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A BRIEFING FOR XANATHAR CONCERNING THE GRAND GAME

I am very sorry that we have failed you lord Xanathar. You should not have been surprised by the revelations of the emissaries of the Zhentarim.

The litany of what we now know—

The Eye you hold is one of Three which belong to the Stone.

The Eye which should have been yours has been taken from Neverember’s get by Manshoon to Kolat Towers. We currently seek to capture a Zhentarim lieutenant and take possession of one of the pass-amulets which would allow us access to the Towers. Unfortunately, Manshoon’s agents are well-trained and have either evaded our attempts or destroyed their amulets before we could secure them. Through Nihiloor’s enhanced interrogations, however, we have ascertained blueprints for the Towers which will prove essential when it comes to time to take that which by right belongs to you.

The disposition of the Final Eye is uncertain to us at this time.

The gnome Dalakhar was an agent of Lord Neverember, seeking to reclaim Neverember’s Engima, which you had by rights taken from our former Open Lord.

The Enigma is, in fact, the Stone of Golorr. I have agents en route to Candlekeep to delve deeper into its secrets. The Stone once belonged to the Abolethic Sovereignty, and was reputedly stolen from the Vaults of the Floating City of Xxiphu by Mask, the Lord of Shadows. As a Xxiphuan Artifact, it is likely that the Stone predates the creation of Toril itself, granting it, within the circles of mysticism, a position of primacy. Its true powers, and thus the reason why Neverember sought to blind it, are unclear to us, but from a position of primacy it would be capable of feats impossible to duplicate even by Mystra herself in this Age.

(You will want to attach a set of blueprints for the Kolat Towers.)

MANSHOON’S REPORT ON THE GRAND GAME

Ritual of the Stone of Golorr

The use of the Stone to magically eliminate a memory or piece of knowledge from the realms of Abeir-Toril requires a special casting of the legend lore rite which requires twelve hours to perform. In addition, one must possess a second Abolethic artifact, a small tetrahedron of red jade which I am certain is still held by Lord Dagult in Neverwinter.

During the ritual, burn incenses infused with the blood of an aboleth. The sides of the tetrahedron will unfold, revealing slots into which four ivory strips may be inserted. The Stone is then placed within the tetrahedron and the sides will close upon it.

As the ritual is completed, the tetrahedron will open once more, revealing the Stone of Golorr as it releases a burst of psionic energy. This energy will refract through the person attuned to the Stone, translating the knowledge they focus upon and erasing it from the known world.

The Stone of Golorr has been blinded by Lord Dagult.

The Neverwinter Eye was obtained from the Protector’s Enclave in Neverwinter, but was taken by Xanathar’s treachery. It remains in the beholder’s possession.

The Waterdeep Eye has been taken from Renaer Neverember and secured within the library’s Astral Vault.

It is apparent, based on interrogations of their impish agents, that the Cassalanters possess the third eye, although it is uncertain where the Cassalanter Eye originated. Perhaps Lord Dagult entrusted it to them?

Go to Part 7: How the Remix Works

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NOTES ON NEVEREMBER’S ENIGMA

By late 1487 DR, it had become clear to those with the right connections that the Open Lord had begun another of his secretive enterprises. A great dreal of quiet attention was turned upon this matter, not the least of which was our own.

Of course, when there are many searching for answers, it is prudent to keep as careful an eye upon the other searchers as upon that for which you search. It was from the Roaringhorns we learned that Neverember had sent agents to Candlekeep to make discreet inquiries regarding ‘an archmage named Golorr.’ The Roaringhorns mistook this intelligence, first believing that the Enigma ultimately concerned the dark elves by way of the Sorcere, Archmage of Menzoberranzan, and then expending great energy in pursuing rumors of Galari, an Archmage of Ancient Netheril.

