Go to Part 1

As Dragon Heist begins, the Cassalanters control one of the Eyes. (They stole it from the crypt of Lady Alethea Brandath, Renaer’s mother.) If the PCs are working with the Cassalanters, however, it is quite likely that they will have no need of performing a heist to obtain this Eye: If the Cassalanters are kept apprised of the PCs’ progress, they’ll inform them that they possess one of the Eyes and turn it over to them once they’ve secured the other two.

The Cassalanters will want the Stone of Golorr once the PCs have used it to locate the Vault. If the PCs turn it over and later come to regret that action, they may need to carry out a belated heist at a later date.

BLUEPRINT NOTES

As the PCs discovered when renovating Trollskull Manor, nothing gets done without the guilds getting involved. This very much includes the construction of expensive villas by noble families, and many of those guilds will have the original construction on file. (Getting access to them may require some fast-talking, a few well-placed bribes, or perhaps a little mini-heist in its own right.)

Guilds that are likely to have useful plans:

• Carpenters’, Roofers’, and Plasterers’ Guild
• Cellarers’ and Plumbers’ Guild
• Guild of Stonecutters, Masons, Potters, and Tile-makers
• Surveyors’, Map-, and Chart-makers’ Guild

If it would be interesting, feel free to split up the useful plans across multiple guilds: The Stonecutters might have the outer walls and first floor (where detailed carvings were done). The Roofers might have a detailed plan of the upper floor. The cellar might only appear in the records of the Cellarers. And the Surveyors’ might have a very old map of the region showing that there was a sizable underground construction on the site before the Cassalanter Villa was constructed (suggesting the presence of the Temple of Asmodeus without providing any meaningful detail of it).

In preparing blueprints for your players to obtain, I recommend the following alterations:

• The hatch between C22 and C23 was not initially concealed and will likely appear on any blueprints the PCs obtain.
• C28 and C29 were not part of the original construction. They are unlikely to appear on any blueprints the PCs obtain.
• It is quite likely that C27 will be prominently identified as a highly secure VAULT.

EVENT SCHEDULE

CHES 30^th – HIGHCOIN BALLS: See surveillance opportunities, below.

TARSAHK 1^st – CARAVANCE: During this gift-giving holiday, the Cassalanters give most of their staff the night off. Presents are hidden throughout the house and the Cassalanters celebrate with their children by hunting the presents down. (The Cassalanters are taking one last chance to share joy with their children before possibly losing them forever.)

The only people left in the Villa during this time, beyond the Cassalanters themselves, are:

• The guards
• Willifort Crowell
• The imps guarding Osvaldo Cassalanter

This makes it an excellent opportunity to perform a heist onsite, particularly if the PCs can learn that it’s happening ahead of time from the servants.

Later in the evening, however, after the Cassalanter children go to bed, Asmodean cultists arrive onsite for a ritual in the Temple. (See the Cult Gathering roster below.)

TARSAHK 9^th – LEIRUIN FEAST: This is the feast at which the Cassalanters poison 99 guests and perform the ritual necessary to save their children’s’ souls (assuming they’ve managed to secure the gold from the Vault). If they haven’t secured the Vault and are, thus, unable to rescue their children, their plans for this feast are abruptly canceled.

TARSAKH 11^th – THE TWINS’ BIRTHDAY: The twins’ ninth birthday, on which Asmodeus will claim their souls.

SURVEILLANCE OPPORTUNITY

The PCs will have an opportunity to observe some of the household’s regular routine when they are first invited to the Villa to hear the Cassalanters’ plea for help. And they may be able to conduct similar surveillance on future meetings with the Cassalanters (which are likely to take place in different areas of the house).

The best general surveillance opportunity, however, is the Highcoin Ball. The house will be swarming with upper class guests, and if the PCs can somehow swing an invitation, join the retinue of someone who has an invitation, or otherwise slip their way in, they’ll be able to get a good sense of the place.

 THE VILLA

Area C4 – Reading Room: A black dragon’s head is mounted on the wall as a hunting trophy.

Area C6 – Victoro’s Office: In addition to the normal entry for this room, the Eye is secured in the hidden compartment in Victoro’s desk. The locked drawer also contains a Report from Seffia Naelryke.

• Report from Seffia Naelryke: “Milord—There are fresh eyes everywhere. We had a watcher keeping an eye on the Coachlamp Lane windmill, but I sent a message by way of arrow. They survived, and I think we can be fairly certain they work for Xanathar, as Arn followed them back to Terasse’s house on Elsambul’s Lane. – Seffia Naelryke”

Area C22 – Ammalia’s Private Study: In addition to the normal entry for this room, the desk contains the Cassalanter Report on the Grand Game (see Part 6D).

ADVERSARY ROSTERS

CASSALANTER VILLA

TEMPLE OF ASMODEUS (CULT GATHERING)

MEALTIME:

• Cassalanters are all located in Area C9 (Dining Room).
• 10 servants located in Area C8 (Covered Porch).

