r/rimeofthefrostmaiden

Did you use Dzaan as written? If not, what did you change? I'm considering making changes with him but am curious what others may have done in their campaigns.

My players have just met Oyamintarok and think she’s a super cool badass. One has decided that all their character wants now is to become a Werebear too, so she can be just like her hero.

I’m not sure how to handle the request.is Oyamintarok a special case who retains full control over herself when transformed? Do other werebears lose control over themselves while transformed werewolves?

I’m relatively new to DMing and the only experience I’ve had with lycanthropy is as a player when I was bitten by a werewolf as a player the DM said that we would lose control of our PC’s during a full moon if we did not cure the curse.

Have any of you worked a Werebear into your players abilities?

https://preview.redd.it/bpaug73cnyyg1.png?width=752&format=png&auto=webp&s=ffe7f1883f8471c6dbbbf46cf47785c548fb43d2

I thought it'd be nice to make Sephek a little more ... undead. So I tried to change his looks and I kinda liked the result. What do you think?

My group has had a great time exploring all of Ten Towns and I've tried to encourage them to spread their legs a little bit now that they have hit level four, to do Chapter 2 quests in anticipation of Chapter 3.

I'm following the book closely as advised and I've even seeded the Duergar threat well by having them cause mischief around Ten Towns. The party has picked up half the rumors about Chapter 2 quests which I've detailed in their quest journal, hinting at treasures available in these locations which I've even marked on their map.

The group is well aware of Sunblight and Chardalynn as they have spoken with Hethyl at Caer Dineval, cleared the Duergar Outpost and Ferry in Easthaven. They've finished half the Chapter 1 quests and also acquired two teams of dogsleds and can travel well around the towns.

Despite all of this, they refuse to leave Ten Towns. They say it's too dangerous and refuse to go anywhere else away from town. They insist they need to finish all of the Chapter 1 quest leads even though I've explained some of them have already resolved themselves over time and none more are available.

So in an effort to motivate them, Dougan's Hole was destroyed in a pre-emptive attack by Sunblight's forces and was wiped off the map before the Duergar returned to their fort in the South. Instead of being motivated to intervene, the party has decided to simply wait in Bryn Shander in hopes of finding more leads on Chapter 1 quests. I've even had Avarice and Vellyne show up on separate occasions and tell them about their investigations into the glacier.

At this point, I don't know what else to do to motivate them to move on with the story. I'm tempted to just start Destruction's Light but the book says they shouldn't advance from level 4 until they do *something* in Chapter 2. We are all having fun but the players simply don't care about ever going anywhere outside of town and they don't want to fight Sunblight, investigate the glacier or Sea of Moving Ice locations despite the endless darkness slowly starving out the towns.

I'm tempted just to level with them and out of character say "You guys have done everything you can around town. There's nothing else for you here unless you venture out of town and face new challenges and make a real plan to stop Sunblight." Alternately, all of the Chapter 1 NPCs might start pleading with them to investigate the Frost Giant ruins or Dark Duchess for a change.

After 4 years, with 56 sessions, we have finished the campaign!

This is the first campaign we've finished together, and just wanted to say a thank you to this sub for all of the notes that I've been able to lurk over for the last few years.

I took a lot of the ideas in Eventyr Games' campaign outline, along with Sly Flourish's campaign notes and added in a healthy amount of homebrew to flesh out how each of our party members were linked to the dale.

• An octopus paladin/warlock who was shapeshifted to be a human, though had to revert to an octopus every new moon (died to Arveiaturace and resurrected)
• A human rogue who's mother performed some dark rituals on and now she can see ghosts.
• A half-orc ranger/cleric who was thrown into a river as a child and is now afraid of drowning.
• A human fighter who had died and inexplicably been brought back to life by the frostmaiden (died to the Chardalyn Dragon).
• A dwarven cleric who had his memory wiped by an oblex about its existence (died to Auril's third form).

This was actually the second attempt at the campaign with this group- the first one we abandoned after completing the chapter 1 quests; so a fun bit I had was placing each of their original characters in the locations around the dale that linked to their secrets.

AMA!

I didn't like most of the Character Secrets in the module. Some of them seemed alright, but most just seemed very "meh". Instead, I've made up a d20 Roll Table of secrets, and had each of my players roll twice on it. They can then choose to use both, or just one, to use as a building block for their backstories (or just come up with their own).

Here's what I've got at the moment:

1. Slaad Survivor

During your journey to Bryn Shander, you encountered a red slaad. You survived the attack, narrowly escaping with your life, but not without a few scratches. The wounds healed strangely, and something about the encounter still gnaws at you. Whether from shame, fear, or the sense that the creature may still be out there, you have told no one what really happened.

2. Lost Heir

You come from nobility, or from a bloodline of leadership within your community. Your family has since been killed off, scattered, or erased, leaving you as one of the last surviving heirs. You have hidden your true name and heritage, either to avoid those who slaughtered your kin or to escape the burden of what your bloodline expects of you.

