Comments, Criticism, and Questions are highly appreciated. There's no D&D without a party.
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.Performance Check is intended to be a journal of my 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 performance: 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 shot from the dark. Multiple shots from the dark, in fact.
We begin this episode with the party in the middle of combat with the mysterious gunslinger from last time. The half-elvish drunkard's innards lay spread out in the middle of the street, and the smoke wafts out of the barrel of the murderer's pistol. The entire party has assembled now, and the Drow is pinned down between Craven and Xaedas, having just arrived from the bar, the trio of Gelman, Nuala, and Rackman, and the icy waters of Deepwater Harbor. Naturally, the only way to go is up and out, but it's no use. When attempting a Darkness spell, the party lets loose a barrage of vicious spells and whistling arrows to lock down the Drow, pinning him in place as bells for the damned rang through the night. Like a cornered animal, he decided that the only thing he could do was run.
Making a mad dash for the nearest tenement, the Drow crashes through the front window, scattering gleaming shards of glass all over the floor of a ground-level apartment. Trading gunfire with the party, he slinks through the house to make his escape, but, unbeknownst to him, Gelman and Rackman are heading around the back to cut him off in the alley. Nuala and Xaedas (oh, and Gimble is here too, by the way) chase him through the house, while Craven's brain works and smokes as he tries to think of a solid alibi to feed to the City Watch.
Smashing the stairwell window on the second floor that peers out into the grimy back alley, the gunslinger hefts his grappling hook to a nearby building. He swings out, planting his feet firmly on the adjacent tenement and begins to scale to the roof His escape is in sight, as Rackman and Gelman and Gimble are too far away to strike him down. But, Nuala appears in the window, hot on his tail, and flings a dart with the precision of a well-trained archer that severs the grappling line, sending the Drow plummeting to his death 3 stories below (much to Nuala's horror, as she never intended to kill the man).
As the party hid the body and patched their wounds, the entire block began to light up with disgruntled, groggy, and altogether riled citizens. The frightened owner of the glass-filled, bullet-hole riddled apartment stumbled out of his room scared out of his mind and ready to report the party to the Watch. Gimble, well-meaning as he is, attempted to use Charm Person on the man, but failed, leading to an even larger conflict as more members began to pour out of their apartments to complain. Craven, wily as he is, offered a bribe and some snide remarks about this man being a "lucky participant" in a "trial run" of a special "enchantment and charming procedure" and as such was entitled to a hefty 10 gold pieces for his participation. Before the man could ask any more questions, the money was already in his hands, everyone was out the door, and there was nothing left but their tracks and an unanswered question as to who would pay for his shattered window.
Making a mad dash for the nearest tenement, the Drow crashes through the front window, scattering gleaming shards of glass all over the floor of a ground-level apartment. Trading gunfire with the party, he slinks through the house to make his escape, but, unbeknownst to him, Gelman and Rackman are heading around the back to cut him off in the alley. Nuala and Xaedas (oh, and Gimble is here too, by the way) chase him through the house, while Craven's brain works and smokes as he tries to think of a solid alibi to feed to the City Watch.
Smashing the stairwell window on the second floor that peers out into the grimy back alley, the gunslinger hefts his grappling hook to a nearby building. He swings out, planting his feet firmly on the adjacent tenement and begins to scale to the roof His escape is in sight, as Rackman and Gelman and Gimble are too far away to strike him down. But, Nuala appears in the window, hot on his tail, and flings a dart with the precision of a well-trained archer that severs the grappling line, sending the Drow plummeting to his death 3 stories below (much to Nuala's horror, as she never intended to kill the man).
As the party hid the body and patched their wounds, the entire block began to light up with disgruntled, groggy, and altogether riled citizens. The frightened owner of the glass-filled, bullet-hole riddled apartment stumbled out of his room scared out of his mind and ready to report the party to the Watch. Gimble, well-meaning as he is, attempted to use Charm Person on the man, but failed, leading to an even larger conflict as more members began to pour out of their apartments to complain. Craven, wily as he is, offered a bribe and some snide remarks about this man being a "lucky participant" in a "trial run" of a special "enchantment and charming procedure" and as such was entitled to a hefty 10 gold pieces for his participation. Before the man could ask any more questions, the money was already in his hands, everyone was out the door, and there was nothing left but their tracks and an unanswered question as to who would pay for his shattered window.
All that glitters is not gold... but right now we need gold.
The party slunk back to the Trollskull Manor to lick their wounds, dig the bullets out of Nuala's skin, and avoid the authorities. While hiding out in the manor, they made a crafty investment plan. The party would use their various contacts, acquaintances, and minor reputation to work odd jobs to pay for the tavern's repairs. It would be a long, hard journey, but the party was determined to make the Trollskull a Waterdeep icon. Lif, the friendly bartender ghost wholeheartedly agreed. Meanwhile, Craven snuck out to meet with the Black Network who, although disappointed that yet another death had painted Waterdeep's streets, brought him into the fold as a new member of the Zhentarim.
