Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is an adventure module for the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, released on September 18, 2018. Christopher Perkins serves as the lead designer of the module, with Matthew Mercer (of Critical Role fame) being brought in as a story consultant.
Taking place within Waterdeep, the City of Splendors, the story begins with the adventurers being hired by famed author and explorer Volothamp "Volo" Geddarm to help him find a friend of his who disappeared after their meeting a couple of nights ago. But as the adventurers begin to settle into Waterdeep, they soon hear rumors that a cache of half a million gold coins (locally known as "dragons") is hidden within a secret vault somewhere in the city, and many individuals in and out of Waterdeep have long been looking for the vault to claim the treasure inside, some of whom with more insidious motives in mind. And so begins a wild city-wide treasure hunt, where adventurers can meet many of Waterdeep's most influential figures who can help them in their quest to uncover the vault, while pitting them against some of its most infamous villains who will stop at nothing to claim the cache as theirs.
This adventure module is immediately followed up with Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, where adventurers can venture below the Yawning Portal inn and explore the famous dungeon complex known as Undermountain.
This adventure provides examples of:
- Alliance Meter: The five Sword Coast factions (Emerald Enclave, Harpers, Lords' Alliance, Order of the Gauntlet, Zhentarim) as well as Force Grey, Bregan D'aerthe, and the Xanathar Guild are all tied into this adventure and adventurers have the opportunity to work alongside or against them if they are to uncover the Vault of Dragons. Upon joining one or more of these factions, the member/s will be given a Loyalty Mission by their contacts that awards them with renown within a faction upon completion. The higher a member's renown, the better the faction will do at providing aid to its member during the adventure.
- Always Save the Girl: Between their two remaining children and a hundred innocent Waterdhavians, Victoro and Ammalia Cassalanter would prefer sacrificing the latter to Asmodeus just to get out of their Deal with the Devil.
- Antagonistic Offspring: Renaer Neverember, the son of Dagult Neverember, is estranged from his father and will gladly help out the adventurers in obtaining the cache of dragons, even if it goes against his father's plans. Especially if it goes against his father's plans.
- The Archmage: No less than four of them are known within the adventure module:
- The Blackstaff, Vajra Safahr, is the official Archmage of Waterdeep. She carries the titular magical staff that contains the souls of her predecessors, who provide her with advice as well as a boost to her already formidable magical powers.
- Laeral Silverhand, who is the Open Lord of Waterdeep and a daughter of Mystra, the goddess of magic.
- Manshoon, one of the founding leaders of the Zhentarim, is the only evil archmage present in the adventure. He's actually a sentient clone of the real Manshoon, who's been dead for over a century.
- Although Elminster Aumar isn't present in the actual adventure, there are several details within the module that do mention of his involvement in Waterdeep's past.
- The Bad Guy Wins:
- The special events tied to the Cassalanters can actually result in this if the adventurers weren't able to put a stop to Victoro and Ammalia's Evil Plan in time. By the time the Founders' Day party being hosted by the Cassalanters is over, the stolen cache of dragons had already been paid to Asmodeus alongside the souls of ninety-nine Waterdhavians that they've poisoned to death, thus saving Terenzio and Elzerina's souls from being forfeited to the archdevil. From that point on, the couple would use their noble status as well as threats of infernal retribution to silence any witnesses and quash any investigations against them regarding the stolen dragons. Of course, an alternative take on this scenario would be that the adventurers are willing to let the Cassalanters claim the gold in the end, if only to help prevent the couple from losing their only children to Asmodeus.
- Adventurers who join (or for non-drow, sympathize with) the Bregan D'aerthe may choose to let Jarlaxle Baenre claim the gold as well as the Dragonstaff of Ahghairon upon meeting him outside the Vault of Dragons after unlocking it.