Golorr was the true name of interest, however. The Stone of Golorr. According to some histories, it was brought to Abeir-Toril when the ancient floating city of Xxiphu, capital of the Abolethic Sovereignty, first plummeted to the world and settled deep below the Sea of Fallen Stars. According to others, an aboleth who came to Abeir-Toril before the arrival of Xxiphu created the Stone. Or perhaps he fled to Abeir-Toril carrying the Stone and Xxiphu came in pursuit of their prize. Some versions of the tale claim that the Stone was forged during the primeval battles between Shar and Selune, in the very moment that the world of Toril was formed.

Whatever the truth, the Stone of Golorr was held by the Abolethic Sovereignty within the vaults of Xxiphu on the world of Abeir, only to be lost during the Wailing Years

Of far more interest is what the Stone is capable of. Whether it predates or co-dates the creation of Toril, in arcane terms this gives the Stone a position of primacy, making it capable of effects which no magic item or artifact created in these younger days could possibly duplicate..

When the proper ritual is performed, the Stone can utterly eradicate a memory or piece of information, wiping it clean from scrolls and inscriptions while simultaneously stripping it from every living soul on Toril except for the person who is attuned to the Stone. The Stone itself also retains the knowledge, making it the ultimate repository of countless ages of knowledge deemed valuable enough to hide from the world. Exactly what piece of knowledge Neverember sought to claim from the Stone pales utterly in comparison to the totality of secrets which its owner can literally hold in the palm of their hands.

The ritual required for the Stone to destroy a piece of knowledge requires a second abolethic artifact, a small tetrahedron of red jade. We now believe that this artifact remains in Lord Neverember’s possession

It was those gossipmongers the Brossfeathers who first babbled out the revelation that Neverember had embezzled half a million gold dragons from the treasuries of Waterdeep. Half a million dragons which had seemingly vanished from the knowledge of man, woman, and fae.

It was then that we realized that, unlike ourselves, Neverember had not been captivated by the secrets held by the Stone. He wished to forge a new secret of his own. We are now certain that he used the Stone to hide the location in which he has secreted the embezzled Dragons. As such, it is virtually certain that the only path to this hoard lies through the Stone itself.

NOTES ON THE MELAIRKYN VAULT

In addition to the Stone of Golorr, our own researches indicated that Lord Neverember had been researching the religious mummery of the Melarikyn dwarves.

Clan Melairkyn were the first to begin excavating under what is now Waterdeep. The earlist portions of Undermountain were, in fact, the Underhalls in which they made their homes and wrought their mithral-craft. They were worshippers of Dumathoin, the Keeper of the Mountain’s Secrets.

When we learned of the Stone’s relationship to the keeping of secrets, it seemed clear to us that Neverember’s two esoteric pursuits must be linked. The nature of this link, however, eluded us until our attention turned to the ceremonial vaults which the Melairkyn once built. Their cult believed that Dumathoin encoded his secrets into the veins of ore and precious stones he placed in the mountains he raised from the earth for the dwarven people. In their mining, the dwarves supposedly released Dumathoin’s secrets into the world. This angered Dumathoin and created a period of discord between the dwarves and the Mordinsamman, the council of dwarven gods. In order to appease their petty gods, the Melairkyn would mystically bind the ‘secrets of the mountain’ into items of finely-wrought dwarfcraft and then make offering of it to Dumathoin by securing them within their ceremonial vaults.

One of these vaults had been built near the Underhalls, most likely somewhere beneath what is now Waterdeep. We quickly discovered, howver, that the knowledge of its location has been lost. Indeed, the more we delved into this matter, the clearer it became that there was a very specific pattern to the loss of this knowledge. Although a recherche topic, once we had found the proper sources from past ages it was fairly trivial to find any number of facts regarding the Vault. The only piece of information that was systemically missing from every account was its location.

It is difficult to say for certain, but it seems overwhelmingly likely that this loss is consistent with a Golorr-wipe. The knowledge lost in such a wipe is very specific, and if someone had sought to eliminate the knowledge of the Vault’s location, it would nevertheless leave other lore regarding the Vault intact, in just such a fashion as we discovered it.

The first suspicion was that Neverember had been seeking the location of the Melairkyn Vault and had similarly concluded that it was a secret which could now only be learned from the Stone.

