Go to Part 1

PATRON TOPICS/AGENDAS

TALLY FELLBRANCH

• Introduces PCs to his brother, Melannor Fellbranch (representative of the Emerald Enclave).
• Offers his services to sculpt a wooden troll’s skull that could be displayed on the wall.
• She’s been commissioned to craft 8-foot-tall chess pieces for the Cragsmere Estate. It’s a major commission and she buys a round of drinks for everyone in the tavern to celebrate.

EMBRIC & AVI

• One of the Three Urchins has been shoplifting small metal trinkets from Steam and Steel.
• Ask for an introduction to Renaer Neverember. (Turns out Embric and Avi were stout supporters of Lord Dagult and expect his son to feel the same.)
• They’ve been hired to build a number of weapons of strange designs; serrated edges on odd surfaces, superfluous spikes, and the like. (Investigating this reveals that the commission can be tracked back to Grinda Garloth.)

FALA LEFALIIR

• Offers the PCs a sampler of foreign teas, in the interest of having them added to the menu.
• Introduces the PCs to Ziraj the Hunter, a member of the Zhentarim Doom Raiders (DH p. 201).
• Is interested in using the large oak tree outside Trollskull Manor as a place to grow silverbark, a valuable alchymical that they have otherwise been harvesting from the City of the Dead.

VINCENT TRENCH

• Meeting a client. (Either a simple member of the public, or possibly one of the other notable patrons in the tavern.)
• Looking to hire the PCs to contribute to one of his investigations: He needs a foppish young noble (Adric Thongolir, a half-steel dragon and youngest son of Lady Adiira Thongolir) followed.
• Vincent has been hired to investigate a series of petty thefts in Thundercross Alley (running perpendicular to Thunderstaff Way just north of Sashtar Street). A man named Irbyth Authamaun has had a particularly valuable gray jade statuette of a stone giant stolen from his house (which lies at the eastern end of the alley). (The culprit is a small, floating, magical skull named Mortaunto. The curious undead rapscallion has created a small nest of his magpie-like thefts in the Thunderstaff Villa, which lies just north of Thundercross Alley.)

RISHAAL THE PAGE-TURNER

• Sits quietly in one corner, sipping tea and reading an oddly titled book: Duke Avanice’s Vile Poems, Cults of Ancient Netheril, Umbral Reflections on the Kingdom of Man, The Journal of Captain Arienthil’s Journeys in the Moonshae Isles, Memories of Kara-Tur, The Seventh Codex of the Numinous Ascendants of Kaal, The Atlas of Forgotten Cartographies.
• If Lif has been pacified and is now part of the tavern’s culture, Rishaal will stop by with a copy of Richelle’s Poems, a book of elvish poetry which was once one of Lif’s favorites.
• His hands are bandaged. He came into possession of a cursed book that, when he touched it, caused his hands to burst out into boils.

HAMMOND KRADDOC (Vintners’)

• Dropping by to let the owners know about new spirits his guild has to offer: Blackberry seawine from the Nasaqh Estates on Mount Sar. Berg Brew, an alchemically frozen slurry that has ten times the alcoholic content of other beers. Entsap, brewed from the sap of treants. Storm Giant Ale, which is not actually bewed by storm giants but does have an electrical “tingle.”
• Chastises the owners for their current selection of beverages (even if he was the one who sold them).
• Discovers that Lif knew his father, Barbaros Kraddoc. Barbaros would actually stay at Trollskull Manor when he would come into Waterdeep to sell wines from the Elysium Fields. (Lif is saddened to learn that the Elysium Fields were destroyed.)

BROXLEY FAIRKETTLE (Innkeepers’)

• Asks the PCs to host the guild’s Leiruin Feast. (Extrapolate event from DH p. 162.)
• Offers to sell them a signatory license to the Fellowship of Innkeepers’ indemnification insurance for 20 gp per month: It covers the costs of any lawsuits held against them or their tavern due to injuries incurred during a stay. (He relates how the previous year a spice merchant nearly bankrupted an inn who didn’t have insurance when a magister held them liable for not only the magical healing of his injuries, but also for his lost wages during a period of physical and emotional recovery.)
• Dues for the Fellowship of Innkeepers are increasing by 5 gp per month starting on the first of next month.

ULKORIA STONEMARROW

• Relates the history of Trollskull Tavern, starting from the time of her ownership.
• She comes in hauling the carcass of a rust monster.
• Shield guardian shows up, but Ulkoria isn’t with it.

