Waterdeep Dragon Heist Explained in 8 Minutes | DnD 5e City Adventure

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  • Опубліковано 26 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 142

  • @CanonThought
    @CanonThought 3 роки тому +321

    I tried to run this adventure and the whole first half just gives ZERO reason for the players to interrupt the investigation without railroading them. Being good aligned, they just... Let the authorities do their job. And then nothing happened forever

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +71

      Yeah...really feels like the NPC investigators should be helpers that are known to be semi incompetent so there is room for the player characters to step in.

    • @washingupliquid3848
      @washingupliquid3848 2 роки тому +9

      Yeah, you really need a neutral or chaotic aligned party if you dont want to change things around or let the investigation take over

    • @noone8294
      @noone8294 2 роки тому +1

      Dude just kill someone players care for in the fireball
      Send them in a war path

    • @alexanderkreitner8275
      @alexanderkreitner8275 2 роки тому +10

      Interesting. I ran Curse of Strahd with a group of chaotic to nearly-evil players and they were constantly giving me a look like: "Why do I care that this evil guy does evil things?" Very good insight! Thanks!

    • @MrR2TheZ
      @MrR2TheZ 2 роки тому +14

      I'm coming up on this part soon, so here's my plan: The party has taken to befriending the three urchin children, and even decided to take them in to work at Trollskull Manor in exchange for food and board (I imagine Waterdeep is the kind of place that would turn a blind eye to child labor).
      The plan is to have Squidly, the brash tiefling boy, get caught in the blast when getting some Trolltide Candied Apples for his friends. He'll just barely survive, thanks to his natural fire resistance, but my hope is that it will make the matter personal enough to find the real perpetrator and bring them to justice. For good measure, I will also have the inspectors estimate that the case will be cracked "in a few months if we're lucky", just to wear down their patience.

  • @thenarwhalking5604
    @thenarwhalking5604 3 роки тому +130

    Just started running this module yesterday, except I am running something calles the Alexandrian remix which a friend reccomended to me. Basically it is a way to run all 4 villains and not have the bullshit parts of the module. I would reccomend taking a look at it to see if you would want to run that version of the module.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +28

      I will take this into consideration King of Narwhals!

    • @adambrook4741
      @adambrook4741 2 роки тому +8

      I'm running this remix myself, with some of my own stuff mixed in. it helps so much

    • @blakedavis963
      @blakedavis963 2 роки тому +10

      Agreed the Alexandrian was a great remix. I ran it a couple years back and really helped flesh out the sense that Waterdeep is a big city with a lot happening. We played with 4 PCs that each sort of naturally gravitated to one of the big bads.

  • @iPuzzlePirate
    @iPuzzlePirate 2 роки тому +93

    I played through Dragon Heist under a very awesome DM; Half our party (myself included) got caught up in playing Dungeons & Spreadsheets, and focused on getting our tavern up and running. We never ever knew anything about the stone until after the campaign was over, and our characters never learned anything about the stone, ever.
    Apparently, the other half of the party started doing the 'main quest' and still failed to get the stone. Our GM was kind of sad (but not upset) that we never did the main questline.
    I remember the fireball going off, and we investigated it a bit, but the NPCs showed up to investigate and so the rest of us went back to running our tavern. *Shrug*

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому +13

      Really seems like the tavern is where all the player investment is designed to be and the adventure likes throwing npcs at the main quest problems.
      But having a fun time with tavern upkeep is just as valid as following whatever the adventure assumed you'd do. Hope you had fun and properly balanced the tavern's spreadsheets 😂

    • @Josh-st8bu
      @Josh-st8bu Рік тому +2

      I'm currently building this campaign for my party right now.
      Personally I thought it would be best disclosing some of the back story to my party as a prelude.
      Neverember hiding a million gold coins. And ultimately losing the stone leading to its whereabouts. With the common rumor/myth that the stone is still somewhere in the city.
      I think this gives a good set up for the type of adventure, and helps the players understand what this city is about, as well as develop their own back story or motives with the alleged "rumors" of a secret vault

    • @JeremyNaus
      @JeremyNaus Рік тому +1

      Same here, my players are more interested in making the tavern super profitable. ;-)

  • @papierowyszczur9234
    @papierowyszczur9234 2 роки тому +10

    There is also Alexandrian remix that allows DM to use all bad guys at once while frantically flipping through the book and skipping through a blog that contains all the changes.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому +1

      Using them all at once seems like a great idea! Helps use more of the book in one campaign!