When Neverember’s true interest in the Stone became clear to use, however, we quickly concluded that it was Neverember himself who had used the Stone to hide the Vault’s location. Furthermore, it is recorded that the Vault was looted during the dark elf invasion which ended the Melairkyn civilization and its secrets, wehatever they may have been, were scattered to the corners of the world. Whatever there may be of value within the Vault, therefore, must have been placed there by Neverember.

The doors of a Melairkyn Vault were ceremonially sealed. Opening the doors required a single a dragonscale to be laid upon the bas relief of the sun and then struck while lit by sunlight. If the doors should shut upon us while we stand within the Vault, they can reputedly be opened from within by simply laying a hand upon them.

NOTES ON THE DISPOSITION OF THE EYES

As one of numerous inquiries, we discovered a hiding place beneath the crypt of Lord Dagult’s late wife. Although we initially believed the powerful magical item we discovered there to be Neverember’s Enigma, its identity and purpose eluded us until we became aware of the Stone of Golorr.

It is now clear that Lord Dagult had the Stone of Golorr blinded by removing its Eyes, and that the artifact we recovered was Alethea’s Eye. Although it seems certain that Dagult’s intention was focused on increasing the difficulty of anyone uncovering his own secrets, one is nevertheless left with the impression of a small child defacing that which they cannot understand out of petty spite.

Nonetheless, the complexity of the game has multiplied and we seek now not one Golorr Artifact, but several.

Dagult’s Eye was kept close by the Lord Protector, who carried it with him to Neverwinter and most likely had it on his person when Laeral deposed him as Open Lord. Nevertheless, Dagult’s Eye was stolen from him by the Zhentarim and held for a time within the Kolat Towers. We attempted to seize the eye from Manshoon, but found our efforts repulsed by the energy field surrounding the Towers. Before we could obtain one of the pass-amulets which allow access, Dagult’s Eye was lost when Manshoon sent it as part of an embassy to Xanathar. Xanathar had Manshoon’s agents slain and took Dagult’s Eye for himself.

Renaer’s Eye was held by Lord Dagult’s son. This Eye appears to have been taken from Renaer during his kidnapping, although it is currently unclear to us whether its ultimate disposition lies with the agents of Xanathar or Manshoon.

Go to Part 6F: Faction Reports (Xanathar and Zhentarim)

Go to Part 1

These lengthy reports, which can be discovered within the various facton lairs, are designed to be given to the players as handouts. They provide the PCs an opportunity to peer deeper into the machinations of the Grand Game, and can also serve as a reference for the GM to figure out what knowledge each faction currently has (and which its agents might surrender under questioning).

The reports here do not necessarily reflect the knowledge held by each faction at the very beginning of Dragon Heist. They have been written to reflect the state of the reports at the time the PCs are most likely to encounter them (during the Eye Heists). During earlier events, the factions may still be trying to piece together some of this information. (Most notably, if the PCs stage a heist at the Sea Maidens Faire without tipping off Jarlaxle about the Grand Game, there won’t be any report as he will not yet be involved in the Grand Game.) As the events of the campaign develop, you may also want to update these reports to reflect ongoing events (including explicit or implicit references to the activities of the PCs).

You’ll note that each faction refers to the Eyes using a different nomenclature. This complicates things slightly for the players (who need to figure out which names equate to which names), but not significantly. The real point of this is to deepen verisimilitude: These factions don’t all compare notes. Each faction has a unique perspective on the Grand Game, and allowing the players to see that in practical ways will make it clear that the game world is a dynamic, interactive place, not a monolithic entity.

As a quick reference, when the PCs get drawn into the Grand Game:

• The Stone of Golorr was stolen by Xanathar. It was taken from Xanathar by Dalakhar, and taken from Dalakhar by the Gralhunds.
• Xanathar’s Eye was originally stolen by the Zhentarim from the Protector’s Enclave in Neverwinter. Xanathar slew a Zhentarim embassy and took the Eye.
• The Zhentarim Eye was taken from Renaer’s mourning locket.
• The Cassalanter Eye was taken from the crypt of Lady Alethea Brandath.

