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.
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 Hive of scum... maybe a little villainy.
Our adventure begins, like so many other adventures do, in a Tavern. The famous Yawning Portal, in fact. Known to be a longstanding institution of the Forgotten Realms setting, the Yawning Portal shares its name with the eponymous module of short adventures/dungeons published last year, Tales from the Yawning Portal.
Sitting at a dingy table not far from the bar were our adventurers: Amos "Rackman" Rackman, a Firbolg Trickery Cleric and Private Investigator, Gelman Xanthem, a Human Rogue and Secret Agent type (inspired by Section 31 from Star Trek), Nuala, a Tiefling Monk, Xaedas, a Wood Elf Ranger, Gimble the Gnomish Raven Queen Warlock, and Craven Teufel, Tiefling Bard and Lawyer. The 6 of them were drinking merrily and conversing about the most recent news when a bar fight erupted between another patron and a gang of gang members. The tavern enjoyed some free and bloody entertainment until a troll crawled its way out of the famous yawning portal of the Yawning Portal. It didn't make it too far until Rackman and Nuala sprung into action and shoved the thing back into the abyssal maw of the well to its inevitably short-lived death (trolls regenerate, everyone knows this). After popping the vampiric stirges that rode upon the troll's flesh like balloons, the party was met by the all-too-famous Volothamp Geddarm.
After being introduced to Volo, he quickly requests that the players investigate the disappearance of his friend Floon Blagmaar. Confident in their abilities now that he's seen them take care of a troll, he gives them an advance of 10 gold pieces each, with another 100 gold pieces to come after Floon is found. He lets the party go with one final gift: a lead, stating that he and Floon had been last together at a shady Dock Ward tavern called the Skewered Dragon, and that's the last he saw of him.
With haste, the party uses Rackman's intimate knowledge of "the streets" to dodge traffic and get to the Dock Ward, but are waylaid when Xaedas is enticed by a mysteriously alluring lavender smoke emanating from a persuasively purple trinkets shop.
The Xoblob Shop, owned and operated by the one and only Xoblob is a trinkets shop that can be placed anywhere in Waterdeep, but is one of the sources of information the party can use to learn about Floon's fate. After some bartering, Rackman sells his purple shield for a slice of sweet intel. A man matching Floon's description, and another were jumped by 5 members of the Zhentarim organization. Seeking more answers, the party is directed to the Skewered Dragon for more. With a well-placed ear and a few well-placed drinks, the party learns from a local drunk that Floon and his non-Volo friend were indeed there, and he saw them get pursued by 5 Zhentarim fellas on their way out. With an additional persuasion gold piece, the party learns that the Zhentarim keep a warehouse on the ironically dark and shady Candle Lane.
Gelman uses his knowledge of Thieves' Cant to identify a sign on the side of a nondescript building to mean "Dropoff", easily finding the Zhent warehouse. With an ear to the door, Nuala and Rackman hear some noises on the other end, and without hesitation, Rackman smashes the door down with his battering ram. The party surprises 4 scavenging Kenku amidst the bodies of 5 Zhentarim and a few of the Xanathar's Guild, and proceeds to breach the room action hero style. Amidst the dust and screaming, Craven beseeches the party to kill no one, or else violate the "Murder" clauses of the Code Legal. Everything goes according to plan, knocking out the first Kenku, but Gimble and Xaedas slide through the door with purpose and shoot 2 of the Kenku dead. The last one is knocked off a high crate with a well placed punch to the jaw, knocking him unconscious.
At the end of the fight, the body count is 2 Kenku dead, 2 unconscious. As the party proceeds to do what adventurers do and loot the room, Gelman discovers a locked closet under the stairs. He proceeds to "adventure" through the lock on the door. Craven takes the lead to loot the closet, but the only loot he gets is a right cross from a shadowy man hidden in the shadows. This man is Renaer Neverember, the other victim in the kidnapping and Floon's friend. After a verbal apology and repayment in the form of using his reputation to slip the party past the guards, the party decides to retire to the Yawning portal after a long day of detective work. Before heading their separate ways, Renaer informs the party that he heard something through a hole in the wall, perhaps leading them to their next destination: "Follow the yellow signs".
Sitting at a dingy table not far from the bar were our adventurers: Amos "Rackman" Rackman, a Firbolg Trickery Cleric and Private Investigator, Gelman Xanthem, a Human Rogue and Secret Agent type (inspired by Section 31 from Star Trek), Nuala, a Tiefling Monk, Xaedas, a Wood Elf Ranger, Gimble the Gnomish Raven Queen Warlock, and Craven Teufel, Tiefling Bard and Lawyer. The 6 of them were drinking merrily and conversing about the most recent news when a bar fight erupted between another patron and a gang of gang members. The tavern enjoyed some free and bloody entertainment until a troll crawled its way out of the famous yawning portal of the Yawning Portal. It didn't make it too far until Rackman and Nuala sprung into action and shoved the thing back into the abyssal maw of the well to its inevitably short-lived death (trolls regenerate, everyone knows this). After popping the vampiric stirges that rode upon the troll's flesh like balloons, the party was met by the all-too-famous Volothamp Geddarm.
