Welcome to Waterdeep, the Crown of the North, where a wondrous tale of urban adventure is about to unfold. Our story begins with the gathering of adventurers at the Yawning Portal Inn and Tavern.
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is a treasure hunt set against an urban backdrop. A treasure is hidden somewhere in Waterdeep. Many individuals know about the cache and are looking for it. Adventurers can join the hunt and prevent the cache from falling into evil hands.
The city is threatened by escalating tension between two power groups that is on the verge of flaring into violence. The Zhentarim, a shadowy network of mercenaries, and Xanathar, the beholder crime lord of Waterdeep, are at odds, and when they clash, the characters are pulled into the conflict.
Key points:
This adventure contains roleplay and action
It's set in the Forgotten Realms
Please post every 1-2 days (more frequent posts are welcome)
I’m looking for 4-5 players
Please treat all players with respect
This is a family friendly game, however I want players to be over 18 (significantly over is welcome) so that I don’t have to worry about protecting more impressionable minds.
Kudos to anyone running games for younger players, I’m just too old to do that :-)
Applications
To apply to join this adventure please post the following information for your character:
Character Name
Character Race and Class (with potential Subclass, if you are already thinking that far ahead)
Character Background
Character Portrait
Character Personality
Character Backstory (Including how your character came to be in the Yawning Portal Inn)
A link to your D&D Beyond Character Sheet
Preference will be given to applicants who co-operate on the thread to create a joint backstory, for openness I have also already asked 1 experienced player to consider joining the campaign. The campaign will jump straight into the action.
Only one character application per user. If you want to change your character please do, however only the latest submission will be considered. If you apply and change your mind about joining, please let me know as it will make my final selection easier.
House Rules
Dungeons and Dragons, Fifth Edition (5E).
If you act in a way that makes others uncomfortable you will get a warning, if you intentionally ignore the warning then you will be asked to leave. We all make mistakes including myself, but we are all expected to learn from them.
Source Books:
Players Handbook
Dungeon Master's Guide
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
Monster Manual
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Dragonlance (You don’t get the extra bonus feat)
Baldur’s Gate
Waterdeep Dragon Heist
Please use these sources for all races, classes, and backgrounds. If there is something from a source not listed above that you'd like to play or have considered, please ask. However preference will be given to applicants who comply with the above.
Abilities
Point Buy
Breaks
If you need a short break or are going on holiday then let me know and I will arrange cover. Longer breaks will require discussion / agreement with the whole group
Starting Level
1st level. We will use the Milestones for Level Advancement. By the end of the adventure you should be 5th level. After the adventure we can discuss any follow-on adventures.
Starting Hit Points
Maximum at 1st level. Once you hit 2nd level, hit points will be the higher of a die roll or the average for the class you level up in.
Factions
I have no preference on Factions, but if you have the Faction Agent background then please select from the following list:
Bregan D’aerthe
Emerald Enclave
Force Grey
Harpers
Lords’ Alliance
Order of the Gauntlet
Xanathar Guild
Zhentarim
Note that Faction membership may affect play and therefore depending on your background alliance with a Faction may make it easier or harder to join a group with people from other factions. If you aren’t sure then you can ask or consider a different background.
Game Format
Mobile friendly with:
Main campaign D&DBeyond thread
Separate OOC D&DBeyond message thread
All characters having a D&DBeyound sheet linked to a D&DBeyond campaign
Rolls in posts or on a character sheet (game log). Please copy the outcomes of rolls in the game log to a thread post for consistency.
I will attempt to use the Beta D&DBeyond Encounter builder, if this doesn’t work then I will revert to an offline system
For simple encounters we will use theatre of mind. For complex encounters I will post a map to the thread at the start of each round if appropriate
Character Race and Class (with potential Subclass, if you are already thinking that far ahead): Halfling Sorceror (Wild Magic)
Character Background: Gambler
Character Portrait:
Character Personality: A fearless gambling addict. He is sarcastic, and occasionally rude, but is a good man with no true ill intent.
Character Backstory (Including how your character came to be in the Yawning Portal Inn): Even as a little kid, he'd always find a way to play games of chance. He always ended up gambling his was through a problem. Doubling down, if you will. One day, at his local casino, he gambled with a hag that came to the tavern. The hag gambled an artifact that'd give him powers. He wins. The hag accuses him of cheating (Which he didn't) and manipulated the artifact making the powers he gained from it unstable. When Osborne toughed the artifact, it absorbed into his skin, and he became a sorcerer. He continued to gamble throughout his life. One day, he earned a big jackpot and was able to afford moving to Waterdeep! He moved there and began gambling at the Yawning Portal regularly. In order to make more money, he also took to being an adventurer. Since he got those powers, he wasn't afraid of taking up such a career. He'd still gamble at the Yawning portal on a regular basis though. He is there at the start of the game as another one of his casual gambling visits.
Character Name: Lyra Ravenscale (<-- Link to dndbeyond character sheet). Character Race: Custom Lineage from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (flavor as quarter-elf). Character Class: Warlock (Hexblade Patron), multi-class to Bard (College of Eloquence) planned. Character Portrait, Personality, Background, Backstory and Character Sheet link: see (first) spoiler here:
Portrait: see above. Background: Custom - Faction Agent (Harpers) / Urban Bounty Hunter Personality and Backstory: Lyra Ravenscale's prize possession is a dull black harmonica which always hangs at her throat. Found during childhood, it is the source of her magic through its sometimes energetic, sometimes haunting music. Stains her lips like dark lipstick. Through this instrument, she has made what at first was an unwitting pact with the Raven Queen. A mysterious, chaotic neutral demigod of Shadowfell, also represented in her black warhammer hanging, seemingly too heavy for Lyra, at her hip.
Youngest child of a small merchant family and orphaned at an early age, Lyra ran off from her elven grandmother's home at the edges of the High Forest south of Silverymoon as soon as she was of age. Using the fey gifts she had learned as a child playing in the woods along with her considerable charm and eloquence, she has found occasional work in the dock ward of the City of Splendors as an informant and small-time bounty hunter for a faction she knows little of (Harpers). Her only contact is an elderly one-armed woman who at first glance appears to be a neighborhood beggar, but who seems startlingly resourceful and well-informed.
