Performance Check: Dragon Heist #3

Why?

As a rule, I am obligated to remind all prospective readers that this series will contain SPOILERS for any pre-written modules discussed within, in this case Dragon Heist. The subject of each post will be disclosed in the title as a forewarning to those who deign to gaze upon these texts.

Why am I running a segment focusing on the same exact module as a similarly titled forerunner on the same blog? Well I'll tell you. Performance Check is meant to be a journal of my own current Dungeon Mastering endeavors. I decided to begin this as a project to preserve the stories of my players and serve as a lens to inspect my own Dungeon Mastering: where I can improve, what changes I've made to a module for a better experience, or how I've opted to jumble around the preexisting resources given to us by the fine artificers at Wizards of the Coast.

"A house is made of bricks and beams. A home is made of hopes and dreams."

- Some Waterdhavian Bard, probably.

Today's adventure begins the same night the previous one ended. The party reclines in the Yawning Portal with a hearty plate of food and a few glasses of strong liquor. Gelman still has an arrow sticking out of his shoulder and is a little delirious, while Rackman and Volo hash out the terms of their payment. Of course, Volo doesn't have the 100 gold per person he promised the party today (or rather forever), but he promises to come the next day with their "reward". When Volo leaves the tavern, everyone is finally able to recline and take a breath, and the consequences of their actions hit them all at once. Renaer and Floon were saved, but at what cost? The party is bruised and beaten, and Craven is most likely dead. Gelman and Rackman order another round of drinks to toast to the fallen, while Xaedas eats every pastry currently in the tavern, and Nuala says a prayer. Raucous shouts and cheers help lighten the mood a little and rattle the windows of the bar as another group of adventurers descends to their most certain doom in the Undermountain.

Suddenly, the door flies open, revealing a muscled dwarf in plate armor, a massive beard, two war hammers, and a massive, grotesque scar across his face. He began to approach the table, only to be pushed aside by Craven, who had come into possession of a tall chef's hat and sauce-stained apron. Craven takes a seat, orders a drink, and recounts his tale of guile and trickery that led to his escape. (see: Craven's Bizarre Adventure) What began as a night of mourning and recovery, became a celebration for a job well done and a fat sack of gold.

Oh how wrong they were.

Shuffling out of bed the following morning, everyone had the joy of both fighting a hangover, fighting back tears over the emptiness of their wallets, and fighting the urge to punch Volo when he revealed that the royalties for Volo's Guide to Monsters hadn't come through. Therefore, he didn't have the 600 gold to pay the party with. However, he had something that could potentially be better: the deed to a tavern in the North Ward. Not just any tavern. A historical tavern known as Trollskull Manor.

With such a name, one would think that the Manor was a luxurious property. Maybe it had a history of famous clientele? Perhaps it was a clandestine meeting place for secret societies and cults? Well you wouldn't know that from looking at it's dilapidated facade. Or by looking at it's boarded up windows void of glass, or it's small yard guarded by the skeletons of what used to be trees and carpeted in a tangle of weeds. This would be the party's new home, and seeing a golden cow, ready to be milked, the party accepted the property, with the dream of making it one of the best taverns in the North Ward - possibly all of Waterdeep.

The next few days were spent cleaning up the premises, pulling all the weeds, sweeping up the dust, throwing out the garbage, making friends with the ghostly bartender that haunts the tap room - the usual. Craven went out of his way to call some work friends and set up a meeting with some shady investors, while Gelman, Rackman, and Xaedas went to get some new trees and get the garbage man to collect their junk. On their way back, they met with a local enterprising chef running a business near the North Gate, and asked him to consider catering their Grand Opening.

However, not all was as it seemed. During a lull in the work day, Gelman snuck off to the Yawning Portal to meet with his Lords' Alliance handler, who tasked him to keep the peace, and protect members of the Dungsweepers' Guild from the escalating violence of gang warfare. Meanwhile, Craven met with a mysterious bard who claimed to be from the Black Network. Mutually interested in the opportunities presented by the other, Craven agreed to work with them to track down a mysterious serial killer in the Dock Ward who had been decapitating elves, his most recent being a half-elven sailor.

