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GRALHUND RESPONSE TEAM

Depending on how Part 2: Gralhund Villa resolves itself, the Gralhunds might remain engaged with the Grand Game. They’ll know that the only way to re-establish their position will be to take possession of Golorr artifacts, and they’ll probably identify any artifact(s) held by the PCs as the most vulnerable. (But they are likely to use covert means to obtain it if possible.)

If the Gralhunds have somehow managed to retain possession of the Stone, they may be emboldened by their success and more actively pursue the Eyes. It’s more likely, however, that they will eventually realize that they’re out of their depth and use whatever Golorr artifact(s) they’ve managed to obtain as collateral for forming an alliance with another player in the Grand Game. Any of the four major factions can make enticing offers to them, but another possibility is that the Gralhunds simply decide to cut their losses and approach the Open Lord: They won’t get a cut of the money that way, but if they can spin it the right way they may get a lot of political capital out of their “material assistance to the realm”.

Their response team is modest, consisting of:

• Hrabbaz, Lady Yalah’s bodyguard (DH p. 205)
• A spy (MM p. 349)
• A martial arts adept (DH p. 209)

GM Tip: Remember that the Gralhunds also have agents in Renaer Neverember’s home. If the PCs keep Renaer in the loop about their activities, those agents become a potential vector of information back to the Gralhunds.

OPEN LORD RESPONSE TEAM

Laeral Silverhand has the entire apparatus of Waterdeep’s government at her command. If she wants something from the PCs, that command will trickle down through the bureaucracy and be executed by a local team of city watchmen:

• 1 veteran (MM p. 350)
• 4 guards
• Possibly accompanied by an apprentice wizard (DH p. 194)

DESIGN NOTE

The initial team sent by the Open Lord is designed to be a Medium encounter for the PCs. Which means that the PCs can totally take them in a fair fight (or have very good odds of running away successfully). This intentionally gives the PCs the option of doing so. (Once they do, of course, they’re probably living on borrowed time because the Open Lord has much deeper — and much more powerful — resources to call upon.)

This also means that the City Watch can easily be pitted against response teams from the other factions without trivially overwhelming them.

UNSEEN RESPONSE TEAMS

If you’re using the Unseen (from Introcaso’s Unseen Waterdeep, see Part 1B), they’ll most likely make their presence primarily felt through proactive response teams. (Sort of a, “Player Unseen has joined the game!” kind of thing.)

THE ILLUSIONISTS: Aila and Dallia Illmatti are twin sisters and also illusionists. They actually perform a stage act using their skills, and you might consider adding them to the Seven Masks Theater, with the Unseen infiltrating Jarlaxle’s operation there. If pursued, one of their favorite tricks is to have one of the sisters create an illusion of the other (giving them an opportunity to escape with whatever they’ve stolen).

• Aila and Dallia (illusionists, Unseen Waterdeep p. 29)
• Kelso Fiddlewick (a wererat who disguises himself as a vagrant child, MM p. 209)
• 2 thugs (MM p. 350)

STRIKE TEAM: As detailed on p. 4 of Unseen Waterdeep, this is a generic strike team that can be used to achieve any number ends.

• Doppelganger (MM p. 82)
• 01-50: 2 spies (MM p. 349)
• 51–75: 2 thugs (MM p. 350)
• 76–00: a second doppelganger

GALLO & FERRA: A male and female pair of lightfoot halfling wererats who often disguise themselves as beggar children in order to set up observation posts (see Unseen Waterdeep, p. 14). They could show up almost anywhere, and the PCs might not realize something’s amiss until the second or third time they spot them.

GM Tip: Kelso Fiddlewick, who’s part of  the crew Emmek Frewn uses to harrass the PCs’ attempts to open Trollskull Manor (see Dragon Heist, p. 42), belongs to the same pack as Gallo and Ferra.

FREELANCERS

As discussed in Part 1B, Bonnie’s Doppelgangers and the Black Viper should both be used as proactive elements.

BONNIE’S DOPPELGANGERS: See Dragon Heist p. 20. They are also part of faction missions on p. 35 and 27.

• 5 doppelgangers (MM p. 82)

BLACK VIPER: See Dragon Heist p. 196. Also part of faction missions on p. 39 and p. 40.

THE THREE URCHINS

The Three Urchins are detailed in a sidebar on p. 63 of Dragon Heist:

• Nat is a lanky, 10-year-old deaf Illuskan girl with a wooden toy sword. She is the leader of the group and communicates using a sign language that she invented and taught her friends.
• Jenks is a portly 9-year-old Turami boy with a cloak, a toy wand, and a stuffed owlbear “familiar”. He’s shy around strangers but brave when it comes to helping his friends.
• Squiddly is a slim 9-year-old tiefling boy with an eye patch, a small bow, and a quiver of toy arrows. He rarely thinks before he talks or acts.

It may be odd to think of the Three Urchins as a “response team”, but they are a proactive node that the GM can bring onscreen as desired. A few things I’d consider:

• Introduce the Urchins in Trollskull Alley, possibly even as part of the first scene where the PCs arrive at Trollskull Mansion. (They might be inside the abandoned building, rampaging around, pretending to fight trolls and such, and offering all kinds of stories about the ghost of a troll skull which haunts the building.)
• Have them follow the PCs. They “fancy themselves as adventurers of sorts, and they are quick to idolize and emulate real-life ones.”
• Have them interfere with faction missions (most likely while trying to help, unless the PCs have pissed them off).
• Let them be valuable sources of information. They can show up in the streets around Gralhund Villa, familiar with the neighborhood. Nat might know Agorn because she grew up in the same neighborhood he lived in (and knows that he murdered his mother). And so forth.
• Have them eavesdrop on the PCs and volunteer to help.

If you’re content to just have these kids as friendly, rambunctious supporting characters, that’s more than enough. They’ll be a charming and lovely part of your campaign.

But if you’re willing to go a little darker, there are a couple of additional options:

• If the bad guys are looking for someone to kidnap in order to gain leverage over the PCs, one or more of the Urchins makes a great target. (Going to rescue them and discovering that they’ve already broken out of their cell and are causing huge headaches for the bad guys by sneaking around the outpost or lair where they’re being held also offers great comedic opportunities.)
• As I will discuss at further length in Part 5, I think it necessary to give the PCs a stronger motivation to investigate the fireball that kills Dalakhar beyond “it happened sort of near us and it’s obviously a plot hook, so we should just go for it.” One way to provide that motivation is to kill someone the PCs care about as collateral damage. If it won’t be a deal-breaker for your group, I guarantee that killing one of the Urchins after the PCs have become friends with them will set them permanently on the warpath no matter how many city officials tell them to back off.

Go to Part 4: The Eyes of the Stone