Collaborative Roleplaying: Lords of Waterdeep

I will always admit that I run a very peculiar series of D&D Campaigns. I have taken a lot of cues from other games I have played or read about, implementing different gameplay elements as I feel it necessary. Some of the collaborative story game elements from games like Fiasco have been working their way deeper into my D&D game with a great deal of success. I thought I would highlight a way that I have changed the player's contribution to the game through a somewhat unexpected turn of events.

The Lord of Waterdeep

When developing my Waterdeep-centric campaign, I decided to take my own spin on the Masked Lords of Waterdeep. Inspired by the Brethren Court in the film Pirates of the Caribbean and their magical "Pieces of Eight," I decided that the thing that made a person a Lord of Waterdeep was a powerful artifact, a Lord's signet. Generally, these were transferred in a matter consistent with existing Waterdhavian history, but sometimes the Lord's signet would fall into stranger hands. Lords would know, via the magical signet, when and where meetings would be held. This allowed me to maintain that the Masked Lords often don't know who the other Masked Lords are and, to a certain extent, even how many Masked Lords really exist.

The Lords of Waterdeep are just like these guys. But
with more masks. And less... hair.

Why is this important? After the mad gnome meteorologist Chet Doppler unleashed an elemental storm on Waterdeep, the Head of the Waterdeep Meteorologist's Guild, Sir Winston Cloudstorm, was summoned by the Lords of Waterdeep to address the ongoing elemental threat to the city. The players decided that they needed to be at that meeting since they had actually defeated, captured, and concealed Chet Doppler without informing Meteorologist's Guild. Furthermore, as they suspected potential treachery amongst the Lords of Waterdeep, this would be a good opportunity to start looking for it.

This seemed like a great plan but I quickly realized one problem with all of it: that meeting would require me to enact a politically charged meeting of 9+ Masked Lords of Waterdeep entirely by myself. I had to think fast so I came up with a quick solution: each player would create his own Lord of Waterdeep and play that character during the meeting. If it went well, we may even do it again. People seemed to be into that and we ended the session with each player wondering about what kind of Lord of Waterdeep he may play.

Creating the Lords of Waterdeep

I always imagined the Lords
of Waterdeep as more sinister
looking than this.

Since the idea was that not every Masked Lord would necessarily know who the others were, I decided that each Lord's signet had a history to it, including an iconic name, such as the "Lord of Blades" or the "Lord of Secrets." To give a few examples, I quickly scribbled out some ideas as to what I was intending with all this. The following is one of my example Lords I presented to my players:

Prometheus Godstorm, Lord of Death

When the High Necromancer Szass Tam seized control of Thay, many of the less sinister Red Wizards of Thay were driven out. Many of them, such as Prometheus, moved west, finally settling along the Sword Coast. Originally, Prometheus tried to set himself up as a mild-mannered enchanter in Waterdeep, but quickly found himself involved with a group of questionable wizards within the Wizard's Guild of Waterdeep. Using his arcane knowledge and background to his advantage, he organized a cabal of necromancers and seized control of a significant portion of the Undertaker's Guild within Waterdeep. Now, he provides a relatively stable supply of "working undead" to less reputable agencies within the city and surrounding environment.

It's not clear how Prometheus became a Lord of Waterdeep. Typically, a necromancer who sells corpses (both animated and not) on the black market is not typical Lord material. Yet, despite that uncertainty, it is clear is that he possesses a Lord's Signet, a sign that he is a true Lord of Waterdeep. Legend goes that the Lord of Death's signet was last possessed by Kerrigan the Anarchist, the only Lord known to have betrayed Waterdeep, lost for over two hundred years.

Currently, my players are still throwing around ideas. My intent is to give each of them information that their lord would know about and play up the meeting of the lords as a way to expose some peculiar information. One of my players quickly came up with his lord, the Lord of Spice. The description he provided was part culinary master, part international importer, and part serious drug lord. Strangely appropriate description for the Lord of Spice, I thought.