After being introduced to Volo, he quickly requests that the players investigate the disappearance of his friend Floon Blagmaar. Confident in their abilities now that he's seen them take care of a troll, he gives them an advance of 10 gold pieces each, with another 100 gold pieces to come after Floon is found. He lets the party go with one final gift: a lead, stating that he and Floon had been last together at a shady Dock Ward tavern called the Skewered Dragon, and that's the last he saw of him.
With haste, the party uses Rackman's intimate knowledge of "the streets" to dodge traffic and get to the Dock Ward, but are waylaid when Xaedas is enticed by a mysteriously alluring lavender smoke emanating from a persuasively purple trinkets shop.
The Xoblob Shop, owned and operated by the one and only Xoblob is a trinkets shop that can be placed anywhere in Waterdeep, but is one of the sources of information the party can use to learn about Floon's fate. After some bartering, Rackman sells his purple shield for a slice of sweet intel. A man matching Floon's description, and another were jumped by 5 members of the Zhentarim organization. Seeking more answers, the party is directed to the Skewered Dragon for more. With a well-placed ear and a few well-placed drinks, the party learns from a local drunk that Floon and his non-Volo friend were indeed there, and he saw them get pursued by 5 Zhentarim fellas on their way out. With an additional persuasion gold piece, the party learns that the Zhentarim keep a warehouse on the ironically dark and shady Candle Lane.
Gelman uses his knowledge of Thieves' Cant to identify a sign on the side of a nondescript building to mean "Dropoff", easily finding the Zhent warehouse. With an ear to the door, Nuala and Rackman hear some noises on the other end, and without hesitation, Rackman smashes the door down with his battering ram. The party surprises 4 scavenging Kenku amidst the bodies of 5 Zhentarim and a few of the Xanathar's Guild, and proceeds to breach the room action hero style. Amidst the dust and screaming, Craven beseeches the party to kill no one, or else violate the "Murder" clauses of the Code Legal. Everything goes according to plan, knocking out the first Kenku, but Gimble and Xaedas slide through the door with purpose and shoot 2 of the Kenku dead. The last one is knocked off a high crate with a well placed punch to the jaw, knocking him unconscious.
At the end of the fight, the body count is 2 Kenku dead, 2 unconscious. As the party proceeds to do what adventurers do and loot the room, Gelman discovers a locked closet under the stairs. He proceeds to "adventure" through the lock on the door. Craven takes the lead to loot the closet, but the only loot he gets is a right cross from a shadowy man hidden in the shadows. This man is Renaer Neverember, the other victim in the kidnapping and Floon's friend. After a verbal apology and repayment in the form of using his reputation to slip the party past the guards, the party decides to retire to the Yawning portal after a long day of detective work. Before heading their separate ways, Renaer informs the party that he heard something through a hole in the wall, perhaps leading them to their next destination: "Follow the yellow signs".
ChangeLog:
Yawning Portal
It is recommended by the module to suggest that the players are some form of already-established group of adventurers, and also individually know at least one of the Yawning Portal's regulars. The latter portion of which I opted to omit from the players, given that, outside of the introduction, these NPCs play little to no role in the adventure, and feel more like a shoehorned "investment factor" for each character.
I prefer a fleshed out backstory for each character that I can pull NPCs from. In the past I've noticed this to be effective possibly due to the fact that people are generally invested in the things that they create. By having the players create their NPCs, I automatically create an emotional and narrative association between the player, the player character, and their backstory NPC, given that they had to spend extra time and a bit of their own creative energy to make it real.
Xoblob Shop
The Xoblob Shop is an interesting encounter/location in this adventure due to the fact that it's only truly relevant during the hunt for Floon. However, it's worth noting that the Xoblob Shop is actually a front for the Xanathar's Guild and the stuffed beholder described in the shop's text block is actually a Scrying Sensor for the beholder leader of the guild. It's strange then that the store doesn't play a bigger role in the story by nature of being a simple Trinket and Junk shop, and it may be recommended that future narrative-centric encounters take place around the shop, turning it into a landmark rather than a one-off encounter.
Idea: Perhaps the Zhentarim attack this particular shop as retaliation towards the Xanathar's Guild, but since nobody knows it's Xanathar-affiliated, it looks like a random act of violence?
