waterdeep campaign help [Archive] - Wizards Community

waterdeep campaign help [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Golden Zealot
12-19-06, 02:05 PM im a beginner dm running an evillish (neutral with a bit of evil) campaign in Waterdeep. only trouble is I don't know the city very well. I have the city of splendors book, but we're playing on friday so I need to know how to handle a campaign in waterdeep. It's mostly the little details, for example one pc says he's planning to by a door (for a dungeon he plans to convert into a base of operations, which is missing a front door), and i have no idea where in waterdeep you could buy a door. And also I need to know what to do if the players just decide to wander around the city.
basically I need help with everything, but mostly just making it feel like a big city full of things while still knowing what im talking about

thanks
Melblen_Cairn
12-19-06, 03:24 PM Well the first thing to look at is the fact this is a metropolis so its very likely if they are looking for it they can find it. Most details of Waterdeep in past sourcebooks for shops and such have been very specific, with their own adventure hooks and back story, but being in such a large city there is no reason why you cant come up with your own shop in the City to tailor to the players need. You need a Carpenter for a custom door? You need Velrin Snornd over in the Dockward, runs a shop out of an old warehouse. Make him a 2 or 3 commoner or even an expert. Make some minor notes in case you need to have more dealings with him later. Since it's a hideout, what if the carpenter needs better measurments to fit the coor properly and needs to come to the hideout. How will your players keep him quiet about this new hidaway? Do they pay him off? Threaten him in some way? Bring him into their fold (perhaps as a new follower if someone has leadership).

All you really need to know are some of the major flavor places which are described int he sources you have available the rest just come up with on the fly or plan a little ahead (ie the door). Something as simple as the need for a door could spawn a whole series of events and adventures to keep your players on thei toes and under the noses of the City watch.

City campaigns can be very satisfying as much as dungeons. Especially if your PCs find a favorite place they like to dine at or drink at. "That Baker down the street has the best small meat pies, but is having some money trouble with a local money lender." Do they buy the debt out and extort more pies? Kill the Lender and the baker "owes em one later", or do they come up with something else? Run Waterdeep almost like any other city just on a larger scale.

If you can find them the 2E Waterdeep and also the City of Splendors boxed sets help tons. The CoS box has 8 2'x3' maps of the whole city which was cool.

My best suggestion is don't sweat the small stuff. Kepp the major details in mind but if your players go off on a tangent it is much easier to come up with stuff ont he fly as needed if your not worrying about small details. It's your game, you can do whatever ya need to as long as your players are having fun.
kelcimer
12-19-06, 04:56 PM If there is any useful info on Waterdeep it's apparently going to be in the 2e products (I found CoS to be quite useless and have been told loudly that the best material is in the 2e stuff). You can get some of them here:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads
I haven't looked at them, but there are some Undermountain things on there.

If you can't find what you're looking for (or can't find it fast) you can always cannibalize the City of Ravens Bluff accessory (on the same page above) for miscellaneous details, shopkeepers, etc.
Melblen_Cairn
12-19-06, 05:44 PM Oh, and are your player's characters new to Waterdeep and trying to set up their hideout, or did they grow up there? If they grew up there then they might have some clever input in their backstories that you might want to flesh out. Favorite haunts, siblings, mentors, little places where they take moonlit trists with a lady. If they have something that they want to put in their back story growin up in Waterdeep then you'll likely want to put some detail into those too. It will make them feel more apart of this city.

If they are not originally from the city and have just arrived then they will likely be spending time learning the areas or still aren't very familiar with the city yet. In which case skills like Gather infomation, diplomacy, intimidate, certain profession skills and knowledge skills can come into play if the players need to find out information. This path kind of needs a bit more freeform as your not quite sure where they will head next.
Melblen_Cairn
12-19-06, 05:51 PM hehe, Undermountain slipped my mind there for a moment. Also Skullport the City beneith the City. If your running an evil campaign they will likely have dealings with folks in Skullport too.

Undermountain if your not familiar with it is a massive Dungeon that contantly goes through minor changes due to its builder Halaster Blackcloak. He built it centuries ago under what used to be his tower. There are 3 major levels and a number of sub levels. Skullport is a city on the 3rd level reachable by either slogging through undermountain or by way of magical lifts that move ships up into the south seacaves on the coast of waterdeep. It's run by the Skulls. Their law is the only law and they are fairly capricious in their rules.

Undermountain is also accessable by way of the Yawning Portal Inn (which I believe is in the castle ward). It has a well the leads to the very first room in Undermountain. So if you need a quick dungeon to get them a level before tackeling something else have them go through an expedition there.

Often when a law is broken in Waterdeep a common punishment is banishment into Undermountain.
Golden Zealot
12-20-06, 09:37 AM Oh, and are your player's characters new to Waterdeep and trying to set up their hideout, or did they grow up there?
Most of them are from Waterdeep or at least have spent some time there before the beginnning of the campaign, but the're all quite new as players, and even the player who's background story is three chapters long has included nearly nothing I can work with.
It looks like I probably should have gone for the 2ed book, but o well. Thanks for the help guys
Melblen_Cairn
12-20-06, 10:04 AM No Problem. If you fire me a PM today with their races, classes, and other general info and maybe some key interest points from their back stories I can likely PM ya Thursday with some possible details that may help.
CainJustice
12-24-06, 12:59 AM i think there is a book on waterdeep out now....