The reports are presented in both plain text and also as PDFs with fancy handwriting fonts.

GRALHUND STUDY OF THE GRAND GAME

These disparate papers, written in the hand of Orond Gralhund, concern the strategies and machinations of House Gralhund.

Uktar 4^th, 1491 DR

They have treated us like fools. In the wake of the Lord Murders, with so many vacancies among the Lords and with Yalah’s lineage, it should have required no effort at all for her to be elevated to her rightful place. For the Gralhunds to be elevated to their rightful place, so that she could guarantee the prosperity of the Gralhunds for future generations. Instead they have taken our money. They have taken our favor. And they have spat in our faces. They have closed their ranks against us once again.

This journal entry, and others like it throughout late 1491 DR, speak to the bitterness of the Gralhunds, who felt slighted by being excluded from the ruling council of the city.

Nightal 21^st, 1491 DR

At the fires of Simril last night, Lord Berenger spoke to me of a curious matter. Neverember’s Enigma. It seems that the former Open Lord kept some monstrous secret, and now word of that secret is beginning to spread. There are those who believe a Grand Game may be beginning. I sense in this an opportunity to right the great wrong which has been done to Yalah.

It is clear from Orond’s notes, however, that over the next few weeks his efforts to penetrate the Grand Game were stymied. The resources of the Gralhunds were limited. But Orond thought outside the box: He embedded agents (referred to by the codephrases “Eagle” and “Catoblepas”) in Renaer Neverember’s household. As Renaer was estranged from his father this was a long-shot at best, but it paid off. A report from Eagle reads:

We’ve identified the gnome who’s been keeping surveillance on R.N. Dalakhar. An agent of Lord D. Please advise.

Several weeks later, the gnome Dalakhar abruptly stopped his surveillance of Renaer Neverember. Eagle played a hunch, followed up, and discovered that Dalakhar had ended up in the employ of the Xanathar Guild.

Dal. must still be acting under the orders of Lord D. No other explanation for the sudden shift of allegiance.

Contemporary notes from other sources allowed Orond to begin piecing certain facts about the Grand Game and Neverember’s Enigma.

There are Three Eyes with which Neverember’s Enigma may be seen. The First Eye is held by Xanathar, and lies somewhere within his lair. Bulette’s report that this lair can be accessed from teleportal sites within X’s sewer hideouts provides a potential means by which this Eye could seized, but in the absence of a synchronized key these teleportal sites are useless.

A later note states:

The Second Eye has almost certainly been taken from R.N by the Zhentarim. It is more important than ever that we discover where M has hidden his head.

And then, this:

Xanatharians are riled. Word on the street is that something was stolen from them. But not the First Eye. The stone of Golorr.

This report is attached to analysis written be Orond.

What if the “Key to Neverember’s Enigma” which Xanathar was known to hold in his possession is not, as I have suspected, the Eye? But instead the Stone of Golorr?If so, then what better thief than an agent of Dagult’s? Perhaps even sent there for that purpose. The gnome has taken the Stone, I am certain of it. If we can find Dalakhar, then we can seize the Key. We can take the Stone.

JARLAXLE’S REPORT ON THE GRAND GAME

This meticulously organized folder of intelligence reports and summaries appears to have been compiled by “Jarlaxle Baenre.” It is clear from its contents that Jarlaxle was, until recently, unaware of the Grand Game currently taking place in Waterdeep. Once he got an inkling of what was happening, however, he evidently took immediate steps to remedy the situation. In these efforts, the “Gralhund nimblewright has proven most useful,” but the information obtained by the Gralhunds is apparently “woefully incomplete.” Despite that, Jarlaxle was apparently able to draw a significant conclusion.

Suspicion: Neverember’s Enigma is nothing less than the 500,000 dragons embezzled from the city funds of Waterdeep.

