Have your players roll a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw.

Shadowfell Despair Type

On a failure their character is affected by the
d6 Type and Flaw
Shadowfell Despair. Roll a d6 to determine the type
1-3 Apathy. The character gains the following
of Despair, as shown on the table to the right, then a flaw: “I don’t believe I can make a difference
d8 on the matching table below to determine the to anyone or anything.”
effect. 4-5 Dread. The character gains the following
flaw: “I am convinced that this place is going
Despair effects stack. After finishing a long rest, a
to kill me.”
character can make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw to 6 Madness. The character gains the following
end all Despair effects. Calm Emotions or a magical flaw: “I can’t tell what’s real anymore.”
effect that removes curses can end the Despair early.
Encourage players to roleplay the ‘mood’ given
below as much as their new flaw.

Apathy Table
d8 Mood Effect
1 Unconcerned You have disadvantage on Dexterity Saving Throws
2 Sluggish You have a -5 ft penalty to all movement
3 Lethargic You have disadvantage on Constitution Saving Throws
4 Hopeless You have disadvantage on Wisdom and Intelligence Saving Throws
5 Fatalistic You have disadvantage on death saving throws
6 Drowsy You cannot use your reaction to make an opportunity attack
7 Distracted You have disadvantage on initiative rolls
8 Clumsy Whenever you roll a natural 1 on a d20, you fall prone

Dread Table
d8 Mood Effect
1 Trembling You have a -1 penalty to all attack rolls
2 Jittery You cannot take the Disengage action
3 Anxious You have a -1 penalty to your AC
4 Paranoid Whenever you roll hit dice to recover HP, you recover half of the amount rolled
5 Mistrustful You cannot move through an ally’s space
6 Scared Stiff During the first round of combat, you are restrained
7 Frail You are vulnerable to piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage
8 Craven You have disadvantage on all attack rolls for one round after you suffer an attack

Madness Table
d8 Mood Effect
1 Squeamish You have disadvantage on attack rolls against targets with less than maximum HP
2 Reckless Enemies have advantage on melee attack rolls against you
3 Quarrelsome Enemies within 30 ft. of you have advantage on attack rolls against your allies
4 Jealous You cannot take the Help action or target allies with nondamaging spells or abilities
5 Haunted You have disadvantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened
6 Forgetful You have disadvantage on all ability checks
7 Delusional You have a -1 penalty to your AC
8 Frantic You cannot gain advantage on any attack rolls