She has not yet spent much time dwelling on the dangers of such an occupation, nor her ultimate goals. She shrugs and plays a lively riff on her dark harmonica. Adventure is always the better reason anyway, and Lyra... Lyra believes with the unshakeable certainty of youth that she can talk her way out of anything.
Tiefling Bard (planned College of Whispers but totally willing to flex to support the group)
Urchin
I don't know how to put in a portrait but I'll use the one on my DDB character sheet
Quiet, reserved, suspicious. She uses her performance skills to get her out of trouble more than to make coin but is mildly adept at both tasks
Ballen was abandoned early on after it was discovered her true lineage lay with something infernal although she was never told what. Taking to the streets from such an early age was extremely frightening at first although a few other street-wise scamps showed her a few tricks so she could survive. Her breakthrough happened when she managed to nick the coinpurse of one of the nobles, but that didn't last long at all as their entourage spotted her leaving with the bag and has since had to watch her back even more so she wouldn't get caught. Just recently she began hanging around the Yawning Portal in hopes of recouping enough coin to repay her debt (or at least buy her way out of prison if it came to that) and when adventurers were called, she listened in.
Scartooth, Shifter Ranger (Gloom Stalker, using a lot of Tasha's Ranger features.)
Urban Bounty Hunter
Character Portrait
Scartooth is a grizzled, no-nonsense bounty hunter and mercenary, looking for her next job. She wishes the world had a place for her where she could be a nicer person, but that is not the world she lives in.
Scartooth was born to shifter parents that raised her outside a small village to Waterdeep's northeast, they were hunters and trappers and traded their excess to the town for what they couldn't provide on their own. Scartooth moved to Waterdeep for a more exciting life and just got sucked into the quasi-legal world of bounty hunting and light mercenary work. She's come to the Yawning Portal to look for her next job, of course, it is a common haunt for her.
Character Race and Class - Dragonborn Barbarian (probably Path of Berserker)
Character Background - Soldier
Character Portrait -
Character Personality - Voktar is extremely protective of his friends. He is wary of anyone he doesn't, and is slow to fully trust new people.
Character Backstory (Including how your character came to be in the Yawning Portal Inn) - Voktar was a troubled youth. As a child he was prone to sudden bouts of extreme anger, that even his tribe struggled to handle. He was excommunicated from his tribe after a son of a tribal council member ended up dead after an altercation with Voktar. Voktar spent is exile finding work where he could. He spent a lot of time in the fighting pits, until a wizard called Ulror offered him steady work. Over the next few years, Ulror helped Voktar control and channel his anger. It's been six months since Ulror passed. Voktar has come to Waterdeep, the wizard's birthplace, to find more work and start a new life.
Character Race and Class: Half-Elven Ranger (with eventual multiclass into Paladin)
Character Background: Noble
Character Portrait: Pending
Character Personality: Quiet, contemplative, responsible, dutiful
Character Backstory: An orphaned refugee, Jade was taken in by a noble house and put to work in the stables. Her hard work caring for their chargers brought Jade to the attention of the knights, and through them to the baron and his daughter. Considering the hard working and serious Jade to be a good influence, the baron promoted a friendship between her and his daughter Kitiara and eventually made Jade a page so the two could spend more time together.
The night before Kitiara was to be married (an arranged marriage), Jade was made a squire. When Kitiara came to her that night and said that she was leaving to join the Harpers, Jade was torn between her loyalty to her Baron and her loyalty to her friend. Hoping to sway Kitiara by her devotion to duty, Jade stayed. Kitiara did not...
She was never seen again.
In the seven years since that night, Jade has been burdened by the loss of her friend and the choice she made that night. She knows in her heart that Kitiara is dead.
When Jade was knighted, the Baron declared her knight-errant and made her swear a solemn oath. To find Kitiara and bring her home. In the intervening weeks Jade has traveled to Waterdeep, crossroads of Faerûn, and the Yawning Portal to seek any word of Kitiara or the Harpers.
*DM note: Kitiara was a character I played in a previous campaign. She did become a member of the Harpers and is in fact dead (TPK). If you would like more information about the circumstances I would be happy to provide them. If you would rather tie Kitiara's story more closely to your own campaign, I would just ask that you respect these two key facts.
*General note: Yes, Kitiara and Jade are very loosely based on Jade and Kit from the Disney+ show Willow. You can use that mental image until I find an appropriate character portrait.
Character Personality: A serious woman, capable and confident in her skill with a blade. Friendly, but slow to make friends, a trait she developed in response to losing many close comrades in her years at sea.
Character Backstory: Eilla was born in the Trades Ward of Waterdeep maybe thirty years ago to a poor family. To get out of poverty, the elf joined the Waterdeep Merchant Marine service as soon as she was old enough. She has served many years, learning her way with rope, sail, and sword along the way. On her last tour of duty, she served with the son of one Meloon Wardragon, who had also joined the Merchant Marines. Their ship was waylaid by Luskan pirates, and though they were repelled, the young Wardragon scion was killed in the conflict. Eilla has come to the Yawning Portal to deliver to Meloon his son's last effects, and her sincerest condolences.
Race and Class : Drow elf, he is a Cleric of the Arcana domain.
Background : Baldur’s Gate Criminal.
Character’s Personality - He is extremely curious, studious, and somewhat suspicious, always trying to figure out the angle of things. He views emotions as somewhat useless and occasionally harmful. Some shades of Spock as a Drow elf. If he were at Hogwarts, he would be Slytherin all the way.
Character Backstory. -
Sinak is a Drow from the Underdark who worships the Raven Queen. He has developed contacts and done a few jobs with some of the seedier elements in Baldur's Gate. Not for coin (though that is what he implies that he is interested in), but for what the Raven Queen wants. Information. Knowledge, in all forms. He is curious about powerful artifacts, forces of power that wax and wane in the dirty city.
Recently he has had dreams of a different city, of the city called Waterdeep. He takes to the road to Waterdeep and follows instructions that he felt that his Lady had given him. He is supposed to find out about a great treasure hidden within the city, the Raven Queen is interested in the secrets leading to this and how this came to be. He has heard of a terrible braggart and narcissist named Volo that hangs out at the Yawning Portal, he plans to sit near him and see if he can overhear any juicy gossip. He makes his way into town and follows the directions toward the inn..