Of course, I have yet to see how this bit of collaborative gameplay will turn out. Everybody seems relatively excited about it so far, but only time will tell if the meeting of the Lords of Waterdeep turns out to be a positive contribution to my D&D game or not.

Borrowing Role-Playing Ideas: G.I. Joe

A lot of Dungeons & Dragons supplements talk about borrowing adventure or story ideas from other sources. Even other role-playing games make a point of suggesting that a Game Master, whether experienced or not, take a cue from other sources of fiction. Television, movies, books, and comics can be a great source of inspiration for elements within a good Dungeons & Dragons campaign.

Luskan, City of Vice (circa 1479 DR)

My Neverwinter campaign recently found its way to Luskan, City of Vice. Although there are legitimate reasons they came to Luskan, the real intention was for one of the characters, a boy ninja from Luskan, to have an important reunion from his past. The development actually started early on in the campaign, while they were still trying to stop the machinations of the Lost Heir of Neverwinter, but a trip to Luskan was the opportunity I needed to bring the boy ninja face-to-face with his childhood nemesis. I thought I would go over how this storyline developed and how I tore thematic elements from other sources.

Adversaries from the Past

The 1980s cartoon/toy commercial G.I. Joe had a pair of ninjas, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. The rivalry between these two characters throughout the different G.I. Joe continuities changes, but it is always based on the idea that they have shared history. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow were ninjas trained by the same person, the Hard Master. [Note: No, seriously. The Hard Master.] Years later, after the mysterious death of their master, Snake Eyes firmly believed that Storm Shadow had killed their master and the two found themselves on opposite sides of the Cobra-Joe conflict. The peculiar space between brother and nemesis was something I felt could make a great contribution to my Dungeons & Dragons game.

The iconic 1980s story of brother against brother.

Despite the popularity of childhood nemeses in ninja-themed literature, comic book ninjas are not the only place that the story of two "brothers" that end up on opposite sides in some conflict. It even appears historically: the US Civil War has always iconically been known as the war that set brother against brother. But, whether it be Civil War soldiers or ninjas, the idea of family conflict spread out across a greater battle is interesting and worth inserting into a role-playing game scenario. It is the kind of things a game like Fiasco was made for but that does not mean it cannot be an excellent contribution to a game like Dungeons & Dragons.

Development of the Ninja Brothers

Ninjas! Never be afraid to add
a popular meme to your D&D.

When I started the Neverwinter campaign, one of the players decided relatively quickly that he wanted to be a boy ninja. Somehow, Luskan got worked into the narrative. Pretty soon, we had a story about a kid from a checkered past getting picked up by an old master in Luskan and trained in the way of the Ninja. [Note: At the time, I did not know of the significant Shou presence in Luskan. This worked out surprisingly well for me in the long run.] I decided, relatively easily, why the boy ninja would leave Luskan: his master had been murdered and boy ninja had been caught at the scene. With no other recourse, he fled south to Neverwinter and eventually Waterdeep.

Most of this backstory had been contributed by the player with a few details worked out with my help. Once the campaign started, I decided to start inserting little things to see where the story could go. Early on, I asked the player whether or not he had been trained alone or if there was another young ninja student with him. At that point, the "ninja brother" was born. He had no name or identity other than "ninja brother." Of course, like every story of ninja brothers, this one would likely end in bitter rivalry. Every now and then I would remind my player about his ninja brother but I did not push the idea, letting it slowly simmer.

The Neverwinter campaign actually began with Erik Scott de Bie's Dungeons & Dragons: Encounters adventure Lost Crown of Neverwinter. During Session 6: Arrival in Blacklake, the party finds The House of a Thousand Faces, an inn and bar where they hope to find signs of the Lost Heir. They run into Charl, a name-worthy halfling thug of the Dead Rats in Neverwinter. During this encounter, I had Charl identify our ninja boy as the Reaver of Luskan. This was something I threw in, not quite sure how I wanted it to resolve. Would it be that ninja boy was this reputed Reaver of Luskan? It seemed just as likely that ninja boy was mistaken for his ninja brother; most residents of Luskan and Neverwinter would not expect that there were two kid ninjas. Two ninjas would be ridiculous.

