Story Overview & Villains! | Waterdeep Dragonheist | Week 1.5

[@Zirbip]

I used the Castleanters but I changed their motivations a bit. It was their children who sold their souls to Devils for power and the Castleanters want the gold to buy their souls back. This makes them less evil (since they aren't Devil worshippers) and more tragic figures trying to do something bad for a good reason.

[@TheDMSide]

I like the flip. Just some parents who love their kids so much they are willing to break all the rules to get them back. Beautiful!

[@Cassapphic]

Ironically I think them being devil worshippers works really well if you want to bridge this into descent into avernus, have them present but probably not as the main villains, and maybe have them try to trick the players in some way that will get them into avernus sucha s trapping them to be used as offerings directly or sending them towards elturel before it gets taken into avernus.

[@Jack-ds3lh]

I'm also going to be DMing dragon heist and this video was very helpful for me. Thank you. I cannot decide at all which villain I want!

[@TheDMSide]

Just know what they all want and see where your characters go! Worst case if you need to change season just give your players down time between chapters 2 and 3

[@victoriawright1591]

This is my first time DMing a campaign, I'm looking forward to it! Thanks for these videos, they're really helping me with narrowing all of the details down to what's "most important" and it's made it less overwhelming to have that starting point.

[@TheDMSide]

So happy to hear this series is helping you! Congrats on starting your DMing adventure! Remember that any “mistakes” can be left to vanish into the past the more confident you get and open honest communication with your players is important. Ever want to talk about stuff message me @dm.troy on instagram ❤️

[@gabae4538]

I’m very new to dming and this has been so helpful

[@TheDMSide]

Thanks Gabae! I love knowing my videos have helped someone. If you ever want to ask a question just send me a message on Instagram at DMSide641.

[@lerfarts]

I actually let my players kinda pick the season without telling them what it was for. I’ll probably change the villains around depending on relationships but they couldn’t decide between autumn and winter so what I’m doing is having it take place late fall/early winter and I’m currently planning to have Manshoon and Jarlaxle working together, because if Manshoon becomes the open lord he might be able to help Jarlaxle get into the Lord’s Alliance. However, Manshoon being super power hungry believes he’s using Jarlaxle as a pawn and is going to not fulfill his promise if he succeeds and Jarlaxle knows Manshoon’s assistance is helping him, but is well aware of the risk and hopes to swipe the dragons out from under him. Lots of fun rp stuff can come from that, I think. I’m excited to see how my players will mess with the dynamic.

[@Jason-on4hg]

So glad I found this channel! I'm one session in and your review really helps me get a great understanding of the story. Cheers and subbed!

[@TheDMSide]

Thanks! So glad I could help. Good luck with your future session and if you need any clarification feel free to comment on any videos or over on instagram if you have it.

[@hreggviuremilevarsson205]

Thank you for making these videos! they're great as a start for the weekly prep!

[@TheDMSide]

I may not have all the answers but I do hope my experience helps spark ideas for your campaign! Thanks for the comment its really appreciated.

[@Melonkholy]

Thanks for the video! I've always ran homebrew campaigns, this is my first time running a module, so I felt a little lost and overwhelmed with information. Thank you so much (:

[@TheDMSide]

No worries! Thanks for watching! Glad its helped. If you have any other burning questions or wanna riff ideas feel free to message me on my insta @dm.troy

[@LazyAnnihilator]

Sweet videos. Dragon Heist is my first DMing campaign and I'm having a tone of fun with it. I'm running chapter 2 a little long. Letting the players explore and do faction missions this also allows them to get to higher levels, their currently creeping close to level 4. Something that has happened by accident is that my players managed to kill Nihiloor the mind flayer while saving Floon. This has caused me to introduce a new mind flayer Rosazagi'Koar who is seeking revenge for Nihiloors death. The plan is that he will be a mini villain they'll have to deal with before the end of chapter 2. Their battles with this mind flayer will put them at odds with Xanathar who is the villain I'm pushing.

[@TheDMSide]

Wow that’s awesome! Good on them for taking out Nihiloor! I love this mini boss you have set up for them. Chapter 2 is the best time to let players explore Waterdeep, once the Fireball goes off at the start of chapter 3 the story really picks up and they get less option for exploring so good decision to sit in the chapter for s little longer.

[@ryanwellence]

I hope this will give me some wisdom before starting my Dragon Hiest game (also, my first D&D game I'm running).

[@TheDMSide]

I hope any of the info in these videos helps you out! Comment if you ever need anything clarified or have questions. Enjoy DMing!!!