Of note, Sinak has heard through a message carried on a raven’s foot that a potential contact has shown up in Waterdeep named Lyra Ravenscale. He was instructed to seek her out for assistance and potentially link up to accomplish his task. He was also told in the message to look for a fierce elven fighter named Ella Stormpiercer. There were other names written on the message, but unfortunately the ink was smudged and wet.
Name: Catriona "Cat" Puddletwist Race and Class: Rock Gnome Artificer (Most likely artillerist down the line, may dip into wizard) Background: Guild Artisan Portrait: Here!
Personality: Bright, cheery, and optimistic. Terribly smart and curious. Loves learning about and from others, as well as chattering about what she has been working on lately. Cat sees the good in everybody - a trait she sees as positive, but results in her being a bit naive and oblivious.
Backstory: Catriona Brigid Ellywick Mareeta Caramip Lucina Puddletwist, or Cat to the big folks who don't like to sit through full gnomish names, grew up in the Trades Ward among a family of gnomish weavers and was expected to take up the family trade. However, she fell in love with tinkering and woodcarving instead, and showed some great promise in imbuing her creations with magic. This pushed her to aspire for something better than a life of making shoes. She has recently earned an apprenticeship in the Guild of Fine Carvers and is hoping to rise through the ranks and eventually open up a shop of her own, but that's going to require a significant investment. As such, she's going to give adventuring a try - sure, it's dangerous, but it's lucrative as well! She heard a rumor that Durnan, the proprietor of the famous Yawning Portal, was able to open his business with the money earned from his adventures, so she's going to ask for some advice. Plus, people always say there's no shortage of troublemaking adventurers at the Portal, so maybe she'll be able to find a party there to help her along in her quest!
Potential Connections: - Cat grew up in the Trades Ward and is around the same age as Eilla. Maybe they played together as kids, or at least knew who each other were. - Cat's family were cobblers, and as such relied on leathers and furs to make quality shoes and boots. Perhaps Scartooth and their hunting party was one of their suppliers.
Character Name: Devos "Dev" Neumon Character Race and Class (with potential Subclass, if you are already thinking that far ahead): Half Elf-Monk-Way of the Fist Character Background: Urchin Character Portrait Character Background: "Yer a charmer, that's what you are." The old woman's words seemed to cling to the smoke and darkness that filled the corner of the tavern. Dev looked up and with a sly smile he said. "I get it from my mum." "Of course ya do" she chided. "Are ya hunger? Would ya like ta get somethin' ta eat?" she asked the young half elf. He nodded greedily and a wrinkled, ring littered hand came out of the dark corner and motioned for someone to bring the boy a plate. "Dev, love." The old woman's voiced cracked a bit when she said his name. He didn't mind it though. This was "Granny", well know for helping young kids on the streets eat and fend for themselves. "Do ya know tha old man down tha way a bit, tha one with the big fence and mean looking guard." she asked. Dev nodded. Everyone knew who that was. He was part of some company that made coffins. "Do ya think ya can get inside and see if." Granny leans in and whispers into his ear. Dev smiles slightly and nods. "Good." Granny says with a smile. "If ya do this, and not get pinched, Granny will be very happy an' you'll not sleep in some dirty old alley every again." "But" she paused for a moment, then said. "Charley here's got ta go with ya ta keep an eye out." Without hesitation Dev agreed. Later that night. "Ya should have seen 'em Granny." Charley's voice raised a little in excitement. "That guard went and got his sword out but in a flash ole Dev here punched 'em. 1, 2 an' tha guard falls flat." Her right index finger stroked her lips as Granny nodded. Dev stood in silence as Charley told his tale, watching the large pastry on Granny's plate more than Charley, Granny or the others. Granny's voice broke him out of his longing gaze. "So ya can fight with yer hands can ya?" she asked. "A little." Dev responded meekly. Granny nodded again. "Ya did good Dev." she smiled at the half elf as she said the words. "You'll be livin' an' trainin' with Nikko." Dev spent 7 years working for Granny and training with Nikko, Granny's main muscle, a gladiator and arena fighter who specialized in bare handed fighting. Those 7 years seemed much longer and Dev learned the ins and outs of Granny's business but, Dev fell out of favor and had been on the outs for a while now. Turns out that the old man and guard from his 1st job were associates of some Thavian Wizard and rumor was Granny was going to give him up. It took him a while to work up the courage to leave. Granny and her crew were the closest thing to a family he ever had and even in their darkest hours, Dev was family. But things have changed. Dev sips his drink. He has been sitting here in the Yawning Portal for an hour now, watching the door. He could get up and leave but, where would he go? Personality: Survival has been Dev's way of life. In Granny's organization he worked as a beggar, burglar, enforcer and one of her prize fighters. What ever she or her captains told him to do, he did. This has all changed. Sitting in the Yawning Portal, Dev is realizing for the first time, he can do what he wants. So Dev is a little confused, currently. He does have a kind streak about him, something Granny tried to force out of him but never could. She always said this was due to his "elf" blood, though he is not sure what she meant by it. Fighting and stealing come easy to him. The rest? He is not too sure about.
Character Race and Class: Human Ranger (Swarmkeeper)
Character Background: Urchin
Character Portrait:
Character Personality: Timid, earnest, Awkward; A mousey girl, used to existing beneath the notice of Waterdeep's busy inhabitants. She is kind, if naive, and holds particular sympathy for animals of all shapes and sizes. She cares little for her appearance, even by the standards of the Waterdeep streets, and tends to be blissfully unaware of people holding their noses in her presence. She values fair play, kindness, and resourcefulness. She feels no shame in doing what it takes to survive.
Character Backstory: Pollyanna was born in a crowded boarding house in East Waterdeep. She was raised there for a time by her mother, who she remembers as a tired woman with a kind smile. She never knew her father. Disease would take her mother when Pollyanna was only 11 years old.
