What do you want to see in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist?

[username1]

They just announced the new campaign for dnd 5e. It's going to be a heist mystery type adventure. They say it's going to give you the tools to run urban adventures and I hope they fulfill on that promise. The one thing I'm worried about is there won't be enough combat. I know that's not the point of the adventure, but it's still a big part of the game. What do you think? What do you want to see in W:DH?

[kraitmarais]

I'm really interested in how they implement the "low-combat heist" idea. D&D is designed to be combat-heavy, of course, so it can be kinda hard to have a sustained adventure without much combat while still allowing players to feel like they're making use of their character's abilities.

I'm hoping that they do an awesome job of it, and that it inspires me to come up with some similar stuff in the future.

[KorvinStarmast]

What do you want to see in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist? I want to see it in my mailbox.

[Deathtongue]

I'm really interested in how they implement the "low-combat heist" idea. D&D is designed to be combat-heavy, of course, so it can be kinda hard to have a sustained adventure without much combat while still allowing players to feel like they're making use of their character's abilities.

I'm hoping that they do an awesome job of it, and that it inspires me to come up with some similar stuff in the future.This is pretty much the biggest weakness of 5E D&D in terms of this genre convention. Intelligence is a dump stat for anyone who isn't a wizard, but 'knowing things' is a huge part of any heist. I'm very curious how they plan to implement the investigation and intelligence-gathering phases of the heist without assuming the party has a wizard or one of a rogue or bard with appropriate Expertises. There are of course ways to do this, mainly by creating a huge contact trail by pumping people for information, but all the same I wonder how it's going to go down.

[ImproperJustice]

With a name like Dragon Heist I want to play the long overdue adventure module where you play a party of Dragons seeking to rob the stronghold of a party of level 20 PCs.

Stealth and metalic vs. Chromatic politics couple with keen strategic choices to determine if your party of Dragons will suceed where so many others have failed!!!

[DanyBallon]

This is pretty much the biggest weakness of 5E D&D in terms of this genre convention. Intelligence is a dump stat for anyone who isn't a wizard, but 'knowing things' is a huge part of any heist. I'm very curious how they plan to implement the investigation and intelligence-gathering phases of the heist without assuming the party has a wizard or one of a rogue or bard with appropriate Expertises. There are of course ways to do this, mainly by creating a huge contact trail by pumping people for information, but all the same I wonder how it's going to go down.

Simple enough, since it is known in advance that the adventure is combat light/role play heavy, players just need to create characters that don’t dump Int at all. Let’s say a fighter character could just have 14 Str, Dex or Con instead of maxing out, this would leave a few points to spend toward Int. Not every characters needs to be a brainiacs with maxed Int, but not having a -1 modifier sure would help :)
Yet playing a «dumb» character could be an intersesting challenge in such an adventure, same if you decide to play a more wilderness oriented class in an urban setting :)

[DanyBallon]

With a name like Dragon Heist I want to play the long overdue adventure module where you play a party of Dragons seeking to rob the stronghold of a party of level 20 PCs.

Stealth and metalic vs. Chromatic politics couple with keen strategic choices to determine if your party of Dragons will suceed where so many others have failed!!!

I don’t want to be a party pooper, but in this case the «Dragon» part in Dragon Heist refer as gold piece being called Dragon in Waterdeep :/

[saucerhead]

They just announced the new campaign for dnd 5e. It's going to be a heist mystery type adventure. They say it's going to give you the tools to run urban adventures and I hope they fulfill on that promise. The one thing I'm worried about is there won't be enough combat. I know that's not the point of the adventure, but it's still a big part of the game. What do you think? What do you want to see in W:DH?

It sounds great, but you could be right that it will be less combat and more think on your feet. Kind of an Ocean's Eleven adventure, rather than The Expendables. What do I want to see in it? Well, aside from sticking the Halfling acrobat inside the money cart so he gets taken to the vault, I want to se the EMP. Electro Magical Pulse that takes down the Ley lines for a short period of time.:smallsmile:

Skill monkeys away!