Craven brought this knowledge back to the party, not informing them about who had tipped him off about the case. Seeking more money to begin the restoration of the Trollskull Manor, and with a sense of general righteousness, the party unanimously accepted the job. The party staked out the Dock Ward for 3 days and nights, searching for information about the mysterious killer, such as his preference for elves and half-elves, foreigners, and finally, lone targets. On the third night, everyone was exhausted. Rackman, who had been in disguise as a feeble Elven man, collapsed near the dock in frustration, while Xaedas, Gelman, and Craven lounged in the bar, looking for potential targets. Nuala was the only one truly vigilant at this point, and noticed a half-elvish man stumble out of the bar, obviously drunk out of his mind.

Tailing the man into a nearby alley with an outhouse, Nuala realized that this man was the perfect target. Half-Elven, foreign by way of a merchant vessel, and alone. Just as she realized this, she saw the glint of a blade in the dark behind the outhouse. Leaping into action, she parried the blade and met face-to-face with the murderous assailant: a scarred Drow. Trading blows, the Drow blocked and parried Nuala's strikes and retaliated with one of his own. Drawing a pistol from his belt, he shot Nuala, the thundering shot echoing up the street, perking the ear of Gelman and Rackman, and sending the drunken elf running. Nuala was quickly brought down by a few quick strikes from the Drow's scimitar when she tried to chase after him. Rackman stepped into the alley, to block the Drow's pursuit path.

But it was no use.

The Drow dropped his sword, and produced a grappling hook. With a hefty throw, he stuck it to the corner of the building's roof, and swung around the corner, over Rackman's head. Airborne, the Drow took aim at the escaping sailor with his pistol, Just as Craven and Xaedas stepped into view. With a wrathful Bang, the bullet hit the sailor in the back, punching a bloody hole straight through the man's chest. With a last gasp, the man dropped to the cobblestones, dead.

ChangeLog

Drow Gunslinger

If you've read the only entry in my "Player Perspective" series in which I recount my own personal experience with this encounter, you would know that my issues lie with how the Gunslinger isn't given a good combat area to be introduced in. The old saying is that "a good DM can make a bad game great, and a bad DM can make a great game awful". Such is the case with the Gunslinger. It would have been too easy to make the combat area of "a back alley" a simple, empty alleyway. Now, I know that fire escapes probably don't exist in Waterdeep unless I say they do (which could prove to be an interesting idea for future encounters). But you know what has existed for the entirety of using things for shelter? Roofs. By giving the Drow Gunslinger some extra mobility (specifically in regards to creating distance and maneuvering around obstacles), I made him more of a threat. Hard to pin down, he can use his most noteworthy feature: a gun, to the best of his abilities, making him a real threat to the players, and a treat to fight. Just don't forget that he has super useful racial spells like Faerie Fire and Darkness.

Notes:

Craven's Bizarre Adventure

Having hopped through the portal in the sewers, Craven snooped and peered around his immediate surroundings. Being sandwiched between two sources of noise, Craven went the only way he could: down. In the nether levels of this complex, Craven was lucky enough to stumble across a disheveled and exhausted Halfling chef, who was so excited that he might even receive a brief moment's respite, that he left his chef's uniform with Craven, assuming he was here to take over the kitchen work. This coincidence was, in fact, the greatest boon Craven could have received. So fortuitous it was that it seemed like a blessing given to Craven by the gods themselves. Donning the hat and apron, Craven used this freedom granted to him to explore the hideout, albeit blindly. 

He stumbled into the break room, coming across one of the Xanathar's Lieutenants enjoying a smoke while watching the raucous party turning the room into a disaster zone. Meeting eyes with the Lieutenant, Craven puts on a show for the hungry bandits as the new chef: Craveoni Teufoli. His performance goes well, assuming the role of an exotic cook with an exotic meal to be prepared. Continuing to explore, Craven convinces a few Kobold servants to take him to the one man who can permit his exit, the Xanathar's Majordomo: the Dwarven warrior Ahmergo. Here, Craven came the closest to death. Nothing goes through the Xanathar's Guild that Ahmergo doesn't know about. Nobody comes in or out without Ahmergo knnowing, and yet, here was Craven, who had never been seen nor heard of before today. Suddenly, Craven and Ahmergo engaged in a conversational battle, Craven desperately trying to keep up the ruse, while Ahmergo tried to shatter it. Ultimately, Craven resulted to the ultimate debaters tactic, a hail-Mary:

"Come on, it's me. You can trust me."

Ahmergo let him go, even showing him an exit that would take him to Waterdeep's sewers. Craven escaped without a scratch, quickly returned above ground, and hopped on a Dray (Waterdeep's public transit) and returned to the Yawning Portal for a heavy drink.