THE CHILDREN: Roll 1d6 to determine where Terenzio and Elzerina are. (They are generally accompanied by Nana Rosse, unless she is determined to be in Area C17 on the roster above.)

STAT REFERENCE

Cooks – commoners, MM p. 345
Cultists – MM p. 345
Guard – MM p. 347
Servants – commoners, MM p. 345

Imps – MM p. 76
Oslando Cassalanter – chain devil, MM p. 72

Jandar Chergoba (Head Chef) – tiefling cult fanatic, MM p. 345 (DH p. 117)
Laiba “Nana” Rosse (Tutor/Caretaker) – tiefling cult fanatic, MM p. 345 (DH p. 117)
Tissina Khyret (Chief Housemaid) – tiefling cult fanatic, MM p. 345 (DH p. 117)
Willifort Crowelle (Head Butler/Agent) – doppelganger, MM p. 82 (DH p. 116)

Victoro Cassalanter – DH p. 218 (has gold key which opens desk in his office)
Ammalia Cassalanter – DH p. 193

QUESTIONING STAFF

The risk of questioning the Cassalanter’s staff is that there is a 10% chance that they’re asking someone who is a secret member of the cult. Cult members are virtually certain to report the questioning to their masters as soon as possible, and may also mislead PCs by providing false information.

Likely information that can be provided by servants, however, include some subset of:

• A general layout of the areas of the villa they’re familiar with (generally the first three floors).
• Victoro keeps valuables locked in the desk in his office.
• There’s a vault in the basement.
• When working on the third floor once, they heard horrible screams coming from above them on the roof. (GM Note: That was Oslando on a particularly bad day.)
• The servants are periodically asked to gather in one area of the house or another; it’s an open secret that this is done so that the Cassalanters can host secret guests.
• Ammalia is worried sick about her children, although they seem in perfect health.
• They once saw a number of people go down into the wine cellar. They waited around for twenty minutes before Willifort shoed them away, but nobody came back up.
• There’s a secret orgy room under the guest house. (False)

Go to Part 4D: Xanathar’s Lair

Go to Part 1

As the PCs become embroiled in the Grand Game, Jarlaxle does not control an Eye. Nevertheless the Sea Maidens Faire and his ships are likely to become a target for a heist before the campaign is done:

• As noted in Part 1 and Part 5, Jarlaxle sold the nimblewright which murdered Dalakhar and can identify the purchasers. PCs may break into the ships in order to steal his shipping records or to access the crystal ball connected to the nimblewrights.
• The Bregan D’Aerthe team at Gralhund Villa (Part 2) successfully take possession of the Stone of Golorr.
• Jarlaxle’s agents may come into possession of an Eye at a later date, either by stealing it from the PCs or by beating them to the prize in Xanathar’s Lair (see below).

Therefore, we’re going to break down the heist structure for this lair, just like all the others.

It’s also an unusual lair because it really consists of four distinct areas:

• The docked ships Hellraiser and Hellbreaker
• The Sea Maidens Faire carnival which is erected on the pier between the two ships
• The flagship Eyecatcher anchored in the harbor

BLUEPRINT NOTES

Unlike a city building, there won’t be any plans of Jarlaxle’s ships readily available. However, it’s relatively easy to keep them under surveillance. I recommend preparing a player’s copy of the ship maps which includes the upper decks and the portholes on the lower decks.

EVENT SCHEDULE

CARNIVAL PARADES: The Sea Maidens Faire carnival goes on five different parades during its stay in Waterdeep.

• Ches 10^th, announcing its arrival
• Ches 21^st, participate in the Twin Parades of Selûne Sashelas
• Ches 25^th, parade to Shipwrights’ House and then set up local attractions for the evening as part of the Shipwrights’ Ball (Jarlaxle’s agents happily use the occasion to infiltrate this important social event)
• Tarsakh 1^st, join the Caravance holiday parade
• Tarsakh 5^th, a special midnight parade during Goldenight

During the parades, the Sea Maidens Faire attractions are shut down and the ships themselves are depopulated (see the Parade adversary roster, below).

ZORD’S BUSINESS: At irregular intervals, Jarlaxle (as “Captain Zord”) will leave the Eyecatcher. On these occasions his rowboat can be seen docking at the Sea Maidens Faire pier, and then he and his group will move off into the city on various errands (often splitting up).

During these times, the following characters should be stricken from the Eyecatcher’s adversary roster:

• Jarlaxle
• Margo Verida & Khafeyta
• Any lieutenants who would otherwise be present on the ship
• 1d3 mates
• 1d6+2 sailors

Although these expeditions cannot be easily planned for, when they occur the Eyecatcher will be substantially less guarded than under normal circumstances.

END OF THE SEA MAIDENS FAIRE: On Tarsakh 20^th, the Sea Maidens Faire packs up and sails out of Waterdeep harbor. (If the business of the Grand Game has not been concluded, then it’s likely that Jarlaxle will remain behind with a team of operatives.)