MATTREM “THREEESTRINGS” MEREG

• Looking for employment; or just permission to play for tips if that fails. (Yawning Portal is a little too intense for him this week.)
• He brings Bonnie the Doppelganger here to have a date. It turns into a complete disaster. (He might beg one of the PCs to help him salvage the night.)
• Sings “The Ballad of the River Chionthar,” an incredibly beautiful piece of his own composition telling of a young girl who slipped into the river and drowned. Each verse tells of some scene her body passes along the river, until the last verse speaks of how she passed through Baldur’s Gate and out into the sea.

JALESTER SILVERMANE

• Jalester is here to spy on the adventurers’ who made a rep for themselves rescuing Renaer. Once he’s assessed whether they (a) can be trusted or (b) pose a threat to Waterdeep, he’ll issue a report to the Open Lord.

YAGRA STONEFIST

• Challenging any burly-looking patrons to an arm wrestling competition, which she’s turned into a drinking game by taking a drink each time she wins.
• She claims a table in the corner and over the course of the evening she meets with a string of people – many of them sporting Zhentarim tattoos. She speaks quietly with them or slips them a piece of paper, and then they leave.
• She gets a crush on one of the male patrons tonight and does her best to take him home (or upstairs).

[FACTION CONTACT]

• Trigger the next faction mission.
• They’re here to meet with a different contact.

JARLAXLE

• If appearing as Captain Zord, he may bring along a number of Sea Maidens Faire carnies. They’ll bring strange creatures with them, perform a juggling act, do strange acrobatic tricks using the features of the tavern, and so forth.
• If appearing as a different fake identity, it’s more likely he’ll just quietly ensconce himself somewhere and observe the PCs, trying to get a measure of them.
• If appearing as himself, he’s here to negotiate: He wants something from the PCs in the Grand Game (information, a service), and he’s willing to bargain.

FACTION RESPONSE TEAM

• Keeping the tavern under observation from outside.
• Delivering a message from their faction (most likely to arrange a meeting).
• Staging a hit on the PCs, most likely in retaliation for their actions.
• Staging a heist, most likely targeting the Stone of Golorr and/or the Eyes.

PATRON TOPICS/AGENDAS – RENAER & FRIENDS

RENAER NEVEREMBER

• Requests an update on their investigation into Dalakhar’s murder (and the reasons behind it).
• Introduces them to some of his friends (roll on the “Renaer’s Friends” table).
• Invites the PCs to a party at Brandarthall.

VAJRA SAFAHR, THE BLACKSTAFF

• Lights have been seen in Kolat Towers, an old abandoned wizard’s tower in the Southern Ward. Despite everything that’s happening, she’s going to have to find time to check it out: Reoccupied wizard’s haunts are trouble more often than not.
• She knows uncomfortably too much about whatever the PCs’ last op was, although she doesn’t actually use their names.
• Tries to recruit the PCs into Force Grey. (Or, if the PCs actions have not distinguished them in this way, she sets a Force Grey member to keep watch on them.)

LARAELRA “ELRA” HARSARD

• She’s come to check out the “fiery-tempered temptress” who’s playing fast and loose with Renaer’s heart.
• Debriefing a Force Grey agent whose mission went disastrously. (Could be used to hook the PCs into doing a Force Grey faction mission – completing the failed mission – even if they aren’t members of Force Grey.)
• Her old friend Meloon Wardragon seems to be avoiding her lately and she’s worried about it. She doesn’t know what she could have done to alienate him.

OSCO SALIBUCK

• Has just returned from an expedition to the Tomb of Galari, an Archmage of Ancient Netheril. Young Harchan Roaringhorn led the expedition, clearly seeking something of import. (Osco does not know what; and it’s clear that Harchan was unsuccessful in whatever his aim was.)
• He has ordered one of every single liquor in the tavern, lined them up on the bar, and is working his way through them one by one. He is offering his (increasingly incoherent) critiques of each one at the top of his lungs.
• Lord Tylandar Roaringhorn is celebrating his seventieth birthday on the Roaringhorn estates in Amphail. Osco will be leaving Waterdeep for a couple of weeks (probably closer to a month), and he wants to have one last big party before he goes.

