Best products from r/WaterdeepDragonHeist

Yea, I wish I had a second screen but I only have the ipad (I'm looking into getting the newest ipad pro but I'd still like a cheapo laptop to go with me too). We play a local game shop so my setup options are pretty limited unfortunately. Eventually I'd like to move it into my place but until my roommates move out it's not feasible.

For our game I've done some pretty different things:

• Made my own DM screen, I used this guide and this screen. The art panels are dirt cheap on amazon and you can put whatever you want in the little card things. Here is mine finished
  
• It's kind of expensive but this battle mat from Abishai is absolutely phenomenal. The one I got didn't have the clips shown in the photos but it came with about 8 round earth magnets to hold the vinyl and mat together. Could probably DIY this with a mat and a sheet of vinyl but I like how it came.
  
• Instead of minis for EVERYTHING I'm using primarily homemade tokens. This guide walks you through it. I make tokens for all of my primary monsters. Working on getting minis for all of my players from Hero Forge and then I'll probably buy minis to represent the big boss fights and stuff. For now though, everyone gets a token :)
  
• NPC Cards, I use a folded card that lays over my DM screen. On one side is a picture that I like to represent that NPC and on the other is all the info I need. The pros are awesome but there are cons (Takes a long time to make a bunch of them, printing on card stock and cutting them out takes time, the text is VERY tiny) Here is a quick look at those: My Person Cards The link to the photoshop templates here...
  
• I print maps out with a 1" grid and use an app to split them into a bunch of pages and tape them together.
  
  
  I'm a very DIY person so I have made a lot of my own things.

I do not think that is true.

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Waterdeep-Dragon-Heist/dp/B07GWYX2CZ

Discover the wards of Waterdeep with this set of Maps designed to immerse your party into the City of Splendors. Featuring seven overscale maps, perfectly designed for your tabletop, these maps allow your adventurers to see all the wards of the city in all their glory. Printed on high-quality single sided vinyl surfaces, these maps are durable and hard wearing, allowing you to revisit the Crown of the North whenever your party needs to.

Includes individual maps for the following Waterdeep Wards; (1)Sea Ward (2)South Ward (3)Trades Ward/ City of Dead (4)Castle Ward (5)Dock Ward (6)Field Ward (7)North Ward.

They also show 7 images.

Here are the minis I used for the treasure piles. I used them in conjunction with these treasure chests.

However, if you can spend a little bit more money, I think this treasure crate by Mantic is actually a better option. Mantic crates are a really great value for terrain pieces.

As mentioned by u/pb_rpg the Waterdeep City Encounters of DMsGuild is a great asset to have to hand. Additionally, the book Table Fables comes in handy quite frequently when improvising pickpocketed items or fleshing out shops.

Might I recommend buying these. Scrape off the times on the glass (so PCs can’t see) and write the time in black sharpie on the top (so you can know the time).

Very useful as a visual aid or a way to create urgency!

I'd go with something like this. Make sure to use wet erase markers.

Dungeons & Dragons Waterdeep Dragon Heist - Lariel Silverhand (1 fig) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GX3XK9K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_K3tDCbW4VYN63

Yeah, here’s one. You should be able to find the others through the link as well.

Dungeon Tiles Reincarnated: City is good for encounters on the streets that don't have a specific map. In addition to streets and plazas, it includes tiles for sewers, rooftops, and the inside of a fort. For detailed pictures, go here.

Those ward maps are on vinyl cloth, like they put out for Tomb of Annihilation (I know, because my ToA DM bought 'em... they're quite nice). They're also releasing a 20"x40" vinyl full map of Waterdeep on the 30th, for $30.

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Rulebooks-Slipcase-Handbook/dp/0786966629

Uh, yeah, I do it every week in my games.

I take my map and I print it out, full size, on regular 8.5x11 paper. If it's a 2 level dungeon I'll put one on both sides (or 2 separate sheets; I put these in plastic sheet protectors so I can put them in a binder for easy transport.) If it's really large and if our table could really support it I'd use 11x17 sheets, but we have limited space.

Then, I use these:
https://www.amazon.com/Pack-Gaming-Paper-Erase-Tiles/dp/B073V3W83Z

(Apparently they're out of stock on Amazon which is weird but there are many similar products.)

I lay the map down in front of my players. I don't do any fog of war, covering up parts of the dungeon with post it's, or anything like that. I just show them the damn map. About 50% of my maps these days are hand drawn anyway to look like a Dyson Logos map, so dammit the players are gonna see it.

I have never had an issue with metagaming. If your dungeon can be defeated by knowing the layout of the place, it is a shit dungeon.

When there is an encounter, I put the tiles down and roughly sketch the area the players are fighting in. The map should already have a grid so you know what you're working with. I have never had anyone have a problem with this approach. You don't need a hyper detailed background on your battle map--you need a grid and some things to represent the players and monsters.

I encourage you to try doing it like this, if you think for some reason your game NEEDS detailed printed battlemaps. Do it for a session or two. See how much anyone complains about it. Hint: The answer is zero, because they don't care. They're worried about getting their intellect devoured by an intellect devourer. Not about if the background under their mini is plain white with dry erase markers or fully printed terrain.