Use the maps and descriptions noted on
WD:DH 118-130 with the following changes:
Guest House
The guest house has been cleaned and is being
used to host the lower-class partiers. There is a
single cook taking care of the food, and a single
guard making sure no one goes upstairs.
Everyone else is a commoner.
Coach House
A single guard is patrolling the coach house to
make sure no one goes inside.
Grounds
Three bonfires have been lit between the main
and guest houses, and many people are outside
looking at the stars or mingling. A single guard
patrols the grounds, making sure no one
wanders too far from the bonfires. Everyone
else is either a commoner or noble.
In the western corner of the map, the Xanthar’s
guild thieves have thrown a rope ladder over
the side of the wall. This ladder can be used to
enter/exit the party without being noticed by
guards. The guard watching the bonfires does
not wander close enough to notice this rope
ladder, unless something draws his attention.
Villa – 1st floor and Basement
Depending on the time, Esvele Rosznar (Black
Viper) may be sneaking through the first floor
to the basement.
Four guards patrol the first floor, making sure
guests don’t get too nosy. There is a bard in the
front room playing on the harpsichord, a few
commoner chefs in the kitchen, and many
noble guests.
Two of the Cassalanter house servants, Willifort
(doppelganger disguised as a tiefling) and
6
Tissina (tiefling cult fanatic) welcome guests in
the front door and take their coats or bags to
room C7.
Villa – 2nd Floor
A band, including a bard follower of Hlal, plays
in the ballroom while noble guests dance and
eat. A cult fanatic chef leads the kitchen staff.
There are enough guests here that there are no
guards tasked with watching the stairs to the
third floor. The Cassalanter children spend most
of their time in the ballroom.
Villa – 3rd Floor
For most of the night this floor is entirely
empty. At some point Jarlaxle will make his way
to this floor and poke his nose around. The
Cassalanter children will be sent to their
bedroom during the course of the night as well.
Their governess, instead of retiring to the sitting
room, returns downstairs to the party.
Temple to Asmodeus
Three cultists stay in the temple even during
the party, praying to Asmodeus. They will fight
intruders, attempting to imprison them to be
sacrificed, and head up into the party to warn
Ammalia Cassalanter when given the chance.
Each player has a carry capacity of 30 lbs.,
which represents various hidden pockets. If this
limit is reached, they can’t hide anything else on
their person without being noticed. Similarly, as
they get close to their limit, they are more likely
to be noticed by guards.
All items listed in the Treasure section will be
given a weight value as well as a gold value.
You can use the tracking sheets in the Appendix
to help your players manage their haul.
Optional: Sack
As an option, you can allow your players to
bring along a single collective sack, which they
can use to store treasure during the party. This
sack has a carry capacity of 30 lbs.
If the thieves attempt to bring this sack through
the front door, it is confiscated and left in room
C7, where it can be picked up later.
If the guards spot the characters carrying this
sack, it is confiscated. If any items inside can be
identified as stolen, the thieves are kicked out
of the house.
Make sure to follow these rules when creating
characters for this one shot. If guards discover
weapons on your players, the weapons are
confiscated and returned when your players
leave the party.
Weapons
Thieves walking in the front door can sneak in
the following: (melee) Club, Dagger, Handaxe,
Light Hammer, Flail, Rapier, Shortsword, War
Pick; (ranged) Darts, Sling, Blowgun.
Thieves sneaking over the wall in the courtyard
also have the option to bring in: (melee) Javelin,
Mace, Sickle, Spear, Battleaxe, Longsword,
Scimitar, Whip; (ranged) Hand Crossbow.
Items such as quarterstaffs, wands, or
spellcasting focuses don’t attract suspicion.
Armor
Players who are proficient can only wear Light
armor, or Hide armor (Medium).
7
You can track suspicion however you want in
your game. A chart, modeled after the
Exhaustion chart on page 291 of the Player’s
Handbook, is suggested below.
Suspicion
Level Effect
1 Disadvantage on Charisma-based
checks against guards or members of
the household.
2 Disadvantage on any check made