SURVEILLANCE OPPORTUNITY

The drow generally don’t bring strangers onto the ship, and although it may seem like there’s a lot of chaos where the carnies are concerned, the truth is that they’ve been journeying together long enough that everyone pretty much knows each other on sight. Other than becoming one of Jarlaxle’s “romantic” conquests, the PCs are unlikely to get onboard any of the ships under any sort of legitimate pretenses in order to conduct surveillance. However, there are a couple of options which can offer comparable information.

SEA MAIDENS FAIRE: The carnival itself, operating on the pier between the ships, runs from mid-morning until late into the night. This provides the perfect cover for those interested in keeping the Heartbreaker and Hellraiser under surveillance. This surveillance position is able to:

• Identify the total number of crew on each ship — 1 captain, 3 mates, 17-18 sailors, 16 carnies (when they’re not working on the dock; a handful onboard taking breaks at any given time when the carnival is operating)
• Find opportunities to peer in through portholes and get some knowledge of the interior layout of the ship(s)
• Intuit that the Heartbreaker and Hellraiser are virtually identical in layout, suggesting that the same is also likely true of the Eyecatcher
• Note that the Eyecatcher goes on full alert when a local yacht steers too close, but has no reaction to rowboats from the Heartbreaker or Hellraiser approaching

THE DRAGON ZELIFARN: As described in Dragon Heist on p. 145, the dragon Zelifarn is a curious young bronze dragon who wants the PCs to investigate the submarine attached to the bottom of the Eyecatcher and learn nothing in particular about it for no particular reason.

We’re going to swap that up a bit: If Zelifarn spots the PCs surveilling Jarlaxle’s ship, he’ll approach them with a request for help. (If the PCs spot Zelifarn watching Jarlaxle’s ship without being detected themselves, they might also choose to approach the dragon.)

Zelifarn’s mother was, in addition to being a dragon, a master crystalmancer. Jarlaxle and his agents killed his mother, Asphosis, and stole from her the special crystal ball that he uses to spy through the nimblewrights. Zelifarn doesn’t know exactly what the crystal ball does, but he wants it back so that he can restore his mother’s horde. Zelifarn knows that Jarlaxle keeps it in the Scarlet Marpenoth, but hasn’t been able to figure out a way to get it by himself.

By default, Zelifarn would prefer to pay the PCs to do the work for him. They may be able to convince him to actively assist in their raid on the Eyecatcher with a Charisma (Persuasion) check.

(This counts as a surveillance opportunity because the PCs can learn about the existence of both the submarine and the crystal ball from Zelifarn.)

SPECIAL EVENTS: These events may be observed if the PCs are keeping the Sea Maidens Faire under long-term surveillance.

• Escaped Bear (DH p. 146) – evening
• Lieutenants Meet with Laeral (DH p. 145) – night

THE SHIPS

Area J18 (Eyecatcher Only) – Nimblewright Storage: Each of these cabins contain 4 deactivated nimblewrights.

• GM Note: These are the nimblewrights which Jarlaxle has not yet sold. The process for activating them can be intuited with 5 minutes of work and a DC 18 Intelligence (Arcana) test. Jarlaxle and his lieutenants all know the procedure and can activate one of the nimblewrights with a single action.

Area J29 (Eyecatcher Only) – Guest Cabin: A small bag of multihued dragon scales has been strewn across the bed (or is kept in a small bag in the bedside table). Jarlaxle uses them like other people might use rose petals.

Area J30 – Zardoz Zord’s Cabin: In addition to the normal entry for this area, a small desk contains a variety of papers. Among these is the Ledger of Nimblewright Sales (see Part 5) and, if Jarlaxle has become involved in the Grand Game, A Report on the Cultists of Asmodeus and Jarlaxle’s Report on the Grand Game.

• Report on the Cultists of Asmodeus: This report compiles information from a number of different sources – most contemporary, although a few surprisingly historical – exploring indications that there is a well-established cult of Asmodeus “which has infiltrated the highest strata of Waterdhavian society”. After what appears to be a considerable amount of legwork, the report identifies a house on Aveen Street in the North Ward as being a secret front for one of the cult’s shrines. This does not appear to be the center of worship, however. That distinction, according to references in some of the documentation captured from the Asmodean cultists over a century ago, appears to belong to an ancient site of worship located below the Sea Ward. A recommendation is made that gaining access to the records of the Suveyors’, Map-, and Chart-makers’ Guild might prove useful in identifying this site, although likely only if its location could be narrowed down.
• GM Note: The house on Aveen Street is the Asmodean Shrine (a Cassalanter outpost). The “ancient site of worshgip” lies beneath Cassalanter Villa.

Area U3 – Soluun’s Stateroom: The footlocker contains A Letter from N’arl.