- Big Bad Ensemble: A unique case among 5th Edition adventures, as the module provides four different villains for the DM to choose between, all of whom are after the cache of dragons and are each tied to a particular season in Waterdeep:
- Spring Madness: Xanathar, the namesake leader of the infamous Xanathar Guild, is a ruthless beholder crime lord who seeks to intimidate and eliminate anyone whom it perceives as a threat to its rule in the city's criminal underworld. Its main goal is to wipe out the Zhentarim (as well as those who sympathize with the Zhantarim) within Waterdeep, obtain the Stone of Golorr, and secure the cache of dragons, as it believes that the dragons would be much safer under its ever-watchful gaze.
- Hell of a Summer: Ammalia and Victoro Cassalanter, a pair of influential Waterdhavian nobles who pride themselves in their business of money-lending and rumor-mongering. They are also devil cultists in secret, as they have previously struck a deal with Asmodeus to provide wealth and power to their family in exchange for the souls of their children. They plan to use the dragons alongside sacrificing nearly a hundred Waterdhavians in order to spare their two remaining children from infernal damnation.
- Maestro's Fall: Jarlaxle Baenre, an elusive drow mercenary and the charismatic leader of the Bregan D'aerthe. He plans to use the dragons as leverage for Luskan's inclusion into the Lords' Alliance in order to boost his influence within the Sword Coast, as well as to oust Neverwinter and its leader, Lord Dagult Neverember, from the organization due to him being perceived by Jarlaxle as his fiercest political rival.
- Winter Wizardry: Manshoon, one of the founding leaders of the Zhentarim which is in the midst of a Mob War with the Xanathar Guild, as well as an Enemy Civil War with another Zhentarim group that opposes Manshoon's plans. He is actually one of the few surviving sentient clones of the original Manshoon, who died long before the events of the adventure, and is searching for the cache of dragons as part of his Evil Plan to take over Waterdeep alongside his loyal Zhentarim agents and exact revenge on Halaster Blackcloak for a past incident in Undermountain.
- Big Good: Depending on the faction the adventurers serve, there are different paragons involved:
- For the Emerald Enclave, there is Jeryth Phaulkon, a noblewoman-turned-demigoddess and Chosen of Mielikki.
- For Force Grey, there is the Blackstaff Vajra Safahr, who is officially The Archmage of Waterdeep.
- A twofer for the Harpers: Remallia Haventree, a high-ranking Harper agent who is also the lady of House Ulbrinter, as well as Mirt "the Moneylender", a Retired Badass who serves as one of the Masked Lords of Waterdeep and a close advisor to Laeral Silverhand.
- For the Lords' Alliance, there is Laeral Silverhand, the Open Lord of Waterdeep and Chosen of Mystra.
- Call-Back: Savra Belabranta, the adventurers' main contact in the Order of the Gauntlet, is revealed to have been a former member of the Cult of the Howling Hatred, one of the four evil cults responsible for the events of Princes of the Apocalypse. Some time after the cults have been defeated, Savra soon turned to serving Tyr (and by extension, the Order of the Gauntlet) as atonement for her past sins.
- Cthulhumanoid: One of Xanathar's lieutenants is a mind flayer named Nihiloor, who acts as The Spymaster for the Xanathar Guild by using intellect devourers to create a spy ring of Meat Puppets. If the adventurers killed Nihiloor, Xanathar would eventually replace it with another mind flayer named Qrr'zarq, who unbeknownst to the beholder is secretly plotting to implant it with an illithid tadpole and turn it into its thrall.
- Deal with the Devil: Three years prior to the events of the adventure, the Cassalanters were on the verge of bankruptcy. To save themselves from financial ruin, Victoro and Ammalia Cassalanter struck a deal with the archdevil Asmodeus to provide them wealth and power in exchange for the souls of their children. This results in their eldest son, Osvaldo, being transformed immediately into a chain devil, while their two youngest children, Terenzio and Elzerina, were doomed to lose their souls as well once they turn nine years old. In the present day, this deal is what motivates the couple to search for the cache of dragons in order to offer it alongside the souls of ninety-nine unsuspecting Waterdhavians as a replacement for the souls of Terenzio and Elzerina.
