Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
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- Author：Christopher Perkins
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Summary
SOME SECRETS ARE WORTH DYING FOR
Feel the cold touch of death in this adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game。
In Icewind Dale， adventure is a dish best served cold。
Beneath the unyielding night sky， you stand before a towering glacier and recite an ancient rhyme， causing a crack to form in the great wall of ice。 Beyond this yawning fissure， the Caves of Hunger await。 And past this icy dungeon is a secret so old and terrifying that few dare speak of it。 The mad wizards of the Arcane Brotherhood long to possess that which the god of winter’s wrath has so coldly preserved—as do you！ What fantastic secrets and treasures are entombed in the sunless heart of the glacier， and what will their discovery mean for the denizens of Icewind Dale？ Can you save Ten-Towns from the Frostmaiden’s everlasting night？
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden is a tale of dark terror that revisits the forlorn， flickering candlelights of civilization known as Ten-Towns and sheds light on the many bone-chilling locations that surround these frontier settlements。
Feel the cold touch of death in this adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game。
In Icewind Dale， adventure is a dish best served cold。
Beneath the unyielding night sky， you stand before a towering glacier and recite an ancient rhyme， causing a crack to form in the great wall of ice。 Beyond this yawning fissure， the Caves of Hunger await。 And past this icy dungeon is a secret so old and terrifying that few dare speak of it。 The mad wizards of the Arcane Brotherhood long to possess that which the god of winter’s wrath has so coldly preserved—as do you！ What fantastic secrets and treasures are entombed in the sunless heart of the glacier， and what will their discovery mean for the denizens of Icewind Dale？ Can you save Ten-Towns from the Frostmaiden’s everlasting night？
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden is a tale of dark terror that revisits the forlorn， flickering candlelights of civilization known as Ten-Towns and sheds light on the many bone-chilling locations that surround these frontier settlements。
Reviews
Jeremy Blum
，
Rime of the Frostmaiden tells a story set in the Forgotten Realms northern region made famous by author R。A。 Salvatore in his Drizzt Do'Urden novels。 The plot revolves around a bunch of shenanigans ranging from a rampaging robotic dragon to a mysterious lost empire， and these threads emerge after the exiled goddess of winter， Auril， turns Icewind Dale into a frozen wasteland。 It’s decent stuff， and overall I’d say Rime of the Frostmaiden is about as good as Tomb of Annihilation。 Nevertheless， af Rime of the Frostmaiden tells a story set in the Forgotten Realms northern region made famous by author R。A。 Salvatore in his Drizzt Do'Urden novels。 The plot revolves around a bunch of shenanigans ranging from a rampaging robotic dragon to a mysterious lost empire， and these threads emerge after the exiled goddess of winter， Auril， turns Icewind Dale into a frozen wasteland。 It’s decent stuff， and overall I’d say Rime of the Frostmaiden is about as good as Tomb of Annihilation。 Nevertheless， after having run a multitude of official 5e campaign books one after another， I’ve started to notice some trends。 Chief among these are underdeveloped villains who only show up at the last minute， lots of messy plot threads and a tendency for these books to fall short at evoking their intended mood - cosmic horror， in the case of Rime of the Frostmaiden。As is typically the case， the campaign starts out pretty well， with Icewind Dale’s multiple villages of Ten-Towns serving as a fun sandbox。 But halfway through， players are railroaded into dealing with an impending threat by duergar plotting to raze Ten-Towns to the ground with their big robot dragon， and this comes out of nowhere and honestly， has no bearing on the overarching plot involving Auril。 Actually， perhaps it’s more accurate to say that Auril has no bearing on the adventure aside from the title， since the Frostmaiden herself barely shows up except as a mid-boss and an optional encounter in the end。 The entire finale of the campaign， in fact， is a deep dive into a ruined section of the lost empire of Netheril that is largely Forgotten Realms lore porn and once again， doesn’t really have anything to do with Auril。 I know why it was included in this module - because designer Christopher Perkins wanted to evoke the feeling of H。P。 Lovecraft’s novella At the Mountains of Madness， which features explorers delving into a forgotten Antarctic civilization and slowly growing mad。 Overall， though， Rime of the Frostmaiden fails at evoking much of a cosmic horror feel and largely just ends up as standard D&D in a snowy environment， with the book promising a feeling of disjointedness if it’s run as written。 。。。more
