Hello everybody,
I recently bought a copy of Waterdeep Dragon Heist and got the idea, that the module could well be converted to be set in the city of Ravens Bluff (in 1370/71 DR) for our current campaign in the Vast.
My basic idea is to use Myrkyssa Jelan as the main villain in an attempt to acquire the gold reserves of the city, while still openly acting as the recently elected mayor Amber Lynn Thoden. Several aspects of the respective backgrounds tie in quite nicely (for example the dragon Eormennoth is a rather fitting substitute for Aurinax, Charles Oliver O’Kane could work as a less dubious version of Dagult Neverember, the ruins of Sarbreen could be used instead of Undermountain etc.).
My biggest problem is, that I am not quite sure which season to run and how to replace the 4 villains adequately (for those not familiar with the specific adventure: It let’s you choose between 4 main villains - each assigned to one of the seasons. The plot varies depending on that choice and parts of the story are set in different seasons of the year).
I actually own “City of Ravens Bluff" and thus have access to a lot of background information, but, to be honest, I’m somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer mass of lore. I tend to stick very close to published material but Ravens Bluff seems to be slightly overloaded by the ton of material created by the RPGA.
We have never actually played in Ravens Bluff before and it will be the players first stop there. I’ll have to find the right balance between keeping the vast amount of information reasonably manageable and conveying what makes the city unique.
Thus I would be grateful for any advice.
On first look I tend towards using Autumn season and to replacing Jarlaxle with Myrkyssa Jelan / Amber Lynn Thoden with the goal of funding a new army.
Summer (The Cassalanters) seems very specific and probably won't work as good with Myrkyssa Jelan as the main villain. Or could the ritual / ceremony somehow connect to the wild Mythal Jelan is actually looking for?
Winter and Spring seem to focus on the gang war between the Xanathars Guild and the Zhentarim, which doesn’t fit that well into the setting of Ravens Bluff.
Has any of you run the aforementioned seasons and can give me some advice which of them would fit the intended scenario best?
As I understand the adventure, all of the villains will show up in some way, no matter which season is run and who acts as the main villain. So I’ll need substitutes for each of them.
1. Jarlaxle: As mentioned before, if I’ll run the adventure in Autumn, he would be replaced by Myrkyssa Jelan. While the PCs were active in Procampur and Tsurlagol I kept them informed on the events in Ravens Bluff. They have heard of her before and her involvement should spark their interest.
2. The Cassalanters: The Cassalanters could probably be replaced by almost any noble house from Ravens Bluff. None of the houses mentioned in “City of Ravens Bluff” seems to be an obvious choice, but that shouldn’t be a big problem.
3. Manshoon: Obviously Manshoon isn’t in Ravens Bluff in 1370.Thus the easiest way might be to replace him with a fitting Zentharim henchman. The PCs have run afoul with the Zhentarim before so this should work quite well.
4. The Xanathar: This one is the toughest, as Ravens Bluff doesn’t have an active thieves guild. The rumored return of the Four Ravens might be an option but as the PCs have practically no information on Ravens Bluff this seems to be wasted potential with no real significance to them. Of course I could replace the Xanathar with another beholder, the Viper Ring or a group like the Dragon Cult but none of these options seem convincing. I’m somewhat at a loss which group to use without making it feel completely random.
As mentioned before I would be very grateful for any advice or ideas how to run the adventure and get my creative juices flowing.
Thank you very much!
Regards
Trumm
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Converting Waterdeep Dragon Heist for Ravens Bluff
Posted - 09 Nov 2023 : 21:33:28
