This post contains SPOILERS for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.

A unique challenge to running urban campaigns is figuring out what happens if the PCs, confronted with some horrible crime or circumstance, do the logical thing and seek help from powerful allies. And the scope of this problem tends to grow as technology (or its magical equivalent) improves communication, travel speeds, or both. (Low level D&D characters in the middle of the woods tend not to have any recourse; modern teenagers with cellphones are a completely different story.)

In my experience, the problem also intensifies in what I’ll call mythological settings, where single individuals (powerful wizards, Sith lords, starship captains) can be possessed of immense power. This is because it can be both easier for the PCs to get access to these characters and often harder to explain why they don’t want to get involved.

Let’s take a step back for a moment: Why is this a problem?

First, it really mucks up the challenge level of the scenario when Batman calls in Superman to deal with the Joker. Second, it’s dramatically unsatisfying to go through all the preamble of a conflict only to be sidelined while Elminster heads off to experience the end of the story.

Now, let’s address the elephant in the room: There’s often an unspoken genre convention and/or table agreement that calling in the Big Guns is generally poor form and shouldn’t be done because it’s disruptive to the desired experience. If you want to make that a spoken agreement more power to you, but there are a couple things to be aware of:

First, this can actually create a different sort of problem for some players because it creates a tension between what their characters should be doing (based on their understanding of who that character is) and what that character is allowed to do. For some players, making this an explicit, spoken agreement can resolve this problem (because with the option definitively off the table the tension disappears). But for other players, it will actually make the problem worse because either acknowledging the tension or explicitly prohibiting the choice is even more disruptive to their roleplaying.

Second, calling in the Big Guns is not exclusively a problem. It’s also an opportunity. And there’s a lot of really cool experiences that you’re taking off the table if you just flat out ban these interactions. Superman shouldn’t just swoop into every Batman story, but World’s Finest crossovers can be really awesome.

On the flip side, this also means that sometimes players call in the Big Guns because it’s what makes sense for their characters to do… but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they want to do it as players! They don’t want to be sidelined while the Big Guns take care of everything, and they’re actually hoping that you’ll reject the offer so that they can have done the right thing in roleplaying their character truthfully AND get what they want by continuing to be in the starring roles in the rest of the adventure.

All of which means that, at some point, you’re going to run into a situation where the PCs decide that it’s time to call in the Big Guns.

What happens next?

#1. IT WORKS

They call in the Big Guns, the Big Guns have a good reason to be involved, and they come in and deal with the situation. Problem solved!

The trick here is to frame getting the help of the Big Guns as being the major accomplishment and then just letting loose and really enjoying the curb-stomping done by the Big Guns as the reward for a job well done.

If you want an example of this from another medium, look at The Lord of the Rings. Most of The Two Towers consists of the heroes trying to convince one major ally or another to put some skin in the game: Theoden, Treebeard, etc. Or take this scene from the movies:

Pippin literally summons an entire army to help solve his problems.

This approach works if the players see the Big Guns as a manifestation of their will; no different than a fireball or a powerful magical artifact. THEY were the ones who called on the Big Guns. This can be a tricky balancing act to pull off, but it can be immensely satisfying when you do.

#2. THEY’RE BUSY

The Big Guns are busy doing something else and therefore cannot help.

This can be used preemptively if there’s a time crunch (“Sorry, Harry, Dumbledore isn’t in his office right now”), but it can be equally effective if the conflict comes up at the last possible second: “Great. Glad we’re all gathered here to go down into the Vault together. Now that we’re fully committed to this course of action, let’s— Wait! There’s a tarrasaque attacking the harbor! I’ve got to go!”

This works better, of course, when it emerges naturally out of the narrative. For example, in my Dragon Heist campaign the group had recruited Renaer and the Black Tears to assist in raiding the Cassalanters. That gig resulted in them “arresting” (i.e., kidnapping) Lord Cassalanter and taking him to the Blackstaff. At this point, I could clearly see the risk of the PCs’ contributions for the rest of the campaign getting washed out by a confluence of powerful NPCs: The stakes had gotten high enough that it would be hard to justify the Blackstaff and the Open Lord of Waterdeep not getting directly involved. So I framed the Blackstaff’s response accordingly: She called up Renaer and the Black Tears to help her perform a rapid-fire investigation of the Cassalanters to accumulate the evidence necessary to “make the arrest legal after the fact.”

The Blackstaff and Renaer were still helping the PCs, but only off-screen and tangentially.

You can also bake larger priorities into the setting. For example, in my Ptolus campaign there’s an invading army that’s marching towards the city. No matter how dire the stakes are in whatever scenario the PCs have gotten themselves involved in, it’s not hard to argue that preparations for a literal war are more important, giving me an easy trump card that I can play any time I need it.

On the other hand, you don’t actually need to go into a lot of detail as long as you’ve firmly established that the NPC in question is tied up in more important affairs; that they’re operating at a higher tier than the PCs. For example, when the Dragon Heist PCs later sent word to the Blackstaff that they’d located the Vault, the Blackstaff simply replied, “Good luck! Let me know how it goes!” The implication was that she was busy doing something else and trusted the PCs to take care of it.

On that note: You usually want the NPC, even though they don’t have the time or resources to deal with the problem, to acknowledge how clearly important the information the PCs are bringing them is, rather than belittling it. (Unless, of course, the PCs really are just wasting their time with trivialities.) This validates the players’ actions AND ratchets up the stakes.

The quickest way to achieve this effect is for the NPC to say, “This is clearly very important… which is why I’m deputizing you to deal with it.” In my Ptolus campaign, for example, I had the Commissar specifically deputize the PCs to deal with the local activities of the chaos cults. Ergo, any time they discovered some new, horrible thing that the chaos cults were involved with, the official response could neatly default to, “Keep up the good work!”

Another effective way of handling this brush off is for the Big Gun to give the PCs’ some form of assistance, even if they can’t get directly involved: A suitcase full of cash. A platoon of elven archers. The phone number of an old friend in Cairo they should talk to. Et cetera.

This idea of rewarding the PCs for going to the Big Guns is a common theme here: Even if the Big Guns turn the PCs down flat and refuse to help, if there’s still some sort of reward for having gone to them in the first place, then the players will feel validated in their choice. (It also tends to just make sense, unless the PCs were completely off-base in their belief that the NPC would care about what’s happening.)

#3. THERE’S A REASON THEY CAN’T HELP

Later in my Dragon Heist campaign, when Lady Cassalanter kidnapped one of the PCs’ adopted kids, the PCs sent a message to the Blackstaff.

Since we’d already established that the Blackstaff was investigating the Cassalanters, there was no good reason for her not to drop everything and come to help. But I knew that a fight with Lady Cassalanter would become trivial if the Blackstaff was involved, so Lady Cassalanter erected some wards around her location that would have specifically detected the Blackstaff’s approach (since she knew that the Blackstaff was now involved and had been investigating her family). The Blackstaff detected the wards, warned the PCs, and veered off. She’d be nearby, but with Lady Cassalanter holding a hostage it was just too risky for her to come barreling in with the PCs.

(This was also a hybrid because the Blackstaff actually gave them valuable intel on where Lady Cassalanter might be holding their son, so she’d already helped them to a certain extent and the PCs had been rewarded for calling her in. You can read about what happened next in this campaign journal.)

In my Ptolus campaign, another major element of Act II is the exploration of the Banewarrens. These, once again, pose a potentially existential threat in the middle of the city, and there once again needs to be some explanation for why the city authorities and other major players don’t come barging in to resolve the crisis. In this case, I simple turned the Banewarrens into a point of religious dispute. The two halves of the schismed Church effectively checkmated each other, and the civil authorities in the form of the Commissar refused to get involved because of the tangle of Church politics.

#4. SPLIT THEM UP

“We have not come here by chance. I do not believe in chance. When I see three objectives, three captains, three ships, I do not see coincidence. I see providence. I see purpose.” – Morpheus, The Matrix Reloaded

Now that the Big Guns have been called in for the actual op, split the group up: While the Big Guns do one thing, the PCs need to do another.

For example, we could imagine a Dragon Heist campaign where the PCs have successfully recruited the Blackstaff or Manshoon or Laeral Silverhand to come into the Vault with them and retrieve Neverember’s stolen hoard. But as the Vault cracks open, the bad guys suddenly arrive with something so incredibly dangerous — the Cassalanters summon a pit fiend, or Xanathar himself shows up with a bevy of gazers and mind flayers, or Jarlaxle teleports in with a platoon of elite drow mercenaries — that the Big Gun has to deal with it. They turn to the PCs and shout, “This could all be a distraction! Get into the Vault! Make sure the gold is secure!”