[@benhayes304]

Just bought this book to run the game with my kids (first time DM) - these vids are great!

[@TheDMSide]

You and your kids are going to have a blast! Message me on Instagram if you ever want to talk out ideas! It can be a confusing story for a first time DM but as long as you put in the prep time you will be fine

[@benhayes304]

@@TheDMSide Thanks heaps!

[@OnlineMktgSecrets]

I really liked and also decided to have the characters in autumn with Jarlaxle Baenre at the Villon. We only play once a month and so we just completed the 1st session at Trollskull Manor. I had them have a small skirmish on the way there to help them gain some much needed coin for the upcoming renovations. I love your videos, so much more helpful for a new DM like me, than just watching groups play the game. One question, did you ever write up the story and create the mini storytelling videos that you mention at the end of one of your videos?

[@TheDMSide]

Jarlaxle really has been a great villain to run. Im glad the videos have helped you! Good luck with your group, if you are doing monthly games your players might find it helpful to have little write ups of the past session so they dont forget any important information. I usually do that for my players if we skip a week. I have them written up but its been a large tasks so I dont know if Ill get to voice them and edit it out. Its a side project for the moment.

[@NedMcPhie]

How much of the overview do you tell your players? Do you just give them info on waterdeep before starting? What about the stone? Or do you just let them stumble into it from the fireball incident and explain along the way? Sorry if you explain in future videos, im watching through now :P

[@TheDMSide]

I used the fireball incident to begin the search and to start dropping the stone info. I gave them standard info on Waterdeep based on whats in the back end if the book but no info on the stone or any deep lore stuff. If they asked me for info I hadnt given then in game if its something I deemed normal knowledge of most I just tell them but more specific stuff we rolled history or another appropriate ability check

[@NedMcPhie]

@@TheDMSide awesome thank you! :) really enjoying your videos!

[@PeninsulaPaintingProjects]

Would you do this style of video for Frost Maiden?

[@TheDMSide]

If I end up running the game I 100% will. Im currently planning to do a run of Critical Roles: Netherdeep I do want to go through as many books in this style as possible. They do unfortunately take months to make 🤣

[@sarahtachibana1333]

Anyone who chose Xanathar as their main villain, how did you handle his renown? Did you treat him as a secret "he shall not be named" type whose name was rarely uttered and used as a threat, or did you have his henchmen more like sycophants who were constantly dropping his name to steal some of the glow for themselves? I'm struggling with that choice myself, and curious how other people handled it...

[@TheDMSide]

I didnt run Xanathar himself but I did have his thugs be known by the city as Xanathars group only thing is everyone who is a commoner and not high up in the city (and even most nobles tbf) doesnt know he is a beholder even his lower thugs dont know.

[@Poseidon_0651]

I played and mine was going to be manshoon but it ended up switching to xanathar turned out okay wasnt fully ready for a swap but its how it ended uo

[@TheDMSide]

Sometimes we just cannot plan where the story will take us but as long as you overall enjoyed what you ran and your players had fun then Manshoon can show up somewhere else in another story if he makes sense :)

[@viktordjambov1437]

Hi! awesome video! I have a quick question: How do i let my players decide the main villain? and can the main villains' arcs coexist in the same season perhaps? What is the best time to decide which villain they have chosen?

[@TheDMSide]

Hey great question! Honestly what I did was I just allowed each villains minions to be in the world and saw how my players interacted with them. For example there was a moment in the book where the Zhentarim and Xanathar guilds were having a street brawl in the Field Ward so my players jumped in and stopped the Zhentarim... Xanathars thugs took off but seeing as my players sided with a group to stop the brawl faster it made the Zhentarim not like them. As for when you should decide on who the villain should be? Well latest I think is when the Fireball hits because thats when they start to follow the clues. You can run them all but its tricky so Id say maybe not? There is a version called the “Alexandrian” version online. Its not official but al it of people run that story because its more of a proper heist and includes all the main villains.

[@viktordjambov1437]

Thanks for the response!

[@patrickmurphyjr9970]

Any recommendations if this is my first time as a dungeon master? This book seemed very fun to me!

[@TheDMSide]

It is very fun. My own personal advice is: If you have never played dnd before PLUS its your first time DMing then start with something like the “Lost mines of Phandelver” starter story or the “Dragon of Icespire Peak” essentials kit and have those characters then come into Waterdeep once the starter story is over. Waterdeep has deep lore and is just s huge city so it can be overwhelming for new DMs. Having said that it is a fun story to run so it will just be a steep learning curve and a lot of pre planing only to have your players not do what you planned and you making it up on the spot hahaha.