave instructions to Dalakhar to get the Stone, but didn’t even tell him about the existence of the Eyes.
Oh man, this fixes a lot of the problems I have with the book as written. Really looking forward to the rest.
I’ve started a game already, the players have just acquired their tavern, and are on their way to meet Hlam for the Gray Hands faction mission. I may use him to reveal some information that can start putting my players onto your track rather than the book as written.
Hey Justin, I’m a big fan of the direction of your rework. I just started a campaign influenced by many of the notes you added. Would love to see it completed!
Also, I would suggest adding a note somewhere near the beginning that the later sections being referenced are not yet available. I was excited enough to get started, that I put in a substantial amount of prep before realizing that the rework is not yet complete. I don’t feel that it detracted from the campaign though, as many of the elements you suggest can be added without taking anything away later in the campaign.
Hi Justin, I just found out about your website last night as I was trying to find some way for the players to find out the motivations of the Cassalanters which the book simply does not address in a good way. After reading this and a few other of your writings I am definitely hooked. I’m just curious if you have any idea on when you’ll be able to post the rest of the re-mix?
I am really excited about the work you have done and looking forward to the rest of the sections to be completed. Do you have any estimate on when we might see those? Can’t wait to see them!
Today.
Thank you!
Many thanks!!!
Hi Justin,
Many thanks for all that you’ve put into this — it really does make this a much more compelling adventure. Cheers, and keep up the great work!
Jeremy
Unless I missed it, can you please briefly comment on what role the eyes play? Will Galore refuse to cooperate or give them vault info until his sight is restored? Fantastic job on this remix, thank you!!! I’m really excited to start in 2 weeks and begin incorporating these ideas.
Heather: Basically, yes. Without its Eyes, the Stone is essentially an inert object.
This will be explained in more detail in Part 6, but:
– With 1 eye restored, the Stone can communicate, but still not see the secrets it once contained.
– With 2 eyes restored, the Stone can “see” the location of the remaining Eye (and possibly some area around it). This essentially speeds up the procedure for the third heist.
(The heists will be described in Part 4.)
And, of course, with all three eyes the Stone is fully restored and can be used to locate the Vault.
Really do like what you’ve done, as it brings heists into Dragon Heist, which was a bit disappointing. But you’re fixing it!
So my one mention, is that you find it strange that they are asking Renaer about the Stone. I don’t as the fact the stone is now stolen is what has caused the increase of tensions and gang warfare between the Xanathar and Zhentarium. Them grabbing Renaer and seeing what he knows seems to me to be a pretty clear move.
From the text blurb of what Renaer knows on page 49, I wonder if they’re trying to imply that Dalakhar was watching him for months because it was thought he had the Stone? Then the two tendays ago he vanishes (he steals the stone from Xanathar) and then fails to leave the city (he can steal from Xanathar but can’t get out of the city). Which then sets up him wanting to then get the stone not to Renaer but the adventurers to helped him. I still just don’t like it that much, and haven’t found a way to smooth it out in my mind.
Really love this remix! One thing I’d love, is just a table of contents for all of the chapters. As I am trying to adapt this for my group, I’d love to have a place to go to just navigate through the whole remix. Thanks!
Alex
I came to post the same thing that Alex asked for right above me, if there is any way that you could edit this post to have a table of contents to all the different pages of the Heist remix (especially because some of them are not in order if I just try to scroll through your old posts for expediency sake) I would absolutely love and appreciate that. This remix is amazing and it will greatly help my first campaign be more flavorful and interesting!
[…] NPC gives them the information they need” (this is all covered quite thoroughly over on The Alexandrian, and while I don’t necessarily agree with some of the directions it takes, I will likely […]
[…] believe, they could make Dragon Heist what was intended from the beginning. Consider reading the Alexandrian Rework. What does this fix? (spoilers […]
So glad to see this. About a third of the way through reading this in preparation for my campaign and already had the same concerns about the adventure as you expressed in your review. Will be going through the rest of your remix (thank you!) but already wondering if their might be a new mind map or adventure flow diagram available with your remix?