This is also a good example of how, as the GM, you want to pay attention to why the players want to call in the Big Guns. For example, they may have concocted some incredibly convoluted scheme that requires them to be in nine places at the same time and they have no idea how they can pull it off by themselves. That’s a perfect opportunity to just lean back, let them bring in the Big Guns without fuss, and then peel them off into separate action groups.

#5. FLIP IT AROUND

Now that the Big Guns are involved and putting themselves in charge, they send the PCs to do something crucial for their success.

Returning to our example of the Dragon Heist Vault, when Jarlaxle shows up with his force of drow mercenaries, the Blackstaff turns to the PCs and says, “Hold them off here! I’m heading into the Vault!” Once the drow goons are defeated, the PCs follow and discover the Blackstaff standing over the dragon she’s just slain. A dragon?! Phew! Good thing they called her in!

If you’re more dramatically inclined, you can also frame this so that the PCs show up just in time to take the shot that finishes off the dragon. “Thank you!” says the Blackstaff. “It was a more difficult foe than I had expected!” Or whatever.

You can also reverse expectations here by making it LOOK like the crucial part of the mission (i.e., the thing that the Big Guns are going to go do) is one thing and the ancillary goal is some other thing, while in reality it’s actually the exact OPPOSITE. So the PCs get sent to pursue the ancillary goal in a supporting capacity, but then it turns out they’re actually doing the absolutely vital thing that’s going to save the day! (“I thought Griznak was going to be at the fort?!” “Yeah, well, he’s here, and we’re out of time. Let’s go!”)

#6. THEY ARE THE BIG GUNS!

The zero-to-hero dynamic of D&D tends to get ingrained to the point where we sometimes forget that it’s fully possible to have a campaign dynamic where there AREN’T any Big Guns to appeal to because the PCs are the biggest guns around.

This can be particularly true within a specific set of parameters.

Even in D&D, it’s quite possible to run a campaign where, once the PCs hit mid-level play, they’re the most powerful people in town (and possibly for hundreds or thousands of miles around).

On that note, even if they aren’t the biggest guns in town, this is nevertheless a great time to have low-level adventuring parties come knocking on the door with problems that they need a Big Gun to solve for them.

FURTHER READING
Random GM Tip: Calling in the Little Guys

Go to Table of Contents

Forty years ago, the Poisoned Poseidon was a pirate ship that tormented the Sword Coast. Its captain was the warlock Kelton Hunter, who used his ill-gotten gains to fund his infernal spellcraft. In 1457 DR, the pirate warlock sailed the Poseidon at the head of a pirate fleet into the harbor of Baldur’s Gate itself. In a duel with local adventurers, powerful spells caused the massive ship to be washed ashore, leaving it high and dry nearly a hundred feet from shore in the Brampton neighborhood. Kelton himself is said to have vanished, although locals still tell the story of how devils dragged him through a portal to Hell itself.

No one wanted to pay to have the hulk removed, and so for several years it lay abandoned, slowly sinking into the muck while serving as a breeding ground for rats and a lair for various ne’er-do-wells. When the old retaining walls of the dock (damaged during the Spellplague) were finally repaired in the 1470s, however, the ground around the Poseidon stabilized and new construction sprang up around it. The ship itself was converted into a tannery.

In 1492 DR, Dead Three cultists quietly took over the tannery. Other employees were cycled out and cultists were brought in. The Poseidon still operates as a profitable tannery, but serves as a front for cult activities.

LOCATION OF THE POSEIDON

 The Poisoned Poseidon is located here:

I’d originally looked at placing it on the far western edge of Brampton, but realized this would basically put it directly across the street from the Low Lantern (see Part 3H: Trafficking Amrik). Nonetheless, we can see how the investigation is going to send the PCs tramping about in the Brampton neighborhood, so it’ll probably be a good idea to review the details on the neighborhood and see what else is in the area before running this session.

Of course, since I’m creating the Poisoned Poseidon out of whole cloth, it doesn’t actually appear on the map. But I did pick a section of the map that fit my general image for the tangled warren of buildings I imagined lying around the ship. (Take a peek at Random GM Tip: Visualizing City Block Maps.)

With a little bit of photoshopping, though, I was able to add the ship to Baldur’s Gate (and threw in Insight Park, too):

You can buy the high-resolution isometric map and top-down map from Mike Schley’s web store. The image above is a relatively tiny section of the isometric view, but I’ve maintained the same resolution so if you buy the map you should be able to add it seamlessly using any image manipulation program.

REFUGEES ON THE DOCKS: One of the reasons for using the Poisoned Poseidon and placing it on the Docks, is to provide an opportunity to view the Elturian refugee crisis from a different angle. The docks just to the east are crowded with refugees trying to find passage on already overbooked ships. Where to? For most of them, it almost doesn’t matter. They’re hoping that the situation will be better in Amn or Waterdeep or Daggerford or Neverwinter or almost anywhere. (Many of them might believe that whatever happened to Elturel is coming for Baldur’s Gate next and they just want to get as far away as possible. See Rumors of Elturel.)

MAPS OF THE POISONED POSEIDON

In creating the Poisoned Poseidon, I hacked together several different maps. First, to position the ship into the urban environment, I took Dyson Logos’ map of Mistshore from Dragon Heist (a slice of which you can see here) and hacked it together with the Third-Story Run map from his website.

For the lower decks of the ship, I grabbed one of Mike Schley’s maps from Ghosts of Saltmarsh, did some quick photoshopping to make it match the neighborhood map of the ship, and then added a Lower Hold from Dyson’s Buried at Sea:

Dyson’s map had actually been of an ersatz ship — a crypt that had been made to resemble a ship — but that didn’t matter: For our purposes, the Lower Hold is the part of the ship that had sunk into the muck. As some point, this unintentional “basement” was expanded by knocking a hole in the back of the ship.

(It was this image that actually decided me on the Poisoned Poseidon: When considering locations that could serve as a murder sites for the Dead Three cultists, Dyson’s Wolf Tower and Vanshiro Reliquary were also on the short list.)

And, of course, because we’re hacking maps together here, the “set dressing” is that of an active ship rather than one which has been converted into a tannery. The scale also changes from 10’ squares to 5’ squares.

KEYING THE POISONED POSEIDON

I’m going to describe the Poisoned Poseidon in broad strokes. If you want to write up a detailed key of each room, it should be a fairly straightforward extrapolation.

As the PCs explore the Poisoned Poseidon, they’ll also be exploring a medieval-style tannery. My primary reference for this was Kim Rendfeld’s short article “Odd Jobs — Tanning: A Medieval Dirty Job,”which I recommend checking out.

OUTBUILDINGS: A wooden staircase on the north side of the ship leads up to the deck. A number of buildings have been erected directly next to the old hull. These mostly contain supplies for the tannery (chemicals, blades, stretching racks, etc.).

MAIN DECK: The main deck is generally kept clear, but there might be a stack of tanned hides ready for sale. A crane has been installed on the poop deck that is used to raise and lower heavy material from street level.

MAIN DECK – CABINS: The Master of Souls’ quarters are found in the fore cabin. One of the aft cabins is a meeting room. The Poseidon Correspondence handout can be found here.

LOWER DECK: Most of the lower deck is used to store the untreated skins of slaughtered cattle that are delivered to the tannery, along with the blood, dirt, manure, hooves, and horns that come with them.

LOWER DECK – CABINS: The aft cabins are used as sleeping quarters for the murder squad. The smaller fore cabin has been converted into an armory. The larger fore cabin contains three small shrines, one dedicated to each of the Dead Three.

HOLD: The fore chamber is a work floor where skins are trimmed. The aft chamber has huge vats. Here skins are sprinkled with urine or soaked in an alkaline solution of wood ash and lime before being folded, hair-side in, and taken down to the Lower Hold.

In the main hold, skins which have been treated in the Lower Hold are brought back up and placed in stone treatment vats containing a solution made from the bark of spruce firs. They remain here for as long as a year before being ready for sale.

LOWER HOLD – CATACOMBS: The various niches lining the catacomb halls are stacked with urine-soaked skins (they are kept here until the rotting hair has loosened). The four iron doors lead to small cells where prisoners are held to various purpose.

LOWER HOLD: The lower hold is studded with wooden racks on which treated hides are spread. Special knives, which hang on the walls, are used to scrape the hair off one side and whatever flesh remains on the other. Several huge vats are then used for washing: A solution of pigeon droppings or dog shit removes the lime.