LORD TORLYN WANDS

• Lord Terras, who has had a feud with the Wands ever since Torlyn’s sister turned down his proposal of marriage, has filed yet another civil suit claiming that guests staying at the Wands’ ancestral hunting lodge have crossed over onto his property. He filed the suit in the Court of Amphail, just to make it more of a headache for Torlyn to defend it.
• Recently acquired an alchemical concoction that was supposed to counteract the effects of strong drink… and got himself into rather a spot of trouble at the Grinning Lion (a tavern in the North Ward). He drank far too much zzar (a fortified sherry with an orange color and an almondy scent), ate far too many fried eels, and woke up in an alley in the South Ward next to a snoring troll.
• Quietly reading The Salt of the Abyss by Ableworth Dirkley while sipping tea in the corner.

EIRUK WESKUR

• One of the journeyman under his watch had a teleport spell go awry. If anyone happens to visit an interdimensional pocket and happens to see the poor fellow, please let him know.
• Looking for Vajra: She was supposed to be here tonight and he’s concerned that she isn’t keeping the appointment.
• He’s gained a nasty scar across one cheek: One of the apprentices of the Order of Magists let a spell get out of control.

HARUG SHIELDSUNDER

• Has brought half a dozen dwarven tunnel workers from the Cellarers’ & Plumbers’ Guild to check out the new tavern.
• Malaerigo Harsard, Guild Master of the Cellarers’ & Plumbers’ Guild, has announced a steep rate hike in the guild’s dues. There’s a great deal of discontent in the rank-and-file, particularly among the dwarves.
• It’s the anniversary of his nephew’s death: He orders six dwarven ales (one for each year since Dorn’s death) and drinks them one by one. (Others who knew Dorn – like Laraelra, for example – may join in.)

PARLEK LATERIFF

• Recently acquired Sister Argutara’s Telestic Tome of the Draconic Tribes. Waxes rhapsodic about it.
• Comparing recent acquisitions with Lord Torlyn Wands.
• Arguing with Rishaal over the inconsistencies between Arturo’s Moonsea Atlas and Arienthil’s Journeys in the Moonshae Isles. (Parlek is convinced that Arienthil edited her accounts in order to gloss over or conceal various sites of importance she had encountered. He has an elaborate conspiracy theory suggesting, for example, that she was aware of a huge vein of black gold, a rare Feydark ore which is found in deposits throughout the Moonshae Isles and sparks intermittent “black gold rushes” when they turn up.)

MELOON WARDRAGON

• Challenges patrons to an arm-wrestling contest.
• Under the influence of the intellect devourer, asks probing questions regarding the Grand Game hoping to glean actionable intelligence from the PCs or their associates.
• PCs might notice he has a little purple fluid leaking out of his nose. (Potentially revealing the presence of the intellect devourer.)
• Speaks of how his hometown, Loudwater, has come under the control of the Zhentarim. The current High Lord, Telbor Zazrek, is a well-paid puppet of the Zhentarim and, through him, the Black Network maintains a stranglehold on the town. Any supplies not provided by the Zhentarim are punitively taxed and the cost of living in the town has skyrocketed.

FLOON BLAGMAAR

• He came here to meet with a pair of lovely brunettes, but now he needs help: They’re sitting over there in the corner – don’t look! I’m supposed to just be ordering drink, but I recognize one of them as being the wife of Lord Elamyr Belabranta. If Lord Elamyr finds out, he’ll send a griffon to eat Floon. (The Belabratas breed griffons for the City Watch.)
• His friend Bruzmyr Seerambra can offer a much better deal on the cost of liquor and ale than the Vintners’ Guild.
• His friend Riklyn Harvester has been transformed into an orange tabby cat by an irate sorcerer who was upset that Riklyn was trying to pick up a girl at the Old Skull Tavern. He’s got Riklyn with him (meow!) and he’s hoping the PCs can help turn him back. (Floon is mistaken: The cat is just a cat.)

Go to Part 5: Trollskull Patrons

Go to Part 1

PATRON TABLES

FACTION CONTACT: This result should be keyed to the PCs’ contact for whatever faction they end up doing faction missions for. (If they become members of multiple factions, randomly determine or choose one.)

CAMPAIGN NPC: This slot is left open for adding an NPC that the players like from other parts of the campaign. (I’m currently using this slot for Valetta & Nim.) This can includes characters from the Renaer’s Friends table below if the PCs seem to have forged a strong relationship with them and you’d like to increase the likelihood of them showing up. (Of course, you can always arbitrarily decide that so-and-so will be dropping by the tavern that night.)

OTHER MODIFICATIONS: Swap out other characters that aren’t resonating with your players and add NPCs who they’ve formed relationships with.