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Golden Zealot 12-19-06, 02:05 PM	im a beginner dm running an evillish (neutral with a bit of evil) campaign in Waterdeep. only trouble is I don't know the city very well. I have the city of splendors book, but we're playing on friday so I need to know how to handle a campaign in waterdeep. It's mostly the little details, for example one pc says he's planning to by a door (for a dungeon he plans to convert into a base of operations, which is missing a front door), and i have no idea where in waterdeep you could buy a door. And also I need to know what to do if the players just decide to wander around the city. basically I need help with everything, but mostly just making it feel like a big city full of things while still knowing what im talking about thanks
Melblen_Cairn 12-19-06, 03:24 PM	Well the first thing to look at is the fact this is a metropolis so its very likely if they are looking for it they can find it. Most details of Waterdeep in past sourcebooks for shops and such have been very specific, with their own adventure hooks and back story, but being in such a large city there is no reason why you cant come up with your own shop in the City to tailor to the players need. You need a Carpenter for a custom door? You need Velrin Snornd over in the Dockward, runs a shop out of an old warehouse. Make him a 2 or 3 commoner or even an expert. Make some minor notes in case you need to have more dealings with him later. Since it's a hideout, what if the carpenter needs better measurments to fit the coor properly and needs to come to the hideout. How will your players keep him quiet about this new hidaway? Do they pay him off? Threaten him in some way? Bring him into their fold (perhaps as a new follower if someone has leadership). All you really need to know are some of the major flavor places which are described int he sources you have available the rest just come up with on the fly or plan a little ahead (ie the door). Something as simple as the need for a door could spawn a whole series of events and adventures to keep your players on thei toes and under the noses of the City watch. City campaigns can be very satisfying as much as dungeons. Especially if your PCs find a favorite place they like to dine at or drink at. "That Baker down the street has the best small meat pies, but is having some money trouble with a local money lender." Do they buy the debt out and extort more pies? Kill the Lender and the baker "owes em one later", or do they come up with something else? Run Waterdeep almost like any other city just on a larger scale. If you can find them the 2E Waterdeep and also the City of Splendors boxed sets help tons. The CoS box has 8 2'x3' maps of the whole city which was cool. My best suggestion is don't sweat the small stuff. Kepp the major details in mind but if your players go off on a tangent it is much easier to come up with stuff ont he fly as needed if your not worrying about small details. It's your game, you can do whatever ya need to as long as your players are having fun.
kelcimer 12-19-06, 04:56 PM	If there is any useful info on Waterdeep it's apparently going to be in the 2e products (I found CoS to be quite useless and have been told loudly that the best material is in the 2e stuff). You can get some of them here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads I haven't looked at them, but there are some Undermountain things on there. If you can't find what you're looking for (or can't find it fast) you can always cannibalize the City of Ravens Bluff accessory (on the same page above) for miscellaneous details, shopkeepers, etc.
Melblen_Cairn 12-19-06, 05:44 PM	Oh, and are your player's characters new to Waterdeep and trying to set up their hideout, or did they grow up there? If they grew up there then they might have some clever input in their backstories that you might want to flesh out. Favorite haunts, siblings, mentors, little places where they take moonlit trists with a lady. If they have something that they want to put in their back story growin up in Waterdeep then you'll likely want to put some detail into those too. It will make them feel more apart of this city. If they are not originally from the city and have just arrived then they will likely be spending time learning the areas or still aren't very familiar with the city yet. In which case skills like Gather infomation, diplomacy, intimidate, certain profession skills and knowledge skills can come into play if the players need to find out information. This path kind of needs a bit more freeform as your not quite sure where they will head next.
Melblen_Cairn 12-19-06, 05:51 PM	hehe, Undermountain slipped my mind there for a moment. Also Skullport the City beneith the City. If your running an evil campaign they will likely have dealings with folks in Skullport too. Undermountain if your not familiar with it is a massive Dungeon that contantly goes through minor changes due to its builder Halaster Blackcloak. He built it centuries ago under what used to be his tower. There are 3 major levels and a number of sub levels. Skullport is a city on the 3rd level reachable by either slogging through undermountain or by way of magical lifts that move ships up into the south seacaves on the coast of waterdeep. It's run by the Skulls. Their law is the only law and they are fairly capricious in their rules. Undermountain is also accessable by way of the Yawning Portal Inn (which I believe is in the castle ward). It has a well the leads to the very first room in Undermountain. So if you need a quick dungeon to get them a level before tackeling something else have them go through an expedition there. Often when a law is broken in Waterdeep a common punishment is banishment into Undermountain.
Golden Zealot 12-20-06, 09:37 AM	Oh, and are your player's characters new to Waterdeep and trying to set up their hideout, or did they grow up there? Most of them are from Waterdeep or at least have spent some time there before the beginnning of the campaign, but the're all quite new as players, and even the player who's background story is three chapters long has included nearly nothing I can work with. It looks like I probably should have gone for the 2ed book, but o well. Thanks for the help guys
Melblen_Cairn 12-20-06, 10:04 AM	No Problem. If you fire me a PM today with their races, classes, and other general info and maybe some key interest points from their back stories I can likely PM ya Thursday with some possible details that may help.
CainJustice 12-24-06, 12:59 AM	i think there is a book on waterdeep out now....