In the center of the Lower Hold is a table. Shohreh Netitia’s corpse lays there. A side table contains a disturbing variety of surgical instruments and three brands (each with the holy symbol of one of the Dead Three). The Poseidon Papers handout can be found amidst these instruments and Shohreh Netitia’s refugee papers can be found among her personal effects.

• Refugee Papers: A DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) test reveals the papers to be forgeries. The forgery can also be detected if the PCs look to verify the origin of the papers (for example, by cross-referencing the refugee lists in the High Hall; or tracking down the official tabularius whose authorizing seal supposedly appears on the papers).

ADVERSARY ROSTER

* Remigio has already cast animate dead today, leaving him with only one 3^rd level spell.

Stat blocks for Dead Three cultists can be found in Descent Into Avernus, p. 231-235.
See Art of the Key: Adversary Rosters for details on using an adversary roster.

OBSERVING THE POSEIDON: PCs who place the Poisoned Poseidon under observation will be able to observe the regular routine of both the tannery and the murder operation.

• Fists of Bane and Necromites from the Lower Deck cabins relieving the watch on the main deck.
• Tannery workers collecting supplies from the outbuildings.
• A shipment of raw cattle hides being delivered from the Hamhocks Slaughterhouse.
• Tanned hides being loaded onto a cart and taken to the Wide for sale.
• The reaper leaving to go to the Frolicking Nymph Bathhouse (see Part 3F: Dungeon of the Dead Three) and then returning with written instructions. (He’s likely to then meet with the Master of Souls in the Main Deck cabins.)
• A necromite and two Fists of Bane leaving with Shohneh Letitia’s corpse (to be dumped in Insight Park).
• A messenger from the Frolicking Nymph Bathhouse carrying a letter indicating that they’ve located Iolanthe Oshrat. (The messenger then returns to the Dungeon of the Dead Three.)
• A necromite and two Fists of Bane leaving to kidnap Iolanthe Oshrat (their next victim).

QUESTIONING CULTISTS: Cult members can be interrogated, although they won’t cooperate easily. All of them know that their instructions come from the cult leaders at the Frolicking Nymph bathhouse. Only the Master of Souls knows that they are specifically targeting Elturian knights.

(The tannery workers are also Dead Three worshippers. They know the murders are happening, but they aren’t “read in,” so to speak. They do know that instructions come from some other cell of the cult, specifying who the targets are.)

Some names you can use for cultists, if needed:

• Fahul (a Fist of Bane)
• Thando Ora
• Joslyn Ifa
• Zangaroa

POSEIDON CORRESPONDENCE

Remigio—

I’m not really surprised to hear that Fahul is complaining about living in a tannery, the fastidious little weasel. I’m pretty sure Vaaz just wanted him out of his hair when he assigned him to you. If he keeps giving you a headache, remind him what the alternative is. I doubt he’ll find the noxious fumes of this sewer we’ve been gifted under the bathhouse any better.

                                                                                                                Flennis

Remigio—

Expect more Fists from the Frolicking Nymph within the tenday. And probably a couple of Night Blades. Now that the Agent has his operation fully established, he should be able to start feeding us targets at a faster clip.

                                                                                                                Flennis

Master of Souls,

I hope all things are well. I have heard complaints from one of my Fists, but I assure you that neither I nor the Emissary lend it any credence. The Emissary does suggest, however, that your minions begin dumping the bodies farther afield. He wants us to “spread the terror,” and is also concerned that the park may become a security concern.

                                                                                                                Vaaz

POSEIDON PAPERS

SHOHREH NETITIA

Hazel skin. Green eyes. Dark brown hair braided in two tresses.

Residence: Cuiric’s Boarding House

Relation: Great-Grandmother

She lives near the Frolicking Nymph. An abduction squad or observers could be sent from the bathhouse if it would be easier.

FOLLOWING UP: Cuiric’s been dead for a hundred years, but his boarding house is run by his great-granddaughter Laila. She found the door to Shohreh’s room broken down and reported it to the Flaming Fist, but there’s been no follow-up. Shohreh’s great-grandmother was a Hellrider, but there’s no clear way of discovering that (unless, of course, the PCs get clever). The relevant clue here is that whoever is feeding names to the Dead Three cultists is interested in who they’re related to (which might prompt the PCs to ask questions when backtracking the other victims, see Part 3D: Investigating the Murders).

Go to Part 3F: Dungeon of the Dead Three

So here’s a thing about the Forgotten Realms that’s bugged me off-and-on for thirty years: You see that gap in the Trade Way?

It shouldn’t exist.

According to traditional Faerunian lore, the Trade Way runs from Luskan in the north all the way to (depending on time period/edition) Amn or Tethyr or Calimport in the south. There shouldn’t be a gap in it.

It turns out that the origin of this gap is from this map in the 1st Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting boxed set:

For a long time I assumed that this passage from the campaign setting was responsible for the gap:

In recent years, some evil agent allied with he orcs, trolls, and bugbears of the High Moor succeeded in opening a gate to the Nine Hells within [Dragonspear Castle]. Strengthened by a growing army of devilkind, the combined forces of the High Moors tribes devastated the area from The Way Inn to Boarskyr Bridge, such that today that part of the Trade Way is not considered safe territory.

Given the absence of the road from the map, I thought “not considered safe” and “devastated” might mean that the Trade Way had actually been destroyed here, severing the easiest trade route between the northern and southern reaches of the Sword Coast.

This was not actually the case. In fact, an army had marched against the devils of Dragonspear Castle, sacked it, and established regular armed patrols out of the Way Inn.

Before we move on, however, let’s talk about what happens between Scornubel and Baldur’s Gate:

For an even longer time (based on the map), I assumed that the Trade Way actually was interrupted here: Trade would come down the road to Scornubel and then take the Chionthar River to Baldur’s Gate before continuing south.

This also turns out not to be the case: The Trade Way has always entered Baldur’s Gate via the city’s north gate, which would imply that there must be a road which runs from Scornubel to Baldur’s Gate (and various snippets of text support this).

But here’s the odd thing: Elturel is never described as being on the Trade Way, despite the fact that logically a road from Scornubel to Baldur’s Gate would pass right through the city. In fact, Elturel is explicitly NOT on the Trade Way; instead a road heads northeast from the city and “meets the Trade Way” at the village of Triel.

Now, more detailed maps DID exist:

(Thanks to @roboros for pointing this one out to me.)

You can see from this map that the “gap” is actually a section of less-developed road along the Trade Way. There’s still no road between Elturel and Scornubel, however, so we still don’t know how the Trade Way gets from Scornubel to Baldur’s Gate.

The next map was, as far as I can tell, produced for the Forgotten Realms Atlas (1990):

The big difference here is that the road leading directly from Dragonspear Castle to Baldur’s Gate has been upgraded to a major road. Which also prompts a new question: Why isn’t THIS road used as the Trade Way?

We do have another source here: Ed Greenwood’s original map.

These were apparently displayed at Gamehole Con in 2019 and you can find photos of them here.

The details are a little hard to see, but we can generally make out that the maps we’ve seen so far largely echo Greenwood’s original cartography. (The only quibble I’d have is that I’m fairly certain the intention is for two roads to leave Boareskyr Bridge to the south; not for one road to run several dozen miles south before splitting.) The big thing to note here is that the lack of a road between Elturel and Scornubel is NOT a production error; Greenwood didn’t have it on his original map.

This brings us to 2^nd Edition, which largely follows what we’ve seen so far but notably labels the road to Baldur’s Gate as the “Coast Way”:

(We’ll come back to this.)

The Realms map was then completely redone for 3^rd Edition:

It turns out this map is very controversial among Realms experts. While adding considerable detail, it notably introduces a number of errors. (For example, in this section you can see how the road which is supposed to cross the Winding Water at the Troll Claw Ford is depicted here as missing the Troll Claws entirely.)

As far as the Trade Way is concerned, it’s a mixed bag. The decision has been made to upgrade its entire length to a major road, and it’s also added the road between Scornubel and Elturel that we’ve hypothesized must exist. But the route still isn’t particularly clear: West of Elturel, the road now cuts far to the northwest (almost all the way to the Troll Claws), and this section hasn’t been upgraded to a major road like the rest of the Trade Way.

Let’s move onto 4^th Edition:

This map is… interesting. It’s obviously a regression in terms of detail, but there are also a number of glaring inaccuracies. (The road crossing the river far to the east of Baldur’s Gate instead of passing through Baldur’s Gate is probably the most notable for our purposes.)