HEY! Lord Entrails! I know that name from Fantasy Grounds!
Yah. Adventure flow diagram… see chapter 7 for run-time organization.
Thanks Tigon,
That helps 🙂 I’ve been laying out my own sketch of the story to help me understand just how things fit. Really excited about how this goes. Will be streaming it if anyone wants to see how it turns out 🙂
I’m gonna remix this remix to adapt it for Sigil from the Planescape setting. Pretty excited about it, there’s so much interesting material here. Glad that I found this remix, too, cause the module as printed is too railroad-y for my tastes.
[…] The Alexandrian Remix is one of the best resources to make Waterdeep: Dragon Heist truly shine. It clears up a lot of plot issues and helps flesh out villains, lairs, and makes the campaign truly feel more epic – https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/41217/roleplaying-games/dragon-heist-remix-part-1-the-villains […]
Started running Dragon Heist and realized that there were a lot of inconsistencies, and then I found your remix. Brilliant! After a ten year hiatus from DMing, this was just what I needed to get back in the swing of things! Started incorporating your remix and our group is having a great time with it! Thanks for all your hard work!
Hey! I’m looking into running Dragon Heist and I was recommended this supplement- it looks to be very helpful! The “standard” way of tying this campaign into DotMM seems to be having the PCs exiled to Undermountain for crimes committed in the campaign. Do you recommend this given the changes you made in the Alexandrian remix?
I actually hadn’t heard that approach. It’s an interesting one and I can’t think of anything in the Remix that would preclude using it!
Hi,
I love the work you did. I was wondering if there was a pdf file that includes all the chapters you wrote, since I prefer reading from paper and can print it all out that way.
Is it available on patreon? If so, would be able to give me a link to the post? Thank you!
Hi, yesterday I posted a reply asking if the your remix of Dragon Heist was available in pdf format. I don’t know if it was removed or was never posted in the first place,.
Nonetheless, is it available in pdf format? That way I can print it and study it on the go. Thank you in advance.
Patrons of the Alexandrian can download a collected pdf here.
So far I think this is great and REALLY wish I found this before getting to Chapter 2. I am planning on using as much of this as possible though. One question/suggestion I have is when the Cassalanters ask for help, what incentive will the players have to help them and not just keep the fortune for themselves? What assistance can they provide that the party will need? Many players may agree to do it to save the children but I am doubtful mine, and many others, will.
Logistically, the Cassalanters have a lot to offer: A lot of lore. A spy network. And, of course, they already hold one of the Eyes.
In many ways, it’s the same deal that the Zhents tried to offer Xanathar: You’ve got one piece. We’ve got another. Let’s work together.
Like Xanathar, the PCs might reject that offer. (Mine did, only to later form an alliance with the Gralhunds for the similar reason that the Gralhunds already held the Stone.)
Just wondering if you were planning on adding the rest of the Dragon Heist remix to the PDF.
Thanks for this. Amazing work.
not sure where you cover the fireball scene, but, i took your ideas about the nimblewrights being used as spies a step further and make the gralhund’s nimblewright front and center. i had reaner point the party towards the maidens fair and they got the detector from him. i also had it follow the gnome at street level and instead of a necklace of fireballs i gave it an orb of cloudkill. which it used once it was next to the gnome. i figured the gralhunds might be concerned about damaging their own or allys property.
One question I have is how does a grand game get started?
Keep up the good work!
[…] in our DM’s resources for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, the complete remix of the adventure in The Alexandrian Remix, or online communities at Reddit and Facebook, just know that there’s a ton of stuff out […]
When I first picked up WD:DH I’d already looked at some reviews and I knew the module was a bit wonky. After giving it my own read through I knew I wanted to somehow use all the villains provided and fortunately I found the Alexandrian remix.