• A Letter From N’arl: “Brother—I hope this letter finds you in good spirits. Thank you for the evening at the Seven Masks last tenday. A delightfully bloody affair. I think it wonderful that Jarlaxle has decided to purchase the theater, even if his intentions are not purely artistic. It was quite a joy to escape from Xanathar’s lair for a few hours and remember who I truly am. It’s a pity that we can’t do it more often, but the risk of X discovering my true allegiance is simply too great. On that note, I have taken some pains to arrange assurances for myself. When the time comes, I’ll be able to bring this whole wretched ant’s nest down on that floating fool’s head. – N’arl Xibrindas”

Area U4 – Jarlaxle’s Stateroom: In addition to the normal entry for this area, a crystal ball sits upon a plush cushion of black velvet on a pedestal at the foot of the bed. This is the Nimblewright Crystal Ball (see Part 5).

ADVERSARY ROSTERS

HEARTBREAKER (CARNIVAL ANIMALS)

HELLRAISER (PARADE FLOATS)

EYECATCHER (FLAGSHIP)

SCARLET MARPENOTH

* Has key to captain’s trunk and all doors on their ship.

ADVERSARY ROSTER – DURING PARADE

HEARTBREAKER (CARNIVAL ANIMALS)

HELLRAISER (PARADE FLOATS)

EYECATCHER (FLAGSHIP)

SCARLET MARPENOTH

* Has key to captain’s trunk and all doors on their ship.

STAT REFERENCE

Jarlaxle Baenre – DH p. 206
Margo Verida – female Amnian human bard (DH p. 195)
Khafeyta – female Mulhorandi human swashbuckler (DH p. 216)

Captain – drow mage, MM p. 129 (prepare sending instead of fly)
Mates – drow elite warrior, MM p. 128
Sailors – drow, p. 128
Carnies – commoners, MM p. 345

Gnome Engineers – apprentice wizards, DH p. 194

• NG, Small, 7 (2d6) hp
• Racial Traits: Advantage on Int, Wis, Cha saving throws vs. magic. Walking speed 25 ft. Darkvision 60 ft. Speak Common and Gnomish.
• Names: Lorella Middenpump, Tervaround Waggletop, Anverth Levery, Cockaby Fapplestamp, Ellywick Fiddlefen, Gerbo Reese, Zaffrab Horcusporcus

Nimblewright – DH p. 212
Drow gunslingers – DH p. 201

QUESTIONING CREW

• Captains: Dragon Heist, p. 132
• Sailors: Dragon Heist, p. 132
• Carnies: Dragon Heist, p. 132
• Margo / Khafeyta: Dragon Heist, p. 140
• Gnome Engineers: Dragon Heist, p. 141-142

Go to Part 4C: Cassalanter Villa

Go to Part 1

After hiding the secret of the Vault’s location in the Stone of Golorr, Lord Neverember chose to further secure it by blinding the Stone: He removed the Stone’s three eyes, robbing it of the ability to both see and communicate its secrets, and hid those Eyes in different places.

In order to discover the location of the Vault, someone needs to restore the Eyes to the Stone of Golorr. (Which is simply a matter of having both in the same location and placing an Eye within an empty socket.) As described in Part 1, the Eyes are currently held by the Cassalanters, Manshoon, and Xanathar. Each of these Eyes have been secured in their respective lairs, and if the PCs want to restore the Stone of Golorr, discover the location of the Vault, and end the Grand Game, then they’re going to have to go into those lairs and get them.

HEIST STRUCTURE

This part of our remix, therefore, restructures the four villain lairs so that the PCs can run exciting and successful heists in them. This includes providing adversary rosters and explicit heist frames for each lair, along with minor tweaks and the like where necessary.

Before we dive in, let’s take a moment to discuss the structure of a heist scenario. It 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 floor plan and some (or all) of the defensive measures present before the actual heist 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 DM 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 dungeon crawl: Players may assume that they’re “supposed” to engage the heist in the same way that they engage a traditional dungeon.)

The heist structure consists of five steps.

STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE SCORE. For the purposes of Dragon Heist, this means identifying where the Eyes are (i.e., the lairs of the villains). Part 5 will have the revelation lists with all the clues the PCs can follow to figure this out.

STEP 2: GATHER INFORMATION. The next step is for the PCs to gather information on 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).

The descriptions of the lairs below will include brief descriptions of what form the Gather Information phase might take for each lair, but the GM should always remain open to alternative thinking from the PCs.

Re: Blueprints. You may benefit from high-quality player versions of the maps. These are not, unfortunately, available in the book as printed, and due to copyright reasons I’m not going to produce them here. They are available in the Fantasy Grounds pack for Dragon Heist, and I believe they’re also available from D&D Beyond.

You may want to prepare:

• A full blueprint (i.e., the entire player’s map).
• A version with secret areas removed.
• Partial versions, particularly reflecting the limited knowledge of certain underlings who might be questioned. (Although it may be easier to simply sketch these out ad hoc as they come up during play.)

Be aware of the lack of windows in all of these maps. Place them logically or be prepared to tell the players where they’re located.