The other notable thing here, however, is that the writers of 4^th Edition also clearly wondered why the Trade Way would go all the way easy to Scornubel if there was a road heading straight to Baldur’s Gate.

Their solution was simple: It doesn’t. In 4^th Edition, the Trade Way no longer goes to Scornubel. The write-up of Scornubel never mentions the Trade Way and the description of the Trade Way itself makes it fairly explicit:

Over the centuries, numerous separate caravan paths coalesced into a well-traveled route along the western edge of Faerun called the Trade Way. Regular traffic once extended from Luskan to Calimport, but has been truncated since the Spellplague. It now runs from Waterdeep to the southern edges of Tethyr. Parallel to but usually some distance from the coast, the route moves farthest east just north of Baldur’s Gate, where Elturgard paladins guard the crossing at the Winding Water River. Few, if any, of the lands through which the Trade Way passes are completely safe, and caravan guards are in constant demand.

(Somewhat incoherently, however, the same campaign guide still asserts that the Trade Way crosses Boareskyr Bridge. Which, of course, it wouldn’t do if it’s following the road to Baldur’s Gate.)

This brings us back to 5^th Edition’s version of the Realms, with the original version of the gap we looked at to begin with. My understanding is that 5^th Edition’s cartography went back to the original 1^st Edition maps in order to sort of “get back to basics.” Unfortunately, the result was to also reintroduce a lot of errors and shortcomings from those original maps (including the gap in the Trade Way).

THE TRUTH OF THE TRADE WAYS

When I started this write-up, my original intention was to basically just say, “Hey! Look at the gap!”

But it turns out there’s a deep lore here.

If you do a close reading of the 1^st Edition boxed set (which I, in fact, just did while fact-checking all this), you’ll discover that the entire idea of there being a single “Trade Way” is an illusion.

There was a Trade Way from Amn to Waterdeep. For example, Baldur’s Gate was “situated on the northern shore of the river, astride the Trade Way from Amn to Waterdeep.”

But there was another Trade Way, from Waterdeep to Iriaebor:

And it is this second Trade Way that goes to Scornubel!

The reason there’s no road from Scornubel to Baldur’s Gate (and why Elturel is explicitly not on the Trade Way) is because there ISN’T a Trade Way between Baldur’s Gate and Scornubel.

They’re two different Trade Ways. (In fact, my suspicion would be that there were originally many more Trade Ways. These were just the ones that got particular mention in the first boxed set.)

In the 2^nd Edition boxed set, the addition of the “Coast Way” was actually an attempt to make the difference between the two different routes clear. In fact, this boxed set never refers to Baldur’s Gate as being on the Trade Way. Instead, “it is situated on the northern shore of the river, astride the Coast Way from Amn to Waterdeep.”

But I suspect that due to all the prominent references to Baldur’s Gate “being on the Trade Way” and “the Trade Way follows the coast” that already existed, this distinction became confused. In short order, the Coast Way was effectively just another name for the Trade Way, and shortly thereafter it would be explicitly stated as being such, reintroducing the confusion.

Of course, this means that there’s actually ANOTHER gap in the Trade Way, this one between Scornubel and Iriaebor:

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any clear solution to this. No maps of the Realms appear to depict roads heading south from Scornubel.

Nevertheless, the original intention is fairly clear: The Trade Way from Waterdeep split north of the Winding Water, heading to Amn (gateway to the South) and Iriaebor (gateway to the Inner Sea).

LOST IRIAEBOR

I think the real victim here is Iriaebor.

If the cartography accurately depicted the Trade Way running all the way through to the City of a Thousand Spires, Iriaebor wouldn’t just be one of a number of cities crammed in around the Far Hills. Instead, it would very clearly be the Constantinople-like lynchpin between the Sword Coast and the Dalelands.

Let me show you what I mean by sketching in the “missing” roads on the 1^st Edition map (imagining the Trade Way punching through the Reaching Wood southeast of Scornubel for lack of a better option):

(click for larger image)

The importance of Iriaebor immediately leaps out. It’s obvious at a glance that it’s the only game in town for east-west travel for hundreds or thousands of miles in either direction. Every campaign in the Dalelands that wanted to go to Waterdeep would have gone through Iriaebor, sitting almost directly in the middle of the map with every road north of Amn leading straight to it.

I find it quite plausible to imagine that more DMs, designers, and novelists would have been drawn to the city. In the Cyclopedia of the Realms, page 54 might have become well-thumbed:

The Ruler of Iriaebor is Bron, who was an adventurer catapulted into the position in the heat of a shooting war between merchant families. Bron feels Iriaebor has the resources to become another Waterdeep…

Let’s spend a little moment dreaming of Bron’s dream together.

Go to Table of Contents

Whether the PCs learn of the refugee murders from Flame Zodge or through the alternate hook of the refugees themselves, don’t be surprised if they decide to investigate the murders for themselves. If they’ve been recruited by Zodge, this might happen before they go to the Elfsong Tavern to meet with Tarina. The PCs might also detour to investigate after meeting Tarina but before going to the Poisoned Poseidon. Or they might backtrack and start investigating the bodies after (or during) any of the early Vanthampur nodes (although the rewards for doing so will rapidly taper off).

THE VICTIMS

There have been six victims:

• Edmao Eduarda
• Wemba Oshrat
• Madhuri Akhila
• Leiv Diomidis
• Aneta Diomidis
• Annika Silverleaf

Each body was found in Insight Park. All of them were then taken to Candulhallow’s mortuarium (DIA, p. 187) to be prepared for burial. More details on each victim can be found below in “Canvassing Victims.”

ADDITIONAL VICTIMS: It’s overwhelmingly likely that the PCs will shut down the murder operation out of the Poisoned Poseidon within twenty-four hours of taking the case. If for some reason that doesn’t happen, additional victims will turn up (probably one per day):

• Shohreh Letitia
• Iolanthe Oshrat (sister of Wemba Oshrat, the second victim)
• Valeria Nuska
• Weronika Nuska (sisters)

These victims are most likely to appear if the PCs have somehow gotten lost or confused in their investigation. So use them to aggressively push increasingly obvious clues to the Poisoned Poseidon and Amrik.

Note that, as the scenario begins, Shohreh has already been killed and her body is in the Poisoned Poseidon. Valeria and Weronika are both taken at the same time, but Weronika might still be rescued from the Poisoned Poseidon after Valeria’s body turns up.

If it becomes clear that corpses cannot be safely dumped in Insight Park, the cultists will start dropping them in random locations around the city.

INSIGHT PARK

Insight Park is described on p. 189 of Descent Into Avernus. It takes up a fairly large plot of steep, gullied land that backs up directly onto the wall in the southeast corner of Baldur’s Gate, south of Cliffgate. Forty years ago it was an illegal junkyard, but a druid named Torimesh used magic to cause the rusting piles of refuse to become overgrown by a verdant forest overnight.

At the center of the park is the Drawing Tree, which Torimesh can use to produce prophetic images (see the write-up in the book for details).

Note: The published version of the park is significantly smaller than what I’m describing here. But the map doesn’t really match the description in the book, either.

TIMELINE: See “Candulhallow’s Mortuarium,” below, for a description of the corpses (which, for example, Torimesh would know).

• 10 Days Ago: The first victim, Edmao Eduarda, is found by Torimesh at the foot of the Drawing Tree.
• 8 Days Ago: Wemba Oshrat’s body is found in a clearing up near the wall by a halfling named Marvias Fleecefoot who was out for a morning walk.
• 5 Days Ago: The bodies of Madhuri Akhila and Leiv Diomidis are found Torimesh. They’d been dumped in separate gullies. (Madhuri Akhila was actually dumped the day before, she just wasn’t found until today.)
• 3 Days Ago: A fisherman named Zendreya Vereni who was tying up her boat on the piers near where the park meets the Dock Road spotted the body of Aneta Diomidis (Leiv’s sister) just inside the park boundary.
• 1 Day Ago: Annika Silverleaf’s body was found, once again in front of the Drawing Tree.

You may need to adjust this timeline somewhat depending on how quickly the PCs reach Baldur’s Gate / how long it takes them to get involved. The important detail is that the murders CANNOT start before Elturel’s Fall.

In fact you should adjust this timeline so that the first murder literally happens on the same day as Elturel’s disappearance. (The cultists knew it was coming.) Savvy players will likely pick up on the “coincidence.”

TORIMESH THE DRUID: Torimesh the druid is an elderly man now. He is both furious and heartsick about the bodies being dumped in the park. He’ll rage about the fact that the Flaming Fist has done nothing (“Nothing!”) to put a stop to it.