After many, many, MANY hours of reading and prep I started out with our game group. Up to Chapter 1 (Ch1 of the module, so 5B of the Remix) things were going well enough. Of course that’s also only the barest start of the whole thing so that’s not saying much.
Since then it’s been an unmitigated disaster.
Things got badly bogged down trying to refurbish Trollskull Manor, this due to my attempting to introduce the party to all the faces around the neighborhood so that they’d actually be invested in the place AND so that for the investigation yet to come they’d have some folks to actually talk to that wouldn’t just be random Joe/Jane shop-owner whose been (surpise!) nextdoor all this time.
After slogging through that I thought we’d be able to make some headway… WRONG. I made efforts to establish some timelines, throw in a couple of faction missions, then the Cassalanters introduced themselves and their “problem”, and the parades were about to occur along with the opening of the inn.
Unfortunately I guess I miscalculated what the party would do… like I suppose heroes would, as soon as they found out about the cursed children they took off at a gallop to track down Renaer, get whatever info they could from him… and they were on the verge of taking off for Neverwinter to put the screws to his father!
At that point I shut down the game session as I had no idea how the get the damn thing back on track and I’m on the verge of just giving up on it entirely. No fault of the Remix, it’s the DM to blame here.
I’m not a first time DM, I’ve been running D&D campaigns on and off for years. The last campaign I lead was the two part HofDQ/RoT. Maybe this time I bit off more than I could chew with the Remix, maybe I expected more from our group as I was trying to give them more of a sandbox and not so much a hack’n’slash railroad. I dunno.
What I’m wondering is if anyone else has had things go so badly wrong that they got to the point where they were seriously considering just giving up.
One side note – Trying to game with everyone locked down and remote has been a huge challenge for me. I find the loss of true interaction you get from being face to face with players in the room has killed much of my ability to improvise and is a serious impediment to building up any sort of momentum on game nights. Constantly having to repeat ourselves, pausing for long moments just in case someone else is about to say something, or just straight up technical difficulties. It’s all conspiring to suck the fun out of getting together for game nights.
@AC: First, you are not alone in struggling with remote gaming. I’ve had similar difficulties: Everything takes longer. Sitting at a camera is more exhausting than sitting around a table. The channels of communication are limited. The whole nine yards.
Re: Your campaign. I’m not there with you, but while this may feel hopelessly messed up and out of control to you, I’m guessing the same is not true for your players.
First, let’s look at what went “wrong”… although I don’t actually think it’s wrong. I would have waited to have the Cassalanters approach them until AFTER the Dalakhar explosion. The players would know that the way to help the Cassalanters solve their problem (if that’s what they want to do) is to continue their ongoing investigation.
What’s happened here is that you’ve given the players a clear plot hook (“help the Cassalanters save their kids!”) before you’ve given them a clear way of pursuing that scenario hook. They’ve responded by creating their own way of pursuing that hook and aggressively going for it.
This is not a problem!
Okay, first thing you can do: Go with it. They want to go put the screws on Lord Dagult. Following the principles of active play, pick up that toy (Lord Dagult) and ask yourself what the logical outcome of that would be. What would Lord Dagult’s response be?
(I mean, they’re pretty obviously not going to be able to “put the screws on him.” But when they try, what happens?)
Well, if these random blokes from Waterdeep know about the gold, then it’s more at risk than he thought! That’s particularly true if they let slip that their knowledge comes from the Cassalanters.
But these folks also saved his son. So he might think of them as useful cat’s paws. He might even warn them about the Cassalanters (“you’ve been tricked by devil worshipers”) before offering them a bunch of gold to act as HIS agents. Heck, he might even offer them ALL the gold. The big revelation here is that Dagult doesn’t seem to think that the gold is the most important thing at stake here: It’s the Stone of Golorr itself that he prizes above all else! (“Bring me the Stone with all its Eyes and I’ll tell you where the gold is! Then you can give it to the Cassalanters or spend it on the richest gigolos on the Sword Coast. Just bring me the damn Stone!”) If the PCs agree, then he’ll tell them to head back to Waterdeep. He’ll be sending one of his local agents to contact them. (That’s Dalakhar. So, then… ka-boom.)