[Rfkannen]

With a name like dragon heist I want there to be at least 1 dragon in it. Yeah yeah, I get a dragon is a type of coin, but come on you can't put dragon in the title and then not have any dragons.

Also I'm hoping for a fair amount of rules and advice for city games in general.

[gloryblaze]

With a name like dragon heist I want there to be at least 1 dragon in it. Yeah yeah, I get a dragon is a type of coin, but come on you can't put dragon in the title and then not have any dragons.

Also I'm hoping for a fair amount of rules and advice for city games in general.

I would be more surprised if there wasn't a dragon than if there was. Dragons seem to be a Once Per Episode (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OncePerEpisode) thing for the 5e modules. (Minor spoilers ahead).

1. Lost Mine of Phandelver had the green dragon in Thundertree.
2. HotDQ and RoT had tons of dragons, obviously.
3.PoTA had Halinaxus in the fire node, and Nurvureem the Dark Lady as the center of a side quest.
4. OotA had Themberchaud the Wyrmsmith in Gracklstugh.
5. I haven't played Curse of Strahd.
6. SKT's final boss is an ancient blue dragon.
7. Yawning Portal has many dragons, including Nightscale from Forge of Fury.
8. Tomb of Annihilation has Tinder set up as a climactic boss in the first act, although technically she (like almost everything before Omu in that adventure) is optional content.

[KillingTime]

Intelligence is a dump stat for anyone who isn't a wizard, but 'knowing things' is a huge part of any heist. I'm very curious how they plan to implement the investigation and intelligence-gathering phases of the heist without assuming the party has a wizard or one of a rogue or bard with appropriate Expertises.

The adventure starts at level 1, so there is absolutely zero excuse for the players to build a bunch of meat head combat characters.
Wizards, Rogues and Bards will obviously be premium choices, meanwhile the fighter-types will be encouraged to make more rounded characters that don't completely dump all the mental stats.

[Personification]

This is pretty much the biggest weakness of 5E D&D in terms of this genre convention. Intelligence is a dump stat for anyone who isn't a wizard, but 'knowing things' is a huge part of any heist. I'm very curious how they plan to implement the investigation and intelligence-gathering phases of the heist without assuming the party has a wizard or one of a rogue or bard with appropriate Expertises. There are of course ways to do this, mainly by creating a huge contact trail by pumping people for information, but all the same I wonder how it's going to go down.

As pointed out in the above post, you should be going into this with intelligence already prioritized. The main reasons that someone would dump int are optimization and concept. If someone is optimizing, they will optimize for the adventure ahead, and prioritize int more. If they are going off of concept, and the concept either intentionally lowers or can't support int, then that is a choice, and the person would be more likely to purposefully roleplay their character in a certain way, which could add more variety and fun to the story.

[the_brazenburn]

5. I haven't played Curse of Strahd.


No dragons that I can remember. Still, the creature is basically the face of D&D. I mean, it even got itself in the trademarked title! I can't see anybody buying a "Dungeons & Displacer Beasts" game, now can you?

Also, there'd better be a Xanathar plot hook. Seriously.

I'm not joking around here. I want him to be either the final boss or the quest giver. Possibly both.

When does it come out?

[gloryblaze]

No dragons that I can remember. Still, the creature is basically the face of D&D. I mean, it even got itself in the trademarked title! I can't see anybody buying a "Dungeons & Displacer Beasts" game, now can you?

Also, there'd better be a Xanathar plot hook. Seriously.

I'm not joking around here. I want him to be either the final boss or the quest giver. Possibly both.

When does it come out?

From the videos:

-The quest giver is Volo initially, and it's implied that Durnan and Mirt will become involved by the tie the characters are ready for Dungeon of the Mad Mage
-The Xanathar's Thieves Guild is involved, and it seems that the Xanathar himself may be one of the 4 potential Big Bads (there are four variations to the Dragon Heist scenario that each take place during a different season and each feature a different Big Bad - implied to be Manshoon, Jarlaxle, Xanathar, or the Cassalanter family )
-Books come out in September

[the_brazenburn]

From the videos:

-The quest giver is Volo initially, and it's implied that Durnan and Mirt will become involved by the tie the characters are ready for Dungeon of the Mad Mage
-The Xanathar's Thieves Guild is involved, and it seems that the Xanathar himself may be one of the 4 potential Big Bads (there are four variations to the Dragon Heist scenario that each take place during a different season and each feature a different Big Bad - implied to be Manshoon, Jarlaxle, Xanathar, or the Cassalanter family )
-Books come out in September

Thanks.