Once that conclusion was reached, Jarlaxle’s interest in the matter clearly spiked and he intensified efforts to bring himself up to speed, dispatching Bregan D’Aerthe, a covert band of mercenary agents in his command, to gather as much information as they could by any means necessary.

It seems that Jarlaxle’s interest is driven by a desire to win favor with Laeral Silverhand, the Open Lord of Waterdeep, by returning the stolen money to her.

There are numerous factions in play, but I suspect the most significant are these: The Cassalanters, Xanathar (that bloated bag of gas), the Manshoonian Zhentarim, the Gralhunds, Lord Dagult, and the Open Lord. It seems that other players, like the Black Viper, are also involved, or interested in involving themselves, and some attention should be paid to how they might be turned to good use.

Of prime importance are the Golorr Eyes: Xanathar’s Eye, I suspect, has been entrusted to Sylgar’s keeping. Manshoon’s Eye is almost certainly secured within Kolat Towers. The Cassalanter’s Eye probably lies somewhere in their Estate.

Gaining control of an Eye must be our top priority. Those who control a Golorr Artifact are the pivots on which the outcome of the Grand Game will turn.

Go to Part 6E: Faction Reports Continued

Go to Part 1

I was hoping the next installment of the scenario structure challenge would feature a battlefield scenario structure, but what I did instead was beat my head against a wall for six months failing to come up with a structure that made sense. (The only thing I really came up with that seemed to have a chance of working well also featured such a massive amount of over-prep / wasted prep that I couldn’t reasonably recommend that anyone actually use it.)

So instead I’ve shifted my attention to a different target: Ocean’s 11.

(The good one. From 2001.)

Ocean’s 11 is a heist film. Danny Ocean puts together a crew of eleven criminals to simultaneously rob three Las Vegas casinos owned by Terry Benedict. Once the crew is recruited, over the course of the rest of the film we see them plan the heist, cope with a number of unexpected complications which disrupt their plans, and then execute the heist.

Heists are a fantastic scenario structure for a GM to have in their pocket. Heists aren’t limited to cash robberies: You need a thing (document, artifact, maybe even a person). It’s being held some place under heavy security. Come up with a plan to circumvent that security. Carry out your plan and get the thing you need.

That structure is incredibly flexible in its utility. It can be used with endless variety in support of any number of scenarios.

PLANNING THE HEIST

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

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

Once players get comfortable with heists being part of their toolkit, things can start getting really interesting: You won’t necessarily prep something specifically to be a heist. You’ll just prep a situation and it will be up to the players to decide whether or not a heist is the right solution for that situation.

The heist structure consists of five steps.

STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE SCORE. In Ocean’s 11 (like many heist movies), this moment actually happens before the movie begins. But we see a suggestion of it in a newspaper clipping Danny Ocean is studying early in the film:

Often the target of a heist will arise organically out of other events. An urbancrawl structure might allow the PCs to dynamically search for scores and then choose their target. A patron, like “Mr. Johnson” in a Shadowrun game, might hire the PCs as freelancers to target a specific score.

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

In Ocean’s 11, Danny Ocean and his partner Rusty Ryan exploit contacts they’ve made to gain after hours access to the files of the security firm that designed the Bellagio’s vault. They’ve already identified, from their previous research, that the ideal time to stage their heist will be on the night of a big fight (which will provide both a distraction for their operation and also increase the amount of money in the vault for them to steal).

In prepping a heist scenario, the GM should give some thought to what form the Gather Information phase might take for the target, but they should always remain open to alternative thinking from the PCs.

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

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

In the case of Ocean’s 11 this is relatively easy for Danny and Rusty to achieve because the casinos they’re robbing are public spaces: They literally check into the hotels and can have their crew scope out the place at their leisure.

Other targets, however, may require the PCs to take advantage of special circumstances (or create those circumstances for themselves). The event schedule they found in Step 2 can provide opportunities not only for the heist itself, but also for surveillance. In other cases, they may need to interact with the target under false pretenses or using forged credentials in order to carry out their initial surveillance.