Over the following weeks, the party participated in a number of odd jobs for a number of factions in the city, like guarding the Dungsweepers' Guild, making potion deliveries, cleaning up the City of the Dead of the dregs of a necromancer's shenanigans, and so on. During their free time, the party spent their days renovating the Tavern and earning some more money doing not-so-honest work (like gambling). Nuala painted a beautiful, classy landscape on its exterior using her newfound Warlock powers to stay awake at all hours of the day an night (Nuala's player decided monks were lame and switched to a Warlock at level 3). Slowly but surely, their coffers burgeoned with coin and emptied once more as they paid their carpenter neighbor Tally to fix up the manor.
With the repairs nearing completion, our party of restaurateurs determined the date of their opening night. They paid for an ad in the Waterdeep Wazoo, hired criers, sold art, and generally did all that they could to promote the opening of the NEW Trollskull Manor. For opening night, they also organized a party for their supporters, neighbors, and colleagues to the Opening Night of Trollskull Manor. Their guest list, unfortunately, included the Open Lord and the Blackstaff, all the members of the Doom Raiders, Jalester Silvermane of the Lords' Alliance, Matthew Mercer, Volo, Renaer, and a monk that Nuala befriended from the Order of the Gauntlet.
With all their hard work, hiring young locals to staff the kitchens and work the floor on opening night, the advertising, and their reputation from helping the citizens of Waterdeep, their opening night party was a smashing success. Our adventurers had purchased brand new, handsome clothes for the night, set roles for each member on the floor; Gelman was the Host, Nuala and Rackman ensured customer satisfaction, Craven acted as manager, and Gimble and Xaedas worked in the kitchen.
When the doors opened, there was a line of curious diners from all walks of life, holding their breath for the big reveal as to what poor souls decided it would be their duty to renovate the Trollskull Manor. The line, as expected, was out the door, down the street, and up the block, but the air was jovial for once. For once the people of Waterdeep didn't have to worry about getting shanked on their way to work, or from the very credible threat of the innumerable supernatural horrors that lurked just beneath their street. Tonight, everyone was here to party and have a good meal.
That's not to say it wasn't chaotic. Of course, the Open Lord and Blackstaff didn't show up (they're very busy), but a servant did come to get takeout for the young Blackstaff, so that was pretty cool. Most of the Zhentarim didn't show up, except for Tashlyn (being the most established and "legitimate" of the group) and the assassin, Ziraj, who actually showed up as the party's neighbor's +1, causing mass confusion among the party members. Rackman and Nuala dashed back and forth between tables, making sure everyone was having a good time, while Craven barked orders back and forth among the servers and the bus boys while trying to entertain the hungry guests waiting in line out front. Gelman struggled with the logistics of tables, seating, and others, but managed to keep a cool head throughout.
Overall, the night was a blast. All the guests enjoyed themselves, nobody got arrested or stabbed, and everyone was able to bask in the warmth of the Trollskull Hearth and have a drink, for once. The party continued long into the night, after the bards had left and the kitchen was ankle deep in food, but even our party had a fun time running themselves ragged.
ChangeLog:
Faction Odd Jobs
While I do appreciate the Faction Quests section presented in Chapter 2, I think that these could have been omitted or moved around into a list of quest chains for the DM to use at their discretion. As is, I feel like a majority of the Faction Quests don't play into the narrative of Dragon Heist as a whole. For example: "Hunt Skeletons in the City of the Dead" or "Protect the Dungsweepers' Guild" don't exactly scream Dragon Heist to me. However, there are a few quests in there that do service the narrative, but are spread out among the factions, breaking them into little tidbits of information for the players to piece together without guidance rather than creating an interesting sub-plot.
Instead, I picked the best quests from each faction at the appropriate level and strung them together into quest chains like "Skeemo's Betrayal" or "The Black Viper" and kept the more mundane side missions in my belt just in case the players wanted to do jobs for money. This way I can build up intrigue and weave these quests into the narrative more seamlessly, and lead the players into asking questions themselves, instead of giving them crumbs of information and expecting them to make something out of nothing.
Trollskull Manor
Obviously an Opening Night Party isn't part of vanilla Dragon Heist, but if the players are going to spend all of Chapter 2 trying to rebuild the damn thing and running themselves ragged around Waterdeep trying to build capital, you bet they're going to want a big party to celebrate. Plus, the addition of the "Big Chapter Ending Event" was a great opportunity to mix up the pot with possible mishaps, unexpected attendances, and an elevating of general party mood to celebrate their achievement, just to bring it back down in Chapter 3.
Obviously an Opening Night Party isn't part of vanilla Dragon Heist, but if the players are going to spend all of Chapter 2 trying to rebuild the damn thing and running themselves ragged around Waterdeep trying to build capital, you bet they're going to want a big party to celebrate. Plus, the addition of the "Big Chapter Ending Event" was a great opportunity to mix up the pot with possible mishaps, unexpected attendances, and an elevating of general party mood to celebrate their achievement, just to bring it back down in Chapter 3.
