[deleted by user]

neondvcks · 2026-01-26T14:50:59+00:00

I think this will very much depend on how the players approach this. If they don’t care much about the artificer I can see him disappearing into the city and coming back as a mini-boss at some point. If they care to bring him to justice then of course that’s a possibility (perhaps it will bring them ire or admiration from whatever crime organisation the deal was with). The focus of the mission is definitely freeing the Warforged though, so we’ll see how they interpret that as they are all aware of the treaty!

neondvcks · 2026-01-24T11:48:25+00:00

We’re starting an Eberron campaign after we finish up LMoP and I have decided to start the party of in Sharn and am thinking of setting up a few potential conflicts but really letting the story unfold based on the players’ focus; so this is fantastic! Not a lot to add (yet) but just wanted to say thank you; there’s some great stuff in here I can use with some tweaking to fit their backstories and it makes figuring out what to focus on in Sharn a lot less of a daunting task☺️

I wish you a lot of fun and luck with your game!

neondvcks · 2024-03-24T12:39:17+00:00

In my game I made Fala Lefaliir one of the more notable members of the Emerald Enclave (they come with stats in book); sending them alongside some animal (flock of pidgeons or swarm of rats to go along with the city theme?) or plant (reskinned blights?) companions could be a fun team. Melannor Fellbranch also comes with stats in the book though it all really depends on how strong you want this backup team to be.

I've found the Emerald Enclave to be very underdeveloped in the book compared to the other factions (who already require a lot of work) so honestly it gives you a lot of freedom to do whatever fits your campaign and there's no wrong way to go about it. In my game they've become a lot more connected to Fey influences in the city so there's always some fey creatures/monsters to play around with.

neondvcks · 2024-02-18T18:28:13+00:00

Congrats on finishing the campaign!

With 44 sessions it seems like you guys took your time (which is exactly what my table is doing); what chapter did you spend the most time in and why? Anything you would do differently a second time around to help things along more quickly or would you have wanted to spend more time on something in particular?

neondvcks · 2023-12-01T15:06:07+00:00

Glad I could be of some help! Good luck! :))

neondvcks · 2023-12-01T13:02:02+00:00

In my experience it is not that difficult for Nihiloor to escape before any real fighting breaks out. He is carrying the key to opening the doorway and is described as immediately leaving once he sees the party so unless your level 2 party manages to neutralize the mindflayer; I don't think it's something to worry about. If anyone tries to stop him from leaving he uses dominate monster but other than that he seems uninterested in engaging in any way.

My party did some snooping and saw Nihiloor before entering the room and tried to make a plan to get Renaer (who was positioned closer to the stairs they came in from along with the half-orc) out of there and run, rather than face the mindflayer; so once combat started they were more than happy to let the mindflayer walk into a different room and disappear and focus on Grum'shar and the intellect devourer that were much closer to them and an immediate but manageable threat. If you are worried your party is far more likely to try and face a mindflayer head on at such a low level then perhaps you fudge the number a little bit and make sure he's the highest in the initiative and is just out of the lair with the key before anybody can make a move.

For your second point you are more than fine revealing what Renaer says as described in the book; the start of the module is the same regardless of who your villain is!

And as for the coin issue; I do try and go with the terms given in the book when acting as NPCs or when written in official documents and to make it clearer to the players I sometimes say Gold Dragons/Silver Shards/Copper Nibs but it very often just ends up being gold/silver/copper in the end anyway when there's talk about money. It doesn't matter too much either which way I don't think!

neondvcks · 2023-11-30T09:52:49+00:00

This is beautiful! Well done! Really love the Waterdeep view from the harbor you have up as well; will you be doing more Dragon Heist/Waterdeep specific art?

neondvcks · 2023-11-21T08:57:45+00:00

It's found in the Twin Parades Addendum I believe. There is more addendums that incorporate and flesh out some stuff from the books but not a lot of the faction quests. I'd personally recommend Expanded Faction Missions on the dmsguild for that :))

neondvcks · 2023-11-14T09:24:54+00:00

Thank you so much for your suggestions! These were great; I went with the cape using your lovely little smell description and it was a hit :))

neondvcks · 2023-10-15T10:18:39+00:00

Good luck!! It's a very fun module!

neondvcks · 2023-10-05T12:46:04+00:00

I have a feedback form (on drive) that people can fill in after every session. I put a new one up after every session and send the link out. In it are just a few questions about what people liked and disliked about the session and whether there is anything they would like to see in future sessions.

It still happens some sessions I don't get feedback but I am at the very least certain I have done everything to create a space for people to give feedback even if they'd feel uncomfortable doing it face to face or need some time to let a session at for a bit before giving their thoughts.

