As it is written, the reopening of Trollskull Manor in Waterdeep Dragon Heist is a bit lackluster, needing very little input from the players. Given the amount of time and gold needed to reopen the tavern, many parties (mine included) want to be involved in the establishment’s first day of business. An exciting way to include the whole party in the reopening is by running it as a skill challenge.
What is a Skill Challenge?
Skill challenges were first popularized in fourth edition Dungeons and Dragons. While there are no official rules for skill challenges in fifth edition, the rules from fourth edition can be easily adapted to fifth edition.
During a skill challenge, the party are presented with a complication, after succeeding or failing against it, a new complication is presented. For each complication, a player can choose one of their skills to resolve it, so long as they can give a reasonable explanation on how they are using the skill. The DC of the skill check is determined by the complication and what skill the player decided to use. For example, if the complication is an angry beast, it might be harder to use Animal Handling to overcome the challenge when compared to using Intimidation, however both should be valid options. Typically, players are not allowed to use the same skill more than once during a skill challenge, and a player cannot face two complications in a row.
While running a skill challenge, record the number of successes and failures the party accumulate as they face the complications. Failing a complication typically results in some sort of setback for the party, such as damage, exhaustion, or monetary loss. The difficulty of a skill challenge is determined by the number of successes the party needs to obtain before they reach three failures. An easy skill challenge requires three successes, medium skill challenges require five successes, and hard skill challenges require seven successes.
Reopening Trollskull Manor
For the reopening of the tavern, I recommend running a medium difficulty skill challenge. In this skill challenge, successes and failures represent the number of customers going to Trollskull Manor versus the party’s rival tavern, Frewn’s Brews.
Example Complications
For a medium difficulty skill challenge, a total of seven complications needs to be prepared. Here are some examples of complications a party might face on their opening day. For each complication, some sample skills are provided, these should only be given out as hints to the party if necessary.
| Complication | Skills |
|---|---|
| Nobody seems interested in going to the tavern | Performance, Persuasion |
| The key to the drink cellar has been misplaced | Thieves’ Tools, Athletics |
| Something with the drinks is troubling customers | Insight, Medicine |
| Drunk customers have started a bar fight | Athletics, Intimidation |
| An extraplanar traveler has ordered an unknown drink | Arcana, History |
| Three young street urchins are picking pockets | Investigation, Perception |
| A swarm of rats has been released into the tavern | Animal Handling, Nature |
If you thought this guide was useful, feel free to check out my other resources for Waterdeep Dragon Heist. Cheers!