| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Delwa |
Posted - 27 May 2016 : 18:14:59
This is kinda a brainstorming / advice seeking thread.
I'm looking to start a Waterdhavian Campaign for my guys this fall. I've got all the DM resources I want for the game, including Volo's Guide to Waterdeep, the City of Splendors boxed set, the 3.5 Waterdeep book, and a few others.
I don't have an overarching plot for the game. My whole goal is to just have fun in the city; letting PC's make characters and play around the city's intrigues, plots, and events, a kind of sandbox really. I'm essentially running a series of one-shots in the city, allowing PC's to have fun, get involved in the politics, make allies, enemies, etc. In the end, the PC's will become the NPC's of future campaigns.
I plan on using the Chapbook ideas from this scroll for one of the many potential quests. I'm also keen on using some of the ideas here as well. I've seen the City of Splendors pop up in more recent threads, and I've been following them for inspiration.
Anyway, getting to the point, I want to make a quick reference packet for my players. Quick reference sheets on different facets of life in the city, such as who's who, laws of the city, stuff every inhabitant of the city would know without thinking, but a player that hasn't memorized Volo's Guide to Waterdeep might not know. I found this on the Laws of the City, aand I found this on the Noble Houses of Waterdeep that I think I can include in the packet. It's the sort of information I want to include. I'm thinking of making a sorted list of taverns, listed by Volo's rating, unless someone has already done it.
Is there any quick reference anyone else can suggest? I know I can just use the Volo's guide as a general reference, I was just wondering if anyone had stumbled upon other quick reference sheets that I haven't seen, or had any other related advice for the type of game I'm running.
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| 14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Delwa |
Posted - 01 Jun 2016 : 16:32:02
quote:
Originally posted by Cards77
quote:
Originally posted by Marco Volo
You have all you need in the really good Adventurer's Guide of the City of Splendors boxed set.
But I have done such a guide for my players but any of them have a different one according to their own background (an inhabitant from Dock Ward know much more about it than a man born in the comfort of a mansion in North Ward).
Sadly for you, it's written in french, cause I'm from France.
My advice is : summary each Ward, with extended details for a "born and raised" citizen of a specific Ward. Limit yourself to 5 things very famous in each Ward, and the rest will come from you during play time.
If they are in front of a fountain in Trade's Ward, describe it to your players and add some information for the player who know the Ward : "Thorndel, you know this fountain is specifically a tribute to Slavass the bard who was famous for... blablabla".
+1 to this. What your asking for is exactly what that splatbook was created for. I just ran a sandbox campaign in Waterdeep. Except what happened with us is they pretty much ignored the Adventurer Quarter (it IS pretty boring), and they went to all the interesting places in Volo's Guide.
Also one IMPORTANT thing. NO book has a full write up on The Yawning Portal tavern, so you're going to want to run that down and a good map of the tavern.
Yep! I already made a scale model of the Yawning Portal. Much research went into that project.
I am running in the current Realms, so the SCAG is benefitial, but only insofar as Laeral is Open Lord and some current events.
Thanks for the input! It seems I need to dig into the Adventurers Guide. |
| Cards77 |
Posted - 01 Jun 2016 : 16:27:54
quote:
Originally posted by pedro2112
I would definitely get the recently released Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide so that you can keep current on the state of Waterdeep.
I wouldn't unless you're specifically in the 5E timeline. I personally play in the 1350-1370 era so I can use all the old material and it's all still pertinent.
It gets too hard to keep track of all the changes when the sourcebooks don't agree across editions/eras. |
| Cards77 |
Posted - 01 Jun 2016 : 16:21:47
quote:
Originally posted by Marco Volo
You have all you need in the really good Adventurer's Guide of the City of Splendors boxed set.
But I have done such a guide for my players but any of them have a different one according to their own background (an inhabitant from Dock Ward know much more about it than a man born in the comfort of a mansion in North Ward).
Sadly for you, it's written in french, cause I'm from France.
My advice is : summary each Ward, with extended details for a "born and raised" citizen of a specific Ward. Limit yourself to 5 things very famous in each Ward, and the rest will come from you during play time.
If they are in front of a fountain in Trade's Ward, describe it to your players and add some information for the player who know the Ward : "Thorndel, you know this fountain is specifically a tribute to Slavass the bard who was famous for... blablabla".
+1 to this. What your asking for is exactly what that splatbook was created for. I just ran a sandbox campaign in Waterdeep. Except what happened with us is they pretty much ignored the Adventurer Quarter (it IS pretty boring), and they went to all the interesting places in Volo's Guide.
Also one IMPORTANT thing. NO book has a full write up on The Yawning Portal tavern, so you're going to want to run that down and a good map of the tavern. |
| Delwa |
Posted - 28 May 2016 : 18:45:05
Brimstone: You're very welcome, sir!