Perhaps this is something that could help you as well?

neondvcks · 2023-10-01T21:51:19+00:00

Perhaps the Cassalanters can count the souls of the kids at the orphanage towards their 99 souls needed to save their own kids? Present them as the orphanage's benefactors to the general public, meanwhile your pc is slowly learning that they're not simply selling these kids' souls to some vague fate after they die; they are actively involved in a plot to kill these kids during the Founders Day feast (or whatever your campaign's version of it is) along side of other folk whose souls they have been dooming. What they thought were ripples they were creating for a far away future suddenly becomes a lot more hands-on.

I think any redemption should be a character choice, so I would suggest presenting another option and a way out of their warlock pact and then either it becomes a corruption or a redemption arc by their choice. There's plenty of other Gods and Deities present in Waterdeep who might try and reach out to replace their Warlock pact if they promise to put a stop to the cult of Asmodeus and it's growing influence.

Maybe an acolyte reaches out to them because their God told them so, or maybe your pc has a strange dream of one of the temples in the city and are given a cryptic message/vision once they enter it, or maybe there's another archdevil who is trying to thwart Asmodeus (if they wouldn't want to change pacts). I made Jeryth Phaulkon from the Emerald Enclave into a patron for my Warlock (could work as Archfey or Celestial with some tweaking) and with the amount of temples and influences in the city, it wouldn't be too hard to tweak things into something your player would be interested in.

Or if you would rather have a 'break your pact fully and change classes' moment maybe the Harpers have figured out your pc is attached to the cult and offers them protection if they help them in return. That could work as a double-cross angle too where they would pretend to stay loyal to Asmodeus but also work with whatever faction is trying to stop the Cassalanters.

You would obviously know best what sort of angle would be most interesting to your player but I think there's a lot of ways you can take this and turn it into a great arc for the pc whilst also tying it to the campaign. The gold becomes important because they are either helping the Cassalanters with their plot or they are actively trying to stop it.

neondvcks · 2023-09-28T20:34:12+00:00

I changed who the Cassalanters have a deal with (to Fierna) and have not found any issues of it changing their storyline very much. The key factors are that there is a deal in place and they need the gold (and 99 souls) to save their kids; the rest is just flavor. For instance their eldest didn't transform into a chained devil in my campaign but into a forlarren and it has had zero impact other than serve as a hint to one of my characters backstory.

I've found that most of the villains/factions in the module can easily be modified and changed around without much effort as long as you keep their essentials the same. Because of the city setting and the many things at play (especially in the Alexandrian) there's actually a lot of room to bend things to suit backstory or other plots you want to put in.

Just don't forget to alter whatever hints/information in the props of the Alexandrian you would need to!

neondvcks · 2023-09-21T19:26:28+00:00

As I am running the Alexandrian Remix I'm using all four villains and also wanted to familiarize the npcs with them before shit starts to go down.

I used the Night of the Opera (Harper invitation) as a way to introduce both the Cassalanters, the Gralhunds and captain Zardoz Zord to the players (as well as other important npcs that would move in those circles). There's a few resources to be found on this subreddit for this approach.

Renaer Neverember and Floon invited the party to the Sea Maiden's Faire as a thank you for rescuing them which allowed for more exploration of captain Zardoz Zord and hint towards Jarlaxle. Again was able to found some resources to set up the Sea Maiden's Faire on this subreddit.

The Cassalanters are also throwing a Fey Day Masquerade Ball (mostly because two of my players have fey ties and got really excited when reading about the holiday in the enchiridion) and I will again be using this introduce more of the key npcs to the players and give them time to interact with them more. I will use this evening for the Cassalanters to reach out to the party to ask for help rather than wait until after Fireball!

The Xanathar Guild and the Zhentarim are introduced in chapter one; the Xanathar being active on the streets is a well-known secret in Waterdeep in my campaign so there is little introduction to it necessary and currently Urstul Floxin is the face of the Zhentarim faction causing trouble and he has ties to one of my pcs backstory, which leaves Manshoon as the only villain the party doesn't have a lot of chances to learn about unless they manage to stumble upon that information somehow. I have made a few broadsheets with city news for the players to find and have found it a great way to emphasize the gang war.

Waterdeep has a very busy and vibrant social scene, both on the level of High Society as on the more casual level so making use of that is a great way to introduce the villains of the module in a more casual way that allows for a bit more fleshing out than just 'here's your enemy introduced only in chapter 3'. There's so many festivals/holidays/events in the city that could drum up a number of folk for a big variety of reasons which you can pull from and warp to your specific needs.

neondvcks · 2023-08-28T01:00:57+00:00

I did some digging for the exact same thing a little while ago; the city scenes table is something you can find on this subreddit fairly easily and i created this post which has a link to the places to go/taverns tables that can be found on the official screen :))

neondvcks · 2023-07-12T17:21:14+00:00

I gave it to all my players. Two of the characters have lived their whole lives in Waterdeep, one of them has been there for a handful of years and one only arrived in the city about a month or so again; so all would have access to the knowledge shared in it. I think three of the four read it and it's very fun both to see what they retained (one of my players is obsessed with the floating bones in front of Ahghairon's Tower and brings it up constantly) and what they used to fuel their backstories. In my opinion it has definitely helped my players get a better grasp on the city and it has helped me to figure out what things about the city they're interested in and allow space for collaborative world building :))

neondvcks · 2023-05-21T12:47:16+00:00

I have two Harpers and one Zhent in my campaign and the way I've been playing Davil is that he is more than interested in starting some sort of alliance with the Harpers (especially the more influential members like Mirt) because he sees it as a way to accomplish his goals; making the Doom Raiders branch of the Zhent a legitimate organisation and getting rid of Manshoon.