Torimesh can tell them:

• The timeline and identities of the victims found.
• He’s never seen any of the victims in the park before.
• The bodies were marked with ritualistic carvings he knows to be associated with the Dead Three.
• The corpses were collected by the corpse carts of Candulhallow’s Mortuarium.

He can also act as a guide, taking them to each of the sites where bodies were found.

DRAWING TREE: If the PCs don’t alienate Torimesh, he’ll offer to reveal a prophetic image from the Drawing Tree (see Descent Into Avernus, p. 190). Or, if you want it to feel more portentous, the bark of tree might simply start cracking and peeling back when they draw near.

The resulting image depicts:

• A large sword being held aloft by an angelic figure with feathered wings.
• The arms of the angelic figure are bound with chains.
• Below the figure is a large tablet or slab of some kind that is cracking into two pieces while being consumed by flames.

Note: You could swap this image out for something that would provide a more immediate clue to the murders. (And perhaps if the PCs bring one of the victims’ family members back here and ask Torimesh to do a divination for them, that could happen.) But we’ve got a pretty solid revelation list and it will be more interesting to present a prophecy that evocatively indicates the end of the campaign. See Foreshadowing in RPGs.

SEARCHING THE PARK: There are two clues to be found in Insight Park. You can predetermine which murder scenes they’re located at, put them at the first location (or first two locations) the PCs search, etc. Whatever works. The refugee papers should not belong to Annika Silverleaf or Wemba Oshrat, as their papers can be found at Candulhallow’s Mortuarium.

If you’re predetermining their placement, I recommend NOT putting either clue at the Drawing Tree. You can then put the refugee papers at another location and the tanner’s fluid at two different murder scenes. That gives you a cool interaction with the prophecy at the Drawing Tree, clues at three of the other four locations, and then a fourth location with nothing to be found (giving you a pretty good variety of experience).

CLUE 1 – TANNER’S FLUID: On the ground at or near a murder scene, a PC making a DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) check can find a strange alchymical substance on the ground (or rubbed up against a tree or whatever).

Intelligence (Arcana) / Wisdom (Medicine)

• DC 12: It’s an alkaline solution of wood ash and lime.
• DC 15: This alcyhmical is often used in tanneries to rotten and loosen the hair of hides.

They can similarly identify the substance and its likely origin by following up with any plausible authority in the city. The nearest tannery to Insight Park is the Poisoned Poseidon.

CLUE 2 – REFUGEE PAPERS: These can be found blown into a bush or thicket near where one of the bodies was found. The papers appear to authorize the refugee to enter and reside in Baldur’s Gate. A DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) test, however, reveals the papers to be forgeries. The forgery can also be detected if the PCs look to verify the origin of the papers (for example, by cross-referencing the refugee lists in the High Hall; or tracking down the official tabularius whose authorizing seal supposedly appears on the papers).

A DC 12 Charisma (Investigation) check can be used to ask questions around town about the forged papers. On a success, the PCs are directed to Amrik Vanthampur at the Low Lantern tavern (see Part 3H: Trafficking Amrik).

STAKING OUT THE PARK: If the PCs decide to stake out the park, they’ll likely spot two Fists of Bane (DIA, p. 232; passive Perception DC 10 to spot them) dumping Shohreh Letitia’s body. They can be either questioned or followed back to the Poisoned Poseidon. (Shohreh could also easily have her refugee papers or a tanner’s fluid stain on her clothing to provide additional or reinforcing clues.)

CANDULHALLOW’S MORTUARIUM

All of the bodies were picked up by corpse carts from Candulhallow’s Mortuarium (see Descent Into Avernus, p. 187) and taken back to their morgue. Since they’re part of an ongoing investigation, gentle repose spells have been used to preserve the corpses in the Candulhallow morgue. The PCs can discover this by asking Zodge, Torimesh (at Insight Park), the victims’ families (who have been notified where their kin are being kept), or just by making general inquiries about where bodies are typically taken. (In the latter case, the PCs might also end up checking Harborside Hospital (p. 189) or the Shrine of Suffering (p. 192).

Option: You could also have the bodies split up among the three different locations, with perhaps the oldest bodies already interred in the Cliffside Cemetery. Any bodies taken to the Shrine of Suffering would have likely been at least partially devoured by the rats in the crypts already.

RITUAL CARVINGS: All of the bodies have been sliced into with a sharp knife or razor. These grisly ritual carvings are primarily in lokharic characters (the alphabet used for the Draconic and various arcane languages), but there are also other pentagrammic sigils and glyph circles suggestive of some terrible, bloody rite. In addition, each victim has a brand at the base of their spine depicting three symbols in a roughly triangular pattern (see graphic).

Intelligence (Arcana/Religion)

• DC 10: The runes are choral praises to dark gods, invoking their right of dominion over all of the mortal plane. “All cities shall fall to darkness,” “that which was foretold in the Prophecies of Blood is upon us,” “the Spawn shall rise from mortal flesh,” “none shall live save those who offer their kin unto the heirs of Jergal,” and that sort of thing.
• DC 15: Although to an untrained eye the symbols would appear to belong to some arcane rite or spell, the arcane components are just nonsense. They don’t really mean anything or do anything, and seem to have been carved for effect rather than purpose.

Intelligence (Religion)

• DC 10: The branded symbols are the holy symbols of Bane, Myrkul, and Bhaal; the three gods who raised themselves to divinity by slaying Jergal, the ancient God of Death.

Wisdom (Medicine) – DC 12: The brands were inflicted post mortem.

TANNER’S FLUID: A DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds a strange alchymical substance staining the clothes of one of the victims.

Intelligence (Arcana) / Wisdom (Medicine)

• DC 12: It’s an alkaline solution of wood ash and lime.
• DC 15: This alcyhmical is often used in tanneries to rotten and loosen the hair of hides.

They can similarly identify the substance and its likely origin by following up with any likely authority in the city. The nearest tannery to Insight Park is the Poisoned Poseidon.

REFUGEE PAPERS: Annika Silverleaf and Wemba Oshrat’s personal effects include their refugee papers, authorizing them to enter and reside in Baldur’s Gate. A DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) test, however, reveals the papers to be forgeries. The forgery can also be detected if the PCs look to verify the origin of the papers (for example, by cross-referencing the refugee lists in the High Hall; or tracking down the official tabularius whose authorizing seal supposedly appears on the papers).

A DC 12 Charisma (Investigation) check can be used to ask questions around town about the forged papers. On a success, the PCs are directed to Amrik Vanthampur at the Low Lantern tavern (see Part 3H: Trafficking Amrik).

Option: The Baldur’s Gate gazetteer in Descent Into Avernus does an exceptional job of seeding the locations in the city with cool scenario concepts that a DM can quickly expand on. Candulhallow’s is no exception, with the Candulhallows engaged in a variety of necromantic scams, including corpse theft. PCs coming around to ask after specific corpses (that Leylenna Candulhallow may have used to replace more high profile corpses that she’s claimed for her experiements) is an excellent opportunity to accidentally reveal the corruption, and it would be relatively easy to spin this off as a small side quest (albeit with some small risk of becoming a red herring that completely derails the PCs from the main investigation).

CANVASSING VICTIMS

If the PCs backtrack the victims they’ll be able to find friends and/or family who can provide them with background information on the victims. You can prep this material ahead of time, but with the brief biographical sketches and key information summarized below it should be fairly easy to simply improvise the interactions.

Things to think about during these improvisations:

• If they’re refugees, think about the stories that might be told about how they got from Elturel to Baldur’s Gate.
• What’s a notable experience they had as refugees after reaching Baldur’s Gate?
• How were they kidnapped by the Dead Three cultists? Were there witnesses or evidence left behind that could be used to describe the kidnapping? (Actual witnesses should be rare, but could confirm that there were definitely Dead Three cultists involved.)

In addition, there are three key clues that the PCs can acquire here:

• Forged refugee papers pointing back at Amrik. A DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) test, however, reveals the papers to be forgeries. The forgery can also be detected if the PCs look to verify the origin of the papers (for example, by cross-referencing the refugee lists in the High Hall; or tracking down the official tabularius whose authorizing seal supposedly appears on the papers).
• Verbal reports that the victims were smuggled into the city by Amrik.
• A variety of clues indicating that all of the victims were either Elturgadian knights or related to them.

Each victim’s description includes a brief summary of the pertinent clues.

EDMAO EDUARDA: The first victim. Taken from his home ten days ago. Unlike the later victims, Eduarda was a native of Baldur’s Gate. He’s survived by elven wife Neske and his half-elven son Luus.