In prepping a heist, it can be useful to figure out explicitly what information can only be obtained through onsite surveillance. One really easy division is to make it easy to obtain floor plans of the target, but to only be able to ascertain limited information about the security measures in place without being onsite.

When running the surveillance opportunity, once again remember that the expected outcome is for the PCs to succeed in carrying out their surveillance. Barring complete and utter catastrophe, the worst outcome for the PCs should be only one of the following:

• They only get some of the information they need
• They get misleading information
• The do something sufficiently suspicious that security is heightened or changed

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

In modern or science fiction heists, prep work almost always includes figuring out some way to tap the security feeds so that the PCs can monitor the entire facility. If you’re not comfortable improvising what they see, use adversary rosters combined with daily schedules so that the PCs can figure out the “usual routine” at the site.

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

In running the operation, there may be one or more twists: Unexpected circumstances that the PCs didn’t anticipate or that they missed in their research. These twists can either be gotchas (twists which the GM prepares ahead of time and which the PCs have no way or anticipating – “Oh crap! Mrs. Roberts came home early!”) or complications arising from failed checks (either during their prep work or during the operation itself).

In my opinion, you’re generally going to want to rely more on complications rather than gotchas. First, skipping the gotchas will save you from unnecessary prep work. Second, in my experience it’s simply more interesting for the players to be able to look back and understand where the complications are coming from.

(Which is not to say you should never use a gotcha: One really great gotcha can elevate a scenario to the next level.)

To break this down more explicitly, successfully executing a heist will usually involve a series of skill checks. A single failed check should not cause the entire plan to immediately fail. Instead, you’ll generate complications using fail forward techniques. These complications on failed skill checks are why you can get away with giving the PCs perfect information during Step 2 and Step 3: Among other things, you can use complications to introduce “oh fuck, he got a new safe” obstacles that effectively alter or reveal gaps in the information the PCs acquired on-the-fly.

In Ocean’s 11, for example, you can see how one complication can trigger an escalating chain of additional complications, constantly creating new and interesting problems for the PCs to deal with: Basher Tarr’s prep work turns to shit when the demolition of a casino inadvertently scuttles their plan for cutting power to the casino. (That might be a GM-prepped “gotcha,” but is more likely a complication arising from Tarr’s original Electrical Engineering skill check.) To solve the problem, the team has to put together a mini-heist to boost an EMP generator. During that heist, however, their greaseman injures his hand. And then, when they deploy the EMP, it blows out the team’s earpieces so they can’t communicate any more.

Finally, to reiterate something of primary importance: Avoid twists of any type that automatically scuttle the entire job and/or negate all the PCs’ planning. Not only do they suck, they will also strongly discourage your players from pursuing heist strategies in the future. It’s much more interesting to create a new problem and let the players figure out how to solve it.

ON THE SUBJECT OF BLUEPRINTS

Heists will benefit greatly from having player-friendly versions of the blueprints that can be given as a handout. It’s well worth your time as the GM to spend the time to make these. In fact, you might want to prepare several:

• A full blueprint (i.e., a complete map of everything in the complex)
• A version with some inaccuracies (what these are is situational; for example, maybe the players get their hands on an older set of blueprints from when the facility was first built and it lacks newer features or secret areas added by the new owners)
• Partial versions, particularly those reflecting limited knowledge of certain underlings who might be questioned. (Although it may be easier to simply sketch these ad hoc as they come up during play.)

PREP CHECKLIST

Okay, so what does the GM need to prep for a heist scenario?

• Blueprints (both the GM’s and those intended for PCs to discover)
• Defensive Measures (most likely including adversary rosters, security cameras, traps, etc.)
• Event schedule (including surveillance and heist opportunities)
• Gotchas (optional)

It’s actually a very short list. Everything else flows out of the process of play, rather than any sort of laborsome preparation.