It’s important for the DM 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 D&D is for the PCs to win, but that doesn’t mean it always happens. But DMs 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’ll 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!).

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 onsite surveillance.

Each lair will detail at least one surveillance opportunity that the PCs can take advantage of.

STEP 4: PREP WORK. Possibly running in tandem with the onsite surveillance, the team will also need to make preparations for the job. 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).

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 pre-planned twists: Unexpected circumstances that the PCs didn’t anticipate or that they missed in their research. These will often evolve organically from earlier missed checks. Lean into those. Gotchas that the PCs had no way of anticipating and which create unexpected complications for the job (“Oh crap! Mrs. Johnson came home early!”) are also great in moderation, but gotchas that automatically scuttle the entire job and negate all the PCs’ planning generally suck and should be avoided.

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. Use fail forward techniques that generate complications on failed checks.

These complications on failed checks are also 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.

(The difference between a gotcha and a complication is that the former are things which you, as the DM, plan to have happen before the heist starts. The latter arise as the heist is happening.)

THE FESTIVALS

As a final note here, this remix is set in the Springtime, during the back-to-back festivals of Fleetswake (Ches 21^st thru 30^th) and Waukeentide (Tarsakh 1^st thru 10^th). There are a couple reasons for this.

First, these festivals are filled with gold- and wealth-filled events, which is very thematically appropriate for the dragon-fueled pursuit of Lord Neverember’s Vault.

Second, and more importantly, these festivals provide wide opportunities for social events – parties, galas, gladiatorial games, etc. – to take place at each of the villains’ lairs. These provide both surveillance opportunities and access for the operations themselves.

The broad date range (and multiple events) give us a lot more flexibility in terms of how this section times out: If we instead aimed for just Trolltide on Klythorn 1^st, for example, and the PCs do things a little slower than we anticipate, then we could easily miss the holiday entirely. If they go a little slower in our case, then we just slide into the next slate of events during the dual festivals.

This long festival season can also explain why Jarlaxle has chosen this moment to appear in town with the Sea Maidens’ Faire: It’s the perfect cover for his traveling carnival.

FLEETSWAKE: This festival is the beginning of the Spring Social Season in Waterdeep. Celebrating the sea, maritime trade, and the gods of the sea, navigation, and weather, it spans the last tenday of Ches, and includes a series of boat races and guild-sponsored galas at the Copper Cup festhall. According to custom, the winners of the various competitions don’t keep their trophies and earnings, but deliver them to the priests of Umberlee at the Queenspire, her temple on the beach by the east entrance to the Great Harbor, at the conclusion of the festival (see below).

• Ches 21 – Selûne 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.
• Ches 25 – Shipwrights’ Ball: Held at the Shipwrights’ House, what was once a guild celebration has turned into one of the biggest social events of Fleetswake.
• Ches 29-30 – Fair Seas Festival: Much feasting on seafood, the harbor is strewn with flower petals, and the City Guards go from tavern to tavern to collect offerings for Umberlee. Collection boxes also appear at large festival gatherings. Upon sunset of the final day, the collected coin is placed in chests and dumped into the deepest part of the harbor. (See Dragon Heist, p. 185 for anyone who thinks they should try to loot it.)
• Ches 30 – Highcoin Balls: When Lord Peirgeiron was High Lord of Waterdeep, he threw the Highcoin Ball on the 30^th of Ches which would last all through the last day of the Fair Seas Festival. It was considered the absolute necessity for those intending to be on the scene that season, and those who missed it became an afterthought for the rest of the year. After Lord Peirgeion’s passing, a number of noble families tried to pick up the tradition. The result are the Highcoin Balls, which now generally begin after sundown (when the ceremonies of Umberlee’s Cache take place). It’s not unusual for guests to wander from one party to the next.

WAUKEENTIDE: This festival has long gathered a number of older holidays under one name, stretching those celebrations and rituals into a holiday season that lasts a tenday in homage to Waukeen, the goddess of wealth and trade.fs

• Tarsahk 1 – Caravance: This gift-giving holiday commemorates the traditional arrival of the first caravans of the season into the city. Many parents hide gifts for their offspring in their homes, telling the children that they were left by Old Carvas – a mythical peddler who arrived with the first caravan to reach Waterdeep, his wagon loaded down with toys for children to enjoy.
• Tarsahk 5 – Goldenight: This festival celebrates coin and gold, with many businesses staying open all night, offering midnight sales and other promotions. Some celebrants and customers decorate themselves with gold dust and wear coins as jewelry.
• Tarsahk 7 – Guildsmeet: On this holiday, guild members gather in their halls for the announcement of new policies and a celebration of business concluded for the year. These gatherings culminate in a gala festival and dance sponsored by several guilds, which lasts from dusk till dawn and overruns the Market, the Cynosure, the Field of Triumph, and all areas in between.
• Tarsahk 10 – Leiruin: In times long past, Waukeen caught Leira, the goddess of illusions and deception, attempting to cheat her in a deal, and buried her under a mountain of molten gold as punishment. A commemoration of that event, Leiruin is the day for guild members to pay their annual dues and for guildmasters to meet with the Lords of Waterdeep and renew their charters for another year. In the evening, the Leiruin Feasts are held, in which gold coins (and other golden treasures) are baked into random items of food to be won by those who are lucky enough to receive them.