while in sight of a guard or member of
the household.
3 A guard is assigned to watch the
players at all times.
4 The players are stopped and searched
by the guards, who confiscate any
weapons. If they determine that any of
the items the characters carry are
stolen, those are confiscated and the
suspicion level automatically increases.
Otherwise it automatically decreases.
5 The players are all kicked out of the
party, without any confiscated items
returned.
6 Players are arrested by the City Watch,
who were waiting nearby.
Because this is a one shot, your players may
decrease their group suspicion level by:
succeeding on Charisma-based checks, using
relevant spells or abilities, or waiting. The
guards forget specific guests after a while, so
whenever you think is appropriate, roll a d4 and
remove that number of levels of Suspicion.
 Spring Vengeance is a one-shot supplement to
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, which takes a group
of 5th level characters through a mission aboard
the Sea Maiden’s Faire. The purpose of this
adventure is to introduce players to villains and
NPCs they might not otherwise meet while
playing the original adventure. Xanathar is
absent in Spring Vengeance.
There are three plot hooks, seen on pages 6-8.
These set up backstories, so all the players are
working for the Harpers, the Cassalanters, or
Manshoon. In each backstory, the players are
getting revenge against Jarlaxle for how he’s
wronged the players’ employer. There are
multiple suggested ways to enact this revenge.
The game takes place on Fey Day, which occurs
on Ches 19, or Spring Equinox (see Waterdeep:
Dragon Heist p184). The Sea Maiden’s Faire is
Honfleur, by Johan Barthold Jongkind
3
hosting a parade in town to celebrate, and most
of the carnies and sailors are not on the ships.
Your players will sneak through the docks and
board the ships in disguise. Once the session
ends, night falls and the parade returns to the
ships, discovering any trespassers who remain.
The game lasts as long as you want it to; don’t
worry about making sure in-game time passes
realistically. There’s a list of events on page 12
which you can use to keep things moving, or
ignore as you see fit.
The game is best played with the Waterdeep:
Dragon Heist core adventure book on hand.
Certain statblocks, map details, and other
information from that book will be referenced
by page number as WDH ##. Before running
Spring Vengeance, read the Maestro’s Fall
chapter in WDH 131-146.
Spring Vengeance works well with 5th level PCs.
Choose, or have your players choose, which
faction they will be working for, and allow them
to build their characters with that in mind.
Each player character starts with a carnie
disguise, acquired for them by their faction.
Assume the disguises look convincing.
Each faction has access to a small ship docked in
Waterdeep Harbor (the Harpers and the
Cassalanters own their own pleasure boats; the
Zhentarim were given one by a client to pay a
debt). The ship is located further down the
docks, and does not come with a driver.
Your players also have a few non-lethal
knockout weapons available to them. They can
divide these however they seem fit:
Wire Garrote (1 per party)
Simple Melee Weapon. Finesse, two-handed.
One medium or smaller target, against whom
the player has advantage on the attack. Hit: 1d4
bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled
and choking (see PHB 183, errata). Until the
grapple ends, the target can’t breathe, and
every attack against the target has advantage. If
the garrote is removed from a choking,
unconscious target, the target stabilizes at 0 hit
points.
Drow PCs
If you have a player who wishes to play a drow
character, feel free to allow it. Make sure your
player understands they won’t be ‘visibly’ drow
the whole game, and that NPCs might respond
to them differently because of their race.
Examples of this include:
• Drow NPCs will assume a visibly drow PC is a
member of the Bregan D’earthe (regardless of
apparent gender)
• Drow sailors will try to stop visibly drow PCs
from boarding the ship openly, instead
suggesting they cover up first, or sneak up the
side of the ship.
• Drow sailors who believe a PC to be drow will
not suggest they leave the ship without first
covering up, or sneaking down into the water.
• Non-drow NPCs in the Dock Ward may
assume a drow PC is up to no good, or express
fear of and be especially accommodating
towards a drow PC.