All right, that's interesting. Any particular reason that Jarlaxle is in Waterdeep right now instead of Menzoberranzan?

[2D8HP]

I want a DM to run it.

Most of my 5e PC's have been Urchin Background Fighters or have been Outlander Background Rogues, and the like.

And I like levels 1 to 5 best

Dragon Heist totally sounds like my jam.

Compared to some more recent "custom setting" D&D games I've experienced I want:


NPC's who talk more than a few words.

Descriptions of the environment besides "Duchess and Duke blah-di-blah say go fight some what's-it for inadequately-explained reasons that the PC's will just do because heroes", and "You see the what's-its, and they attack".

Locations that you may turn left or right, bringing back the map making aspect of adventures.

Challenges other than combat, maybe walls to climb? Traps to avoid? People to find? A chase?

Combat that's quick and that's deadlier for the PC's as well as the antagonists, so it's something that you try to avoid, or use tactics, not "powers" to survive,, cause except for one 5e DM, all the others make combat take too long without anyone dropping, and only once have I had the suspense of wondering if my PC would die.
I don't want to go back to PC survival for three sessions being rare, but the feeling of some risk would again be nice.


While the best games have been ones where the DM changes things around, lately the module adventures have been more fun for me than the "fully custom" ones, so I'm hopeful if someone will run this one.

If I don't find a DM to run it, then I hope for some cool Background Features out of it, or for it to be so easy that I want to DM again.

[Unoriginal]

Thanks.

All right, that's interesting. Any particular reason that Jarlaxle is in Waterdeep right now instead of Menzoberranzan?

As a male Drow who likes power, his opportunities were somewhat limited in the land down under.

Apparently he's now running a carnival which travel around on three ships as a front for his... other business.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

No dragons that I can remember. Still, the creature is basically the face of D&D. I mean, it even got itself in the trademarked title! I can't see anybody buying a "Dungeons & Displacer Beasts" game, now can you?

While I don't think you ever fight a dragon in Curse of Strahd, there most certainly is a fairly plot-significant dragon. Or rather, what's left of one.

[Personification]

I want a DM to run it.

Most of my 5e PC's have been Urchin Background Fighters or have been Outlander Background Rogues, and the like.

And I like levels 1 to 5 best

Dragon Heist totally sounds like my jam.

Compared to some more recent "custom setting" D&D games I've experienced I want:


NPC's who talk more than a few words.

Descriptions of the environment besides "Duchess and Duke blah-di-blah say go fight some what's-it for inadequately-explained reasons that the PC's will just do because heroes", and "You see the what's-its, and they attack".

Locations that you may turn left or right, bringing back the map making aspect of adventures.

Challenges other than combat, maybe walls to climb? Traps to avoid? People to find? A chase?

Combat that's quick and that's deadlier for the PC's as well as the antagonists, so it's something that you try to avoid, or use tactics, not "powers" to survive,, cause except for one 5e DM, all the others make combat take too long without anyone dropping, and only once have I had the suspense of wondering if my PC would die.
I don't want to go back to PC survival for three sessions being rare, but the feeling of some risk would again be nice.


While the best games have been ones where the DM changes things around, lately the module adventures have been more fun for me than the "fully custom" ones, so I'm hopeful if someone will run this one.

If I don't find a DM to run it, then I hope for some cool Background Features out of it, or for it to be so easy that I want to DM again.

You may get your wish on the too-dangerous combat. According to the videos, all of the Big Bads will be way to powerful for the party to have a good chance of beating at any point, but you will be given [I will definitely misquote this] "multiple opportunities to attack the villain".