Jes
，
Solid world and plot， love all the resources available。 Good characters。 It's tough to set the tone for this one。 Solid world and plot， love all the resources available。 Good characters。 It's tough to set the tone for this one。 。。。more
Jerrod
，
I'm running two different groups in this campaign right now。 I am very excited and look forward to progressing deeper into Icewind Dale。 It seems like an amazing campaign。 I'm running two different groups in this campaign right now。 I am very excited and look forward to progressing deeper into Icewind Dale。 It seems like an amazing campaign。 。。。more
Saturn
，
This was such a fun module to DM for！ I’m reading a lot of reviews that seem to have problems with running the campaign as is， though that never should be the standard when running a module。 They’re supposed to be the barest of bones for you to build upon， taking a lot of work off the table for a DM whose friends want them to run a campaign for them。 I made adjustments。 The module says that the Arcane Brotherhood’s morality has a Wild West vibe to it， so why not make this a Wild West campaign？ I This was such a fun module to DM for！ I’m reading a lot of reviews that seem to have problems with running the campaign as is， though that never should be the standard when running a module。 They’re supposed to be the barest of bones for you to build upon， taking a lot of work off the table for a DM whose friends want them to run a campaign for them。 I made adjustments。 The module says that the Arcane Brotherhood’s morality has a Wild West vibe to it， so why not make this a Wild West campaign？ I slapped some aesthetic changes on it， like making Targos a casino town that the Zhentarim use to rake in cash， turned the inn at Bryn Shander into an extravagant saloon to show how better off Bryn Shander is financially compared the rest of the towns， etc。 I used food and props to also set the western mood。 You can change up the difficulty for your players at any time， if you feel an encounter is way too much for them。 Killing off a party member every once in a while （only happened once for this campaign） is fine。 A TPK is just a lack of ingenuity on the DM’s part。 Fudging rolls， bringing in a surprise NPC to help the party， creating another event， etc are very effective tools for it。 No part of the campaign is set in stone， either。 I know some secrets have underwhelming repercussions written for them， like Elusive Paramour， but that one was fun to rework into a group of bounty hunters that took over a tavern trying to hunt down the PC who had the secret。 Just make sure you read the entire module first， and make notes of recurring characters and very important events （looking at you， chapter 3） because the book doesn’t foreshadow well enough， in my opinion， so I had to leave clues out for players。Black Cabin was hands down my favorite part。 It was a lot of dice and the look of shock on my players’ faces alone was well worth the money I spent on this module。 I won’t spoil with things I did for the later chapters。I may run it again a few years from now as the John Carpenter-style horror campaign that I think it was actually intended to be， but my first run with it was a lot fun。 。。。more
Pádraic
，
Within reach of being A Good Adventure， but god its flaws are frustrating。 So much great stuff！ The opening sandbox sections， as the players explore the interconnected ten towns of， uh， Ten-Towns， and the wider expanse of the Dale， contain fantastic quests， NPCs， interactions， decisions， and possibilities。 You'd probably need to make your players locals to have a stronger grounding in helping the region survive the endless midwinter， but with that in place， there's opportunities for plenty of gr Within reach of being A Good Adventure， but god its flaws are frustrating。 So much great stuff！ The opening sandbox sections， as the players explore the interconnected ten towns of， uh， Ten-Towns， and the wider expanse of the Dale， contain fantastic quests， NPCs， interactions， decisions， and possibilities。 You'd probably need to make your players locals to have a stronger grounding in helping the region survive the endless midwinter， but with that in place， there's opportunities for plenty of great moments here， with just some minor tweaking for personal taste。It's good the characters will build up connections to the region， because other the duergar section that follows will have no emotional weight or urgency at all。 The dragon setpiece needs some major reworking mechanically， but the theme of messing with what the players hold dear is a great one。A sidebar: what's with the multiple instances of "the characters cannot advance past level 4 until they move out into chapter 5 or whatever"？ Literally just sprinkle some legendary actions on the monsters and raise the DC of the skill checks and let them keep levelling up？ It's fine？ Like， gated levelling？？ What are you even talking about Chris Perkins？？