A FEW MORE THINGS ON THE MATTER OF HEISTS

COMPETING GOALS: In Ocean’s 11 robbing Terry Benedict isn’t Danny Ocean’s only goal. He’s simultaneously using the heist to win back his estranged wife. In the course of the movie we’re led to believe that this goal is in conflict with the goals of the rest of the team, and although that eventually turns out not to be true (everyone except the rookie Linus was onboard with what Danny was doing and actively assisting him) there’s no reason it can’t be true for other heists. Introducing multiple, overlapping goals into a single heist is a great way to spontaneously generate more complications and more interest.

NO AUDIENCE TWISTS: On the note of perceived truth versus actual truth in heist stories, it should be noted that most heist movies will feature a twist for the audience. This usually takes the form of thinking that something has gone wrong for the team, but then it’s revealed that the “problem” was actually part of the plan the whole time.

This is an example of where playing through a scenario in an RPG is fundamentally different from being a passive audience member of other storytelling mediums. These types of audience-focused twists simply aren’t possible when the participants ARE the audience. And that’s okay. RPGs offer different forms of reward than passive viewership does.

COMPETING TEAMS: An advanced technique for adding interest to a heist is to add a second team onsite. They might be attempting the exact same heist, or maybe they have a different goal. Either way, their actions can add both complications and opportunities for the PCs.

BEYOND VEGAS

For a very compact version of the heist, consider the opening of Mission: Impossible (the 1996 film). The job at the Embassy at the beginning of the film is a tight little heist, and adds the additional layer of complication by having a traitor on the team.

For a more action-packed heist, look at Fast Five. Often the “ideal” image of a heist features a clean job – the team gets in and out without being detected. But that’s not the only way to run a heist. Sometimes the plan will call for big guns and fast cars. Sometimes the big guns and fast cars will come out because the plan has gone sideways.

Go to Challenge #5

Go to Part 1

CHES 21 – SELUNE SASHELAS: A celebration of Selûne, goddess of the moon and navigation, and Deep Sashelas of the Seldarine, elven god of the sea. It is supposedly based on a mangled legend dating back to the time when the elven city of Aelinthaldaar stood where Waterdeep does today and telling of a time when the elves of the sea said farewell to their brethren upon the land and moved into the deep ocean. The elves largely declare this to be a bunch of hogwash, but nevertheless the “historical event” is commemorated by the Twin Parades: A huge line of ships (varying greatly in size) proceeds from the harbor, loops up the coast, and returns. Simultaneously, a land-based parade proceeds from the Docks and through the streets of Waterdeep.

As described in Part 4 of the remix, I’m setting Dragon Heist during the back-to-back festivals of Fleetswake and Waukeentide. This prolonged festival season more or less kicks off with Selûne Sashelas, a holiday most notable in Waterdeep for the Twin Parades. (Although there’s also the Fey Day celebration of the Spring Equinox on Ches 19^th.)

I used the parade to more or less signal the end of Chapter 2: On the 22^nd, the fireball explodes and the Nimblewright Investigation beings. As noted in the remix of that investigation, the Temple of Gond’s nimblewright can be seen performing during the Twin Parades. Furthermore, rather than simply having some NPC say, “Hey! I remember seeing an automaton like that at the parade yesterday!” it can be much more effective if the PCs actually attend the parade themselves.

One simple way of doing that: Route the parade past Trollskull Manor. The PCs (and their neighbors) can simply watch the parade literally pass them by.

Unfortunately, it’s rather difficult to justify why the parade route would go past Trollskull Manor. So it may make more sense to bring the PCs to the parade rather than vice versa.

THE FACTION MISSION

The solution is to simply set a faction mission to take place during the parade. For this I selected the 2^nd level Bregan D’Aerthe mission (Dragon Heist, p. 34): The PCs need to steal a perfumed handkerchief from Maester Roderick Bartlethorpe in the audience at the parade and deliver it to a tiefling girl who lives in a crate at the corner of Net Street and Dock Street.

My players weren’t members of Bregan D’Aerthe, but the mission was easily reassigned to the Harpers: In this context, rather than being a test of loyalty, the mission became simply an opaque inexplicability. Whatever higher purpose is being served by this odd mission is completely obscured by the compartmentalization and secrecy of the Harpers.