• Hanging on the wall above Eduarda’s fireplace is the mantle of a Hellrider. It belonged to Norbaer Eduarda, Edmao’s father, who retired to Baldur’s Gate after he married (and before Edmao was born).

WEMBA OSHRAT: Wemba’s sister, Iolanthe, was an apprentice to a wizard name Bèr Nölmien in Elturel. When the crisis began, Bèr used a teleportation circle to evacuate Iolanthe, Wemba, and about a dozen other refugees directly to Baldur’s Gate. Wemba vanished just one day after arriving in Baldur’s Gate and his body was found the next day.

• Iolanthe and Wemba were among the first refugees who got their papers from Amrik. (The gates hadn’t been closed yet, but they still needed proper documentation and Amrik offered to get it for them at a fraction of the price using his “connections at High Hall.”) Iolanthe still has hers; Wemba’s are with his personal effects at Candulhallow’s.
• Iolanthe can also describe the final minutes before Elturel’s Fall. Her master Bèr would have realized that the entire city was being influenced by some incredibly powerful magical field. Notably, they were expecting more people (including Bèr) to follow them. A second circle opened, but then abruptly winked out of existence (Elturel had just been sent to Hell, disrupting the spell). A successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check might indicate that the spell winking out like that would be consistent with a counterspell, an antimagic field suddenly coming into effect, or one end of the portal being shifted outside the range of the spell.
• Iolanthe and Wemba’s mother is a knight of the Order of the Companion.

MADHURI AKHILA: Madhuri arrived in Baldur’s Gate in the first wave of refugees, catching a ride on a boat heading downstream. He has no other family in the city, but had been bunking with Sjang and Albaer, two other refugees who came in on the same boat. They found the door broken down and Madhuri missing seven days ago.

• Like Iolanthe and Wemba Oshrat, they were among the first refugees to get their papers from Amrik. (The gates weren’t closed yet, but they still needed proper documentation.)
• Madhuri’s paperwork was left behind in the room he shared with Sjang and Albaer. It would turn up if the PCs look through his meager personal belongings. (Sjang and Albaer also have their papers.)
• Madhuri’s father was a Hellrider. (Sjang and Albaer might mention this if asked about next of kin; or just spontaneously lament that they don’t even know how to contact him… assuming he’s still alive. Madhuri had mentioned his father on the boat ride down from Elturel.)

LEIV & ANETA DIOMIDIS: Leiv and Aneta were siblings; they were also both Hellriders. Supposedly there has been a Diomidis in the Hellriders since the legendary Charge of the Hellriders. Like the PCs, they led a caravan of refugees down the river to Baldur’s Gate only to find the gates closed. They disappeared six days ago.

• Many of the refugees they helped will report that Leiv and Aneta had helped them get their papers from Amrik Vanthampur, getting all of them into the city despite the gates being closed.

ANNIKA SILVERLEAF: Annika Silverleaf was a half-elf knight of the Order of the Companion. She’d been organizing fundraising in the city for relief supplies to be delivered to the camps outside. When she disappeared two days ago, she’d been negotiating with the Captain’s Guild to ship refugees south to Amn or north to Waterdeep as a humanitarian effort.

• She’d also been working closely with Amrik Vanthampur, connecting refugees in the camps to his services. (It’s uncertain if she knew his papers were forgeries, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered if she did.)
• Her own papers are with her personal effects at Candulhallow’s.
• Annika was one of the founding members of the Order of the Companion. She joined High Watcher Naja Bellandi’s resistance on the Night of the Red Coup, her elven father having been turned into a vampire by High Rider Ikaia (see Part 4B).

Go to Part 3E: The Poisoned Poseidon

Go to Table of Contents

As we discussed in Part 3, the Vanthampur Investigations consist of three nodes:

• Dungeon of the Dead Three
• Amrik Vanthampur @ the Low Lantern
• Vanthampur Manor

To these we’re going to add a fourth node:

• The Poisoned Poseidon

The Poisoned Poseidon is a beached ship that’s been repurposed into a tannery. It’s also the location where the Dead Three cultists are killing refugees before dumping their bodies. There are a couple of reasons why we’re adding this node to the scenario:

First, as we’ll see in “Portyr Politics” below, I wanted to enhance this section of the campaign by giving the PCs a window into the evolving political situation in Baldur’s Gate (and how that ties into both the refugees they care about and Vanthampur’s schemes). The most effective structure for that material required an extra “beat” before the Dungeon of the Dead Three, which means that we need an extra node.

Second, extensive feedback from DMs online suggests that the Dungeon of the Dead Three is a better experience for 3^rd level PCs than for 2^nd level PCs. Adding an extra node here also provides a natural opportunity for a milestone. In Act I of the campaign, the PCs should level up after:

• Reaching Baldur’s Gate
• Poisoned Poseidon OR Amrik Vanthampur (whichever they do first)
• Dungeon of the Dead Three
• Vanthampur Estate

Meaning they’ll be 5^th level when they head to Candlekeep (and, subsequently, Avernus).

REMIXING THE CONSPIRACY

There’s a million and one ways to create a thing, but generally the first thing I do when designing an adventure or campaign is to simply brainstorm ideas. (I describe a quick version of this in 5 Node Mystery.) We’re remixing the raw material from Descent Into Avernus here, so we can largely skip that step.

When it comes to the actual design work — when I start thinking about how a particular scenario is going to work in play — however, the first thing I’ll do is focus on how the scenario works in the game world. Once I know that, I can start figuring out what sort of scenario structures to use, how the PCs can get hooked into the scenario, and so forth. (Along the way, I’ll almost certainly tweak how the game world is arranged in order to facilitate the table experience, but balancing these factors of simulation, challenge, drama, practicality, scope, etc. — and which ones are more important or more valued — is (a) a matter of personal taste, (b) dependent on circumstance, and (c) a bag of worms I’m not going to dive into today.)

Long story short, in the Remix, this is how the Vanthampur conspiracy to kill descendants of Hellriders and knights of the Order of the Companion works in the game world:

• Amrik Vanthampur has set himself up as a black market resource for smuggling refugees into Baldur’s Gate. His agents circulate through the refugee camps outside of the city and he holds court at the Low Lantern, fleecing refugees who want to bring their loved ones inside the city. (This will be described in Part 3H.)
• This puts Amrik in a position to identify and track refugees of the desired bloodlines.
• Duke Vanthampur, with the aid of Thavius Kreeg and Gargauth, has cut a deal with the Dead Three Cultists to actually carry out the murders. (See Part 3B.)
• The operation is overseen by Mortlock and the Dead Three cult leaders at the Dungeon of the Dead Three. Once Amrik has identified a target, he sends word to Mortlock, who instructs the Dead Three cultists to put the target under surveillance. (See Part 3F.)
• The actual murders are carried out by Dead Three cultists operating out of the Poisoned Poseidon. Once a target’s location and identity have been confirmed, the surveillance teams will report that information to the Poisoned Poseidon. (See Part 3E.)
• A Poseidon strike team will then kidnap the victim, bring them back to the slaughterhouse, kill them, and dump the body in Insight Park. (See Part 3D.)

At this point, we could put together a little diagram of how the scenario works:

Refugees go to Amrik for help, Amrik gives their information to the Dungeon of the Dead Three, who passes the target information to the Poisoned Poseidon, who kill the targeted refugees.

(You don’t necessarily need to actually draw this out on a sheet of paper, but you may find visualizing it useful.)

Note that this has nothing to do with the PCs or their involvement in the scenario. I’m not focused on that at all right now. All of my attention is on figuring out the practical details of the situation in the game world.

The nature of these practical details can also vary a lot. In situations like this where the bad guys are in the middle of an ongoing project, though, the result will usually be some sort of logistical map for information, money, people, etc. This usually lends itself naturally to node-based scenario design.

Option: On p. 197 of Descent Into Avernus, there’s a group of Dead Three cultists based out of the Hamhocks Slaughterhouse who are ALSO murdering people across the city for vague and unspecified reasons and then dumping their bodies at the Smilin’ Boar tavern. I’d originally planned to just scoop them up and add them to the Vanthampur conspiracy, but realized I couldn’t quite make it work: The Slaughterhouse is outside the city because no hooved animals are allowed inside the walls, and it doesn’t make sense for the Dead Three to smuggle refugees OUT of the city, murder them, and then smuggle them back INTO the city to dump the bodies.

However, if you wanted to add more complexity to this section of the campaign you could still scoop up this material. Now there would effectively be two Dead Three operations hunting refugees: One inside the city walls and one outside the city walls. (Both operations are probably still linked to Amrik.)