HOLIDAYS AT THE TAVERN: See the notes on hosting the Deadwinter Day Feast at Trollskull Manor on page 162 of Dragon Heist for some light, adaptable notes on how the various holidays of Fleetswake and Waukeentide can come home to roost.

DESIGN NOTES

The Highcoin Balls are derived from this wiki. I’ve sought for an original source in all the Waterdeep lore I own and have been unsuccessful, leading me to suspect that it may be an original creation of Joseph D. Carriker, Jr. for his campaign.

NOTES ON THE LAIRS

The notes on the various lairs below include revisions made to some of the keyed areas in those lairs. After years of doing this, I’ve discovered that, rather than attempting to simply annotate the changes to an area, it is usually easier to just “overwrite” the entire area. (That way, as the GM, you only need to check to see if any area has been updated. You don’t have to simultaneously try to combine and interpolate text across multiple sources.)

Therefore, that’s the approach I’ve taken below. If an area appears in the notes below, you can simply ignore the original key entry in Dragon Heist and use the entry as found here. (Unless noted otherwise.)

Remember that NPCs now appear on the adversary roster and should be ignored when they appear in the Dragon Heist room keys.

Go to Part 4B: Bregan D’Aerthe – Sea Maidens Faire

Go to Part 1

GRALHUND RESPONSE TEAM

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

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

Their response team is modest, consisting of:

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

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

OPEN LORD RESPONSE TEAM

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

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

DESIGN NOTE

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

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

UNSEEN RESPONSE TEAMS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FREELANCERS

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

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

• 5 doppelgangers (MM p. 82)

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

THE THREE URCHINS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go to Part 4: The Eyes of the Stone

Go to Part 1

In remixing Dragon Heist as a dynamic campaign, it becomes necessary for the DM to be able to respond dynamically to the players’ actions. As I mentioned in the description of the Faction Outposts, the DM needs to be actively playing each faction. Response teams are the other half of that equation, providing small, proactive units for each faction that can be deployed as necessary.

These response teams are your primary proactive nodes for Dragon Heist. If you’re unfamiliar with the use of proactive nodes, they’re discussed as part of Advanced Node-Based Design. The short version is that the proactive nodes are the ones that come looking for the PCs. (As opposed to, say, the lairs and the outposts, which the PCs are most likely to go looking for.)

A few examples of what you can use response teams for:

• Competing onsite with the PCs during the Eye Heists (see Part 4), seeking to seize the prize before they can. (Or take it from them after they’ve gotten it.)
• Sent as negotiators to the PCs.
• Attempting to steal the Stone and/or Eyes from the PCs (break-ins at Trollskull Manor, attempted muggings on the street, etc.).
• Waylaying the PCs on their way to the Vault.
• Interfering with the PCs’ efforts to remove the gold from the vault.

But, ultimately, you’re thinking about what the factions know and thinking about how they would respond and then you’re going to use the response teams to do that.

GM Tip: If you’re new to this sort of thing and struggling to come to grips with it, there are a couple of things you can do.

First, take 5 minutes between sessions to think about what each faction is going to do next. Some of those things won’t affect the PCs; some will. Make a list of those and when they’ll happen: Gorath will come to Trollskull Manor at 5pm on the 10^th. Souun Xibrindas will target one of the PCs for assassination with a sniper team at 10am on the 11^th. And so forth. You can do the same thing during a mid-session break. Eventually, you’ll be able to do it in real-time while playing.

Second, as you’re ready to make that transition, make a simple list of the response teams. Stick it to your GM screen as a Post-It note or otherwise keep it handy. When you feel a need to respond to what the PCs are doing, glance at the list and go. You don’t have to keep all this information in your head simultaneously: Make cheat sheets.

COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE: Awhile back I designed skill guidelines for counter-intelligence — if you’re asking questions about certain people or organizations, there’s a real risk that they’ll find out that you’ve been asking questions. Those guidelines were designed for 3^rd Edition, but you shouldn’t find it too difficult to adapt them to 5^th Edition.

Once the PCs know that they’ve gotten themselves tangled up in a Grand Game, you may also want to tell the players about the counter-intelligence procedures. Partly because it’ll give them the opportunity to guard their own intelligence-gathering efforts, but more importantly because it will give them the opportunity to perform counter-intelligence: When the factions are trying to figure out who the PCs are or who they’re working for or what they’re up to, if the PCs are vigilant they may catch wind of that. And that may provide an alternative avenue for investigation (usually taking them to one of the Faction Outposts).