Let me recap this story, so far: An ancient ninja master trains two young boys. After a few years, the ninja master is murdered and one of the students escapes. That ninja boy is accused of the murder. The other student, nowhere to be seen at the time of the murder, resurfaces later and gets involved with the wrong kind of crowd.

Eben07's Ninja Dan and Justin. Not the ninja brothers you expected?

My player's ninja boy character would routinely ask Dead Rats that he came across about the Reaver of Luskan, trying to figure out what it was all about. All he kept hearing was that this strange fellow was a brutal murderer, carrying out assassinations for King Toytere of the Dead Rats. As our ninja boy had already conceived that his character spent time as an assassin when he was still a member of the Dead Rats, this did not seem inconsistent with his own character view. No significant development occurred throughout the rest of the Lost Crown of Neverwinter, but ninja boy's player still felt like this was something that continued to need investigating.

Return to the Homeland

When the party found its way to Luskan, ninja boy showed some concern about being in Luskan. He had found a local alchemist in Neverwinter who provided him with a magical ointment that prevented people from passively noticing who he was. [Note: For the Doctor Who fans out there, I did give one of the characters a short-term perception filter.] The party got into a brief conflict with Dead Rats that ended in the realization that Toytere had some sort of lofty plans and that he was working with mysterious partners.

After about a day into the Luskan venture, the party was approached by Mitsurugi Yoshikage, Shou sword master. After proving their worth, he took them to the leadership of the Shou in Luskan. This is where our ninja boy discovered that his ninja brother had been the actual murderer of their master and that he now worked as an assassin for Toytere. They demanded that ninja boy find and defeat his brother in order to restore honor to their master, the suspiciously named Ryujin. With that set, the epic Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow (or, more appropriately, Ninja Dan/Justin) conflict had been set in motion in the streets of Luskan.

Only time will tell how this conflict will be resolved.

Mysterious Artifacts: The Blackstaff Core

When I started running two semi-interlocked Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, I thought it would be best to set one in Neverwinter and one in Waterdeep. That way, they could share story elements and villainous characters while still staying separate enough that I do not have to worry about too much peculiar overlap. Eventually, one of those groups would come upon an artifact that was interesting enough to warrant sharing with the public at large. The artifact is something I like to call the "Blackstaff Core."

The Blackstaff Core

Khelben Arunsun was the Lord Mage of Waterdeep from some time long, long ago until his death in 1374 DR. The Forgotten Realms novel Blackstaff Tower discusses the current Blackstaff of Waterdeep (as of 1479 DR), Vajra Safahr, and her experiences dealing with the ghosts of Blackstaff Tower. It has been proffered that Khelben (and, potentially, other prior Blackstaffs) remain as spirits in the tower and provide counsel for the current Blackstaff. When I read this, I thought that this description feels a bit like the portraits of old Headmasters of Hogwarts that reside in the Headmaster's Office. It obviously works in the magical world of Harry Potter but I did not think that a bunch of talking portraits would be appropriate for a place like Waterdeep. Then again, maybe it could.

One issue I had with everything I read about the old Blackstaffs advising the current wizard was that it implies that, in some way or another, the spirits of previous Blackstaffs had been bound to the tower. Granted, it may only be in a minor way, but it seems that a noted legend like Khelben Arunsun is not one to be bound, even to his very residence that he called home for far too many years to count. I imagine that his eternal spirit would be doing whatever it is he feels appropriate instead of worrying about what the current Blackstaff does. As it seemed inappropriate to bind the spirits of old Blackstaffs to the tower, I thought it would seem a bit better if it were more like an imprint of the old Blackstaffs, something more along the line of those old portraits than the actual souls of long dead wizards of the Forgotten Realms. After some research, I discovered the use of the term "template of spirit" in reference  to the collective knowledge and intellect of the dying Blackstaff being added to the tower. This seemed to match up with my notion of a psychic imprint.

What about Bob?