Sleep Darts (20 per party)

Simple Ranged Weapon. Finesse, thrown
(20/60). One target. Hit: 1d4 piercing damage,
and target must succeed a DC13 Constitution
saving throw or fall unconscious for one hour.
The target wakes up if it takes damage, or if
anyone uses an action to shake it awake.

Sleep Spell Scroll (3 per party)

A common spell scroll containing the first level
spell, Sleep (see DMG 200).

Garrote by cchauvet on Flickr

4
Unless you decide otherwise, Xanathar is
physically absent from Summer Slaughter. It
wants Manshoon dead, of course, but not
enough to risk its own life making that happen.
Instead, Xanathar has sent out some of its best
agents to secure its rivals demise.

As a Beholder the Xanathar is genderless, and is

referred to as ‘it’. However, many members of
Xanathar’s Thieves Guild don’t know the true
identity of their leader. Those who know of
Xanathar’s true identity keep up the ruse by
referring to it as ‘he’ with underlings and
outsiders.

Xanathar is paranoid and craves power. It has

long wished to see the Zhentarim fall, and
believes killing this new Manshoon will further
its goal. Once Manshoon is dead, Xanathar fully
intends to continue undermining the Zhentarim,
until it runs all potential rivals out of the city.
If you decide to bring Xanathar along on your
adventure, it activates its ring of invisibility to
remain hidden during the travel and the wait,
preferring only to attack and become visible
again after entering the Kolat Towers.
Xanathar’s Agents
Attending the slaughter today are several dozen
agents of Xanathar – but none of its lieutenants
(as listed on WDH 100). Wishing to keep its
most trusted underlings safe, the Xanathar has
sent an assortment of other humanoids instead,
primarily humans, dwarves, and halflings, who
all work as thieves and assassins for Xanathar.
There are also a few members of the city watch
whose brains have been replaced with intellect
devourers, as well as a few ogres who’ve been
disguised in elaborate, full-body costumes.
Unless you decide otherwise, Jarlaxle is
physically absent from Summer Slaughter. He
doesn’t care whether Manshoon lives or dies,
but is rather more interested in how he can
profit from this situation.
Jarlaxle has multiple angles today. Firstly, by
helping Xanathar and the Doom Raiders work
together, he establishes himself as an ally in
case he needs to call on a favor later. Secondly,
the Doom Raiders are much easier to work with
than Manshoon, and having them as allies
allows Jarlaxle to make use of the Zhentarim for
the first time.
Jarlaxle also has spies everywhere, and he
knows that Manshoon is blackmailing certain
members of the Waterdeep elite. He doesn’t
know if these are members of the Masked Lords
of Waterdeep, but he has his suspicions. If the
players can steal Manshoon’s information,
Jarlaxle plans to take over as the blackmailer.

9
About 200 years ago Manshoon founded the
Zhentarim as an organization of evil mages and
sellswords working under his banner. 100 years
later he was killed by a subordinate, releasing
dozens of clones, all convinced they were the
real Manshoon.
Many of the clones slaughtered each other, and
over the next 100 years most of the others were
tracked down by heroes and disposed of. A few
clones still exist, however. The Manshoon who
appeared in Waterdeep is one of them. He
spent years hiding out in the Undermountain,
biding his time.
When he emerged, this Manshoon quickly
reasserted control over the local Zhentarim,
who’ve changed a lot over the years. Manshoon
has grand plans to take over Waterdeep, and
the patience to eventually pull it off. Turning
the fangless mercenary Zhents back into the evil
and power-hungry organization he meant for
them to be is part of that plan.
You can find Manshoon’s stat block on WDH
209. This adventure recommends making these
changes:
• Remove the 1st level spell mage armor
• Add the 2nd level spell alter self
• Replace Bigby’s hand with teleportation
circle
• Replace simulacrum with teleport
10
The Doom Raiders are ex-adventurers who led
the Waterdeep faction of the Zhentarim until
Manshoon’s clone showed up. They’re known
to be brutally effective but fair-minded. The
more bloodthirsty and power-hungry Zhents
sided with Manshoon during the split, leaving
only a small handful loyal to the Doom Raiders;
the players are part of that group. You can read
more about the Doom Raiders on WDH 198.
Davil Starsong
The face of the operation, and an elf bard. He is
charismatic and charming but not self-centered,
skilled at putting others at ease. If he joins the
party he takes a backseat leadership role, and
focuses on buffing/debuffing during combat.
Istrid Horn
Bookkeeper of the operation, and a dwarf
cleric. She loves collecting gold and sending her
enforcers out to make clients pay. If she joins
the party she tries to direct tactics, and focuses
on buffing/debuffing during combat.
Skeemo Weirdbottle
Head mage of the operation, and a gnome
wizard. He specializes in potions, and secretly
joined Manshoon’s Zhentarim, with plans to sell
out his old friends. If he joins the party he
attempts to sabotage the players and tries to
subtly alert Manshoon’s agents.
Tashlyn Yafeera
The arms dealer of the operation, and a human
fighter. She’s infiltrated the city guard and
oversees Zhentarim combat training, too. If she
joins the party she’s itching for combat, and
makes the players’ survival a primary goal.
Ziraj the Hunter
Top assassin of the operation, and a half-orc
paladin. He’s quiet, stoic, and fiercely loyal to
his old friends, going to great lengths to protect
them. If he joins the party he sticks to the back,
acting only when necessary.