(I even had a cool clue for the Hamhocks Slaughterhouse that I didn’t get to use: Blue blood on one of the victim’s clothes. In Baldur’s Gate, only the Hamhocks Slaughterhouse practices the slaughter of giant spiders.)

HOOKS

Once we understand the scenario, we can start looking at how the PCs can get involved. Because we’re not prepping a plot, we could theoretically generate lots and lots of scenario hooks, pointing them at any or all of the nodes we’ve designed. In practice, however, this is the point where we’ll usually start thinking about the scenario structurally in terms of how the PCs interact with it, which in the case of a conspiracy usually translates into a hook pointing somewhere at the periphery of the conspiracy (so that the PCs can learn more and more about the conspiracy as they work their way towards its center).

In this case, our little flowchart is a perfect loop: What’s the periphery? Well, we know that the Dungeon of the Dead Three is the control hub for the conspiracy. And, structurally, it will also be where the major leads to the next section of the campaign (Vanthampur Manor) will be found. Therefore, we can look at the point furthest from the Dungeon of the Dead Three: The refugees.

Once we’ve made that determination, a clear structure kind of leaps out at me: From the murdered refugees, the PCs can work their way up the ladder in either direction (or both).

It can also be useful to remember that the form of the hook and the content of the hook are two different things. For example, in the published adventure Flame Zodge tells the PCs to talk to Tarina, who tells them to go to the Dungeon of the Dead Three. But Zodge could just as easily tell them to go to the Poisoned Poseidon or investigate the dead refugees or question Amrik or even just go straight to Vanthampur Manor.

So even though we’re shifting where the hook points us, we don’t need to abandon the basic structure of the hook.

ZODGE’S BRIEFING: Zodge is actually going to point the PCs in two directions. As detailed in Part 1, he makes a deal with the PCs to investigate the killings:

• The city is in chaos. Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard is missing; presumed dead in the fall of Elturel. (He could mention a few Rumors of Elturel he’s heard.)
• Some people blame the Elturians; others think the refugees have a secret agenda; tensions are high, violence is everywhere, and the Flaming Fist is stretched thin trying to keep the city from falling apart.
• Someone is killing refugees. Zodge thinks it’s a coordinated effort, but the Flaming Fist doesn’t have the manpower to mount a proper investigation or response.
• If the PCs agree to investigate the murders and bring the perpetrators to justice, he will immediately allow the refugees from their caravan to enter the city.
• Beyond that, the refugees will be on their own: They’ll have to make whatever arrangements they can. (But it will certainly be better than the refugee camp outside, where conditions are getting more desperate every day.)

Note: If the PCs make exceptionally good time to Baldur’s Gate with their refugees, you may want to have them spend a day or two with the refugees stuck in the camp before Zodge tracks them down (or vice versa) so that there’s enough time for the killings to start.

Once the PCs agree to the deal (or even if they just ask questions), he’ll give them a full briefing:

• A half dozen bodies have been dumped in Insight Park, located in the Brampton neighborhood south of Cliffgate.
• Ritual symbols associated with the Dead Three – the gods Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul – have been carved into the bodies. Zodge isn’t sure if it’s actually followers of the Dead Three or if someone is just using them as a scapegoat.
• The PCs are authorized, as deputies, to kill whoever is responsible on sight.
• A Flaming Fist informant named Tarina has sent word to Zodge that she has a lead on the killings. The PCs are to meet at the Elfsong Tavern tonight, find out what she knows, and then follow up on whatever lead she has.
• Zodge gives them a bag with 50gp to pay Tarina for the information.
• They should keep him apprised of their progress.

The briefing actually gives the PCs two leads: They’re likely to go and meet with Tarina, but they could also decide to independently investigate the murders.

TARINA’S LEAD: The lead Tarina gives the PCs in the Elfsong Tavern is straightforward: She’s seen Dead Three cultists around the Poisoned Poseidon in the Brampton docks.

INVESTIGATING THE MURDERS: If the PCs decide to investigate the murders themselves, they have several options. We’ll discuss this in Part 3D.

LEADS (THE SCENARIO SOLVE)

In Advanced Node-Based Design, I talk about the two prongs of mystery scenarios: There are the clues you need to figure out the fundamental truths or revelations about what’s really happening (the concept solve) and there are the clues (or leads) that tell you where to look for more clues (another location or character or event; the scenario solve).

The concept solve is the answer you’re trying to figure out; the scenario solve is what you actually do.

The revelation list for the scenario solve is generally identical (or nearly identical) to the node list. In the case of the Vanthampur Investigations, we have five scenario solve revelations:

• Poisoned Poseidon
• Amrik Vanthampur
• Dungeon of the Dead Three
• Vanthampur Manor
• Infernal Puzzlebox

(The infernal puzzlebox is a scenario solve because it’s the structural link to Part 4: Candlekeep.)

Let’s take a closer look at this revelation list. Because this is a revelation list, we’ll be listing the clues that point to each node; not the clues that are found in those nodes. The location of each clue is indicated in parentheses. (I typically wouldn’t provide descriptions of each clue on a revelation list; but I’m doing so here to make the design process clearer.)

THE POISONED POSEIDON

• Tarina’s Lead. Tarina tells the PCs to go check out the Poisoned Poseidon.
• Tanner’s Fluid (Investigating the Murders). One of the victims has an alkaline solution of wood ash and lime staining her clothes, an alchymical used to rotten and loosen the hair of hides. (The nearest tannery is the Poisoned Poseidon.)
• Staking Out the Murder Scene (Investigating the Murders). When the next corpse is dumped, the PCs can follow the murderers back to the Poisoned Poseidon or question them.
• Amrik’s Paperwork (Trafficking Amrik). Correspondence from Poseidon and notations on the genealogical reports. Amrik can also be questioned to this effect.

AMRIK VANTHAMPUR

• Refugee Papers (Investigating the Murders). Forged refugee paperwork found at the murder scene and on bodies in the morgue can be traced back to Amrik.
• Canvassing Victims (Investigating the Murders). Those who knew the victims can report that they’d been smuggled into the city by Amrik.
• Questioning Mortlock (Dungeon of the Dead Three).
• Assassin’s Orders (Dungeon of the Dead Three). The assassin targeting Mortlock carries a note with instructions from Amrik. The assassin could also be questioned to similar effect.

DUNGEON OF THE DEAD THREE

• Questioning Killers (Investigating the Murders). If the PCs stake out Insight Park, they can question the cultists dumping the bodies.
• Poseidon Correspondence (Poisoned Poseidon). Reports from the Dead Three leadership mention the bathhouse.
• Poseidon Cultists (Poisoned Poseidon). Following or questioning Poseidon cultists can lead to the bathhouse.
• Amrik’s Paperwork (Trafficking Amrik). Amrik is sending reports and receiving instructions from the Dead Three leadership. He can be questioned to similar effect.

VANTHAMPUR MANOR

• Vanthampur Boys (Trafficking Amrik/Dungeon of the Dead Three). Knowing that one or more Vanthampur heirs are involved can be enough to trigger an investigation of Vanthampur Manor all by itself.
• Amrik’s Paperwork (Trafficking Amrik). Amrik has correspondence from his brother Thurstwell.
• Mortlock’s Correspondence (Dungeon of the Dead Three). A letter from his mother detailing how to access the dungeons beneath the bathhouse. Mortlock can be questioned to similar effect.
• Missives of the Hidden Lord (Dungeon of the Dead Three). Correspondence from Thavius Kreeg, passing on instructions from Gargauth to the Dead Three leaders (and inadvertently revealing its presence in Vanthampur Manor).

INFERNAL PUZZLEBOX

• Amrik’s Paperwork (Trafficking Amrik). Amrik’s correspondence with his brother Thurstwell mentions the infernal puzzlebox (Thurstwell has removed it from the family’s vaults where it had been secured because he was fascinated by it).
• Missives of the Hidden Lord (Dungeon of the Dead Three). The missives also mention the puzzlebox.
• Questioning Mortlock (Dungeon of the Dead Three). Mortlock knows that a powerful cult leader escaped from Elturel just before its fall and that his mother is protecting him in the basement of Vanthampur Manor. The cult leader brought two powerful artifacts with him, one of which was locked in a box (or maybe the box is the artifact? Mortlock isn’t sure).
• Finding the Box (Vanthampur Manor). Oh. Hey! There it is!

(If you’re wondering how this revelation list was designed: I literally listed the five revelations and then started adding clues to each one, following the logic of the game world and our intention of being able to follow the leads “up the ladder” in both directions.)