From there, I was heavily inspired by The Dresden Files' peculiar character of Bob. In fact, I was inspired by both the original character featured in the novels and the completely different version presented in the television series. The idea of a magical artifact bound with a creature of immense power that a wizard kept around to aid with magical incantations was interesting, but so was the idea of a powerful wizard magically cursed and bound into his skull. From this combination of ideas, I thought of the idea of the Blackstaff Core, a strange artifact, perhaps a crystal structure housing a powerful intellignece, similar to Bob's skull that housed a wealth of information about Waterdeep, the Blackstaffs, and the Forgotten Realms in general that also had the distinct personality of Khelben Arunsun and, to a lesser extent, all of the former Blackstaffs of Waterdeep. This became an important (although damaged) artifact that my Waterdeep adventurers discovered when they explored the Blackstaff Tower.

History of the Blackstaff Core

Khelben Arusnun rejects your reality and
substitutes his own, better version.

Khelben Arunsun is considered one of the most powerful archmages of the Forgotten Realms, only clearly bested by Elminster Aumar. Arunsun Tower (later renamed Blackstaff Tower) was his residence in Waterdeep for centuries. Legends say that he (and, later, whoever the appointed Blackstaff may be) could sense intruders in the tower. Other tales tell of significant wards and traps in the tower that protect it from scrying and intrusion. Magical gateways and portals can be found throughout the tower, allowing the resident of the tower access to many different places around Waterdeep (and, potentially elsewhere throughout Faerûn).

Of course, any good wizard would have some sort of security system for his home or tower. Any good security system requires a significant amount of attention and intelligent guidance. As it ends up, Khelben is a very powerful wizard but he has far more important things to do than worry about security details at the tower. One might think that his apprentice would be a reasonable choice for maintaining security and magical integrity, but Khelben does not seem the type to entrust a fledgling with the power to manipulate and protect his home. He is powerful enough, however, to create (or potentially capture) an entity capable of properly maintaining the safety and security of his tower. The Blackstaff Core is the result of this magical creation. In its most basic form, it is a crystalline structure of great power that houses a magical entity (of unknown origin) capable of maintaining the magical systems of the Blackstaff Tower while maintaining a wealth of knowledge regarding Faerûn, its various cultures, and important persons.

Created sometime early in Khelben's career, the exact date of creation of the Blackstaff Core is uncertain. It has changed significantly throughout the years as Khelben and then later Blackstaffs added to the magical structure of the artifact. Originally constructed to serve as a rudimentary intelligence to protect the tower, Khelben routinely augmented the magical structure to include new functions and capabilities as he found some need that the core could easily accomplish. Over time, this augmentation has included the ability to manipulate the magical defenses of the tower, conduct research both in the tower and within certain areas of Waterdeep, store vast amounts of information collected by the Blackstaff, and manifest a phantasmal avatar with which to communicate with both the Blackstaff and intruders.

The Power of the Blackstaff Core

The full extent of the power given to the core by Khelben Arunsun is unclear. It would appear to have sufficient agency to maintain the magical energies and defenses throughout the Blackstaff Tower. However, as it has remained in the Blackstaff Tower since its initial creation, very few people have ever seen it much less see it . Furthermore, since the artifact's primary purpose was maintaing the tower, it rarely had need to extend its influence outside of the confines of the Blackstaff Tower.

When I say "crystalline artifact," imagine
something stolen from this fancy place.

Once removed from the tower, it is uncertain what the core is capable of performing. When the Waterdeep Adventurer's Guild found the core and removed it from Blackstaff Tower, they found it barely able to do anything other than repeat the same message: "The Blackstaff has been captured." They were able to ascertain that some sort of important control crystal had been taken from the device, a component potentially capable of increasing the power, capabilities, or other features of the core.

In addition to maintaining the Blackstaff Tower, Khelben created the Core to serve as a library of knowledge and insight into the world of Faerûn. To that end, it is an enormous database of facts and data administrated by the intelligence of the Core. From important ritual magic to interesting details about the mating habits of griffons, the Blackstaff Core is possibly the most comprehensive single collection of knowledge in the Sword Coast, if not all of Faerûn. A group of adventurers that is able to take possession of the Blackstaff Core would have a potentially enormous wealth of knowledge available to them.

