How do the players compete with Jarlaxle durign the Xanathar Heist (Alexandrian)
I will be running the remix for a second time (second group) after finishing it with my primary one and moving onto Mad Mage.
I am preparing and re-doing my old notes and I can't figure out how the players are supposed to get to the eye before Jarlaxle, and even if they do, what stops Jarlaxle from just going to Trollskull and getting it back ?
In my first go-around, Jarlaxle got the eye but him and the players formed an alliance to bomb the entire lair, which was an awesome turn of events that lead to so much story going forward.
But at the same time i don't want the lair heist to feel scripted because running into Jarlaxle at any point is a recipe for disaster because a party at that level, in the Xanathar lair has no chance against him.
So what were your experiences with this, any ideas, any cool things that happened for you etc. ?