With no one to care for her, she ended up on the streets, taking shelter in empty buildings, dumpsters, and barns. She found herself, every day, navigating the gauntlet of urban survival. With some dumpster diving here, and some panhandling there, she learned to scrounge her meager living in the shadow of the city's opulence. She found it wiser to remain beneath the notice of threatening individuals (police, drunks, sickos, etc.), but has also developed some fighting proficiency from when confrontation became inevitable. Eventually the dank crevices of the city had become her home, the scurrying gutter vermin, her closest friends. She even "adopted" one particularly disheveled sewer rat, affectionately referred to as 'Poxy'.
She comes to the Yawning Portal while making her rounds among the more productive dumpsters of Waterdeep. Finding the garbage fare to be sorely lacking, she decides to head in to try her luck begging for table scraps.
First off, hello and thank you for an opportunity to potentially join this campaign! This would be my first play-by-post campaign but I've done a few D&D things in the past with friends so this could be a fun and convenient way to play D&D! Here's what my character info would be, if there is any feedback please let me know! Thanks!
Character Name: Matthew Lightheart
Character Race and Class (with potential Subclass, if you are already thinking that far ahead): Human Blood Hunter (either Ghostslayer or Mutant), if that is not allowed then Human Rogue (Thief)
Character Background: Criminal
Character Portrait/Reference: (If this doesn't load then I apologize, not totally used to D&D Beyond form tools. It should be on the character sheet as well in that case.)
Character Personality: A bit closed off in personal details but, as the name suggests, lighthearted and generally a gentle spirit. Also has a very strong sense of justice.
Character Backstory (Including how your character came to be in the Yawning Portal Inn): Matthew has always lived in the urban city of Waterdeep ever since he was born. He lived in a happy and healthy family who worked in an apothecaries guild in the city to earn their coin. As a child he seemed to have awakened a little spark of necrotic-like energy inside of him and as he grew up, the power grew more and more until he could start to manipulate it to his will. Around this same time, he witnessed a horrible robbery in the streets. A masked figure was robbing and mugging an innocent bystander on the street for their spare change, and upon witnessing it Matthew felt a great urge of revenge and retaliation build up inside of him. Later that night, he decided that something needed to be done about this, so he followed that mugger home, and ended up robbing them back, giving a more generous load back to that poor victim then they lost initially. This sparked a liking with Matthew, who then learned the trade of a thief so he can deliver his own Robbin Hood-style payback to the people who wrong the innocents in society. He never condones violence or death to his victims, because that would put him as equals to them. He instead uses his necrotic powers and general skills to deliver justice in a quiet, yet harmless manner to even the odds. He regularly visits the Yawning Portal, as it's a way to keep tabs on people who need help...or deserve justice. Plus, it's a nice way for him to relax at the end of his "heists" or just in general as well.
Tie-ins: If anyone wants to tie their character in with mine I am totally open! I do think that as both regulars to the Yawning Portal that Osborne Goodluck and him could know each other, and he could potentially know or have interacted with people who either moved to Waterdeep (Like Scartooth) or were born there (Like Ellia or Catriona). If anyone has extra ideas or are willing to tie them in together let me know!
Thanks to everyone for all your submissions so far. I know how much work goes into a submission and I appreciate all your creativity. It has been a genuine pleasure reading the submissions so far
I received a number of direct questions that I will try to answer on this post.
A few comments so far:
As mentioned in the original post, before I created the thread I had offered a potential place to an experienced player. I am very pleased, and impressed as always by the submission by @JoanBaxter. Joan has a wealth of 5e D&D experience and therefore, time pertimiting, may be able to help me answer any exotic questions that people raise where my knowledge, books and google fail. Therefore by default if she wants a place it is hers. I would encourage others to look at her submission
Q:”would I only have access to the sources” A:I understand that sharing source material depends on your account type on D&D Beyond. I have a DM account and therefore can share the material listed on the original post with others in the campaign.
Q:”is there like a deadline to set up my character for consideration” A:No actual deadline and it isn’t first come / first served. Hopefully we can iterate the characters here until we have a cohesive group. Obviously finial selection remains my responsibility
Q:”there is ever a time where I couldn't be online for a bit due to other commitments should I let you know” A: Please see the Breaks section in the original post. I am not overly strict and we all have events, but I do need to be fair to the other players. If you feel that as a general rule you cannot commit to posting every 1-2 days then this probably isn’t the game for you
Q:Using classes from other material A:Please see the section on Source Books, I am not ruling anything out, but preference will be given to submissions that comply
@BKAce. I love your submission and I can see a gambler working well in this setting. I encourage you to work with others to help integrate your character
@Tybard. Thanks very much for your submission. A really interesting character and great to see a harper. I encourage you to work with others to help integrate your character
@Gnomesftw. Thanks for your submission I can see a Bard working well, skills will be important. Could you expand your background and work with others to help integrate your character.
@Charwoman_Gene. Thanks for your submission a great character. Given the quality of the other submissions could you expand your background and work with others to help integrate your character.
@YuriHalelstrom. Thanks for your submission, I really like your character and I can see it working well. Please work with others to help integrate your character.
@groverbloom. Thanks for your submission. Its great that you want to continue the memory of one of your existing characters. However Kitiara is obviously important to you and therefore I would be concerned about doing her justice or integrating what amounts to other material into the game. Kudos for watching Willow, I don’t watch much TV but I was a fan of the original film.
@JoanBaxter. Thanks as always, brilliant character. As mentioned above you are in by default. I look forward to some Acrobatics and to surprising you with some of my minor customisations to the standard module :-)
@Twombley: I love your submission, I can see this working well with the game. Also we do need a healer. Please work with others to help integrate your character.
@MightyOwl: Thanks a lot for your submission. I always love a Gnome character and I really like how detailed your character is and the integrations you have made with Eilla and Scartooh. I could see them working well together.
@Leapingmountain: Thanks a lot for your submission. I love your take on a Monk, I can see it working well.
General feedback, please consider the different skills the party as a whole will need. There will be action, which does require healing, and skills will be important.
Thanks again to everyone for your submissions. I will continue to review and provide feedback as appropriate.
