Into the Sewers: Planning and Running the Xanathar Guild Hideout

This week’s session marked a shift in tone and tempo as our Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign dove headfirst into classic dungeon crawl territory. After weeks of social encounters, investigative threads, and emerging faction tension, the party descended into the sewers in search of Floon Blagmaar—and unknowingly into the belly of the Xanathar Guild.

Here’s how I approached the session, what worked, what surprised me, and a few lessons I picked up along the way.

The Goals of the Session

I went into Session 9 with three primary objectives:

1. Deliver a change in tone – moving from Waterdeep’s urban chaos to claustrophobic horror.
2. Make the dungeon crawl feel dangerous and mysterious – even if the players are relatively high-functioning murder hobos.
3. Reward player curiosity – including secrets, foreshadowing, and lore connected to Renaer’s locket.

The Xanathar hideout is often run as a straight crawl, but I wanted to make it feel like a place that breathes. That meant adding strange details: odd noises, unexplained scratches, lingering magical residue, a wriggling grub slipping under a crack in the wall. Enough to make them ask, “What else is down here?”

Prepping the Dungeon

Rather than over-prep the entire map, I focused on modular moments:

• Atmosphere: I jotted down short sensory phrases to pull from during exploration: “rusted iron stink,” “torches that hiss with green flame,” “muffled cries in the dark.”
• Encounters: I kept combat light this session—threats more implied than immediate. The real danger was attrition: diminishing spells, creeping fatigue, and the sense that they weren’t alone.
• Secrets and Lore: I tied Renaer’s mourning locket to the greater “Eyes of the Stone” subplot, suggesting it held a hidden piece of the puzzle. That gave the players narrative momentum, even in an action-heavy session.

At the Table: How It Played Out

The players were sharp. Kiril kept scanning for traps and secret doors. Doc bashed forward with zero fear (standard operating procedure). Raven and Clover were quieter but watchful, picking their moments. Maple played the long game, conserving spells.

What surprised me most was how engaged they stayed without a major fight. Exploration, tension, and lore did more work than a stat block ever could.

There were a few “woulda been nice” moments—like better spotlighting Raven’s arcane insight, or letting Clover interact with something bizarre and theatrical—but that’s the beauty of ongoing play. Not every session needs a full arc for every PC.

What Worked

• Tension through depletion – No need for a boss fight when the players are already low on resources.
• Mystery beats – The party is beginning to suspect something deeper is going on with the locket, the Eyes, and the Guild’s real purpose.
• Player-driven pacing – Letting the group decide how fast or slow to move through the lair gave them control and buy-in.

What I’d Do Differently

• Rotate the spotlight more intentionally – A few players naturally took the lead, and I could have drawn quieter characters forward with NPC interactions or magical quirks.
• More cinematic framing – Next time, I want to make entering a new room feel like entering a scene—lighting, sounds, stakes, and a moment to breathe before action.

Final Thoughts

This session was a satisfying midpoint between city intrigue and the chaos to come. The players are hungry for answers, cautious about what lies ahead, and increasingly invested in Renaer—not just as a quest-giver, but as a man with secrets.

Dungeon crawls don’t have to be grindfests. With the right blend of mystery, scarcity, and mood, they can feel like living puzzles the players unlock room by room.

Next up: doors behind doors, something whispering from the dark, and maybe—finally—a proper fight.

Stay tuned.