BREGAN D’AERTHE RESPONSE TEAMS

Bregan D’Aerthe’s response teams all follow a common profile:

• 1-2 drow gunslingers (DH p. 201)
• 4-8 drow (MM p. 126)

One of the drow gunslingers is likely to be one of Jarlaxle’s lieutenants (DH p. 201-202):

• Fel’rekt Lafeen
• Krebbyg Masq’il’yr
• Soluun Xibrindas

Later in the campaign, you might have a team with all of the surviving lieutenants show up for a climactic battle.

Note that Fel’Rekt is also the lieutenant leading the Bregan D’Aerthe team at Gralhund Villa (see Part 2). All of them have quarters on Jarlaxle’s ships.

FEL’REKT LAFEEN

• A Recommendation for Materiel: A note written in silver ink on black paper. “Regarding the need for alternative sources of materiel, make contact with Grinda Garloth of Mistshore. Use all caution and do not reveal your true heritage, as she is allied with the beholder and that poses certain risks for us now. – J”

KREBBYG MASQ’IL’YR

• Sealed Letter to Fenerus Stormcastle. A simple missive addressed to “Fenerus Stormcastle, of Quill Alley” thanking him for his service. It is written in silver ink on black paper and signed “J”. It is attached to a velvet pouch containing 100 gp.

SOLUUN XIBRINDAS

• Carries a bloodstained playbill from the Seven Masks Theater, belonging to a performance of Blood Wedding which took place several nights earlier. (In the play, according to the playbill, a young woman is brought to a castle by a count, only to fall in love with his younger brother, a man of faith. Her betrayal eats away at the jealous count. He murders his brother on his wedding day and pursues the bride, who hurls herself off the castle battlements in despair. The count is cursed by the gods and transformed into a creature of darkness, damned to live in his castle and feed on blood.)
• GM Note: Soluun has taken to attending plays at the Seven Masks Theater and then stalking and murdering elven and half-elven members of the audience after the show.

CASSALANTER RESPONSE TEAMS

If the PCs have agreed to help the Cassalanters, then the Cassalanters will generally be fairly passive in their activities. (The PCs are their agents in the field.) If the PCs request assistance from them, however, the Cassalanters might dispatch Seffia Naelryke and her team (either to gather intelligence and deliver it to them, or to fight at their side).

If the PCs turn down the Cassalanters, then the whole shape of the campaign will shift:

• Imps summoned at the Asmodean Shrine will try to keep the PCs under constant surveillance, keeping the Cassalanters apprised of what the PCs are doing and learning.
• Add Seffia’s team to the Eye Heist at Xanathar’s. They’ll be aiming for the same goal.
• Willifort Crowelle will attempt to assassinate Jarlaxle. He’ll fail, but a few days later he’ll target the PCs in a similar attempt. This may prompt Jarlaxle to reach out to the PCs and propose an alliance against the Cassalanters.

SEFFIA NAELRYKE: Seffia is a loyal Asmodean cultist. She lives at the Converted Windmill outpost with Arn Xalrondar.

• Seffia Naelryke (cult fanatic, MM p. 345)
• 2 spies (MM p. 349)
• 1 veteran (MM p. 350)
• 1 invisible imp (MM p. 76)

Seffia’s Letter: Seffia carries a letter from Lord Cassalanter. It reads: “Seffia—Lady Ammalia and I are both deeply moved by what your ritual accomplished. It speaks to your true faith in the power of our Master, and you have clearly been blessed by him. As you suspected, we did, in fact, find Neverember’s Third Eye in the crypt of Lady Brandath. Thank you for all that you have done. — Lord Victoro”.

• GM Note: This is a prized possession for Seffia and she keeps it with her at all times. She will cry out with anguish and rage if it is taken from her.

WILLIFORT CROWELLE: “Willifort” is supposedly the elderly tiefling valet of the Cassalanters. In truth he is a doppelganger and their most trusted lieutenant. Willifort might approach the PCs disguised as a friend or ally in order to pump them for information; or he may try to burn the PCs’ bridges by disguising himself as one of them and doing something to piss off powerful people. And when the Cassalanters definitively need a problem solved, Crowelle is the one they’ll send in with a team of demonic enforcers.

• “Willifort Crowelle” (doppelganger, MM p. 82)
• bearded devil (MM p. 70) or 2 cult fanatics (MM p. 345)
• 3 cultists (MM p. 345)

XANATHAR RESPONSE TEAMS

GORATH: Gorath is the leader of a small team of duergar. His team is sent in one when someone needs to be taught a lesson.

• 4 duergar (MM p. 122)

KORGSTROD UXGULM: If Gorath is taken out, Korgstrod is sent out from the Xanathar Sewer Hideout (see Outposts) to send a stronger message.

• Korgstrod Uxgulm (duergar, MM p. 122)
• 3 duergar
• half-ogre (MM p. 238)
  • Orb Confectioners’ Note: The half-ogre carries a note which reads, “Orb Confectioners. Say: ‘Eight small eyes.’ ‘Around an ocular cake.’”
• gazer (DH p. 203)

NOSKA UR’GRAY: Noska, a shield dwarf, is another of Xanathar’s enforcers.