"Phenomenal Cosmic Powers!
Itty bitty living space."

With additional power crystals, the core may be capable of great magics. However, no matter how much power it is given, it is still bound. In this regard, I think of Arcadian from Ultima VII: The Forge of Virtue. The crystalline structure of the core acts as a sort of prison for whatever entity Khelben first trapped or created, limiting its ability to exert its power beyond those strict restrictions imposed by Khelben when he created the artifact. Thus, although the core may contain some sort of terrifying demon or devil as its host intelligence, it cannot do anything other than those things Khelben intended. Thus, this prevents the core from doing anything world crushing as to unbalance the world.

The Personality of the Blackstaff Core

After centuries of interacting and even conversing with the Blackstaff Core, Khelben's personality began to imprint on the intelligence at the heart of the artifact. As later Blackstaffs observed, the core would routinely argue and orate in a manner that very closely reflected Khelben's own style and diction. It very quickly took on the appearance of Khelben, although later Blackstaffs would suggest that this was done intentionally (as a matter of vanity on Khelben's part). The fourth Blackstaff enhanced the capabilities of the artifact further, giving the core psychic imprints of the previous Blackstaff while establishing the tradition that all future Blackstaffs would contribute an imprint to device. Because of this, the Blackstaff Core carries functional duplicates of the memory and personality of every Blackstaff, although its primary "personality" is that of Khelben Arunsun.

At its most basic form, the Blackstaff Core will appear as an apparition that looks like a middle-aged version of the venerable wizard. Although it is capable of manifesting as any of the prior Blackstaffs, it generally only does so when the memory imprints of prior Blackstaffs have something to contribute that differs from that of the primary personality. Vajra Safahr observed early in her career that the primary personality was quite fond of arguing with (and then summarily dismissing) the other personalities, although she found the contrary opinions quite useful in her work. To that end, it is not clear how distinct the different personalities are from one another.

Introducing the Blackstaff Core to a Campaign

The Blackstaff Core can serve any number of purposes within in a Waterdeep or even a Sword Coast based Forgotten Realms campaign. Recovering the core itself could be a major quest, whether it be recovery from some noted villain at the behest of the Blackstaff or recovery from the Blackstaff Tower due to the disappearance of the Blackstaff. If damaged, the party could be sent on any number of exotic quests to find and recover components of the Blackstaff Core, endeavoring to bring it back to full functionality. This could be a convenient way to tie the party's adventure to the current Blackstaff, whether it be in service to her or instead as a prelude to her eventual rescue.

"Mr. Smith! I need you!"

If a party manages to get its hands on the Blackstaff Core and keep it as their own, the core could serve as a power artifact for the party's lair or headquarters. Having a wealth of knowledge at their disposal could be very useful, as could the ability to protect their headquarters from potential attack. Perhaps other components could be added to increase the core's power, allowing it to do even more to aid the PCs in their quest. In that capacity, the Blackstaff Core could become akin to the Sarah Jane Adventures' Mr. Smith, an intelligent supercomputer that provides occasional insights into the current adventure.

Of course, it is just as easy to turn the Blackstaff Core into a potential villain. Perhaps, once removed from Blackstaff Tower, the core begins to assert its original personality and goals. Maybe the creature that Khelben originally captured was quite malevolent. Being freed from the binding of the Blackstaff Tower, the creature begins to use the PCs to promote its own nefarious goals. Imagine a group of adventurers, working with this new artifact that they recovered to bring about some noble goal. As they near completion, they realize that the noble goal promoted by the core is actually quite diabolical, putting the lives of countless innocents at risk. Unfortunately for the PCs, they were the ones that helped engineer and bring about this master plan.