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Gan-Re: Aarakocra Barbarian - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight | DM - Keys of Empire
*DM note: Kitiara was a character I played in a previous campaign. She did become a member of the Harpers and is in fact dead (TPK). If you would like more information about the circumstances I would be happy to provide them. If you would rather tie Kitiara's story more closely to your own campaign, I would just ask that you respect these two key facts.
Like with most new campaign's, it's best to consider this game set in an alternative universe to one you may have played in before. I love Forgotten Realms and I have probably read most, or all, of the novels from Darkwalker on Moonshae up until the start of 4e (approximately Unholy by RLB). I am always up for a good lore discussion and I’m excited to learn about things I may have missed in 4e.
However there may be some subtle differences, intentional and unintentional, between this and other FR campaign's you have played before. Time permitting I am intending to make a few minor changes to the published "Waterdeep: Dragon Heist Recruitment" campaign to keep it fresh for those who have played it before. There will also be the odd Easter Egg to keep things interesting. Also just before the start of the campaign Elminster had a heavy drinking session and made some rather unwise wishes that may explain any other minor discrepancies between this and your previous games :-)
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Gan-Re: Aarakocra Barbarian - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight | DM - Keys of Empire
@DM It has been suggested that perhaps my character and Koloradio's character come as a pair, a slight bend on mentor/protege, but probably more like person with a tag along. :)
A bard is often known as a jack of all trades, so I am pretty open to helping fill a niche as needed. I'd love to conspire with anyone else in planning this too!
Hello! Osborne's submission here! For integrating my character with y'all's, perhaps he owes them money or the other way around. Maybe if they're a regular at the Yawning Portal like he is, maybe you two could have met before. I'm open to any other Ideas y'all have.
Hello! Osborne's submission here! For integrating my character with y'all's, perhaps he woes them money or the other way around. Maybe if they're a regular at the Yawning Portal like he is, maybe you two could have met before. I'm open to any other Ideas y'all have.
Just to say I love this idea. I'm still reviewing and I want to create the best game for everyone and I hope that you all get along as a party. I should probably be doing this behind a screen, but I'm generally too honest and open for my own good. As mentioned by @groverbloom I am overwhelmed by the submissions already and I’m just disappointed that I cannot include everyone.
At the moment I'm inclined to say that top of my list is:
Fighter: Eilla Stormpiercer
Sorcerer:Osborne Goodluck
Artificer: Catriona "Cat" Puddletwist
Bard: Ballen
So if the above are interested we potentially have two more slots to fill
This is no slight to the brilliant other characters presented, and I hope to pick from these to fill out the party. This is largely based on my knowledge of the challenges the characters will face. Thanks to everyone for your engagement so far.
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Gan-Re: Aarakocra Barbarian - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight | DM - Keys of Empire
This is a full image of Sinak, and after further discussion with KW, he is a Drow elf, not Shadar-Kai. He prefers to use a short sword instead of a mace. He would be glad to fulfill the healing duties for the campaign, with a little arcana bent to him. He would have come to Waterdeep a couple of weeks ago, he is not originally from there. He would have been sitting in the corner repeatedly at the Yawning Portal, Durnan would know his face by now. Taking in gossip, listening to rumors. He would have noted Osborne and seen him at the dice tables, would have struck up a conversation as much casual conversation occurs with gambling. And Cat would have been very unusual and interesting to him, he would have had a friendly conversation, hearing about her creations and aspirations. Subtly, it would be for his own information of course :), but it would have been an interesting discussion.
After seeing Osborne win his third dice game in a row, Sinak smiles at him and under the table subtly casts detect magic, seeing a bluish glow surround the halfling. “Really, quite lucky you are! Tell me, how did you gain such luck? Or is it skill? Knowing when to roll them, and when to hold them?” Sinak would be very curious to hear if there was a hag or an artifact involved..
Sitting with Cat, her optimism and good nature is infectious despite his usual taciturn demeanor. She manages to make Sinak’s face curl up in a smile after conversation, as difficult as that is. “Shoes? Only shoes? I imagine that you are capable of making quite more, my dear. Please tell me, what would be your first creation, your most unusual idea?” He listens, making notes in his mind.
Sitting at the bar, after his second ale poured by Durnan and slowly sipped, he sidles up to Eilla, after overhearing the tale of the boarding by Luskan pirates. This is the one, the one on the raven’s note! He thinks to himself. He puts forth his most calm manner, saying “Greetings, my name is Sinak. Let me buy you a beer, it sounds like you could use one after such hazards, such danger! Tell me, what cargo had you, why were the pirates hunting you down, do you think? The seas are so dangerous nowadays, you must be made of stern stuff!”
As Sinak is sitting at the bar, he makes note of (how could you not) of the tiefling named Ballen that looks a little rough around the edges. Watching the way that she works the room, listens, watches for opportunities - - all of the same things that he does. He recognizes the tricks of the trade. After observing her make her way around the room, he sits next to her at the bar. Always looking for new sources of information. “Hello. What’s your name? ….” After all of the small talk is done, he goes for it. “What have you learned? I’ve seen you make your way around the room, what have your observed? I’m sure that we could ….. help each other. A sharing of information. There is much going on in this city. Would you join me for a drink, for a meal? Perhaps we are alike, you and I…”
Welcome to Waterdeep, the Crown of the North, where a wondrous tale of urban adventure is about to unfold. Our story begins with the gathering of adventurers at the Yawning Portal Inn and Tavern.
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is a treasure hunt set against an urban backdrop. A treasure is hidden somewhere in Waterdeep. Many individuals know about the cache and are looking for it. Adventurers can join the hunt and prevent the cache from falling into evil hands.
The city is threatened by escalating tension between two power groups that is on the verge of flaring into violence. The Zhentarim, a shadowy network of mercenaries, and Xanathar, the beholder crime lord of Waterdeep, are at odds, and when they clash, the characters are pulled into the conflict.
Key points:
Kudos to anyone running games for younger players, I’m just too old to do that :-)
Applications
To apply to join this adventure please post the following information for your character:
Preference will be given to applicants who co-operate on the thread to create a joint backstory, for openness I have also already asked 1 experienced player to consider joining the campaign. The campaign will jump straight into the action.
Only one character application per user. If you want to change your character please do, however only the latest submission will be considered. If you apply and change your mind about joining, please let me know as it will make my final selection easier.