- Dragon Hoard: The Vault of Dragons is guarded by an adult gold dragon named Aurinax, who was tasked to guard the treasure within until Dagult Neverember or his appointed vassals can remove it. Although upon meeting him, he will initially take the form of a dwarf named Barok Clanghammer to converse with visitors and will only revert to his true form when combat breaks out.
- Enemy Civil War: The Xanathar Guild and the Zhentarim under the command of Manshoon are fighting it out off-screen. So are Manshoon and the Doom Raiders, resulting in a Mêlée à Trois.
- Family Business: Aurinax will assume that this is the case if the adventurers bring Renaer Neverember with them to retrieve the gold. Renaer is, in fact, estranged from his father Dagult, and will gladly spoil his plans if he can.
- Forced Transformation: Osvaldo Cassalanter, eldest of the Cassalanter children, was transformed into a chain devil after Asmodeus claimed his soul through an infernal contract with his parents. Like all devils, he took a dip into the River Styx, and there is no way of saving him upon finding him within the family villa. This fate also awaits his younger siblings Terenzio and Elzerina, who will be transformed into lemure devils on their ninth birthday if their parents' deal can't be canceled.
- For the Evulz: The module notes that while the Cassalanters think that they've outsmarted Asmodeus, the archdevil most likely included the clause that allows them to get out of their deal by sacrificing ninety-nine souls simply because he enjoys the agony it would bring.
- Gambit Pileup: The module is one between Xanathar, Manshoon's clone, the Cassalanters, Jarlaxle Baenre and the players all trying to get their hands on a massive horde and/or disrupt each other from doing so, with various other factions dealing with the fallout of their actions and the gang war between Xanathar and the Zhentarim.
- Good Parents: Played for Drama. The Cassalanters love their children dearly and seem to raise them well. Too bad they owe their children's souls to Asmodeus, and need to kill ninety-nine people as well as steal a cache of half a million dragons just to save all but one of them. Granted, the fact that they were willing to offer the souls of their children at all just to save their family from financial ruin calls into question how good they actually are.
- Greater-Scope Villain:
- Dagult Neverember, former Open Lord of Waterdeep and current Lord Protector of Neverwinter, doesn't control any of the main villains of the adventure nor appears anywhere within the adventure, but he was the one who stole half a million dragons from the people of Waterdeep and hid it within a secret vault many years ago. A rock gnome spy named Dalakhar was tasked by Dagult with smuggling the Stone of Golorr out of Waterdeep, only to die in a fireball explosion just as he was about to seek help from the adventurers that rescued Dagult's son. Whether or not he's an actual villain depends on who you ask.
- Of course, for the Hell of a Summer storyline, this title goes to Asmodeus, archduke of Nessus.
- Greed: Subverted; Every villain, with the exception of Xanathar, has a reason for seeking the gold other than just wanting it. Aurinax, the dragon in the vault, however, is noted to be too blinded by his own greed to accept what he secretly knew all along: that the gold is not really Dagult Neverember's gold.
- Haunted Headquarters: The player characters soon learn that Trollskull Manor is haunted by the poltergeist of its original Workaholic proprietor. It's initially hostile, but becomes a Friendly Ghost if they reopen the tavern and run the business well.
- It's All About Me: The Cassalanters would have been the most sympathetic villains, since they are trying to save their children's souls, if they hadn't brought their misfortunes entirely upon themselves in the first place by selling their children to Asmodeus.
- Karmic Jackpot: Literally the easiest way to acquire the horde from the gold dragon guarding it is pointing out it's been embezzled and should be returned to its rightful owners. Subverted if the PCs use Bluff or their rescued allies to swindle the dragon.