Marco Volo I had a thought on that awhile back. I was thinking of giving them info on their ward of residence and then maybe doing a smattering of detail on the neighboring wards, kinda a "this is how you view that "other neighborhood next door" thing. |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 28 May 2016 : 17:56:40
quote:
Originally posted by Delwa
quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone
The Laws of the City link is showing HTTP 404 not found....
Thanks for the heads up! Should be fixed. It also is one of the first images that shows up if you search, "Laws of Waterdeep" there are several different websites that have it. 
Good to go now. Thank you kind sir! |
| Marco Volo |
Posted - 28 May 2016 : 10:44:11
You have all you need in the really good Adventurer's Guide of the City of Splendors boxed set.
But I have done such a guide for my players but any of them have a different one according to their own background (an inhabitant from Dock Ward know much more about it than a man born in the comfort of a mansion in North Ward).
Sadly for you, it's written in french, cause I'm from France.
My advice is : summary each Ward, with extended details for a "born and raised" citizen of a specific Ward. Limit yourself to 5 things very famous in each Ward, and the rest will come from you during play time.
If they are in front of a fountain in Trade's Ward, describe it to your players and add some information for the player who know the Ward : "Thorndel, you know this fountain is specifically a tribute to Slavass the bard who was famous for... blablabla". |
| Delwa |
Posted - 28 May 2016 : 03:51:38
Kanzen, those building prices are brilliant. Thanks for sharing! The Death Masks novel is on my priority list for this summer. Goal is to get it read before I start my campaign and have the start date set as shortly after the end of the book. |
| KanzenAU |
Posted - 28 May 2016 : 03:49:10
I'm hoping the new Death Masks novel from Ed Greenwood will also fill us in on some more up to date Waterdeep comings and goings. Even the sample chapter available had some good titbits of info. |
| KanzenAU |
Posted - 28 May 2016 : 03:47:21
I'm thinking along a similar line, but my campaign's a bit further off. Here's some notes on building prices that I found somewhere on the Keep a while ago, courtesy of Steven Schend.
quote:
Here's a rough guess, and individual DMs can adjust as desired to fit the monetary standards of their own games. The prices immediately below are those for living space, not businesses. Yes, few of the city's current natives could afford to buy new buildings (or even old buildings) had they not been purchased ages ago and kept in the family, only having to worry about taxes. This is one of the main reasons why Waterdeep gets rebuilt exactly as before whenever tragedy strikes--no one is willing to give up the prime real estate except those who can afford to buy better...
Class D Buildings: 1,000 gp per 18' square lot/building site + 750 gp/floor of building built (new) or 500 gp/floor when purchasing a building.
Class C: 2,000 gp per 30' square lot/site + 1,500 gp/floor (new) or 1,000 gp/floor.
Class B: 4,000 gp per 30' square lot/site + 2,400 gp/floor (new) or 2,000 gp/floor.
Class A: 10,000 gp per 50' square lot/site + 7,500 gp/floor (new) or 5,000 gp/floor.
These ratings are also adjusted by any changes or additions made to the Representative Floor Plans in City of Splendors, any expensive materials used, etc. For these, add trade charges for the labor (see Guild prices on Building and Stone). If the building has a business or trade use, fees come from the respective guilds (about 5% of lot costs + guild membership fees) and the City (an additional 2% based off lot costs), payable at the Palace.
All of these fees come together and are finally adjusted by their placement.
Dock Ward No change to price
South Ward +2% to total price
Trades Ward +5% to total price
Castle Ward +10% to total price if south of the Castle
Castle Ward +20% if north of the Castle
North Ward +25% to total price
Sea Ward +40% to total price
If any side of the building is......
On a main avenue (pavement): +25% to total price after ward adjustment
On a secondary avenue (cobblestones): +10% to total price after ward adjustment
On a lesser avenue (corduroy/logs): +5% to total price after ward adjustment
On a minor avenue (dirt road): No change to price
Yes, this makes real estate in Waterdeep horrendously expensive, but that's life in the biggest city in the North and one of Toril's greatest cities ever.....
Steven Schend
FR Senior Designer
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| Delwa |
Posted - 28 May 2016 : 02:57:37
quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone
The Laws of the City link is showing HTTP 404 not found....
Thanks for the heads up! Should be fixed. It also is one of the first images that shows up if you search, "Laws of Waterdeep" there are several different websites that have it. |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 28 May 2016 : 02:52:52
The Laws of the City link is showing HTTP 404 not found.... |
| pedro2112 |
Posted - 27 May 2016 : 19:18:45
I've got a 5E campaign going set around Neverwinter. Great stuff. |
| Delwa |
Posted - 27 May 2016 : 18:36:20
quote:
Originally posted by pedro2112
I would definitely get the recently released Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide so that you can keep current on the state of Waterdeep.
Yep! I've got that. Forgot to mention it in the OP. The game will be set in the current Realms, and I'm using 5e to run the game. |
| pedro2112 |
Posted - 27 May 2016 : 18:35:11
I would definitely get the recently released Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide so that you can keep current on the state of Waterdeep. |
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