No matter how the Blackstaff Core is implemented into the campaign, it can add both an interesting, if not peculiar, character to the story while also giving the party something important to work towards. The core must be repaired while its peculiar personality dealt with. Perhaps that personality will end up becoming a villain that the party must deal with. On the other hand, it may very well become the greatest ally they have. There are so many different ways that an artifact like the Blackstaff Core can become part of a Waterdeep based campaign that are both interesting and relevant.

The Lost Hydromancer of Neverwinter

I play in a number of D&D games.  I currently act as a player in two games while serving as Dungeon Master in two other games.  The two games I run as DM are actually interconnected: one game follows the story of a group of ne'er-do-wells in Neverwinter (or, perhaps, Ne'erwinter?) while the other game involves a sort of mercenary company operating out of Waterdeep, the Waterdeep Adventurer's Guild.  I will admit that I have big plans, including at least one absurd cross-over episode.  I have never had the opportunity to have two groups play off of each other and, as it goes, this has been working out reasonably well.

The Neverwinter group recently completed their first big "adventure," the Lost Crown of Neverwinter, written by Erik Scott de Bie.  As a D&D Encounters DM, I have access to all of this pre-generated content.  One of the characters written into the adventure was a genasi hydromancer: Len-Jes, Minister of Trade.  The party first meets Len-Jes at the Beached Leviathan, where she keeps her residence.  Although their involvement with her was minimal, she was an interesting enough character to keep around.  I must really thank Erik for filling that Encounters season with a number of characters that have the opportunity to really stand out in the story.

After the Encounters adventure concluded, the party had another opportunity to meet Len-Jes at a formal party thrown in their honor (for the Heroes of Neverwinter!).  An invasion by undead monsters quickly erupted and the group ran off to find the source.  Due to some schedule conflicts, the fellow playing the party's wizard (a swamp Dryad trained in the art of necromancy who had developed a flirtatious relationship with Len-Jes) would not be available for a few months.  I decided it would be an interesting opportunity to get a friend who had been really interested in playing a chance to play for a few sessions.  To that end, I decided to craft Len-Jes as a player character:

Len-Jes, Master of Trade of Neverwinter.

Wizards have busy character cards.

Now, when Lost Crown of Neverwinter came out, I read the description of Len-Jes and assumed that "hydromancer" was something that would come out in time, much like the pyromancer had via Dragon articles.  I never worried much about it.  Maybe it would be in Heroes of the Elemental Chaos, I figured.  Nearly a year later, with no hydromancer in sight, I found myself somewhat befuddled as I tried to create a hydromancer that fit with what had already been established.

I worked with a friend to try and determine what would best fit as "hydromancer."  The elementalist was a bit too limited in scope; I wanted something with more than just two attacks.  In addition, I was bound by the character being a watersoul genasi.  Len-Jes was an established character in the campaign and I would not feel right having her accidentally become a Deva or something similar.  This meant that I would likely have to use an Intelligence based class to build this character effectively.  Unfortunately, although wizard powers were chalk-full of fire powers, water (or, rather, cold) powers were somewhat less developed.

Eventually, I tweaked around with various builds of the Wizard (mage) and Wizard (arcanist).  Strangely enough, there were some interesting discrepancies between power selection which I found strange; certain things just did not appear on both classes.  I also had never noticed that the Mage had a more versatile spellbook than the Arcanist (as the Mage can trade out Encounter powers as well as Daily and Utility powers).  So, the Len-Jes presented here is an Arcanist, although she does have the benefit of the Blackstaff Apprentice theme (for those wondering why she has too many At-Will powers).  It was a bit of a toss-up but I felt like Arcanist just fit a bit better.

So, I present to you Len-Jes, the third level genasi hydromancer and Master of Trade of Neverwinter.  This character is not necessarily an Encounters friendly character (as she is level 3), but is ready for whatever level 3 adventures you have available for her.  Due to the limitations of the character card format, she has lost the versatility of her spellbook.  She was also made using the "Inherent Bonuses" option, as I would prefer to play no other way.  However, she is a convenient, pre-made level 3 character ready for whatever dungeon nonsense awaits her.