A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Waterdeep Primer

Waterdeep Primer by Jason Hardin is a role playing game supplement published by Wizards of the Coast through the DMs Guild Community Content Programme. The supplement is an overview of the current state of Waterdeep. The supplement would technically be aimed at Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition but has no game stats.

The supplement is available as a 24-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $1.99 but was purchased at a reduced price during a sale. One page is the front cover, one the front matter and two pages are the Credits and Bibliography.

The paragraph of the Introduction states that a lot has been published about Waterdeep over the years, much of which needs to be redone for 5th Edition. The supplement provides an overview of Waterdeep for DMs.

Overview explains that the supplement gives an overview of the city, with links to more detailed products and that it will be updated as more material is released.

A Brief History gives an overview of Waterdeep’s history from the elven and dwarven cities up to the Spellplague and the modern day. This covers several pages and, although it’s not stated in this section, more detailed information is available in other supplements. However, this provides a decent overview of the history.

A map of Waterdeep with the different wards marked on it is followed by Wards. Each ward is briefly described, as well as any points of interest, if any, and how the guard patrols it.

Government covers the Lords of Waterdeep, the legal system, the courts, magistrates, city watch and criminal organisations.

Military covers the guard, navy, griffon cavalry and the Gray Hands.

Society covers noble families, religion, guilds, secret societies and factions.

Education covers magic schools, bard’s colleges and general education.

Finally, there is a Bibliography of various sources used.

Waterdeep Primer in Review

The PDF is very well bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. There are also, as mentioned, a number of links to external sources and supplementary material, both official and community content, and the Bibliography is the same. Navigation is good. The text maintains a two-column colour format and a few minor errors were noted. There are a number of black and white stock illustrations. Presentation is okay.

This is not, by itself, a complete supplement for running anything in Waterdeep, but that is not what it is intended to be. It is intended to give an overview of the current situation for reference, as well as provide details on where more information can be found and it succeeds at that. Nothing is covered in tremendous detail but the overviews are reasonably thorough and can definitely give a background to Waterdeep through its fictional life and current status to DMs running games set there. Waterdeep Primer is recommending for anyone running a game in Waterdeep and it can be found by clicking here.