House Rules
Dungeons and Dragons, Fifth Edition (5E).
If you act in a way that makes others uncomfortable you will get a warning, if you intentionally ignore the warning then you will be asked to leave. We all make mistakes including myself, but we are all expected to learn from them.
Source Books:
Please use these sources for all races, classes, and backgrounds. If there is something from a source not listed above that you'd like to play or have considered, please ask. However preference will be given to applicants who comply with the above.
Abilities
Point Buy
Breaks
If you need a short break or are going on holiday then let me know and I will arrange cover. Longer breaks will require discussion / agreement with the whole group
Starting Level
1st level. We will use the Milestones for Level Advancement. By the end of the adventure you should be 5th level. After the adventure we can discuss any follow-on adventures.
Starting Hit Points
Maximum at 1st level. Once you hit 2nd level, hit points will be the higher of a die roll or the average for the class you level up in.
Factions
I have no preference on Factions, but if you have the Faction Agent background then please select from the following list:
Note that Faction membership may affect play and therefore depending on your background alliance with a Faction may make it easier or harder to join a group with people from other factions. If you aren’t sure then you can ask or consider a different background.
Game Format
Mobile friendly with:
If you have any questions then please ask.
Gan-Re: Aarakocra Barbarian - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight | DM - Keys of Empire
Would love to be part of this!
Character Name: Lyra Ravenscale (<-- Link to dndbeyond character sheet).
Character Race: Custom Lineage from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (flavor as quarter-elf).
Character Class: Warlock (Hexblade Patron), multi-class to Bard (College of Eloquence) planned.
Character Portrait, Personality, Background, Backstory and Character Sheet link: see (first) spoiler here:
Portrait: see above.
Background: Custom - Faction Agent (Harpers) / Urban Bounty Hunter
Personality and Backstory: Lyra Ravenscale's prize possession is a dull black harmonica which always hangs at her throat. Found during childhood, it is the source of her magic through its sometimes energetic, sometimes haunting music. Stains her lips like dark lipstick. Through this instrument, she has made what at first was an unwitting pact with the Raven Queen. A mysterious, chaotic neutral demigod of Shadowfell, also represented in her black warhammer hanging, seemingly too heavy for Lyra, at her hip.
Youngest child of a small merchant family and orphaned at an early age, Lyra ran off from her elven grandmother's home at the edges of the High Forest south of Silverymoon as soon as she was of age. Using the fey gifts she had learned as a child playing in the woods along with her considerable charm and eloquence, she has found occasional work in the dock ward of the City of Splendors as an informant and small-time bounty hunter for a faction she knows little of (Harpers). Her only contact is an elderly one-armed woman who at first glance appears to be a neighborhood beggar, but who seems startlingly resourceful and well-informed.
She has not yet spent much time dwelling on the dangers of such an occupation, nor her ultimate goals. She shrugs and plays a lively riff on her dark harmonica. Adventure is always the better reason anyway, and Lyra... Lyra believes with the unshakeable certainty of youth that she can talk her way out of anything.
Character Sheet Link: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/95834578
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep
Character Name: Jade Tanthalos
Character Race and Class: Half-Elven Ranger (with eventual multiclass into Paladin)
Character Background: Noble
Character Portrait: Pending
Character Personality: Quiet, contemplative, responsible, dutiful
Character Backstory: An orphaned refugee, Jade was taken in by a noble house and put to work in the stables. Her hard work caring for their chargers brought Jade to the attention of the knights, and through them to the baron and his daughter. Considering the hard working and serious Jade to be a good influence, the baron promoted a friendship between her and his daughter Kitiara and eventually made Jade a page so the two could spend more time together.
The night before Kitiara was to be married (an arranged marriage), Jade was made a squire. When Kitiara came to her that night and said that she was leaving to join the Harpers, Jade was torn between her loyalty to her Baron and her loyalty to her friend. Hoping to sway Kitiara by her devotion to duty, Jade stayed. Kitiara did not...
She was never seen again.
In the seven years since that night, Jade has been burdened by the loss of her friend and the choice she made that night. She knows in her heart that Kitiara is dead.
When Jade was knighted, the Baron declared her knight-errant and made her swear a solemn oath. To find Kitiara and bring her home. In the intervening weeks Jade has traveled to Waterdeep, crossroads of Faerûn, and the Yawning Portal to seek any word of Kitiara or the Harpers.
*DM note: Kitiara was a character I played in a previous campaign. She did become a member of the Harpers and is in fact dead (TPK). If you would like more information about the circumstances I would be happy to provide them. If you would rather tie Kitiara's story more closely to your own campaign, I would just ask that you respect these two key facts.
*General note: Yes, Kitiara and Jade are very loosely based on Jade and Kit from the Disney+ show Willow. You can use that mental image until I find an appropriate character portrait.
A link to your D&D Beyond Character Sheet: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters
EDIT: Possible ties between Eilla and other submissions:
Totally open to other ideas!
Character Name : Sinak
Race and Class : Drow elf, he is a Cleric of the Arcana domain.
Background : Baldur’s Gate Criminal.
Character’s Personality - He is extremely curious, studious, and somewhat suspicious, always trying to figure out the angle of things. He views emotions as somewhat useless and occasionally harmful. Some shades of Spock as a Drow elf. If he were at Hogwarts, he would be Slytherin all the way.
Character Backstory. -
Sinak is a Drow from the Underdark who worships the Raven Queen. He has developed contacts and done a few jobs with some of the seedier elements in Baldur's Gate. Not for coin (though that is what he implies that he is interested in), but for what the Raven Queen wants. Information. Knowledge, in all forms. He is curious about powerful artifacts, forces of power that wax and wane in the dirty city.
Recently he has had dreams of a different city, of the city called Waterdeep. He takes to the road to Waterdeep and follows instructions that he felt that his Lady had given him. He is supposed to find out about a great treasure hidden within the city, the Raven Queen is interested in the secrets leading to this and how this came to be. He has heard of a terrible braggart and narcissist named Volo that hangs out at the Yawning Portal, he plans to sit near him and see if he can overhear any juicy gossip. He makes his way into town and follows the directions toward the inn..