FACTION SPY: Determine faction randomly or choose appropriately based on the events in the campaign so far.

EVENTS

• A spontaneous arm-wrestling competition breaks out.
• A local kenku street gang comes into the tavern. They try to sell traveler’s dust to the patrons. (Traveler’s Dust: Tiny roseate crystals. A single grain is usually dropped into the eye, where it dissolves. Those using it are said to be walking the crimson road. Those using traveler’s dust often have trembling hands, slurred speech, and eyes the color of blood. Creates a euphoric feeling paired to a sensation of the world slowing down around you.)
• PCs walk in to find a horse standing in the middle of the common room. No one can explain how it got there or who owns it.
• A patron slips a drug into a drink before returning to their own table.
• A 12-year-old pickpocket named Stannis is working the crowd. His handler, a half-orc named Sabeen, is waiting outside.
• A portal opens in the middle of the tavern. An elven wizard named Kyser Tameno walks out, orders a drink, and goes back through the portal. (He might become a regular.)
• The City Watch makes an arrest on the premises.
• Volo shows up and would like to make arrangements for a signing of Volo’s Guide to Monsters. Also has a number of questions regarding the haunting of Trollskull Manor for Volo’s Guide to Spirits and Specters.
• Staff Event (e.g., the star elf triplets float up to the ceiling and a spontaneous light show erupts; after a few minutes they float back down and resume service as if nothing happened)

Go to Part 4: Patron Topics & Agendas

Go to Part 1

As described in Chapter 2 of Dragon Heist, before the PCs can reopen Trollskull Manor they first have to first get it fixed up and ready for business again. The following events should be intermixed with the PCs’ first faction missions and similar activities. Adding one or two additional urban adventures into this time frame can also be an effective way of pacing this material.

A CONSOLIDATED REFERENCE OF THE MANOR’S HISTORY

• Owned by Ulkoria Stonemarrow. She sold the tavern to go adventuring.
• Sold to a family of shield dwarves. They fell on hard times and sold it to a woman named Arissa Mirthkettle.
• Mirthkettle converted the building into an orphanage. She turned out to be a hag who was cooking and eating the children.
• The building was then abandoned for several years, haunted by its horrible reputation.
• A half-elf named Lif took over the building and converted it back into a tavern.
• Lif was killed in a terrible accident 40 years ago when one of the support beams on his ale casks broke and collapsed on top of him.
• A couple named the Morleys bought the property and attempted to reopen it, but the haunting of the property combined with the economic recession which preceded Lord Dagult becoming Open Lord saw them go bankrupt.
• The property changed hands several times, but with no serious efforts to occupy it.
• A small halfling clan named the Curlbottoms bought the property around 1476 DR. They didn’t reopen the tavern, using the property exclusively as a residence for until 1484 DR when they moved to Neverwinter, caughter in Lord Dagult’s dream of rebuilding the city.
• Most recently, Emmek Frewn attempted to purchase the property at public auction, only to be outbid by Volothamp Geddarm (who was interested in researching its “haunted history” for his next book).

FIRST TIME AT TROLLSKULL

The first time the PCs show up Trollskull Manor, the Three Urchins are playing inside.

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

They’re rampaging around, playing some sort of fencing/tag game with swords.

TALE OF THE TROLL SKULL: They claim the mansion is haunetd by the ghost of a troll skull.

DURING RECONSTRUCTION:

• If friendly, the urchins will help sweep up. Holler on street corners to attract customers. And so forth.
• If hostile, they’ll break windows (20 gp each) and cause other mischief.

THE POLTERGEIST

LIF: Half-elf, former bartender. Haunts the building now.

• Objects levitating or thrown
• Disappearing objects
• Knocks, rappings, footsteps
• Message written in the dust: “CLOSING TIME”, “LAST CALL”
• Physical attacks

APPEASING: Fixing the building up to become a tavern slowly wins Lif over. (Eventually starts helping out.) If not, Lif becomes increasingly hostile.

GUILD VISITS

In place of the one-time expenses found on p. 41 of Dragon Heist, the PCs will be approached by an endless array of guild representatives. Roleplay out as many of these encounters as seems entertaining. Not all of these guild services are required, and others can be negotiated.

During this time, also mix in the first visits from Emmek Frewn (Dragon Heist, p. 42) as he begins plotting against the PCs.

STAFFING

The PCs will also need to hire staff: A bartender, barmaids, and cooks. How many of each will depend on how many shifts they want to remain open each day. (PCs may also be tempted to fulfill some of these roles themselves, but they’ll quickly learn that balancing a regular day job with adventuring is probably an impossible task.)

