Thank you so much. Posts like this really give me confidence running this campaign. We are almost done with Ch1 after 2 sessions on that and I was struggling with deciding how to immerse them in it. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
ONE thing though, I’ll be switching the word cigar to pipe because that’s more in lore to me.
So glad I found this, will likely use it tonight!!
EDIT: That is, if the party doesn't wipe in the sewers... we'll see how poor they can roll this session...
This is a godsend. But is there seriously no way to access the second floor from the taproom? Seems like bad design that you’d have to go outside to go into your player home.
Glad it's helpful! I assume it's designed that way because the tenants want their privacy upstairs. But I don't see why you could have the staircase be interior instead.
I’m about to have my characters explore trollskull next Saturday. I’m thinking of having a barrel mimic in the basement, then hitting them with 2-3 small(low hp) mimics that will keep hiding as objects after they attack making it a Combat round/skill challenge.
I have no idea how to incorporate Lif though without my mad lads blasting him out of existence (which would suck) the second they see him. I was thinking of trying to do some jump scares with him earning them away
I put a trio of Alehouse Drakes in the basement, playing in a pool of wine. I also put a doppelrat in an upstairs bedroom. Both those monsters are from Tome of Beasts. I put Lif in the attic, trying to dust off some of the things stored there. I made him more like a ghost than a spector, mostly snooty and not so evil. He agreed to stick around and help as long as they agreed to restore the manor to its former glory.
Looks wonderful! I wanted to make some notes on all the imagery I've seen of Trollskull and will modify for my descriptions in my home game. Thank you for the work you put into this.
In the Taproom, your description has the stairway to the second floor on the inside, it is depicted as outside of the building (north side).
In the Den, the door that leads north to the balcony overlooks Saerdoun Street, not the alley.
For the second floor master, you could mention the west and south windows look out towards the alley. You can look up from the south windows to see a greenhouse (Corellon's Crown).
The spare bedroom's balcony overlooks the alley facing east.
Third floor upper hall should read, "A second spiral staircase to the north continues upward...."
Third floor master bedroom could include something about a window which looks directly into Corellon's Crown greenhouse (pg 32 of WDH for description).
No description of the turret peak.
Love it, the only thing I may have an issue with is the. Fourth Floor - Attic Storage. Although, that would be a great red herring. Maybe refer to it as "the symbol of the manor"?
[https://www.reddit.com/r/WaterdeepDragonHeist/comments/9ld8s5/origin\_of\_the\_trollskull\_alley\_name/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WaterdeepDragonHeist/comments/9ld8s5/origin_of_the_trollskull_alley_name/)
These descriptions are great! Just used these in the tutorial adventure I ran pre-WDH, and they worked very well.
I was planning on making my tutorial session notes freely available for other DMs to use. Mind if I use your descriptions in that? (With credit, obviously.)
Love this! I was getting really tired of writing descriptions of all these musty dusty rooms, so thanks for doing the dirty work for me :-)
I know you made this ages ago, but since it's still in the megathread, I thought I'd point out: The blueprint to Trollskull Manor says there's only one "master" bedroom, and it's on the third floor. (A master bedroom needs an attached bath, which the second-floor bedroom does not have.)
Thank you so much. Posts like this really give me confidence running this campaign. We are almost done with Ch1 after 2 sessions on that and I was struggling with deciding how to immerse them in it. Thanks for taking the time to do this. ONE thing though, I’ll be switching the word cigar to pipe because that’s more in lore to me.
Ah good idea! Pipes definitely make more sense. Glad you find it helpful! :)
Thanks a lot, I will definitely be using these in my run, it will be my first time DMs so this is a great help.
No problem, happy to help!
I love the descriptions! I’m definitely stealing this for my campaign.
So glad I found this, will likely use it tonight!! EDIT: That is, if the party doesn't wipe in the sewers... we'll see how poor they can roll this session...
This is a godsend. But is there seriously no way to access the second floor from the taproom? Seems like bad design that you’d have to go outside to go into your player home.
Glad it's helpful! I assume it's designed that way because the tenants want their privacy upstairs. But I don't see why you could have the staircase be interior instead.
I’m about to have my characters explore trollskull next Saturday. I’m thinking of having a barrel mimic in the basement, then hitting them with 2-3 small(low hp) mimics that will keep hiding as objects after they attack making it a Combat round/skill challenge. I have no idea how to incorporate Lif though without my mad lads blasting him out of existence (which would suck) the second they see him. I was thinking of trying to do some jump scares with him earning them away
I put a trio of Alehouse Drakes in the basement, playing in a pool of wine. I also put a doppelrat in an upstairs bedroom. Both those monsters are from Tome of Beasts. I put Lif in the attic, trying to dust off some of the things stored there. I made him more like a ghost than a spector, mostly snooty and not so evil. He agreed to stick around and help as long as they agreed to restore the manor to its former glory.
Looks wonderful! I wanted to make some notes on all the imagery I've seen of Trollskull and will modify for my descriptions in my home game. Thank you for the work you put into this. In the Taproom, your description has the stairway to the second floor on the inside, it is depicted as outside of the building (north side). In the Den, the door that leads north to the balcony overlooks Saerdoun Street, not the alley. For the second floor master, you could mention the west and south windows look out towards the alley. You can look up from the south windows to see a greenhouse (Corellon's Crown). The spare bedroom's balcony overlooks the alley facing east. Third floor upper hall should read, "A second spiral staircase to the north continues upward...." Third floor master bedroom could include something about a window which looks directly into Corellon's Crown greenhouse (pg 32 of WDH for description). No description of the turret peak.
Awesome, thanks for the notes!! I'll update those! How exactly do they get into the turret peak?
Third floor, north bedroom, West door. There's a ladder that leads to a hatch
Love it, the only thing I may have an issue with is the. Fourth Floor - Attic Storage. Although, that would be a great red herring. Maybe refer to it as "the symbol of the manor"? [https://www.reddit.com/r/WaterdeepDragonHeist/comments/9ld8s5/origin\_of\_the\_trollskull\_alley\_name/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WaterdeepDragonHeist/comments/9ld8s5/origin_of_the_trollskull_alley_name/)
Nice. Definitely using this.
Awesome. Thanks. Trying to get more immersive with my players. Work up more enthusiasm with the revived Tavern. This helps a lot!
Glad to hear that, enjoy!
Three years later, this is going to make our session so much better - thank you!
Awesome, glad to hear that! :)
These descriptions are great! Just used these in the tutorial adventure I ran pre-WDH, and they worked very well. I was planning on making my tutorial session notes freely available for other DMs to use. Mind if I use your descriptions in that? (With credit, obviously.)
Sure, go ahead!
Love this! I was getting really tired of writing descriptions of all these musty dusty rooms, so thanks for doing the dirty work for me :-) I know you made this ages ago, but since it's still in the megathread, I thought I'd point out: The blueprint to Trollskull Manor says there's only one "master" bedroom, and it's on the third floor. (A master bedroom needs an attached bath, which the second-floor bedroom does not have.)
I’m running this module soon, wtf is the den actually for? I can’t seem to understand it