And/or he might let some information slip inadvertently while trying to figure out what they know. (“Does Manshoon know? What about the rest of the Zhentarim?”)
Or maybe it’s a total dead end and all the PCs have done is add another faction to the Grand Game as Dagult floods Waterdeep with his agents.
The point is to just look at what Lord Dagult knows — not just historically, but about the state of the Grand Game right now and the PCs specifically (if anything). And then just… let things play out. See what happens.
OTOH, an epic segue to Neverwinter may be far enough outside the intended scope of the campaign that you would prefer to avoid all that. That’s OK. Here you just want to take a step back, identify the thing the PCs need to be pointed at, and then figure out how to deflect their current vector (“Let’s go question Lord Dagult!”) towards the thing they need.
In some cases it may not be possible to do this without railroading them, in which case I think you should find a different way. But often you’ll find that the PCs’ vector will interact with a robust, dynamic scenario.
That’s the case here: If they’re still talking to Renaer, he can just say, “My father has a number of agents still active in Waterdeep. I know how to contact one of them. Why don’t I set up a meeting?”
Renaer sets up the meeting with Dalakhar. And then, of course, ka-boom.
The other key thing to keep in mind here is that Dalakhar’s death and the fireball are only “essential” to the scenario insofar as they’re designed to be the primary hook into the Grand Game for them. But in your campaign, the PCs are already hooked. So Dalakhar is non-essential.
Since they’re already in the Grand Game, review the “Simple Checklist” in Part 7:
1. Are the PCs looking for a lead to one of the Eyes? If yes, pick a Faction Outpost and point them at it.
2. Did the PCs just piss off one of the Factions? If yes, pick a Faction Response Team and have them target the PCs.
3. Are the PCs floundering and don’t know what to do next? If yes, pick a Faction Response Team and have them target the PCs. (If you’re not sure how they might target the PCs, just have them show up and try to kill them.)
Repeat until the campaign is done.
That list is really just a default algorithm for actively playing the elements of the campaign. If you can’t redirect to the Dalakhar assassination in some way, you’ll have to do a little extra lifting to direct the PCs to the Stone itself (in addition to the Eyes). But keep in mind that this chain of evnts already has a default outcome if the PCs don’t get involved as described in Part 2, which ends with Jarlaxle in possession of the Stone.
To come full circle: I don’t think the campaign is as “out of control” as it feels to you right now. In fact, I think your campaign might actually be in a GREAT place. You’ve got a group of players who are clearly heavily invested in what’s happening AND self-motivated enough to create their own plans and aggressively push for the outcomes they want. That’s FANTASTIC. Follow their lead.
How much should the Cassalanters explain about the vault/stone of golorr? They should obviously explain that it is the key to the vault, but how much else would they be willing to share?
I had always skipped posts in this series, since I was never interested in running this campaign. But I just realized its structure is similar to that of a campaign I designed, which flunked.
Well, similar to what it ~should have been, at least…
Guess I’ll binge the series, now.
Just read this after it was pointed out on a forum. Wow, this really improves the book! Now I want to run this but sadly all my players are AL only people.
Hmmm… I can always suggest it.
Currently running this remix, adapted to the Eberron setting. It’s going super well! The noir atmosphere of the setting really lends itself to the investigation, Heist, and faction-oriented play.
Obviously had to change around a lot of the NPCs, but that hasn’t been too hard. Grabbed a bunch of replacements from the 3e book Sharn: City of Towers.
One thing I’m excited about is that my version of the Cassalanters worship a daelkyr – basically a cthulhu mythos horror type being – and I’m gonna use them as foreshadowing: once the players have finished with the Dragon Heist content I’m planning to hook them straight into a version of Eternal Lies adapted for dnd, globe-hopping across Eberron.
