Waterdeep Heists is a project I am working on in my capacity as a part time professional GM.  I am looking for individuals with an idea for a specific character that they want to play in a long term campaign where the home of the characters is the City of Waterdeep, but they operate as a crew taking on heists all over the world, and beyond to other planes of existence as well.  Between jobs a lot of the campaign is intended to focus on the lives of the characters in the city, as well as elements of your backstories that you will bring to the table in order to make this a true collaborative storytelling adventure.

<The Campaign Premise>

Your crew of scoundrels gathers round a stolen blueprint as they plan their big score. Their target has them outnumbered and outgunned; they’re just a no-name street gang up against the rich and powerful. But they have something their mark never expects: the stone-cold audacity and guts to risk everything. And perhaps even more than that: the desperate hunger to get rich or die trying.

After you and a few other criminals, con-men and ne'er do wells are brought in for questioning about a crime you (probably) had nothing to do with, you are approached by a mysterious benefactor. The Offer: use the skills you've earned over a life misspent to bring down the ones who think they can get away with anything, and protect the everyday folks from being the ones caught in the crossfire. Your first mission will also just happen to make fools of the people who dragged you all in...

What to Expect:

- This is a City Sandbox game, using the City of Waterdeep as a homebase, with missions that will take the crew across this world and several of the ones beyond. Your crew will have its own headquarters where you will be able to launch downtime activities between jobs.

- Your Character will have a significant impact on the story. The campaign is planned to have opportunities for you to give your character an arc and for me to implement elements of your backstory into the plot.

- This campaign will have elements from multiple published adventures, especially Keys from the Golden Vault and Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. It will also have many adjustments to that content, the setting and lore. Great for veterans or those new to the setting.

Inspirations: There is a wealth of great media surrounding the idea of a crew motivated to go on heists some of my favorites are below

            - Movies like: The Usual Suspects, Heat, Ocean's Eleven

            - Books like: Best Served Cold (Joe Abercrombie) The Lies of Lock Lamora (Scott Lynch)

            - Video Games: The Entire Dishonored Series is spot on inspiration for this game

            - TV Shows: Leverage and Animal Kingdom

<Who is your character?>

This is incredibly important because of the nature of the story I want to tell.  Your character will be a member of the criminal community of Waterdeep, not a villain or a monster, but a fleshed out character who might have friends, family allies and rivals after a life spent trying to get rich by any means necessary in the City of Splendors. Think of them as a three dimensional character where what they do as a "criminal" does not define every part of their life.  Most important of all your character needs goals and things they want: short, medium and long term to help define what they do and why they do it - as well as give you plans for what you want your character to be doing between jobs.

<When and Where>

Sessions: Saturdays at 3PM EST Lasting 3-3.5 hours

Paid Sessions Via Start Playing at $25/week

Platforms DND Beyond, and Foundry VTT for characters, maps etc. Discord for voice and video.

Link to the Campaign: https://startplaying.games/adventure/cml01ca8i00mvju0484vqupws

<Who am I?>

My name is Leland GM with over 25 years of experience in the hobby.  I love creating communities, teaching new players and helping them into the hobby and telling stories with a group around the table.  My link here has a ton more info like my bio, style and reviews: https://startplaying.games/gm/dmlelandpalmer

I can also be reached here or at my discord which is lelandpalmer

I have had a few questions about this so want to put a comment in: this kind of campaign can support any character class, species or background.  Definitely not just for all rogues or anything, there are many different roles to be filled in a crew like this one ex: Mastermind, Brute, Grifter and of course Thief.  Every job the players' group takes will have multiple paths to complete.  Combat will be optional for some jobs, certain in others with some jobs offering rewards for being completed in a certain way (the most obvious example I can think of is 0 kill/"ghost" missions.  The play style will adapt based on the way the party completes their missions too, with futre jobs changing based on how the previous ones went.  Feel free to keep messaging me with questions though.

Thanks to the folks who have reached out so far!  Appreciate the interest and will be getting back to you soon.  As mentioned we are definitely looking for a very specific type of player so I appreciate everyone's patience!