- Keep the Reward: Enforced and Justified. The vast treasure you find at the climax was stolen from the City of Waterdeep and the rulers want it back. The Player Party are permitted a generous "finder's fee", but if they try to make off with the entire treasure, they'll be outlawed and hunted down by multiple powerful law enforcement agencies.
- Legacy Character:
- It's the Xanathar, because it is not the first to carry that name nor its position as the leader of the guild. According to Issue #206 of the Dungeon magazine, the current Xanathar's actual name is Zushaxx. Its main hideout even features a mortarium where all the previous Xanathars are interred.
- The Black Viper, a notorious thief and assassin in Waterdeep, was originally donned by Alauneth Orrane and was infamous not only for stealing from nobles and merchants, but for being allies with the equally infamous Shadow Thieves. A century after Alauneth's death, the Black Viper has resurfaced to cause trouble across the city once again, now donned by Esvele Rosznar as a way to escape her day-to-day life.
- Light and Mirrors Puzzle: One of the possible keys needed to unlock the Vault of Dragons is sunlight, which can be challenging since the entrance is located far below the surface for natural sunlight to reach. So unless the adventurers have other means of bringing sunlight to the entrance (such as a magic item or spell that produces sunlight), the adventurers would have to resort to lining up a bunch of mirrors to reflect sunlight all the way towards the vault entrance.
- Living Statue: The Walking Statues are colossal, sentient constructs that were built to defend Waterdeep in times of crisis. There are around eight of these statues that can be found within the city, and they can only be animated and controlled by the Blackstaff. The adventure module even provides a stat block that is shared with all of the walking statues.
- MacGuffin: The hidden cache of dragons, of course. There is also the Stone of Golorr, a magical artifact with no other purpose than being used to track down the vault containing the dragons, as well as to acquire the keys needed to open the vault.
- Madman in the Attic: After Victoro and Ammalia Cassalanter traded away his soul for power, Osvaldo was soon chained up in the attic of their family villa as he slowly transformed into a chain devil, with only a magic pentagram and a couple of imps keeping him from escaping. Should the adventurers find him, they might end up putting him out of his misery as he had already lost his sanity at that point and will attack indiscriminately as soon as he is freed.
- Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: This is how the adventurers get involved in the search for the Vault of Dragons. In Chapter 1, they were hired by Volo to search for Floon Blagmaar, only to stumble upon Renaer Neverember telling them that both the Zhentarim and the Xanathar Guild were targeting him for the location of the vault, with the latter ending up kidnapping Floon by mistake. Then in Chapter 3, an investigation into the fireball spell that shook Trollskull Alley leads to the adventurers chasing after the culprit: a nimblewright that was also ordered to deliver the Stone of Golorr to one of the Big Bads. Once the nimblewright has been dealt with, they can then pick up the trail to the Stone of Golorr and find the Vault of Dragons.
- The Need for Mead: In a City of Adventure such as Waterdeep, there's plenty of taverns across its five wards to visit and buy ale from. Of course, the Yawning Portal is the most iconic tavern in Waterdeep, if not in all of Faerûn. After helping out Volo in Chapter 1, adventurers would be able to get their own tavern in Trollskull Alley to operate and make money from, if they choose to fix up and reopen it.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: The Xanathar Guild's mess cook, Bepis Honeymaker, was kidnapped and held ransom one month before the story began, only for his in-laws to destroy the ransom notes and tell his wife and children he ran away. Ahmaergo, Xanathar's chief slaver, decided to make Bepis the guild's overworked cook for their lower members. He's so distressed by the time the players arrive that he mistakes them for possible kitchen help and puts them to work. Bepis, meanwhile believes that his family has simply decided he wasn't worth the money.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: If the heroes decide to patch up the tavern that they find themselves in ownership of, their rival, Emmek Frewn, has fallen afoul of the Carpenters', Roofers', and Plaisterers' Guild for attempting to save money by (successfully) fixing his own roof.
