City Watch

The City Watch is Waterdeep’s police force, charged with keeping the peace and apprehending criminals. City Watch patrols are usually four to twelve persons strong. A patrol expecting trouble might also have reinforcement in the form of a priest (on loan from one of the local temples) or a mage (from the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors).

The following is an excerpt from Volo’s Waterdeep Enchiridion:

*”The first soldiers you see in service to the city will be the members of the City Guard who patrol the roads leading to Waterdeep, watch the walls, guard civic structures, and protect magisters. Waterdeep’s streets, however, are policed by an altogether different force: the City Watch. The similarity of their names often confuses newcomers, so I offer this handy mnemonic: ‘The Guard guards the walls while the Watch watches all.’ *

You can recognize any member of the City Watch by the uniform: a green-and-goldenrod doublet and a tall steel helmet. Each typically carries a long truncheon, a dagger, and a buckler. Because most citizens in Waterdeep don’t bear weapons, these tools prove a more than ample deterrent to criminal activity. Members of the Watch typically don’t carry crossbows or other weapons to attack at range, but running from the Watch — though it may be a time-honored tradition for local miscreants — rarely works out for newcomers to the city. I guarantee that all members of the Watch know the streets they patrol and that area’s residents better than you do, even if you stay in Waterdeep for ten seasons.

The City Watch has watch posts throughout the city. These stations are often off the main thoroughfares, tucked away in small courtyards or at cross streets. A watch post can be recognized by the green-and-gold lantern outside it, lit even during the day with a continual flame spell. A watch post serves as an organizational headquarters and armory. Anyone who wishes to report a crime may do so at a watch post in the event a Watch constable can’t be found elsewhere. A watch post typically contains a few holding cells where people arrested for crimes can be detained until they’re marched to a courthouse jail before standing trial.

Small squads head out from the watch posts on daily and nightly rounds of the city streets, or on special assignments involving protection or investigation. A mere pair of Watch operatives might discreetly patrol in the Castle Ward; in contrast, squads of eight walk the Dock Ward, increasing to as many as a dozen at night. If Watch members spot trouble they can’t handle, they blow shrill tin whistles to summon more of their members — an act that alerts nearby citizens as well.

City Watch members follow a strict code of conduct that makes them one of the most trusted police forces aside from paladin-patrolled Elturgard. As long as you don’t engage in unlawful behavior, you can expect to be left untroubled by the Watch.”