  • @anthonyniemiec9409
    @anthonyniemiec9409 2 роки тому +31

    I flavored this adventure as the party belonging to a group of revolutionaries trying to overthrow the oppressive dictator of Waterdeep. The fireball was an accident that happened while the revolutionaries were secretly moving weapons. The party had to cover it up and pin it on someone else without the investigators knowing. That actually gave them a reason to care about the investigation and foreshadows the real final boss.
    Once they successfully covered up the accident they were trusted by the resistance to do a bigger job. They
    had several contacts, one of which was able to leak info about the vault so the players could spend several sessions pouring over maps and diagrams, hand written notes about traps, etc. And actually plan a heist.
    Naturally, the 90% of that went to sourcing weapons, explosives, and training for their comrades so they could do their revolution.

    • @MrGkb3rk
      @MrGkb3rk Рік тому

      Wow, this looks really cool.I'm planning to run this campaign and yours look really promising.I also want this to have a more serious tone and not wacky as Wotc intended.Can you share more about things you changed?

  • @michealmcnicholas6185
    @michealmcnicholas6185 3 роки тому +30

    My dude, these are awesome! As a parent and a full-time caregiver, having time to sit and read these to get ready for my party can get hard. Just getting to listen to a short (and very funny) summary helps a lot!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +5

      Thats great to hear! Happy to help in a little way!
      Also parent and full time care giver is some real life cleric shit. Hope you can start casting spells soon!

    • @michealmcnicholas6185
      @michealmcnicholas6185 3 роки тому +4

      @@GreenDM Lol, guess it makes sense that cleric and paladin were my go-to classes as a player!

  • @khartog01
    @khartog01 3 роки тому +8

    I played an Old One warlock with the Noble background, think Blackadder with magic, in this game. My PC used his rich dad to hire a lawyer to have the ghost of the tavern made an equal partner and owner. Apparently, according to Waterdeep law, ghosts can own property in the city.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +2

      Who knew fantasy law could be so interesting! I guess if ghosts are gunna be there for a long time, they should get a say in how things are run.

  • @lordpheles6809
    @lordpheles6809 2 роки тому +5

    All of these videos have a much higher production value than I originally expected. Hopefully the UA-cam algorithm picks them up quickly!!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому +1

      Thank you! Hoping to get even better with time!
      Also more and more people are finding the channel everyday, so it's picking up!

  • @nathanarnold2621
    @nathanarnold2621 3 роки тому +32

    Wow this module is not as well received as I thought it would be. Honestly this is probably my favorite just because of all of the cool wacky ideas in it. Like kidnapping sylgar to stop a beholder crime boss is such a fresh idea and I'm glad that after this came out Wizards felt more comfortable doing wacky things like that.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +8

      I definitely like the ideas of this adventure and plan to steal many for my home games! I do wish they were better presented and tied together though. Especially chapter 4 and the villian lair chapters.
      I think for my own game, I'll mix all four villains into the story, instead of picking one as the module does. And that beholder's fish has got to be stolen at some point! Hopefully by the player characters!

    • @erdrickcapet3945
      @erdrickcapet3945 3 роки тому +3

      @@GreenDM That's what I did (currently running it now) for a very creative group of players who found the stone way earlier then I expected. I've mixed in Manshoon as kind of a main villain, the Xanathar Guild as kind of competition for hunting it down but sometimes incompetent, the Cassalanters I used for one character's backstory (he wanted to be a former noble house guard who had been fired in a scandal, I decided to use them there). Planning on Bregan D'aerthe making an appearance soon. Another way I'm gonna try getting mileage out the different dungeons is the three items, for opening the door to the vault, I'm ditching the lists they made in the module and making the items unique things from the different villain lairs. "Someone a beholder loves" and "the source of an evil archmage's power", being the goldfish and manshoon's spellbooks. Still working on an idea for a third item that comes from the submarine.

    • @DrawciaGleam02
      @DrawciaGleam02 Рік тому

      I saw Puffin Forest's video discussing this module...and let's just say he gave a VERY GOOD reason WaterDeep isn't very popular in the DnD fandom.

  • @shadw2272
    @shadw2272 3 роки тому +14

    Yo this is awesome I just binge-watched your previous content the other day

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +1

      Perfect timing!