The mission itself is not particularly laborsome: The PCs’ contact can even tell them roughly where on the parade route it is expected that Maester Roderick will be standing. All they need to do is zero in and pick his pocket.

PARADE ROUTE

The parade starts at the docks and then goes:

• Up Spices Street.
• Turns left on The Way of the Dragon.
• Heads north to the High Road.
• Turns left on Bazaar Street.
• Enters the Market and circles in a grand promenade before coming to rest.

I placed Maester Roderick on Bazaar Street in the “shadow of the Great Drunkard.” It’s a location that gives the PCs a variety of options: The market. A wide street. Tall, tightly packed buildings on the south side of the street. Mostly single-storey structures on the north side (lining the Market). The courtyard surrounding the Great Drunkard. The Great Drunkard itself. This gives the PCs a lot of options coming up with a plan for their op: How is the surveillance going to work? How will they make their approach? How will they escape after the handkerchief has been taken?

(If you’re thinking: Hey! That makes it sound like a heist in miniature! You’re correct. For a new group that hasn’t played together before, beats like this also let them get a feel for how they’re going to collaborate, plan, and take action before the big, complicated heists with the extremely high stakes start happening.)

This location also requires the PCs to journey back down towards the wharfs in order to deliver the handkerchief. As they do so (or shortly thereafter), they’ll be able to see the ships of the other half of the Twin Parades circle back into the docks, providing a nice button on the mini-scenario.

SEEN AT THE PARADE

Okay, this is the meat of the scenario: The displays and pageantry of the parade openly serves as the backdrop for the faction mission, but also lays two important pieces of pipe (cleverly disguised amidst other moments of beauty or wonder without additional significance).

The March of the City Watch: Marching eight abreast and fifteen ranks deep in their green-and-gold uniforms, the parade is led by an impressive phalanx of the City Watch.

Sea Maidens Faire: Marshalled by the swashbuckling Captain Zardoz Zord, who leads from the back of a rainbow-feathered diatryma, the Sea Maidens Faire:

• Leads with a procession of exotic animals — a caged owlbear, a unicorn stamping its feet proudly, a woman with three legs leading leucrotta doing tricks.
• Jugglers and stilt-walkers. The latter lean out far over the crowd, handing out advertising bills for a carnival on the “Pier of Wonders” in the Dock Ward.
• They roll up a cannon, which shoots a dwarf forwards to be caught by two of the stiltwalkers holding a net.

A Pageant Wagon: Performing The Pirate Lovers. This popular musical tells of a human woman who is, improbably, the daughter of a dwarf-king and, even more improbably, falls in love with a dark elf. Various ballads are sung from the “deck” of the ship which the pageant wagon opens to reveal.

The Mechanical Beholder: It hovers over the crowd and glares about menacingly.

A Joint Presentation of Temple Gond and the House of Wonders: Members of the Academy at the House of Wonders have summoned huge ribbons of water and are moving them down the street. Within the ribbons of water swim giant, clockwork fish of bronze. The fish appear to be controlled by a mechanical man made of both burnished copper and wood; its clockwork mechanisms visible constantly whirring and pistoning under its rune-etched skin-plating as it “commands” the fish to perform tricks – flipping from one stream to another. Eventually the mechanical man leaps up, perches atop the snout of one of the fish, and is launched high into the air, where he does a double-flip before splashing back down through one of the water ribbons.

Prancing Pegasi: An aerial dance troop composed of avariels (winged elves) and pegasus riders.

If the PCs have moved away from the parade (having seized the handkerchief and wanting to leave the scene), they might see the Prancing Pegasi twirling above the roofs of the buildings behind them as they make their way south to make the rendezvous.

When I ran this mini-scenario in my campaign, the PCs ended up leaving before the nimblewright’s display actually reached them. C’est la vie. They enjoyed the parade nevertheless, and smacked themselves in the head later when they learned what they’d missed by ducking out early.