Handful of Heists is a collection of five short adventures for third-level characters, potentially set during Chapter 3 of Dragon Heist, but adaptable for use elsewhere. Each adventure, as indicated in the title, is a “heist” of some sort, where the characters are sent to retrieve something valuable.

In Cavern of the Sunken Queen, the characters venture underwater into a temple of Umberlee, the evil goddess of the sea. There, the characters need to steal as much gold as they can.

In The Lock Blocker, the characters must steal a treasure chest full of gold from an arrogant drunk, but it’s complicated by an enchantment which means that the chest can only be opened if the drunk gives a key to the adventurers; the key can’t be stolen. This scenario is a role-playing heavy – it’s a con!

In Husteem’s Vault, a benefactor hires the characters to retrieve a golden urn from a thieves’ den. The den belongs to the Xanathar’s Guild!

In It’s Always Sunny in Waterdeep, the characters compete with a rival tavern-owner to see who gets to host the Deadwinter Feast. This presumes that, as in Dragon Heist, the characters own a tavern, although a local bar might hire the characters instead. The designer suggests that you run this as a farce.

In The Tower Heist, the longest and most complicated of these scenarios, a benefactor hires the characters to steal a magic staff from Ahghairon’s Tomb, which is at the top of Ahghairon’s old tower. As Ahghairon was an archmage and the founder of Waterdeep, this is something that third-level characters probably shouldn’t be doing, but they’re hired to do it anyway!

The scenarios are presented, in the main, briefly, with a focus on the main elements of each encounter. More attention is given to role-playing based encounters rather than obvious situations, such as some patrolling wraiths. (Either the party sneaks past, or they attack. Those encounters don’t need more information than that).

There’s a very pleasing variety in the scenarios, which means there’s probably at least one that you’ll find useful. Some scenarios require more improvisation from the DM than others; scenarios based around role-playing are particularly prone to this. Some DMs may struggle with such scenarios. “Cavern” and “Vault” are the most straight-forward to run, as they are most like regular dungeon crawls.

The writing is generally good, but there are times when the proof-reading or phrasing is inferior. Multiple uses of “it’s” in a paragraph which needed “its” in each case is one example. On occasion, the action seems railroaded and forced; this is particularly true in It’s Always Sunny in Waterdeep. In other instances, there’s a lot of freedom as to how the party approaches things.

The maps and artwork are attractive, and the format of the product works well.

Overall, there’s a lot to like about Handful of Heists, although it has a few rough edges. There are some excellent, imaginative touches in the adventures, and I expect you’ll find it worth investigating. Recommended.