- Our Dragons Are Different: There are two dragons that can be found within Waterdeep, despite the city supposedly being warded against them by the Dragonward of Ahghairon. In Deepwater Harbor, there's a bronze dragon named Zelifarn who just hangs outside of the Ward, scouring shipwrecks for treasure and trinkets to hoard in his underwater lair. And inside the Vault of Dragons, there is the gold dragon named Aurinax, who in exchange for the magic staff that exempts him from the Ward, promised to guard the cache of dragons until Dagult Neverember or his appointed vassals return to remove it from the vault.
- The Paranoiac: Like any other beholder, Xanathar is essentially this. It was quick to accuse the Zhentarim of stealing the Stone of Golorr when the artifact went missing during a negotiation, inciting a Mob War against them. And as anyone in the Xanathar Guild would know, even the smallest mistake would cause Xanathar to lose its trust in them, which will not end well for the offender. Savvy adventurers can take advantage of its paranoia to sow mistrust and chaos within the Xanathar Guild and disrupt their operations.
- Pro Bono Barter: The adventure begins when Volo hires the player party to rescue a kidnapped friend. Afterwards, he admits that he's low on cash but can pay them in real estate instead, netting them the abandoned, haunted Trollskull Manor.
- Pun: The adventure module has a lot of fun with the term "golden dragon", which could either refer to Waterdeep's local term for their golden currency or an actual gold dragon.
- Refused Reunion: A wealthy family offers a reward for the return of their missing son. If the player characters locate him, he's found a new Family of Choice in a wererat criminal gang and refuses to return home, having been turned into a wererat himself.
- Renegade Splinter Faction: The Zhentarim led by Manshoon functions as this, as opposed to the one led by the Doom Raiders. With the former being far more malevolent and are actively plotting to Take Over the City with Manshoon as its ruler, while the latter are only interested in establishing legitimate businesses within the city through deals with the local guilds and nobles. Adventurers who are interested in joining the Zhentarim are often being recruited by the Doom Raiders, who can help them find the Vault of Dragons before Manshoon does and put a stop to his plans for good.
- Replacement Goldfish: A literal example: the sole other living being that Xanathar legitimately cares about aside from itself is its pet goldfish, Sylgar. Given the lifespan of a goldfish, one of the unofficial duties of the underling responsible for its care is to replace it with a new Sylgar whenever it dies. Fortunately for them, Xanathar can't tell the difference between individual fish and hasn't noticed yet.
- Retired Badass: Downplayed with the Doom Raiders, who were a group of adventurers that became famous for plundering lich lairs. They then hung up their adventuring careers to join the Zhentarim and establish a branch of the organization in Waterdeep. That still doesn't make them any less powerful than they were as adventurers, as they can still kick some serious ass if the situation calls for it. After all, the Doom Raiders are up against another Zhentarim group within Waterdeep led by Manshoon, and will stop at nothing to expose him before they are apprehended or driven out of the city by the local authorities.
- Roof Hopping: One of the scenarios encountered in search for the Stone of Golorr is a rooftop chase.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: Averted. While the initial poltergeist activity in Trollskull Manor may seem like things that could be duplicated with low-level spells, and there are grumblings from other business owners in the neighborhood about a reopened inn being competition or attracting the wrong crowd, the building really is haunted.
- Sequel Hook: By the end of the adventure, the adventurers receive a note from Durnan who invites them to venture into Undermountain from the Yawning Portal, setting the hook for Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage.
- Shout-Out: Jarlaxle is pretty much one big Sean Connery Expy. To make the comparison obvious, he owns a submarine named the Scarlet Marpenothnote and he goes by the alias Zardoz Zord. When taking his drow surname into account, he also shares the same initials as a certain fictional British spy.
- Songs in the Key of Lock: One of the potential vault keys needed to access the cache of dragons is a performance of "Your Beardy Face", a dwarven love duet played with bagpipes.