Character sheet - https://ddb.ac/characters/79533164/1yT0qj
Of note, Sinak has heard through a message carried on a raven’s foot that a potential contact has shown up in Waterdeep named Lyra Ravenscale. He was instructed to seek her out for assistance and potentially link up to accomplish his task. He was also told in the message to look for a fierce elven fighter named Ella Stormpiercer. There were other names written on the message, but unfortunately the ink was smudged and wet.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Name: Catriona "Cat" Puddletwist
Race and Class: Rock Gnome Artificer (Most likely artillerist down the line, may dip into wizard)
Background: Guild Artisan
Portrait: Here!
Personality: Bright, cheery, and optimistic. Terribly smart and curious. Loves learning about and from others, as well as chattering about what she has been working on lately. Cat sees the good in everybody - a trait she sees as positive, but results in her being a bit naive and oblivious.
Backstory: Catriona Brigid Ellywick Mareeta Caramip Lucina Puddletwist, or Cat to the big folks who don't like to sit through full gnomish names, grew up in the Trades Ward among a family of gnomish weavers and was expected to take up the family trade. However, she fell in love with tinkering and woodcarving instead, and showed some great promise in imbuing her creations with magic. This pushed her to aspire for something better than a life of making shoes. She has recently earned an apprenticeship in the Guild of Fine Carvers and is hoping to rise through the ranks and eventually open up a shop of her own, but that's going to require a significant investment. As such, she's going to give adventuring a try - sure, it's dangerous, but it's lucrative as well! She heard a rumor that Durnan, the proprietor of the famous Yawning Portal, was able to open his business with the money earned from his adventures, so she's going to ask for some advice. Plus, people always say there's no shortage of troublemaking adventurers at the Portal, so maybe she'll be able to find a party there to help her along in her quest!
Character sheet: Here!
Potential Connections:
- Cat grew up in the Trades Ward and is around the same age as Eilla. Maybe they played together as kids, or at least knew who each other were.
- Cat's family were cobblers, and as such relied on leathers and furs to make quality shoes and boots. Perhaps Scartooth and their hunting party was one of their suppliers.
Character Name: Devos "Dev" Neumon
Character Race and Class (with potential Subclass, if you are already thinking that far ahead): Half Elf-Monk-Way of the Fist
Character Background: Urchin
Character Portrait
Character Background: "Yer a charmer, that's what you are." The old woman's words seemed to cling to the smoke and darkness that filled the corner of the tavern.
Dev looked up and with a sly smile he said. "I get it from my mum."
"Of course ya do" she chided. "Are ya hunger? Would ya like ta get somethin' ta eat?" she asked the young half elf. He nodded greedily and a wrinkled, ring littered hand came out of the dark corner and motioned for someone to bring the boy a plate.
"Dev, love." The old woman's voiced cracked a bit when she said his name. He didn't mind it though. This was "Granny", well know for helping young kids on the streets eat and fend for themselves. "Do ya know tha old man down tha way a bit, tha one with the big fence and mean looking guard." she asked.
Dev nodded. Everyone knew who that was. He was part of some company that made coffins.
"Do ya think ya can get inside and see if." Granny leans in and whispers into his ear. Dev smiles slightly and nods. "Good." Granny says with a smile. "If ya do this, and not get pinched, Granny will be very happy an' you'll not sleep in some dirty old alley every again."
"But" she paused for a moment, then said. "Charley here's got ta go with ya ta keep an eye out." Without hesitation Dev agreed.
Later that night.
"Ya should have seen 'em Granny." Charley's voice raised a little in excitement. "That guard went and got his sword out but in a flash ole Dev here punched 'em. 1, 2 an' tha guard falls flat."
Her right index finger stroked her lips as Granny nodded. Dev stood in silence as Charley told his tale, watching the large pastry on Granny's plate more than Charley, Granny or the others. Granny's voice broke him out of his longing gaze.
"So ya can fight with yer hands can ya?" she asked.
"A little." Dev responded meekly. Granny nodded again.
"Ya did good Dev." she smiled at the half elf as she said the words. "You'll be livin' an' trainin' with Nikko."
Dev spent 7 years working for Granny and training with Nikko, Granny's main muscle, a gladiator and arena fighter who specialized in bare handed fighting. Those 7 years seemed much longer and Dev learned the ins and outs of Granny's business but, Dev fell out of favor and had been on the outs for a while now. Turns out that the old man and guard from his 1st job were associates of some Thavian Wizard and rumor was Granny was going to give him up. It took him a while to work up the courage to leave. Granny and her crew were the closest thing to a family he ever had and even in their darkest hours, Dev was family. But things have changed.
Dev sips his drink. He has been sitting here in the Yawning Portal for an hour now, watching the door. He could get up and leave but, where would he go?
Personality: Survival has been Dev's way of life. In Granny's organization he worked as a beggar, burglar, enforcer and one of her prize fighters. What ever she or her captains told him to do, he did. This has all changed. Sitting in the Yawning Portal, Dev is realizing for the first time, he can do what he wants. So Dev is a little confused, currently. He does have a kind streak about him, something Granny tried to force out of him but never could. She always said this was due to his "elf" blood, though he is not sure what she meant by it. Fighting and stealing come easy to him. The rest? He is not too sure about.
Character Name: Pollyanna
Character Race and Class: Human Ranger (Swarmkeeper)
Character Background: Urchin
Character Portrait:
Character Personality: Timid, earnest, Awkward; A mousey girl, used to existing beneath the notice of Waterdeep's busy inhabitants. She is kind, if naive, and holds particular sympathy for animals of all shapes and sizes. She cares little for her appearance, even by the standards of the Waterdeep streets, and tends to be blissfully unaware of people holding their noses in her presence. She values fair play, kindness, and resourcefulness. She feels no shame in doing what it takes to survive.
Character Backstory:
Pollyanna was born in a crowded boarding house in East Waterdeep. She was raised there for a time by her mother, who she remembers as a tired woman with a kind smile. She never knew her father. Disease would take her mother when Pollyanna was only 11 years old.