It’ll be an interesting undertaking refitting Eternal Lies for dnd but I’m looking forward to it.
Just a clarification you should probably put on here. The Cassalanters are devil worshipers, not demon worshipers. Devils and demons are different in D&D.
Honestly reading this was very theraputic – when Dragonheist came out I was very excited, but as I read through it I became more and more confused as the reviews were good but the adventure just seemed to have no ‘flow’.
Very good to read your review and revamp!
The idea of having all FOUR villains is genius!
Looking at your bio I know you already work in game design, but you should really try and publish a big (224 pages) 5e adventure book showcasing your design ideas. It’s hard to compete with WotC and their marketing and Art budgets, but honestly some of the design for 5e has been terrible.
They are quite good at some of the creativity aspects, but actually running an adventure seems to get them all worked up!
Just an idea dude! ty!
“Then the Zhentarim came to him with one of the Eyes and said, “We have two different parts of this puzzle. We’d like to make a deal.” Xanathar was enraged at both their presumption and his own folly, slew the Zhentarim envoys, and took the Eye they had brought to him.”
Not very clever to bring with you something you want to deal with a violent superevil boss in his lair.
In Italy we say:”the cork is worse than the hole”.
🙂
[…] Alexandrian is focused on RPG DM advice, but a lot of DM advice is good storytelling advice. This series of articles on fixing Waterdeep: Dragon Heist are well worth […]
Could be interesting to throw a Nimblewright into the Cassalanter’s estate in the background. If Jarlaxle gets involved in the game and realizes that the PC’s are a) working for the Cassalanters and b) not aware that the ritual involves murdering 99 people, he might leak that little detail to try and shift their alliances. Might even tip his hand to the players if he thinks he can get them to work for him instead for a cut of the prize. Even a fraction of that amount of gold dragons would go a long way towards his ultimate goals, after all.
Could also be a very useful tool if the players have missed enough clues that they get stuck. Having Jarlaxle contact the players with that little reveal, as well as an offer of some of the info they missed in exchange for a split of the prize turns him from antagonist to ally in an interesting way.
Just want to say – I am in complete AWE at the job you’ve done here. I’ve been a DM…for way too long. 😉 I consider myself a pretty good DM (kind of out of practice now, but you should have seen in my prime! 😉 like that Toby Keith song…anyway).
Can’t believe how much you’ve been able to take a really inventive module like this one, which was already one of the best I’ve seen out of WoTC in a long time – and turn it into something masterful.
I love the tidbits, like the song, and the interplay and heightened importance of the factions. Crazy thing is, I discovered this after my players are just about to hit chapter 3! So, I’m scrambling to adapt quickly.
In any case, it’s a good problem to have. I look forward to really adding a lot of depth to the campaign. Waterdeep has been my favorite fantasy city/setting for decades, and you do a wonderful job of bringing it alive. I sub’d to your patreon in appreciation.
Anyway- just a kudos and a thanks from a long-time DM with a lot of new found respect for your craft!
[…] running is cities!The first ever game I properly ran was Waterdeep Dragonheist (Or more accurately Justin Alexander’s remix of it) and the motions and rhythm of running a city game must have imprinted on me or something because […]
[…] my son and his wife, and perhaps a few other friends/relatives. Initial thoughts are to run the Alexandrian Remix of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Of course, we are starting the campaign in the Yawning Portal Tavern! Lots of campaigns I’ve […]
Hi there! Another fan, just proclaiming your awesomeness. I linked your Dragon Heist guide in an article I wrote, suggesting it for anyone who wants to play a modified (better) version of the campaign. It’s linked here, if you’re interested:
https://maliceinnandtavern.com/a-crash-course-in-homebrew-content-how-to-enhance-your-ttrpg/
Thanks for being awesome!