- Soul Jar: The Blackstaff (the artifact, not the individual) contains the souls of its previous wielders, all of whom contribute to the staff's sapience, with Khelben Arunsun, the first Blackstaff and Laerel Silverhand's husband, as the dominant personality. The souls can be freed by breaking the staff (easily done by just breaking it over your knee), but Khelben's spirit can reform it at any time, trapping the spirits again.
- Street Urchin: Three young orphans (Nat, Jenks, and Squiddly) can be encountered by the PCs at various points in the story, getting into shenanigans and helping or inadvertently hindering them. The trio consider themselves adventurers of a sort, and will quickly latch onto and idolize the players if they treat them well.
- Strict Parents Make Sneaky Kids:
- Esvele Rosznar, a young Waterdhavian noble, had a very strict upbringing as part of her family's efforts to wipe away their history of illicit slave trading from the minds of the public. Rebelling towards her parents only resulted in her being shut in her home at night and house guards watching her every move during the day. She then taught herself the arts of skullduggery, assassination, and theft as a way of cutting herself loose from the decadent noble life, culminating in adopting the identity of the Black Viper, an infamous Waterdhavian criminal who supposedly died a century ago.
- The Cassalanters keep their two young children on a fairly tight leash, having them privately tutored and rarely allowing them to leave the family villa. As such, should the PCs try to befriend them if they encounter them while staging a heist there, the children will likely be eager to help out, giving them info on the villa's layout and what they know about their parents' dealings, as well as helping them sneak around (especially if the PCs want to get into the few rooms the kids are forbidden from entering).
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Half a million gold coins is a LOT of money, and word travels fast if it's recovered by the adventurers. And due to it being embezzled by Dagult Neverember years ago, the money is technically stolen property of the city. Because of this, the adventurers will not be able to legally keep the whole cache and will have to settle for being rewarded a tenth of it (which, at 50,000 gold pieces, is still a lot of money) for doing the right thing. If the players do not return the money to the city, they'll be immediately charged with robbery, stripped of their faction ranks, and quickly arrested with no real way to pay back the damages that are owed for their crimes, if not hunted by the Lords' Alliance and Harpers if they somehow escape.
- Swashbuckler: Jarlaxle, apart from being a swashbuckler himself, has several in his employ (appropriately enough using a statblock called drow swashbuckler). There are also several mechanical duelist constructs called nimblewrights that are built with this aesthetic in mind.
- Two Shots from Behind the Bar: Durnan, the proprietor of the Yawning Portal, keeps both his magical greatsword Grimvault and a double crossbow within reach in case of emergency. Though in the event that he would be involved in a Bar Brawl, he'd prefer fighting with his own fists or a well-flung tankard.
- Treasure Hunt Episode: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist serves as this among the 5th Edition adventure modules (despite the title making it look like a Heist Episode), as its plot revolves around the Vault of Dragons, within which half a million golden coins are being kept and is being searched for by everyone in Waterdeep, including the adventurers and the villains.
- Unbreakable Weapons: Played with with the Blackstaff, the magical artifact wielded by Waterdeep's eponymous archmage. It can be destroyed by just breaking it over one's knee, but the soul of Khelben Arunsun can reform the staff from the pieces anytime he wishes.
- What the Hell, Hero?: If the players recover the gold from the Vault of Dragons and refuse to return it to the city, then they will be scolded by city authorities, expelled from any good-aligned faction they belonged to, and then arrested and/or hunted.
- You All Meet in an Inn: The adventure begins with a Bar Brawl within the popular Yawning Portal inn. The players even get to pick out a contact among the patrons inside, who acts as a "friendly face" for them.
DISCLAIMER: The Lords of Waterdeep cannot be held responsible for the flogging, banishment, incarceration, or execution of adventurers who violate the Code Legal, nor are the Lords responsible for the actions of beholder crime lords, unscrupulous nobles, drow swashbucklers, and evil clones. Also, don't be alarmed by the colossal statues scattered throughout the city. They're quite safe and haven't gone berserk in years.