BARTENDERS

Lif: If the spirit of Lif can be pacified and befriended, he makes an excellent bartender.

• The “Lif” is a custom drink special with some form of liquor (which varies each night) on the bottom and ale on top. It’s not entirely clear how the ghost is achieving this perfect separation.

Mosp: A blue-and-green-scaled kobold. Mosp has a reptilian palette and his drinks don’t always sit quite right in mammalian mouths. If he’s the bartender, however, Trollskull Manor will attract a large reptilian and draconic crowd.

Lillian Haekin: A Zakharan woman, Lillian has a modest command of liqueurs, but her true mastery is in teas. She will arrange with Fala Lefaliir of Corellon’s Crown to supply the Manor with a dizzying variety of foreign teas.

BARMAIDS

Ryba: Ryba is a wererat and a member of the Shard Shunners (see “Emmek Frewn” below). She tries to get hired as a halfing waitress so that she can work mischief.

Althaea, Elthaea, Ulthaea: These mysterious star elf triplets float through the air while sitting in a perfect lotus position. Their silver hair stands upright in a halo around their heads. Likely interview questions include:

• Can you walk on your legs? “We have not in a very long time.”
• Can you serve drinks from that position? [They use telekinesis to deliver a drink to the questioner.]
• Why are they interested in working as barmaids in Trollskull Manor? “We have received a divinatory vision that we are needed here. We shall work for you for a period of twelve months. So it is written. Also, tips are important.”

Patric Nivka: Patric, an Illuskan lad, was kicked out of his parents’ house last week when his parents discovered he was dating a half-elf named Tanya Pav. He needs a job and a place to stay. (Letting him stay in a room upstairs or giving him an advance on his paycheck will help solve the latter problem.)

COOKS

Isgrigg & Dupere: Just ordinary humans. They left their last gig because the bar transformed into a tinker gnome hotspot. “And if you’ve ever seen thirty-five tinker gnomes all working on the same project while drunk… well, I like my jobs to be a bit less explosive if you know what I mean.”

Turgattan Thornhammer: A dwarf chef and former adventurer. He lost his former adventuring companions in the Serpent Hills. He lacks references, but assures the PCs that he handled the cooking for his companions every night for three years, even when that meant boiling things best left unboiled. And if he could do that, then he can certainly handle a night’s shift in a kitchen with a well-supplied larder! If the PCs actually taste his cooking, they may quickly conclude that his former adventuring companions were the ones to lose him. (This is a bad hire.)

Reynardo Greenleaf: A half-elf mage who uses various cantrips to create truly remarkable concoctions. His dishes are marvels to behold; often with their components performing intricate dances across the intricately carved plates and platters and stranger dishware they’re delivered upon. His ministrations earn the Trollskull Manor an artiste reputation, but the problem is that Reynardo “does not work to a clock.” Service is slow, and becomes a serious problem if/when the Manor’s popularity grows.

GRAND OPENING

If you’re using the Alexandrian Remix, I recommend timing the Trollskull’s grand opening for Ches 19th, the Spring Equinox/Fey Day. Taking advantage of the Fey Day celebrations will help propel a large launch, and it will also allow a couple days of normal operation before the Twin Parades on Ches 21st and the fireball on Ches 22nd.

The details of the Grand Opening are heavily dependent on the specific plans made by the PCs, of course. In addition to any specific invitations they may extend, you can randomize other significant guests normally. Or you might want to spend some time customizing a list based on which NPCs the PCs have had good rapport with so far. I recommend that the guest list should include:

• Renaer and Floon, assuming the PCs have not alienated them in some way
• One or two representatives from the other residents of Trollskull Alley, particularly if the PCs have made a point of introducing themselves
• The Three Urchins, whether they’re friendly or not

Give some thought to whether or not Emmek Frewn is in a position to disrupt the Grand Opening. If the PCs have taken precautions, it’s probably better to let the Grand Opening succeed… and then have Emmek Frewn’s bastardy complicate matters on their second night.

Go to Part 3: Patron Tables & Events

In Chapter 2 of the Dragon Heist campaign, the PCs are rewarded with the deed to an abandoned inn named Trollskull Manor. The expectation is that they will rehabilitate the abandoned building and re-open the tavern, integrating themselves in Waterdhavian sociey and laying down the sort of roots that can really make an urban campaign meaningful.