  • @shadowkat678
    @shadowkat678 2 роки тому +7

    Yeah, vanilla version is infuriating. But DAMN does it have a lot of potential. I've made my own remix with all the antagonists plus a ton more npcs and expansions on each of their plots, and involved Dagult, the government more, tied in the mind flayer with a super spy subplot, and... okay I just took everything, fleshed it all out, and made it like twenty times more complicated and a lot longer with tons more hooks and investment buy ins. I also added a reason to eventually go to Skullport and it's now level 3-10. Plus setup for adventures spawning from this chaos with post game content, including female pirate Manshoon clone who got Jarlaxle kicked out of Mantarn and he's still not over it. She's decided to just hang and chill on the island while conducting magic research because it's better than dying by the other clones like all those other poor saps. Also, turns out this clone is a damn good pirate on top of a master wizard.
    Did I go overboard? Absolutely. Would I do it again? Without hesitation.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому

      After reading and trying to run many of these official adventures, I think using their cool ideas as a spring board into a homebrew campaign is the best approach.
      Sounds like you've done enough world building to last SEVERAL campaigns! Hope you get use some of it soon!

    • @shadowkat678
      @shadowkat678 2 роки тому +1

      @@GreenDM Currently running through it with two groups. Both are having a blast but one is taking it a bit slow with life events so we have to keep detailed notes so everyone remembers where we left off. Second group I'm probably going to be running at least a year as our normal dm and I split normal session time since he just had a kid and can only go half our regular time. Not sure if either group will get to all of it,but we're definitely enjoying the process while we're going!

  • @fearjunkie
    @fearjunkie 2 роки тому +7

    I never got to finish it, but I had a plan for running the summer version of Dragon Heist and then immediately following it up with Descent into Avernus with the Summer route's villains popping back up in Avernus.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому +3

      That's a great way to transition from one adventure to another. And connect characters better with villians and city!

  • @wh3nderson95
    @wh3nderson95 3 роки тому +7

    I started the adventure as Durnan was humoring customers of a group of morons who went to the Forge of Fury. It was an in-joke the Yawning Portal module.
    Also, it is hilarious because the player who spent the most amount of time formulating backstory failed his DEX save and his character fell down the giant well hole in the Yawning Portal during the Troll fight.
    All of us had a good laugh as I described the character falling for a long time. The players improved the hole was quite large. With the character being functionally dead. The player made a new one in 15 minutes and decided to play a Drow on a whim.
    It was a fun first session.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому

      R.I.P. that character to murder well.

  • @benjaminliang1998
    @benjaminliang1998 3 роки тому +18

    I love this video. This is a gem of a channel. Keep up the amazing content.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +2

      Thank you! I will!

  • @SerendipityChild
    @SerendipityChild 4 місяці тому +2

    Excellent summary

  • @nilsdavis2867
    @nilsdavis2867 3 роки тому +4

    OK just discovered your video summaries of the adventures and OMG you're a genius. I have been laughing out loud watching.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +1

      Thank you! Happy to hear it!

  • @LunchBreakHeroes
    @LunchBreakHeroes 3 роки тому +5

    Love these synopsis videos!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому

      Thank you! Wish I could make them faster so its not one every 2 months!

  • @charlaatronn
    @charlaatronn 3 роки тому +3

    Dude this is hilarious. All your stuff needs SO many more views

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому

      Thank you! The channel is growing, so more views are coming! Just need to keep getting better at everything so more people find the content accessible.

  • @dezdarkshard2574
    @dezdarkshard2574 3 роки тому +4

    These are amazing. Can't wait to see more.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +1

      Making another one now :)

  • @jakedunnegan
    @jakedunnegan Рік тому +1

    Okay, this was good shit.

  • @Dyundu
    @Dyundu 3 роки тому +3

    This was fun! Thank you for posting!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому

      Thank you for watching!

  • @markbrener1259
    @markbrener1259 2 місяці тому +1

    Goated video. Thanks!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 місяці тому

      Happy you liked it!

  • @lorenzosaracino9912
    @lorenzosaracino9912 3 роки тому +10

    I saw all your videos of adventures and I love them so much. I'm running The Wild beyond the Withlight so I hope you do that, it's a beautiful module

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +3

      I really should do some of the newer modules, but all the books I own are the old ones 😅

  • @RaPtOrScOpE1
    @RaPtOrScOpE1 2 роки тому +3

    This helps soo much! Im running a campaign through this and then going into dungeon of the mad mage.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому

      Connected adventures are cool! Both are based in Waterdeep, so I hope it's easy to connect the two, but I haven't read Mad Mage yet to know.
      Good luck with the campaign! Especially with the mega dungeon Mad Mage!

  • @zebadicaagain9735
    @zebadicaagain9735 2 роки тому +4

    Nice, when I played it the entire party died in two rounds after one person tried to steal from the treasure horde. I would have done a persuasion check to calm the dragon down but I got killed before I could since the dragon used its breath weapon on me at the very beginning of the fight which killed me. (The person who actually stole the gold didn’t get attacked at all in the first round.) but outside of that one small bit I really enjoyed the campaign!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому +1

      Good you enjoyed the campaign! And dragon breath weapons can go VERY HARD, so understandable level 5 characters got killed by the dragon on the hoard.

