City of Splendors. Crown of the North. Waterdeep has many names, but none of them do the vast metropolis justice. People from all corners of Faerûn and from all walks of life have at one point or another heard fantastical stories about the things that take place within its massive walls. Being a city of infinite possibilities, it is no wonder that year after year adventurers flock to Waterdeep in search of excitement, fame, and glory. But not all is as it seems. The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes, and beneath the city streets all sorts of horrors lurk in the dark.

The Campaign

Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is an urban adventure originally designed for 4 to 5 characters, taking you from level 1 to 5, but my version will include mid-level play (up through around level 10). There are plenty of options for what happens after completion, including original homebrew content, Curse of Strahd, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Tomb of Annihilation, etc. We'll make a decision as a group once we near the end of the narrative arc.

The DM

Hello, everyone! My name is Shane and I've been playing D&D 5e for over four years now. I'm currently in a campaign and DM another group on the weekends. I've played in and DMed Dragon Heist before and I love how robust the setting is and how much potential it has, but there are lots of parts that don't really work that well as written. The first time I played our DM heavily rewrote and homebrewed a lot of it and this campaign will take the same approach to make it as fun, sandboxy, and responsive as possible for players.

On Pay to Play

I know that pay to play can be tough for players, especially those strapped for cash, because I've been in that position. But there are a couple of reasons that I think this model makes sense for me:

• Commitment: As a player (and as a DM who has sunk countless hours into prep) there's almost nothing as demotivating as people dropping without a word or canceling last minute, causing your group to fall apart before you can even generate any momentum. By having a payment model in place, we can make sure that everyone, player and DM, is committed to the campaign and actually wants to be there.
• Materials: D&D can be expensive. I 100% believe in compensating creators and I love supporting the work they do. Paid sessions allow me to maintain a Plus subscription so I can use Dynamic Lighting and macros, pay for the module on Roll20 to improve your experience, and purchase additional supplements and materials. Just this week I think I bought 4 or 5 supplements on DMs Guild. I have tons of ideas, but it's really fun to borrow and remix from other great DMs and content creators!
• My time: If I could DM all day every day and not have to pay bills, I would definitely do it. But I'm a freelancer and so I have to be really careful with my time. I put tons of hours into prep and creating original content to keep players on their toes and bring the story to life because I love DMing, but I need to eat too! This model allows me to make sure I can make rent and pay bills while still generating lots of awesome content for you. I really appreciate it!

My DMing Style

I believe that every player and group is different and has different needs, and that it's important to make sure that everyone's a good fit. So here are some basics about my DMing style:

• DMs work with the players, not against them.
• Rules are important, but rules exist to serve the story and not the other way around.
• Minions, original monsters, and custom abilities and attacks spice things up and make sure that even veteran players are in for surprises.
• House rules and homebrew content are a way to make things more exciting for everyone. I'll always try to look for and create new content that players are interested in and I encourage you to bring things you'd like to the table. Even if it doesn't work as written, I'd love to adapt it to work in our campaign.
• Player choices always matter ー there is no railroading at my table.
• Characters are part of a world that is responsive and reacts to their choices.
• NPCs are people and have lives, hopes, and dreams too. They're not just quest givers!
• There's no such thing as a "combat encounter" or a "social encounter." Combat or conversation are just two ways of resolving a conflict, and there are multiple ways to get from point A to point B.
• Quick rulings that are researched and clarified later are better than dragging everyone out of the story mid-game with arguments over RAW and RAI.
• The story is not just the mission the characters are trying to solve. Like I said before, they have their own goals and hopes and desires, and so that is an important part of the campaign too. I like to have tons of sidequests and downtime at natural break points to both remind people that there is a world outside of the current adventure they're on and that the campaign is about the character and not just this unrelated story I've thrown them into.

If you have any more questions about my DMing style, feel free to message me or leave a question in the Discussions below.

Rules

We can all come up with and discuss the rules together, but here are a couple general ones I'd like everyone to keep in mind:

• D&D is collaborative. Let's work together and make sure everyone is welcome.
• Sometimes my rulings will differ from RAW, but I'll do my best to let you know. We're here to have fun, so if it significantly affects something critical to how you play or envision your character, we can definitely discuss.
• Always speak up if any part of the campaign or anyone's behavior makes you uncomfortable. I will avoid graphic content, but before we begin I'll prepare some content warnings and check in with everyone to see if there's anything we should also avoid.
• No PVP / serious intra-party conflict unless everyone has decided that they're comfortable with it.
• Communicate! If anything happens or you're going to be late / can't make a session, drop a note and let us know.
• Campaigns at my table are as diverse as the real world and representation is important to me. The world will be inclusive in regard to race, gender, sexuality, and disability. I ask that everyone be mature and respectful when we deal with these subjects.

Other Notes

I spend a massive amount of time outside prepping and thinking of new ways to surprise and excite the characters with original content. I'm a massive fan of downtime and creating personalized mini-quests and adventures for players whenever the party reaches a break point in the adventure. If you're a fan of having customized content created for your character, this might be the campaign for you! The way I run downtime is generally private sessions with the players and personalized content. We may not meet for a week and instead each of you will have the opportunity to follow your own goals and plot threads, reconvening with the party later with new information, tools, and skills. I think it's a fun way to make the world seem more real and robust and make the experience fun for everyone. I personally find sharing stories in character and finding out the incredible things other people have done during downtime to be one of my favorite parts of playing D&D ー and hopefully you will too.

I'm really looking forward to creating a fun and unique campaign for everyone and if you'd like to join in, feel free to ask questions or apply below.

Looking forward to playing with you!