3. Yeti Whisperer

You once saved a yeti tyke from death. Since then, you have found it strangely easy to communicate simple ideas with yetis through gestures, sounds, and instinct. Not all yetis are friendly, but some seem to recognise you as something other than prey. You have kept this secret, knowing most folk would call you mad, cursed, or worse.

4. The Sacrifice

There was a moment when you had to choose between your life and someone else’s. You chose yourself. No one knows the truth except you, and perhaps the dead. Maybe you have justified it a hundred different ways, but the memory remains, cold and sharp, waiting for the next time survival demands a price.

5. The Thief

You stole a spellbook or research notes from a wizard connected to the Arcane Brotherhood. You may not understand what it is you took, but you know enough to know it's valuable.

6. Midwinter Child

You bear a mark believed to be a sign of the Frostmaiden’s favour, such as pure white hair, icy blue eyes, a snowflake-shaped birthmark, or skin that feels strangely cold to the touch. Once, this may have been seen as a blessing or curiosity. Now, with Auril’s endless winter choking the Dale, it has become something people fear, resent, or hate.

7. Cursed Trinket

You carry an item made from chardalyn, a dark-tinted metal found only in the Dale and believed to be cursed by old, evil magic. Sometimes the item whispers to you in a strange tongue you do not understand, but only you can hear it. You know you should get rid of it. For whatever reason, you can’t bring yourself to part with it.

8. Left for Dead

You were betrayed and left for dead. Whether it happened in the tundra, during a journey, in the aftermath of a fight, or at the hands of people you trusted, you survived when they expected you to perish. Those who abandoned you are still alive somewhere. You do not know what you would do if you saw them again.

9. The Lottery

You were once involved in rigging a sacrifice lottery. Perhaps you changed a name, protected someone you loved, or helped condemn someone. You have told yourself it was necessary, that someone would have died either way. Still, each new moon, you remember the face of the person who died because of you.

10. The Black City

You suffer recurring nightmares of a pitch-black city prowled by faceless figures with icy blue skin. In these dreams, you know you are dreaming and can act freely, but no matter what you do, they always end badly. You remember every detail when you wake. You have told no one, fearing the dreams may be a curse, a premonition, or memories from a life that was never yours.

11. The Doppelganger

You are a doppelganger who has perfectly blended into your chosen community for safety. Replace your normal racial features with the ability to cast detect thoughts at will, requiring no components, and the ability to polymorph into a humanoid you have seen. You have survived by being careful, useful, and forgettable. If people discover your true nature, they will almost certainly want you dead.

12. Escaped Prisoner

You were once imprisoned at Revel’s End for a crime you either did or did not commit. Somehow, you escaped. Strangely, no one has come after you yet. Perhaps the law has forgotten your face. Perhaps the prison has bigger problems. Or perhaps you have simply been lucky, and luck is not known to last forever.

13. The Cult

You are, or once were, part of an order known as the Knights of the Black Sword, a secretive league of cultists who serve Levistus. Whether you joined willingly, or were saved from death by the archdevil’s influence, your connection to the order remains tangible.

14. Old Flame

You have a former lover somewhere in the Dale, someone you have not seen in years. At any point during the campaign, you may designate an NPC as this person. Their reaction depends on their personality and how the relationship ended, which is up to you. They may miss you, hate you, need you, fear you, or pretend they have forgotten you entirely.

15. Awakened Friend

Accompanying you is a beast (a fox, hare, owl, or similar creature) gifted with speech and thought. You may have saved its life, or befriended it in some way. Your friend begs you, on occassion, not to reveal that it can speak.

16. The Pirate

You once served aboard a pirate ship called the Dark Duchess. Your ship wrecked along the coast of the Sea of Moving Ice, leaving the surviving crew stranded, starving, and slowly losing their minds. When talk turned to cannibalism, you fled into the tundra and never looked back. You do not know what became of the others.

17. Reghed Heir

You are the daughter of the Reghed chieftain of the Tiger Tribe, who cast you into the Sea of Moving Ice as a sacrifice to Auril. You should have died in those freezing waters, but a polar bear pulled you to shore and brought you to safety. That bear was no ordinary beast, but a goliath werebear named Oyaminartok. You have not seen her since.

18. The Witness

You once witnessed a murder within the community you came from. The culprit knows what you saw, and they know that if the truth ever comes out, it will likely be because of you. You fear them, whether because of their position, their power, their cruelty, or your personal connection to them. For now, you have stayed silent.

19. The Debt

You owe a large debt to the Zhentarim. Maybe they saved your life, covered up a crime, bought your freedom, or simply lent you coin. Whatever the reason, the debt has grown larger than you can reasonably repay.

20. Reborn

You died. How it happened is up to you, but for reasons you do not understand, you came back. When you returned, something about you had changed, physically, mentally, spiritually, or all three. You are still yourself, at least you think you are, but some part of death may have followed you back.

Hello. Has anyone add the FRAiF into their Frostmaiden campaing? How did It went? Would you recommend It?

