I currently had the privilege of DM’ing “Rime of the Frostmaiden” for the first time, and the experience has been a roaring success at my table.
Having taken liberties with the adventure…adding my own ideas, encounters, and events that aren’t strictly in the published campaign…I can also safely say that I am ready to construct my own original campaign storyline…with a twist.
The idea centers around Waterdeep, and uses the description of the city found in “Dragon Heist” as a basis for new adventures…implementing some of the storylines, but essentially allowing new ideas that take place within the city setting.
The campaign itself begins with adventurers traveling to the city with refugees…there are rumors of “grim events” taking place on the far side of the continent…and so more people flock to Waterdeep everyday.
These adventurers earn their way into the city, and essentially spend the campaign just trying to pay rent, find work, and make a name for themselves…it’s very much a “day in the life” campaign.
…of course, much more “epic” things will take place, which will thrust these adventurers into life-or-death situations, underworld heists, and scheming conspiracies.
The main draw is keeping the formatting flexible enough that players can, should they wish, introduce new characters at points if they feel like it…this allows “guest” players who want to drop into the campaign (even if they weren’t present for previous sessions, or are new to D&D)…and for current players to rotate in new characters if they feel their current class is getting stale.
No matter what, though, the city evolves…large-scale events happen, and choices the players make have an effect on the ultimate fate of Waterdeep. And if the players switch characters; their previous characters still occupy a place within the world.
It’s a bold concept that allows encounters at any level…occasionally, the players may even have one-shots where they assume the roles of high-level characters…some of them famous D&D figures…facing down threats that are too huge for low-level play.
In the interest of bouncing ideas around here on the forum, I ask if anyone has ever done a large “urban campaign” before, and what their experiences have been?
What sort of “big baddies” should I introduce for the players to tangle with?
What have been some experiences you’ve had within the Waterdeep setting?
so I have no experience with Waterdeep specifically. But I have run a similar type of campaign and essentially
I had a document I prepared in advance for the general flow of world events to help guide me. Obviously the players don't have access to this.
I'm very strict with the timekeeping of in game days/hours because the events in my guide document run based on these and any other events that spawn from them run based on the dates. So it's entirely possible for something to happen and the players don't hear about it until after it happened.
Player action can sometimes delay/speed up certain events
In my case specifically, the setting is a medium sized group of mercenaries, so new characters could be introduced as members returning from a long trip, new members that only recently joined etc
Big baddies I can't say for sure because I have no real experience with Waterdeep. But given that it's a city of culture and commerce, a capitalist type figure could always work, or maybe the opposite, druidy types trying to destroy the city and return it to the land etc.
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I currently had the privilege of DM’ing “Rime of the Frostmaiden” for the first time, and the experience has been a roaring success at my table.
Having taken liberties with the adventure…adding my own ideas, encounters, and events that aren’t strictly in the published campaign…I can also safely say that I am ready to construct my own original campaign storyline…with a twist.
The idea centers around Waterdeep, and uses the description of the city found in “Dragon Heist” as a basis for new adventures…implementing some of the storylines, but essentially allowing new ideas that take place within the city setting.
The campaign itself begins with adventurers traveling to the city with refugees…there are rumors of “grim events” taking place on the far side of the continent…and so more people flock to Waterdeep everyday.
These adventurers earn their way into the city, and essentially spend the campaign just trying to pay rent, find work, and make a name for themselves…it’s very much a “day in the life” campaign.
…of course, much more “epic” things will take place, which will thrust these adventurers into life-or-death situations, underworld heists, and scheming conspiracies.
The main draw is keeping the formatting flexible enough that players can, should they wish, introduce new characters at points if they feel like it…this allows “guest” players who want to drop into the campaign (even if they weren’t present for previous sessions, or are new to D&D)…and for current players to rotate in new characters if they feel their current class is getting stale.
No matter what, though, the city evolves…large-scale events happen, and choices the players make have an effect on the ultimate fate of Waterdeep. And if the players switch characters; their previous characters still occupy a place within the world.
It’s a bold concept that allows encounters at any level…occasionally, the players may even have one-shots where they assume the roles of high-level characters…some of them famous D&D figures…facing down threats that are too huge for low-level play.
In the interest of bouncing ideas around here on the forum, I ask if anyone has ever done a large “urban campaign” before, and what their experiences have been?
What sort of “big baddies” should I introduce for the players to tangle with?
What have been some experiences you’ve had within the Waterdeep setting?
so I have no experience with Waterdeep specifically. But I have run a similar type of campaign and essentially