For Trollskull Manor to truly become the centerpiece of your campaign, however, you’ll need to make the tavern truly come alive. Part of that will be letting your players take the lead in designing and decorating the manor just the way that they want it, so that it truly becomes their place. A place that they can call home. But once the tavern opens, your job is to make the tavern truly come alive; to make it more than just a place where they can take a long rest.

That’s where A Night in Trollskull Manor comes into play. Using the Tavern Time™ system, it provides a selection of flexible tools and the simple structure you can use with those tools to bring the tavern’s common room to life each and every night. Those tools include:

• Patron Tables
• Events
• Topics/Agendas
• Patron Roleplaying Templates

To get maximum use out of A Night in Trollskull Manor, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the Universal NPC Roleplaying Template.

TAVERN TIME

For each night at the tavern:

1. There is a 1 in 1d6 chance that an Event will occur that night.

2. Roll 1d6 to determine the number of significant patrons in the tavern that night, then use the Patron Table to randomly determine which patrons are present. If a result of “Renaer’s Friends” is rolled, roll on the Patrons – Renaer’s Friends table to determine the final result.

3. Look at the Topics/Agendas for the patrons who are present. Generally speaking, you can use one per patron or just select one from among the patrons. When in doubt, default  to the first unused bullet point. Supplement or replace these topics with other major events occurring in your campaign.

Using this material is as much art as it is science. The random tables serve as an improv prompt, thrusting different elements together in unexpected ways in order to prompt the frisson of your own creativity as a GM. Once the players start interacting with the patrons and the emerging situation, things will develop in even more unexpected ways. Roll with the punches and see where it all takes you. Don’t be afraid to make bold, strong choices that can completely disrupt the status quo.

USING PATRONS: Note that the significant patrons present on a particular night may all clump together in a single interaction, or they may be separate interactions happening simultaneously or spread out over the course of the evening. Even if various patron interactions do start out separate from each other, don’t be afraid to have them crossover and collide with each other as the events of the evening continue to play out.

Pay attention to which NPCs resonate with the players: Who do they find interesting? Who do they like? Who do they enjoy interacting with? Find ways to keep bringing those characters back. Reincorporate them into other facets of the campaign (and vice versa).

USING TOPICS/AGENDAS: These are conversational gambits, interpersonal developments, or needs that a particular patron has. Think about what reactions the other patrons present in the tavern that night will have to the topic or agenda as it occurs.

You should be able to very quickly reference this material and then rapidly generate a 5-10 minute roleplaying interaction any time the PCs choose to engage with the common room. (In some cases, of course, these interactions will also expand to the players’ level of interest and take more time to fully resolve.)

DESIGN NOTES

The patrons used for A Night in Trollskull Manor draw heavily from the Dragon Heist campaign itself. This is intentional, deliberately reincorporating NPCs so that the life of Trollskull Manor’s common room is intertwined with the rest of the campaign.

Many other patrons, particularly Renaer’s friends, are drawn from Steven E. Schend’s Blackstaff Tower. This novel — which is a delightful romp of pulp fiction — was the first introduction of characters like Vajra, Renaer, and Meloon who would return in Dragon Heist. Schend’s other creations — like Osco, Lord Toryln Wands, and Elra Harsard — were so much fun that I wanted to find a way to bring them into the campaign, too. (Reading the novel, however, is not required to make use of this material.)

On that note, it should be mentioned that A Night in Trollskull Manor will work particularly well with the Alexandrian Remix of Dragon Heist, but the remix is also not required and you should get great results even if you’re just running the base version of the campaign.

Part 2: Setting Up Trollskull Manor
Part 3: Patron Tables & Events
Part 4: Patron Topics & Agendas
Part 5: Patrons
Part 6: Renaer & Friends

Addendum: Manor Menu

Go to Part 1

One of the first elements I established for the Alexandrian Remix of Dragon Heist was to have the Cassalanters approach the PCs and attempt to recruit them as their agents in the Grand Game: I found the story of their children’s plight very compelling, and the entire situation rife with incredibly tough and emotional decisions that I felt would really elevate the campaign if they were put center stage. (Whereas in a traditional run, even with the Cassalanters as the DM’s chosen villain, it’s very likely that the PCs will never even discover what the Cassalanters’ true motives are.)

But what if we went a different way?

There are four rival factions in Dragon Heist, of which the Cassalanters are only one. If it’s interesting to swap the Cassalanters’ approach from open antagonism to would-be collaborators, what might happen if one of the other factions took the same approach?