• Noska Ur’gray (DH p. 213)
• 6 bugbears (MM p. 33)
• gazer (DH p. 203)

A DIRECTIVE FROM N’ARL XIBRINDAS: The first or second Xanathar response team the PCs encounter should carry A Directive From N’Arl Xibrindas, instructing the leader of the response team to get “properly outfitted” by Grinda Garloth. (If it’s the second response team they’ve dealt with, it might specify that “these gutter-scum upstarts already took out [insert name here], so you’ll want to make sure you’ve got something a little extra to deal with them.”)

• This team has a potion of healing, potion of greater healing, and a +1 weapon. (They were, in fact, outfitted by Grinda.)

ZHENTARIM RESPONSE TEAMS

Manshoon’s response teams consist of:

• 1 lieutenant (Vevette, Urstul, or Agorn)
• 3-4 thugs

All of Manshoon’s lieutenants carry pass-amulets to Kolat Towers (see Part 4), but will attempt to destroy them if it looks as if they are being captured. (Except Agorn, that feckless weasel, who will attempt to barter it for his own life.) They leave their teleport rings with Sidra Romeir when journeying outside Kolat Towers. (If they’re slain by the PCs, Sidra will give them to Kaevra; see Part 4E.)

TO THE INTERROGATION HOUSE: Any Zhentarim response team sent to attack the PCs will have been instructed to take them as prisoners to the Zhentarim Interrogation House. If questioned, they’ll be able to point the PCs in the direction of the house in Brindul Alley in the Trade Ward.

VEVETTE BLACKWATER: When she was a young girl, Vevette was abused by her mother. A Zhentarim agent came to her when she was twelve, put a blade in her hand, and asked if she wanted to take control of her life. She did. And she’s been in the Black Network ever since.

Vevette’s past manifests itself in a deep streak of cruelty and ruthlessness, but to most outward appearance she is a charming bon vivant. She has fiery red hair with two streaks of brilliant platinum, which can actually glow in the dark on her command.

Stats: CE female Tethyrian human swashbuckler (DH p. 216)

Notes:

• Vevette carries Seffia Naelryke’s Visiting Card. It gives Seffia’s address as “the Windmill on Coachlamp Lane”. (GM Note: Seffia approached Vevette in order to open a discrete line of communication between the Cassalanters and Manshoon, but her overtures were rebuffed. After their experiences with Xanathar, the Zhentarim suspected a trap.)

AGORN FUOCO: Agorn made such a good impression on Manshoon that he was elevated quickly through the ranks of the organization, but his life was full of disappointment otherwise. He has not achieved the fame he craved nor earned the wealth he felt he was entitled to. He has adopted the Zhentarim credo that power comes to those who deserve it. In fact, he believed it so much that he murdered his own mother in order to “escape” her poverty. He has come to see the Black Network as a new family of sorts.

Agorn is a hollow coward. When engaging with the PCs, he will generally send the thugs under his command to attack while he remains at a safe distance. If his men are being slaughtered, he will bravely run away as quickly as possible in order to save his own worthless hide. As noted above, he will offer up his pass-amulet to Kolat Towers in exchange for his own life.

Agorn is friends with Amath Seccent (see Yellowspire in Part 3B: Faction Outposts), but he will gladly sell her out, too, revealing the existence of the teleportation circle in Yellowspire.

Stats: NE male Turami bard (DH p. 195)

Notes:

• Agorn carries a Report to Agorn Fuoco. “Korgstrod Uxgulm’s outfit is based out of the Orb Confectioners’ on Rising Ride just off Caravan Court. Not sure how the backroom can fit them all, but there’s no question that Xanathar’s duergar come in and out of there on the regular.”

URSTUL FLOXIN: Urstul is a thuggish man who notably leads both the Zhentarim attempt to capture Dalakhar (and gets blown up for his trouble) and their operation at the Gralhund Villa. If he survives the latter, he can crop up later leading a response team.

Stats & Background: DH p. 216

Notes:

• Urstul carries the Directive to Urstul Floxin: “Any prisoners taken from the other players of the Grand Game should be delivered to Avaareen in Brindul Alley. – By Order of the Zhentarim”

DESIGN NOTE

Vevette Blackwater and Agorn Fuoco are supposed to appear in Appendix B of Dragon Heist. As far as I can tell, however, they’re missing in action, so I’ve provided more detailed backgrounds for them here.

Note that the Zhentarim response teams are generally weaker than the response teams from the other factions. This probably means the Zhents won’t be taken as seriously by the PCs as the other factions, but it also makes them a good selection if you want to or need to hit the PCs when they’re already weakened.

Also check out the “Secret Simulacrum” option on page 162 of Dragon Heist for another Zhentarim response option.

To Part 3D: Other Response Teams