    • @michaelthomas1916
      @michaelthomas1916 2 роки тому +1

      From what I've read in the book, the dragon isn't really "meant" to be an adversary but then... who doesn't like gold, right?! My players would do the same..that bunch of mercenary vandals.

  • @OldMovieRob
    @OldMovieRob 2 роки тому +1

    Wow, all of these crazy ideas all mixed together sounds like a weird, feverish dream.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому

      I think most dnd sounds like a feverish dream. At least when I try to tell people about what happens in my campaigns it does!

  • @reger64
    @reger64 3 роки тому +3

    quality content man! keep up the good work!

  • @evanderjohnson1462
    @evanderjohnson1462 2 роки тому +2

    Playing this campaign and had no idea what has going on, thanks!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому

      You're welcome. Enjoy the adventure!

  • @pierre3434
    @pierre3434 Рік тому +1

    very fun to watch

  • @joshuaschleich6277
    @joshuaschleich6277 3 роки тому +2

    Love these so much man!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +1

      Thank you! Great to hear that!

  • @davedavison9769
    @davedavison9769 3 роки тому +1

    you’re an actual hero omg

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому

      I think you just made my background Folk Hero! Cool I get animal handling and survival!

  • @simonbanzhaf2352
    @simonbanzhaf2352 3 роки тому +1

    Yo, I'd LOVE one of these for Storm King's Thunder! Keep it up!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +1

      I'll put it on the list of suggestions!

  • @vladimircruz1547
    @vladimircruz1547 2 роки тому +1

    Amazing video. Excited to run this module

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому

      Good luck! Hope you like the adventure.

  • @henryhere
    @henryhere Рік тому +1

    What if you used major image to just make one of the huge statues make a different expression?

  • @jmoa5758
    @jmoa5758 3 роки тому +1

    Thanks for this! Been looking for a summary like this!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому

      Happy to be of help!

  • @ChaosLiegeApex
    @ChaosLiegeApex 3 роки тому +1

    He's back!

  • @duolingo0552
    @duolingo0552 2 роки тому +2

    Love this

  • @surgebaron1860
    @surgebaron1860 7 місяців тому

    ok the part where you walk away from the mic, 10/10, "and the bell" earned a subscribe from me.

  • @SilverStarGG
    @SilverStarGG 2 роки тому +1

    Thank you very much for these videos!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому

      Thank you very much for the supportive comment!

  • @lancourt
    @lancourt Рік тому

    I love these videos and hope you make more!

  • @Tintenfix
    @Tintenfix 3 роки тому +5

    These are funny when you don't know the modules, but hilarious when you know them.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +2

      That is exactly what I'm shooting for! Though I hope people who haven't read the module get some amount of understanding from these weird overviews

  • @Streetsam
    @Streetsam 3 роки тому +1

    Great stuff!

  • @blackwolfe638
    @blackwolfe638 2 роки тому +1

    best review I've ever watched. Thank You. *LOL more than once. :)

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому

      Glad you LOL'd

  • @ericahays4281
    @ericahays4281 Рік тому

    All of this is so accurate. This campaign, while set in a cool setting with cool characters and a cool tavern, doesn't seem to have anything else that's really worth keeping haha. Doing lots of changes but damn they should rewrite this one for free.

  • @mikedavis1476
    @mikedavis1476 2 роки тому +1

    Ok just liked and subscribed this was a great vid 😂

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому

      Glad you liked it!

  • @ClockworkBard
    @ClockworkBard 3 роки тому +1

    Dragon Heist really shows off how much the Forgotten Realms does not need your weak ass level 1 PCs. A lot of the WotC publisher adventures love their "look don't touch" set pieces where either the players aren't really supposed to interact with it or they play second fiddle to some badass NPC. This happens so boldly in DH that I genuinely wonder if they're trying to parody the trope.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +1

      Yeah...the 4 villians that can destroy the characters, introducing a level 20 fighter in the first tavern, and the investigation being taken over by npcs really feels like player characters don't get a lot of input or power. Or at least the players would feel that way.
      You can always alter this stuff to be more open to player character involvement.

  • @notfrank6586
    @notfrank6586 Рік тому +2

    I am not a smart man but not even going though half the video and seeing accouple 5 comments, I am getting the feeling that this is not a fun module.