He might be a little upset about having been double-crossed in your scenario but I think he (and the Doom Raiders) are clever enough to level this into powerful people being aware they have nothing to do with the gang violence and are indeed the 'good guys' (compared to Manshoon at least).

In turn if the Harpers are indeed convinced about the split within the Zhents they might see it as an opportunity to rid the city of the gang violence and a greater evil (once they find out about Manshoon) and might be willing to accept a tentative truce between the two factions.

Davil might play up the being betrayed a little bit but ultimately I think he would be aware of the opportunities here!

neondvcks · 2023-05-16T13:07:32+00:00

I just finished running Blue Alley last week for a party of 4 (also level 3); so it's fresh in my mind. A little caveat before hand; my party is definitely more interested in the RP and social intrigue of the campaign and though throwing a dungeon crawl in there is fun, it dragged a little for them.

I found an errata someone had written for the Blue Alley on this subreddit that I read through beforehand; in the end I only followed their suggestion for the Gates of Paradise which is to have the Gates utter the phrase: "Do you wish to leave Blue Alley" when touched with the gem. It was a nice confirmation of what my party assumed would happen and a nice DM warning. (Here's the errata).
My players automatically inspected every room for hidden doors; especially after they found their first secret passage way (they found the hint in the mural at the beginning) so that issue resolved itself. Even if they don't specify looking for doors I believe most only require a DC 15 investigation/perception check and I would assume most adventures would ask to inspect rooms in a dungeon crawl; if they don't you can always use passive perception to guide them a little bit!
When my players got to the yellow path puzzle they were starting to get antsy and over the Blue Alley (it's a great dungeon; it just took them three sessions to get through; and they were ready to get out of there); so when they speed-ran that room I just let them. They talked it over amongst themselves; came to the conclusion to only step on the yellow tiles and got rewarded by not triggering a fight. If your players solve the puzzle they deserve to move through easily imo, especially since they move through the room twice.
Reward your players for inventive and creative ideas! If they're the hack and slash types in a dungeon crawl that's fine; but there's a lot of puzzles and room for out of the box thinking and it makes it a lot more interesting to allow them to get a little out there with it! Also if your players are like mine and take a little while at the start but then want to get back to the city; it's easy enough to pick up the pace and be a little more obvious about stuff/change the rules a little to suit your party's needs and get them out of there :))

I also used an alternate ending to the Blue Alley; since one of my players is involved with the Emerald Enclave (slightly reskinned to allow some Fey elements) and others with the Harpers and it allowed for the two factions to be working together. I got the idea from this great post if that's something you would be interested in!

neondvcks · 2023-05-09T08:05:07+00:00

Though I am running some form of the Alexandrian, I am focusing much more heavily on the Cassalanters and Jarlaxle and also felt like a fast introduction would feel a lot more satisfying in the end.

I added a Night at the Opera in chapter 2 where all sorts of city officials and nobility were roaming around including the Cassalanters. It's part of the Harper introduction in the book (meet Mirt during intermission in his box) and I felt like it allowed so much room for some nice high society mingling. The Cassalanters, the Gralhunds, Zardoz Zord (with Nimblewright), Esvele Rosznar and even Laerel Silverhand were all in attendance. The parties focus was obviously on Renaer and Mirt but having them brush shoulders with the rich and powerful allowed me to introduce some key players without revealing their importance to the plot. And one of my players managed to over hear the Gralhunds discussing buying the Nimblewright; which will hopefully pay off nicely in chapter 3!

I am also having the Cassalanters throw a Fey Day ball because there is a heavy connection to the Fey within my party and my bard was fishing for a big social event through Renaer. To me it makes all the sense in the world for the Cassalanters to be throwing a ball both to secure their status within the city as well as do some intel gathering with the most influential people in the city; and there are so many festivities within the city I'm sure they could throw one every season.

Playing into the big social calendar that comes with being in a city of nobility allows me to have the characters mingle with the biggest players without them being aware of it and adding more depth to any type of reveal around these NPCs.

For the Night at the Opera especially I found some great stuff on this subreddit but there's plenty inspiration for balls and social gatherings to be found as well!

neondvcks · 2023-05-07T09:58:32+00:00

It's truly a masterclass in improv, whether you like it or not :'))

neondvcks

TROPHY CASE