Gather. Laugh. Roll
Gather. Laugh. Roll
The fight ends, the City Watch arrives, and Waterdeep starts paying attention. Volo’s missing friend draws the party into the Dock Ward, where debts follow reputation—and every door opens to more questions.
A long-form DM Diary examining the design and adaptation of the Road to Waterdeep arc—how authority, pacing, horror, and emotional pivots prepared the table for Waterdeep.
Waterdeep doesn’t welcome heroes—it processes them. Doc hits the mud at the gates while Krentz brings violence to the Yawning Portal, Fluffy disappears into the well, and a cheering crowd’s “Dip” becomes a nightmare as something climbs out of the dark.
The road ends at Waterdeep’s gates—but the city remembers faces. Loss, bureaucracy, quiet magic, and a dagger drawn in the Yawning Portal mark the party’s uneasy arrival.
The road north begins with grief, temptation, and a lightning-scarred birth that should have ended in death—but didn’t.
Dragon Heist isn’t really a heist—until you make the city move. This DM-facing deep dive explores how I remixed Waterdeep: Dragon Heist into a living campaign shaped by player agency, episodic prep, and emotional investment.
Why I chose Justin Alexander’s Alexandrian Remix for my Dragon Heist campaign, how it reshaped Waterdeep into a living city, and what it taught me about factions, player agency, and running a mixed-age table.