  • @pce0
    @pce0 2 роки тому +1

    great

  • @muhdewsah8241
    @muhdewsah8241 3 роки тому

    I love these! Could you cover Tomb Of Annihilation? Might be like 15 minutes but still would love to see it!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +1

      I am currently reading that right now :)

  • @JEPs.
    @JEPs. 2 роки тому +1

    Fun editing…why you only have 16k views idk. The algorithm is a cruel mistress.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому

      Posting more often would probably help! The channel is growing very steadily though, even when between video releases.

  • @sarico7827
    @sarico7827 3 роки тому +1

    Ok this time, this time I remembered Sylgar to like comment and subscribe hahahahaha. What do you mean this is lame comment?!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +1

      My god, ALL THREE?! Stop this person, the algorithm cant take it!

  • @chakradarrat8832
    @chakradarrat8832 3 роки тому +9

    i remember when i did that campaign. my player tried to mindlink with the stone by prodding it with detect magic
    he's a warlock now
    also they adopted the small beholder cause one of the characters was in xanathar's fighting ring before and he knew the boi

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому

      Smol beholder pet is cool! Also warlock of the stone is a good idea!

  • @YR_1.1.1
    @YR_1.1.1 2 роки тому

    thanks

  • @katherineminor3402
    @katherineminor3402 3 роки тому +1

    You. Need to dungeon of the mad mage explained lol

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому +1

      I shall put it on the list of adventures!

  • @HardcoreHobby
    @HardcoreHobby 11 місяців тому

    Two words....
    ALEXANDRIAN REMIX!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  10 місяців тому

      REEEEEMIIIX

  • @Flyetime
    @Flyetime Рік тому +1

    Yea don’t run the adventure as written… use the alexandrian remix.

  • @hugotrojanovsky7667
    @hugotrojanovsky7667 3 роки тому +2

    So the actual heist is a small part of the story? Seems like all published adventures are trash.

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому

      It is very small. Do wish more went into the planning, reconnaissance, and threats of the heist so players could feel like they pulled off a big heist.
      I do like a lot of the ideas published adventure give, but many come in a disorganized way. Favorite one I've read is Icewind Dale, lots of interesting ideas in that one.

  • @theberndog
    @theberndog 2 роки тому

    The dragon wiped my team. lol

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому

      RIP. Can be hard for level 4 or 5 characters to fight a full dragon.

    • @theberndog
      @theberndog 2 роки тому +1

      @@GreenDM especially when you somehow thought he was a criminal trying to take the money, and so you shoot him in the face, only to see his dwarf form turn into an all out golden dragon. yep, my bad yall :p

  • @SneakyNinjaDog
    @SneakyNinjaDog 2 роки тому

    Contains only 2% heist (at most)

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому +1

      Waterdeep in big font. Dragon in small font. Heist in very small font.

  • @Miniko
    @Miniko 3 роки тому +1

    Finishing up this campaign in a few hours and, its really not as good as i would have hoped

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  3 роки тому

      That's unfortunate. Hope it had some good times!

  • @DwaineWoolley
    @DwaineWoolley 7 місяців тому

    The adventure sounds incredibly boring. It’s mostly finding puzzle pieces talking to NPCs with barely any action?

    • @MrZega000
      @MrZega000 3 місяці тому

      An 8 minute summary will do that. It's regarded as one of the best modules.

  • @theldun1
    @theldun1 2 роки тому +1

    we are playing this right now in my group and it is the most boring pile of crap i have ever played!!!

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому

      Unfortunate! Perhaps the fireball part should come earlier!

    • @RevolutionaryLoser
      @RevolutionaryLoser 2 роки тому

      @@GreenDM Seriously. I played with my group for about 2 months before we got to the fireball scene and it was a real kick in the teeth that my conspiracy corkboard turned out to be an absolute waste of time. We spent 6 sessions doing odd jobs for people we had no reason to like and some other doofus had found the stone in their own little adventure we weren't privy to. I can't understand who this adventure is for.
      The one saving grace was that by pure coincidence my character's goal was to reopen his sick father's brewery business so when we got a tavern it really took me by surprise.

  • @nocona17
    @nocona17 9 місяців тому

    The people who write DnD modules are hacks who couldn't get anything else published. By the time you rework DH to make it playable you'd be better off just inventing your own story from scratch

  • @angst_
    @angst_ 2 роки тому +1

    You make it sound so bad. XD

    • @GreenDM
      @GreenDM  2 роки тому

      True, I did not like parts of this book. But I think the adventure each group has at the table is better than the book the table bases their adventure off of. A DM focused on one big bad guy might have a lot of fun with this adventure. I have also heard it can be a GREAT running a tavern adventure for a while, since the party gets a cool tavern pretty early on.