Of course, none of the other rivals have innocent children for the PCs to be called upon to save. So their approach to collaboration will look a little different.

MANSHOON’S ULTIMATUM

The timing of Manshoon’s approach can be identical to the Cassalanters (he discovers the PCs are investigating the fireball that killed several of his agents and decides they would be useful pawns), but it might be better to wait until the fallout from the Gralhund Villa raids. Assuming that the PCs end up with the Stone of Golorr, Manshoon would be highly motivated to get them onboard.

His method for doing so, however, is far less discrete than the Cassalanters: He takes a hostage.

Circumstance will determine whether it will work best to find someone in a PC’s backstory or to target someone they’ve built a relationship with during the campaign, but either way the kidnapping takes place offscreen. Perhaps the PC becomes aware of it when they find their loved ones’ ransacked quarters, but more likely it takes the form of a simple letter arriving at Trollskull Manor.

The letter explains the situation simply: They have something he wants. And now he has something they want. A meeting will be arranged (to which Manshoon will send his simulacrum rather than appearing himself), and the following proposal will be made:

• Their loved one will not be harmed. Quite the contrary. They are enjoying luxurious accommodations (If only the PCs could be so lucky.) Manshoon is personally seeing to it that their every need (except freedom) is being met.
• The PCs will seek to restore the Stone of Golorr and use it to claim Neverember’s Enigma – the 500,000 golden dragons he embezzled from the city.
• Manshoon is not an unreasonable man, of course, and if the PCs fulfill their end of the bargain, not only will he free their loved one, they will also be free to keep fully 20% of the treasure.
• The Zhentarim will also make available to the PCs the full resources of their intelligence-gathering and mercenary networks.

IF THE PCs JOIN MANSHOON: The Zhentarim response teams and safe houses are put at their disposal, with more and more resources being made available as they prove themselves more trustworthy. All of Manshoon’s lieutenants can be played as allies, and this extra muscle will certainly free the PCs up to try more daring (or, at least, direct) heists to obtain the missing eyes.

IF THE PCs REFUSE: Manshoon shakes his head sadly. Then he leaves, has their loved one murdered, and dumps the corpse on the front step of Trollskull Manor.

IF THE PCs SEEK TO RESCUE THE HOSTAGE: A heist! I love heists. The hostage is being held in Area E11 of Manshoon’s Extradimensional Sanctum. The Zhents who made their quarters there have been turned out for the moment; consider spreading them out between Kolat Towers and the Zhentarim faction outposts.

JARLAXLE’S ALLIANCE

For Jarlaxle, we’ll move in the opposite direction: When running the opening scene of the campaign at the Yawning Portal, instead of using Step 2: Friendly Faces (in which the PCs pick one of the NPCs on p. 221 of Dragon Heist to be the contact they’ve come to meet), the contact they’re meeting with is, in fact, Jarlaxle.

Depending on the approach you want to take, they might think they’re meeting with “Captain Zord” or they might know the true identity of who they’re meeting. Either way, Jarlaxle does, in fact, connect them with Volo.

This means, of course, that the PCs are members of Bregan D’Aerthe from the very beginning. Refer to the general information on p. 14-15 of Dragon Heist and the faction missions on p. 34-35.

INVERTED NIMBLEWRIGHT INVESTIGATION: If you want to radically shift Chapter 2 of the campaign, then have one of the PCs’ jobs be to sell the nimblewrights for Jarlaxle. One of the reasons Jarlaxle wanted to get on Volo’s good side was so that Volo could help make introductions to various guilds, nobles, and other highly-placed and influential people. Refer to the list of owners in Part 5C: The Nimblewright Investigation as a resource for the prospective clients Volo refers them to.

Whether the PCs are selling nimblewrights or not, they still have Trollskull Manor as a reward from Volo. Jarlaxle will help bankroll the renovation costs and is eager to develop it as a safehouse for Bregan D’Aerthe operatives.

The fireball explosion also still happens on schedule: When the PCs discover that a nimblewright is involved, they can either go to Jarlaxle and clue their whole organization into the Grand Game. Or it’s possible that they were literally the ones who sold the nimblewright to the Gralhunds. (Small world, eh?)

THE GRAND GAME: Tracking forward, slot in the PCs everywhere that the campaign refers to Jarlaxle’s agents.