Does anybody have any thoughts on how to flesh out this encounter? Fights, loot, etc. Thanks

Sorry if this information is out there and I've missed it -- but why didn't Ravisin summon Sahnar and have a mummy on her side?

What movies/series/anime/stuff did you consume to help with the flavor, tone and finding things to steal ? For example, I found it immensely valuable to watch Netflix Castlevania before running CoS to steal Strahd aura-farming (I even snuck in a "oh, you must be the Horngaard" to my paladin).

I want to make it very survival horror heavy, leaning into physical and psychological mutations caused by chardalyn, the winter and stuff. I've already watched 30 Days of Night, and it inspired me to flesh out the vampires from the Caves of Hunger.

I've been running this campaign for few sessions now, and my players are slowly working their way through Ten Towns, recently arriving in Bremen. I've been adding extra quests/encounters to the towns they pass, to make them feel a little less one-and-done, and wanted to share the new quest I used for Bremen in last night's session.

Unwelcome Guests
Founded by dwarf prospectors, the sleepy town of Bremen sits on the west bank of Maer Dualdon, at the mouth of the Shaengarne River. Bremen's harbor has frozen, requiring local fishers to haul their boats across the ice to put them in the lake. The trail that connects Bremen to Targos was poorly maintained in the best of times, and now has been completely erased by the snowfall.

Being cut off from the outside world now seems like the least of Bremen’s problems, however. Two months ago, a gang of pirates rolled into town, frostbitten and starving after having walked all the way from their icebound ship, the Dark Duchess, stranded on the edge of the Sea of Moving Ice. Taking pity on their disheveled forms, the kindly proprietor of the town’s only inn, Cora Mulphoon, took them in and fed them, caring for their wounds as best she could.

Unfortunately, the townsfolk found their new guests disinclined to leave once they had recovered their strength. The crew of the Dark Duchess outnumbered the town’s ragtag militia, and the one time they were confronted, the pirates quickly demonstrated their battle prowess, easily killing the guard captain, a Dwarf named Wallace Cragfoot, and several of his strongest fighters.

The town’s speaker, Dorbulgruf Shalescar, is almost 300 years old, and is far too senile to even notice the town’s predicament, so the pirates, under their captain Rudolph Bluemoon, have now taken over the small town. If all that wasn’t bad enough, feeding these extra mouths has become even more difficult, as several fishing boats have been attacked out on the lake by an unidentified creature capable of taking huge chunks out of the side of their vessels.

Captain Rudolph Bluemoon

A member of the Ship Suljack, a powerful faction out of Luskan that engages in piracy along the Trackless Sea and the Sea of Moving Ice. His ship, the Dark Duchess, became trapped by sea ice over three months ago while returning to Luskan, hold full of plundered booty. The crew, low on food, faced a difficult decision - attempt to make the dangerous journey overland to the nearest inhabited settlement, leaving the majority of their treasure behind, or remain there and starve.

The captain decided to split the difference, taking half of his crew with him overland and leaving his first mate, Benjamin Waller, and the others to ration their remaining food and guard the ship. The journey to Bremen took over a week, with blizzards forcing the party to stop and seek shelter constantly. Frostbitten and starving, Rudolph ordered the weakest crewmates to be killed and butchered to keep the others alive.

They eventually reached the town of Bremen, and were taken in by the folk there, who helped nurse them out of their sorry state. Finding themselves warm and fed for the first time in months, Captain Bluemoon has thus far delayed their return to the Duchess, reluctant to face the journey again. His men have become increasingly restless, taking out their frustrations on the townsfolk and fishermen.

The Pirates

The pirates have made the Town Hall their base, and frequently visit the inn and other establishments to carouse and harass the townsfolk. The party may encounter a small group of pirates wandering the streets, in Buried Treasures or, in any of the town's other establishments, harassing the owners and other customers.

The pirates show clear signs of frostbite, and are rude and quick to violence. It's clear that they are lashing out due to boredom and inactivity. If confronted by a challenge they can't overcome, the surviving pirates will flee back to the Town Hall to warn their Captain, who holds court there.

Captain Bluemoon is boastful and gregarious, but when questioned about why he has not returned to claim the booty on the Dark Duchess, he grows surly. A successful insight check can reveal that he is fearful of making the terrible journey back across the tundra to his ship. The Captain has a map of the coast of the Sea of Moving Ice that shows the location of the Dark Duchess, as well as a +1 scimitar.

I used the Pirate Captain, Pirate Bosun, Pirate First Mate, and Pirate Deck Mage statblocks from Ghosts of Saltmarsh to represent Captain Bluemoon and his crew.

My party, after dispatching the pirates, now plan on travelling to the Duchess to claim his treasure. I will likely run that encounter as written in the book, only switching out the Captain for his first mate.

I'm curious what the average gender is for DMs who run Rime of the Frostmaiden.No reason. Just curious

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Did anybody go to Jarlmoot after already dealing with the Chardalyn Dragon and realize, "Oh, shoot! THIS would have been useful!"?