CONCEPT SOLVE

As we’ve discussed previously, there are several core concepts that the PCs should figure out during the Vanthampur Investigations, but which are not actually required for them to proceed:

• The murder victims are descended from knights of Elturgard (either Hellriders or the Order of Companions).
• The Shield of the Hidden Lord is hidden in Vanthampur Manor. (Ideally, this results in them finding and taking the shield.)
• Thavius Kreeg is a cultist.
• Elturel was destroyed by devils.

VICTIMS DESCENDED FROM KNIGHTS OF ELTURGARD

• Canvassing Victims (Investigating the Murders). In speaking with those who knew the victims, the fact that they either were knights or were related to them will be a common theme players might notice. One victim is notably NOT a refugee; in their house hangs the mantle of a Hellrider (their father’s).
• Amrik’s Paperwork (Trafficking Amrik). His paperwork includes the genealogical records he’s cross-referencing.
• Missives of the Hidden Lord (Dungeon of the Dead Three). The missives also reveal that the Dead Three cultists must “seek the blood of the holy orders of Elturgard.”
• Thurstwell’s Correspondence (Vanthampur Manor). Includes queries from Amrik regarding Thurstwell’s efforts to assist him.

GARGAUTH / SHIELD OF THE HIDDEN LORD

• Interrogating Cultists (Dungeon of the Dead Three). They know the history of Gargauth and know that the Vanthampurs hold the Shield of the Hidden Lord.
• Missives of the Hidden Lord (Dungeon of the Dead Three). Name says its all.
• Questioning Mortlock (Dungeon of the Dead Three). Mortlock knows that a powerful cult leader escaped from Elturel just before its fall and that his mother is protecting him in the basement of Vanthampur Manor. The cult leader brought two powerful artifacts with him, one of which was a shield in the likeness of a demonic face.
• Finding the Shield. Oh. Hey! There it is!

KREEG’S A CULTIST

(Most of these clues are more oblique. It’s fairly possible for the PCs to NOT realize that Kreeg is a cultist, instead “rescuing” him from the Vanthampurs.)

• Amrik’s Paperwork (Trafficking Amrik). The genealogical records Amrik is using come from Thavius Kreeg’s office in Elturel.
• Missives of the Hidden Lord (Dungeon of the Dead Three). These are signed with the initials “TK.”
• Questioning Mortlock (Dungeon of the Dead Three). Mortlock knows that a powerful cult leader escaped from Elturel just before its fall and that his mother is protecting him in the basement of Vanthampur Manor.
• Encountering Kreeg (Vanthampur Manor). Uh… Hi. Nice to meet you. Whatchu doin’ down here?

ELTUREL WAS DESTROYED BY DEVILS

• Rumors of Elturel
• Altar Prophecies/Adulation (Dungeon of the Dead Three). Tales and prophecies of Elturel’s fall can be found in the chapels of the Dead Three.
• Questioning Gargauth, Kreeg, or Duke Vanthampur (Vanthampur Manor). All three of these NPCs know the truth (that Elturel was taken to Hell). All three of them will lie obliquely, referring to Elturel’s Fall and — if pushed to it! — that the legions of Zariel “fell upon the city” (and similar euphemisms).

PORTYR POLITICS

The last thing I want to layer in here is the wider impact of current events in Baldur’s Gate: In addition to the refugee crisis itself, the emerging ducal politics of how the power vacuum left by Grand Duke Ravengard’s apparent death is going to shake out is not only really interesting, it’s also immediately relevant to Duke Vanthampur’s schemes.

As the campaign begins, you have the position of Grand Duke, an empty ducal seat, AND Marshal of the Flaming Fists all up for grabs. These might go to the same person OR three different people. Then, over in the Adventurers’ League scenarios, Duke Portyr is assassinated just AFTER putting his niece in a position where she might be able to become Marshal of the Flaming Fists.

Can she consolidate that position? Or does the whole Portyr power base fall apart?

How can we bring this into the campaign? How can we give the PCs (and players) a window into what’s happening?

Our mechanism is going to be Zodge. We have five potential interactions with Zodge (when he hires them and then once after each of the four nodes in the Vanthampur Investigations as the PCs check in with him), and we’re going to use them like this:

FIRST INTERACTION. Zodge hires them.

SECOND INTERACTION. Blaze Portyr has arrived in Baldur’s Gate. It’s probably most dramatic for her to sweep into Zodge’s office while the PCs are in the middle of briefing him, but maybe she’s already in situ discussing strategy with him when the PCs show up.

See the “Topics of Conversation” in Part 2B and figure out how many of the rumors about rival claimants to the position of Marshal are true. (Could be all of them, could be none of them, or anything in between.) Portyr’s current agenda is securing the allegiance of Flames (like Zodge) in her own bid for Marshal.

It’s important to establish that Blaze Portyr is the niece of Duke Portyr in this scene. You can do that by having Zodge say something like, “I’m assuming your uncle is supporting you? Duke Dillard’s political backing will make the difference in the Upper City.” (But whatever works.)

Tip: Either way, Zodge won’t have had time to brief Portyr on the PCs’ investigation. When Portyr wants to know what’s going on, have her ask the PCs instead of Zodge. Let your players brief her in: Not only does it make them the active protagonists of the interaction; it will also be a great way to organically make them remind themselves of what they know and what their goals are.

If you want the players to like her, have her enthusiastically endorse Zodge’s initiative in seeking justice for the refugees.

THIRD INTERACTION: This interaction is optional, or it might happen after the Fourth Interaction, depending on the sequence in which the PCs go to the various nodes and whether or not they check in after each node. Portyr and Zodge are still plotting together.

• She’s declared herself Marshal.
• Flame Zodge has been promoted to Blaze.
• One of the rivals established in the Second Interaction has been eliminated. (For example, Blaze Beldroth has been arrested. Or Blaze Mukar of Wyrm’s Rock has sworn allegiance to Portyr. Or she’s gained the Eltan family’s support by having her uncle buy back their shares in the Flaming Fist for them.) Even if you’re going with the “lots of rivals” options, only have one of them get resolved here. (It’s a project in progress, not the whole enchilada.)

FOURTH INTERACTION: At the end of Part 3F: Dungeon of the Dead Three, we’ll discover that Duke Vanthampur has ordered the Dead Three cultists to assassinate Duke Portyr. The PCs rush to the political rally where Duke Portyr is being targeted, but they’re almost certainly too late.

When Marshal Portyr learns that Duke Vanthampur is responsible for her uncle’s death, she asks the PCs to wipe out the Vanthampur family. For political reasons, they’ll be disavowed. But if they succeed, she’ll offer them either promotions within the Flaming Fist or a big cash reward (whatever appeals to them more).

Note: It’s a relatively minor thing, but in the adventure as published it’s a little odd that the PCs are assumed to murder one of the Four Dukes and the response of the Flaming Fist is a collective shrug. Here we’ve contextualized the action within the general political crisis in the city (all of it flowing directly out of Elturel’s disappearance and the loss of the Grand Duke) and also given the PCs’ a clear agenda heading into Vanthampur Manor.

FIFTH INTERACTION: After the PCs assassinate Duke Vanthampur, Marshal Portyr will suggest/encourage/support them getting out of Baldur’s Gate for awhile until the political complications arising from Vanthampur’s death are settled. (More details on this in Part 4: Candlekeep.)

Note: When the PCs get back from Hell and bring a probably totally still alive Grand Duke Ravengard back to Baldur’s Gate only to discover that he’s been “replaced”… Well, that’s when politics are going to get REALLY interesting.

ALTERNATIVE HOOK

In Part 2B, I mentioned the possibility of the PCs figuring out an end-run around Flame Zodge and using the murder of one of their refugees to pull them into Part 3D: Investigating the Murders as an alternative hook to the campaign.

If you use this alternative hook, does it mean you miss out on the Portyr Politics?

Not necessarily.

First, if the PCs have avoided Zodge entirely, he might get wind of their investigation after the first or second node they’ve explored. He might approach them directly or through Tarina (who is most likely to have identified the PCs) to figure out what they’re up to (and potentially bring them onboard in an official capacity).

Second, if the PCs turned down Zodge’s offer, they’re still likely to run into Marshal Portyr after her uncle has been assassinated. She’ll want to know what their investigation has uncovered so far, and you should be able to weave in a few details of her current schemes to secure control of the Flaming Fists into the resulting scene.

Failing all that, these events will still provide some great background events for bringing Baldur’s Gate to life.

Go to Part 3D: Investigating the Murders