Waterdeep and some thoughts on the Organization of a City-based product

So my players got a bit tired of killing Giants, they hit a point in Storm King's Thunder where they wondered why it was their business? Attaining wealth and glory is not enough to get into the middle of a Giants vs Dragons war. We all enjoyed the factional politics of Neverwinter while it lasted so I wanted to get back to urban adventures but I didn't want to go back to Neverwinter again, not yet at least. I decided on Waterdeep. Unlike Neverwinter there is a ton of stuff about Waterdeep and I'd collected a lot of it over the years. Most of it pretty meh. But for this post I'm thinking about urban campaigns, organization, and Maps. Mostly maps. I love maps.

5E has Waterdeep Dragonheist. First I have to say I love Dyson Logos maps but they feel a bit out of place here. The map of the city is pretty muddy looking and lame. You can zoom in pretty far but not really far enough. If they'd done a map of each ward it would have scaled better for a VTT, why Roll20  didn't do that is a surprise, I guess they just stuck with the book as written. Sad. 

City of Splenders Ward Map

Even better than making a map for each ward are the maps in Citysystem for 2E. That book has some beautiful 3d maps of the port broken down into 8 beautiful detailed maps (the picture below shows all 8 combined). Each would size about right for a VTT map), but if you look closely you'll see that over half the city isn't there at all. Big miss Citysystem. Still the map looks great and if WotC had style they would have re-done them by Ward in their 5E product.

Citysystem Poetic Map of Dockward

Additionally, the Citysystem book diced the entire city into 10 fairly detailed street maps (peaces of a poster I don't have because I got the book used). These don't follow the wards all that well (the colors on the map below indicate different wards) but are a good size for a VTT. These maps also include some nice interior maps. Below is map 007 Showing bits of Dock Ward (yellow), Castle Ward (purple) and Southern Ward (Red).

Citysystem map of 1-10th of Waterdeep with interior maps to boot

Below is a closeup to show the street level details. Thats a map you can use. But they didn't. They didn't even make the big map into the Phandelin style they use so often in 5E. They just half-assed it all. 

Closeup of that citysystem map

I have a few products they gave out for Adventurer's League when they were playtesting Waterdeep Dragonheist (don't ask how I got them because I don't recall) but two of these modules have a really nice street level map (the same map in both). They are in the poetic style I love but even if they were in the Phandelin style maps of that size would be great. Here is a screenshot of that one.

Neighborhood Map from Somewhere in Waterdeep

Ignore the writing on the map, that has to do with the adventure and I'm only willing to spend so much effort cleaning up a screenshot. The other adventures had different writing. The writing isn't the point. Another fun fact about that map is Chapel Street and The Rake don't seem to exist in Waterdeep. Not as far as I can tell (or ChatGPT can tell for that matter). 

That map is the perfect size for a GM and players. A small chunk of the city, the size of neighborhood where if you lived there, worked there, frequented a pub there, or whatever you would get to know that neighborhood and the people in it pretty well. Small enough that the local Thieves Guild might have a Capo running the area (with protection money, gambling, etc). The size is perfect. The map area reminds me of the beautiful maps in Eyewitness travel books, which I'm sure they tested for usability as well as if the info fit on the two-age spread.

So anyway I imagine how nice it would be to have a Waterdeep product that had all the overhead info you find in these products, with a map of each ward drawn like the Citysystem Dockward map. Then have each ward cut-up into neighborhood size maps with a bunch of interior maps to give the thing depth. If it comes out being to long you could divide the city in two, or chop it up by Wards. 

I think if I ever do a City product that's probably how I'll do it.

Also I'd like to mention that Waterdeep seems a bit overly dangerous place in all the books I have. I mean you have very powerful mages and adventures living there but they just tolerate a Beholder crime lord living beneath the city? They have an inn with a great portal that occasionally has monsters climbing out among the drunks? Whimsical to the point of just plain silly.