With no one to care for her, she ended up on the streets, taking shelter in empty buildings, dumpsters, and barns. She found herself, every day, navigating the gauntlet of urban survival. With some dumpster diving here, and some panhandling there, she learned to scrounge her meager living in the shadow of the city's opulence. She found it wiser to remain beneath the notice of threatening individuals (police, drunks, sickos, etc.), but has also developed some fighting proficiency from when confrontation became inevitable. Eventually the dank crevices of the city had become her home, the scurrying gutter vermin, her closest friends. She even "adopted" one particularly disheveled sewer rat, affectionately referred to as 'Poxy'.
She comes to the Yawning Portal while making her rounds among the more productive dumpsters of Waterdeep. Finding the garbage fare to be sorely lacking, she decides to head in to try her luck begging for table scraps.
Character Sheet: Pollyanna, Human Ranger
First off, hello and thank you for an opportunity to potentially join this campaign! This would be my first play-by-post campaign but I've done a few D&D things in the past with friends so this could be a fun and convenient way to play D&D! Here's what my character info would be, if there is any feedback please let me know! Thanks!
Thanks to everyone for all your submissions so far. I know how much work goes into a submission and I appreciate all your creativity. It has been a genuine pleasure reading the submissions so far
I received a number of direct questions that I will try to answer on this post.
A few comments so far:
Thanks again to everyone for your submissions. I will continue to review and provide feedback as appropriate.
Gan-Re: Aarakocra Barbarian - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight | DM - Keys of Empire
Like with most new campaign's, it's best to consider this game set in an alternative universe to one you may have played in before. I love Forgotten Realms and I have probably read most, or all, of the novels from Darkwalker on Moonshae up until the start of 4e (approximately Unholy by RLB). I am always up for a good lore discussion and I’m excited to learn about things I may have missed in 4e.
However there may be some subtle differences, intentional and unintentional, between this and other FR campaign's you have played before. Time permitting I am intending to make a few minor changes to the published "Waterdeep: Dragon Heist Recruitment" campaign to keep it fresh for those who have played it before. There will also be the odd Easter Egg to keep things interesting. Also just before the start of the campaign Elminster had a heavy drinking session and made some rather unwise wishes that may explain any other minor discrepancies between this and your previous games :-)
Gan-Re: Aarakocra Barbarian - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight | DM - Keys of Empire
@DM It has been suggested that perhaps my character and Koloradio's character come as a pair, a slight bend on mentor/protege, but probably more like person with a tag along. :)
A bard is often known as a jack of all trades, so I am pretty open to helping fill a niche as needed. I'd love to conspire with anyone else in planning this too!
[deleted]
Hello! Osborne's submission here! For integrating my character with y'all's, perhaps he owes them money or the other way around. Maybe if they're a regular at the Yawning Portal like he is, maybe you two could have met before. I'm open to any other Ideas y'all have.
Just to say I love this idea. I'm still reviewing and I want to create the best game for everyone and I hope that you all get along as a party. I should probably be doing this behind a screen, but I'm generally too honest and open for my own good. As mentioned by @groverbloom I am overwhelmed by the submissions already and I’m just disappointed that I cannot include everyone.
At the moment I'm inclined to say that top of my list is:
Fighter: Eilla Stormpiercer
Sorcerer:Osborne Goodluck
Artificer: Catriona "Cat" Puddletwist
Bard: Ballen
So if the above are interested we potentially have two more slots to fill
This is no slight to the brilliant other characters presented, and I hope to pick from these to fill out the party. This is largely based on my knowledge of the challenges the characters will face. Thanks to everyone for your engagement so far.
Gan-Re: Aarakocra Barbarian - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight | DM - Keys of Empire
This is a full image of Sinak, and after further discussion with KW, he is a Drow elf, not Shadar-Kai. He prefers to use a short sword instead of a mace. He would be glad to fulfill the healing duties for the campaign, with a little arcana bent to him. He would have come to Waterdeep a couple of weeks ago, he is not originally from there. He would have been sitting in the corner repeatedly at the Yawning Portal, Durnan would know his face by now. Taking in gossip, listening to rumors. He would have noted Osborne and seen him at the dice tables, would have struck up a conversation as much casual conversation occurs with gambling. And Cat would have been very unusual and interesting to him, he would have had a friendly conversation, hearing about her creations and aspirations. Subtly, it would be for his own information of course :), but it would have been an interesting discussion.
Character sheet : https://ddb.ac/characters/79533164/y3WNR3
I would love to join the adventure!
After seeing Osborne win his third dice game in a row, Sinak smiles at him and under the table subtly casts detect magic, seeing a bluish glow surround the halfling. “Really, quite lucky you are! Tell me, how did you gain such luck? Or is it skill? Knowing when to roll them, and when to hold them?” Sinak would be very curious to hear if there was a hag or an artifact involved..
Sitting with Cat, her optimism and good nature is infectious despite his usual taciturn demeanor. She manages to make Sinak’s face curl up in a smile after conversation, as difficult as that is. “Shoes? Only shoes? I imagine that you are capable of making quite more, my dear. Please tell me, what would be your first creation, your most unusual idea?” He listens, making notes in his mind.
Sitting at the bar, after his second ale poured by Durnan and slowly sipped, he sidles up to Eilla, after overhearing the tale of the boarding by Luskan pirates. This is the one, the one on the raven’s note! He thinks to himself. He puts forth his most calm manner, saying “Greetings, my name is Sinak. Let me buy you a beer, it sounds like you could use one after such hazards, such danger! Tell me, what cargo had you, why were the pirates hunting you down, do you think? The seas are so dangerous nowadays, you must be made of stern stuff!”
As Sinak is sitting at the bar, he makes note of (how could you not) of the tiefling named Ballen that looks a little rough around the edges. Watching the way that she works the room, listens, watches for opportunities - - all of the same things that he does. He recognizes the tricks of the trade. After observing her make her way around the room, he sits next to her at the bar. Always looking for new sources of information. “Hello. What’s your name? ….” After all of the small talk is done, he goes for it. “What have you learned? I’ve seen you make your way around the room, what have your observed? I’m sure that we could ….. help each other. A sharing of information. There is much going on in this city. Would you join me for a drink, for a meal? Perhaps we are alike, you and I…”
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.