You create a ward that protects up to 2,500 square feet of floor space. The warded area can be up to 20 feet tall, and you shape it as one 50-foot square, one hundred 5-foot squares that are contiguous, or twenty-five 10-foot squares that are contiguous. When you cast this spell, you can specify individuals that are unaffected by the spell’s effects. You can also specify a password that, when…

Level 6 Abjuration (Bard, Wizard) Casting Time: 1 hour Range: Touch Components: V, S, M (a silver rod worth 10+ GP) Duration: 24 hours You create a ward that protects up to 2,500 square feet of floor space. The warded area can be up to 20 feet tall, and you shape it as one 50-foot square, one hundred 5-foot squares that are contiguous, or twenty-five 10-foot squares that are contiguous. When you…

Guards protect people, places, and things, either for pay or from a sense of duty. They might perform their duties vigilantly or distractedly. Some raise alarms at the first sign of danger and defend their charges with their lives. Others flee outright if their compensation doesn’t match the danger they face. To distinguish between Waterdeep’s different groups of guardians, keep this handy…

Wondrous Item, uncommon This engraved block of lead, approximately 1 cubic foot in size, holds an embedded Siberys dragonshard. The Houseward provides state-of-the-art magical security, and is typically embedded into the floor of the building it is supposed to protect. If any creature with the Mark of Warding spends 10 minutes touching the Houseward, it can cast Guards and Wards without requiring…

Wondrous Item, Uncommon (Wards 2,500 Square Feet), Rare (Wards 5,000 Square Feet), Legendary (Wards 10,000 Square Feet) This engraved block of lead, approximately 1 cubic foot in size, holds an embedded Siberys dragonshard. The Houseward provides state-of-the-art magical security, and is typically embedded into the floor of the building it is supposed to protect. If any creature with the Mark of…

Guards are perceptive, but most have little martial training. They might be bouncers, lookouts, members of a city watch, or other keen-eyed warriors.

Sentry and Watch Member Guards protect people, places, and things, either for pay or from a sense of duty. They might perform their duties vigilantly or distractedly. Some raise alarms at the first sign of danger and defend their charges with their lives. Others flee outright if their compensation doesn’t match the danger they face. They’re perceptive, but most have little martial training. They…

This gatehouse houses on-duty soldiers and separates the civilian areas of the keep from the inner bailey (area 13). When the characters arrive at the inner gatehouse, read the following boxed text aloud: This gatehouse consists of a broad stone archway framed by a squat building constructed along the keep’s inner wall. Battlements line its flat roof, atop which two guards stand watch. The…

Sentry and Watch Member Guards protect people, places, and things, either for pay or from a sense of duty. They might perform their duties vigilantly or distractedly. Some raise alarms at the first sign of danger and defend their charges with their lives. Others flee outright if their compensation doesn’t match the danger they face. Guards are perceptive, but most have little martial training.…

Wardens watch over drow encampments and often work closely with one another in small groups.

Guard captains often have ample professional experience. They might be accomplished bodyguards, protectors of magic treasures, veteran watch members, or similar wardens.

Read the following after resolving Abbreviated Descent: A chill grips you as you descend into a room dominated by a stone altar in its center. Two pale, ghostly figures flit about the room, cackling eerily while hurling books and square tiles at each other and a series of gold-framed mirrors hung on the far wall. A large mirror lies shattered on the stone floor, and a masked face displayed in a…

Combat is prohibited in the keep. If you need game statistics for an NPC, reference the recommended stat block listed on their NPC Card. At your discretion, characters who antagonize peaceful members of the keep might attract the attention of the soldiers of the keep, of whom there are many (use the Guard stat block). Those who refuse to keep the peace might be arrested and detained for a few…

The Dock Ward is known in Calimport as the Ward That Never Sleeps, and this ward has more taverns, inns, and warehouses than anywhere else in the city. Inside the protective seawall, dockworkers labor day and night, offloading and loading ships.

The wealthiest and most affluent Calishites own luxurious homes and villas in the Palace Ward. Several nations and city-states maintain embassies here, under the watchful eye of the Dragon Guard, the sultana’s elite personal guard of dragonborn warriors. Taverns and bathhouses in the Palace Ward serve as gathering spots for the city’s elite, while theaters provide entertainment. Important…

The Wizard Ward is the seat of the Guild Arcane, Calimport’s mages’ guild. Towers, academies, shops, libraries, and homes line the ward’s narrow, meandering alleyways. Mechanical Wonders clean the streets and run errands, while strange magic can be seen in windows and on rooftops. The Plaza of Oranges—a long, wide park suitable for quiet relaxation and the occasional arcane duel—fills the north…

Abra grants the characters access to the Iron Vault, a secondary vault within the Archival Vault reserved for the most dangerous tomes, including the works of Zagig Yragerne. There, they immediately learn the mystery tome’s title: “The Liminal Seal: Manipulations of the Imprisoned Soul.” The Liminal Seal The Liminal Seal: Manipulations of the Imprisoned Soul is a forbidden text that explores the…