At Gralhund Villa they’re able to review nimblewright footage in Jarlaxle’s crystal ball and are then ordered to set up a surveillance post. (Maybe they even end up in Artheyn Manor, just like Fel’Rekt would in a ‘normal’ campaign.)

I recommend not having Jarlaxle accompany them on the other heists (he has a lot of other projects and a busy social calendar to attend to), but they can certainly tap Bregan D’Aerthe resources (in the form of a response team). And Jarlaxle may be able to directly feed them information (and access) to Xanathar’s Lair.

XANATHAR’S GANGSTERS

For this final collaboration we’re going to radically invert the campaign: Rather than starting the campaign at the Yawning Portal, the PCs will be gangsters working for Xanathar. Their first job? Raiding a warehouse where the Zhentarim are holding Renaer Neverember, capture Renaer themselves, and bring him to a sewer hideout where they’ll be met by Nihiloor.

Of course, they discover too late that they’ve kidnapped some fuckin’ mook named Floon Blagmaar. A total disaster. Maybe they try to double back to the warehouse, but by the time they get there, Renaer is gone and the place is swarming with watchmen. (Their first inklings that a Grand Game is happening will come from the questions Nihiloor asks ‘Renaer.’)

CHAPTER 2 – WORKING FOR THE BOSS: You need some time to pass here and, in this scenario, the PCs don’t get Trollskull Manor. Run a few faction missions that introduce them to the Xanatharian faction outposts (they get outfitted by Grinda Garloth; they struggle to figure out how to get the mechanical flying beholder working before the Twin Parades; they’re charged with running security at Terasse Estate and escorting gamblers through the dangerous tunnels to the gladiator tournaments).

Their contact person for these faction missions? Dalakhar.

CHAPTER 3 – THE TRAITOR: Then comes the day when Dalakhar vanishes. Turns out he’s betrayed the Boss and stolen something. Boss won’t say what, but it’s clearly important. The PCs need to find him.

They track him to the Inn of the Dripping Dagger. The timeline is slightly different in this version of reality, and they end up finding the letter from Kalain. They track Dalakhar to Kalain’s place, and she tells them he’s headed to some place called Trollskull Manor. (You’ll want to buff this up a bit to fully satisfy the Three Clue Rule.)

The PCs head over to Trollskull Manor. As they’re heading through the alley, a huge explosion goes off just around the corner up ahead: Rushing forward, they discover Dalakhar and a bunch of other people dead!

THE TROLLSKULL MANOR TEAM: From this point forward, the campaign more-or-less follows the normal track. Investigations will lead the PCs to Gralhund Villa; they’ll find the Zhentarim and Jarlaxle’s team watching the place.

But here’s the twist: There is a group of heroes who rescued Renaer Neverember and moved into the Trollskull Manor. And they’re doing what the PCs in a ‘normal’ Dragon Heist campaign would have been doing: The PCs likely first spot the Trollskull Manor Team at Gralhund Villa, but they’ll keep turning up:

• They raid one of Xanathar’s sewer hideouts.
• They perform a heist at Xanathar’s Lair. (Maybe the PCs can foil it. Or maybe the PCs foil their attempt, only to have Jarlaxle simultaneously steal the Eye. Guess it’s time to pursue them back to the Eyecatcher for a heist-in-kind.)
• While the PCs are trying to perform a heist at Kolat Tower, the Trollskull Manor Team is simultaneously active onsite.

And so forth. Play the heroes actively, and figure out what faction(s) they belong to and bring those into play, too.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

The cool thing here is that, once you’ve restructured the campaign components into scenarios instead of plots, you can use those components in myriad ways. These examples push that to an extreme, but it demonstrates how much flexibility this approach has and how easy it is to take material prepped in this way and actively play it in order to respond to player choice.

Compare this to the approach taken by the published campaign, which attempts to give you flexibility and ‘reusability’ by, for example, giving you three different versions of an Old Tower. But the truth is that you don’t need multiple versions of a tower in order to get different utility out of it during actual play.

The other thing I’ll point out is that in all of these collaborator scenarios – including the original remixed version with the Cassalanters – we have no idea what’s going to happen. Do they take the Cassalanters offers or refuse it? Do the Xanatharian gangsters take the money and use it to take over the organization, launching a bloody gang war in and below the streets of Waterdeep? When Jarlaxle’s agents tweak to his true identity, do they remain loyal or turn on him?

Just as the flexibility of the material allows us to reframe the presentation of the campaign, it also provides infinite variability in the actual running of the campaign, providing you (and your players) with a constant stream of surprise and wonder.