Hobbies And Interests
Waterdeep as an Urban Campaign
Urban campaigns offer the opportunity to use intrigue and mystery that might otherwise be lacking in a standard campaign. Numerous factions exist and their conflicts offer rewards for enterprising individuals. Waterdeep officially recognizes 47 guilds, some powerful, some not. Perhaps a new guild has started in the city and has garnered a bad (or great) reputation. A rival guild has asked your party to investigate. This kind of campaign is great for players and a Dungeon Master (DM) who want to focus on intrigue and character development over dungeon crawling.
Waterdeep as a Dungeon Crawl Campaign
Because Waterdeep is a city, many people won't associate it with dungeon crawling. This is to their loss. Dungeon crawling is term used for adventures or campaigns that focus on the exploration of dungeons. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide tosses off a number of sites for dungeon crawling, such as the Citadel of the Bloody Hand, Umberlee's Cache and the Dungeon of the Crypt. Those are very evocative names and could easily lead to good adventures, but Waterdeep has a dungeon that is massive in scope, the Undermountain. Dungeons &Dragons, under various owners, has produced hundreds of pages of information on the Undermountain. In short, the Undermountain is a vast labyrinth of manmade and natural caverns that stretches from the sewers of Waterdeep to the furthest depths of the Underdark. It was created by Halaster Blackcloak, the Mad Wizard. Perhaps the powerful Cellarers' and Plumbers' Guild asked your party to investigate some strange occurrences in the sewers. This investigation eventually leads into the Undermountain and its insane geography and deadly traps.
Waterdeep as a Mixed Campaign
This works if you are just starting a campaign or if it is already well advanced. Waterdeep, because of its size and the potential adventures offered, could easily be the middle or final part of your campaign. It allows you to dabble in urban politics or visit the deadliest dungeon. Your party may have been hunting down thieves and brigands who seem to have some diabolical help. Clues found point to a new guild that has established itself in Waterdeep. Perhaps during a terrible storm a wave sweeps the characters off their ship and they wash up in some sea caves. The caves open up into a deeper part of the Undermountain.
Concluding Thoughts
Waterdeep offers the DM and adventuring party a host of campaign ideas. You can easily use the ones presented here or you can use them as a springboard for your own ideas. A great resource is "The Ruins of Undermountain" boxed set. While it was produced for 2nd Edition AD&D and is currently out of print, it is filled with ideas and has several levels of the Undermountain mapped out.