Anyway， the back half of the module is a disaster。 Essentially just a series of giant dungeons （although there's some cool design and encounters in them）， they have nothing to do with the main focus of stopping the Frostmaiden's spell over the Dale。 In fact， when the characters descend into the last two chapters of the book， they might have already defeated the Frostmaiden and ended the endless midwinter， meaning there's no motivation to go down into this apparently wonderful lost city other than， um， I guess this wizard we barely know thinks it'll help her put one over her colleagues。This lack of even the most basic connective tissue is such a simple error as to be catastrophic。 I genuinely don't understand how people employed professionally to write adventure modules could mess up this simple facet so badly。 I'm not opposed to delving into a lost wizard city and fighting a vampire gnoll and a bunch of flaming skulls， but I would like there to be a reason for it。 Also， there's a possible and mostly unforeshadowed ritual in the city that could （view spoiler）[send your players 1500 years into the past （hide spoiler）]， which is very funny in the reading， but I imagine would be much less so in the playing if you didn't hint what they were in for。It's a shame， because despite all the great scenes in here， the phenomenal mood that the flavourful setting creates， I overall can't recommend running this unless you're willing to put in a bunch of work to make the entire back half into something that's at all cohesive。 Personally， I'd （view spoiler）[foreshadow the duergar a lot more; turn the dragon into， idk， buried golems or something in each town， so that sequence becomes more of a sophie's choice times ten than a frantic and mostly just cruel pursuit; split the poem up among the wizards to get them and their conflict involved more directly; and then combine and condense all of Auril's Abode， the Caves of Hunger， and Ythryn into one thematically consistent dungeon， probably removing all the Netheril aesthetic， because I don't think that meshes at all。 （hide spoiler）] Also， the internet informs me there's a bunch of stuff you can steal from the old Legacy of the Crystal Shard adventure if you're interested in fleshing out Icewind Dale's locations a bit more， which seems like not a bad idea。 。。。more
Michelle Austin
，
The art is gorgeous and the premise is good， but the lack of location description， coherence in narrative for the plot， and concrete direction for DMs is rough。 I read the book cover to cover and have bought multiple supplements to try to get enough information to run this campaign to a high standard。 If you like having to connect all the dots yourself and enjoy coming up with descriptions for almost every NPC and location， this is the book for you。 Would not recommend for new DMs。
Raechel
，
I feel a little weird rating this book， but it's also 300+ pages and I read through all of it to prep for my campaign。 So it's going to count on my reading list， lol。This is a pretty solid adventure that goes from 1-12， but it does need some adjustment。 There's a helpful NPC that the players have no reason to trust。。。 and a dragon encounter that feels really hopeless。 Also some of the player secrets have a pretty lame resolution to them， which I will have to change。However， this has some good bo I feel a little weird rating this book， but it's also 300+ pages and I read through all of it to prep for my campaign。 So it's going to count on my reading list， lol。This is a pretty solid adventure that goes from 1-12， but it does need some adjustment。 There's a helpful NPC that the players have no reason to trust。。。 and a dragon encounter that feels really hopeless。 Also some of the player secrets have a pretty lame resolution to them， which I will have to change。However， this has some good bones to it and I like the setting。 Looking forward to running it！ 。。。more
Ólafur Tómasson
，
Norðrið á Sverðaströndinni er kjörin staður til að vera með hryllingsævintýri þar sem mikilvægt er að undirbúa sig vel svo maður （og álfar og dvergar og。。。） verði ekki úti。Byrjunin er þar sem galli og kostur ævintýrsins er að finna。Leikjameistari verður að gera töluvert mikla undirbúningsvinnu áður en spilarar mæta til leiks og jafn vel þá verður samræming að eiga sér stað milli stjórnanda og spilara að vera góð。Þetta er því ekki ævintýri sem maður stekkur beint út í og gæti það verið mjög skemm Norðrið á Sverðaströndinni er kjörin staður til að vera með hryllingsævintýri þar sem mikilvægt er að undirbúa sig vel svo maður （og álfar og dvergar og。。。） verði ekki úti。Byrjunin er þar sem galli og kostur ævintýrsins er að finna。Leikjameistari verður að gera töluvert mikla undirbúningsvinnu áður en spilarar mæta til leiks og jafn vel þá verður samræming að eiga sér stað milli stjórnanda og spilara að vera góð。Þetta er því ekki ævintýri sem maður stekkur beint út í og gæti það verið mjög skemmtilegt fyrir suma hópa að vilja leggjast undir feld og rita saman nákvæmari baksögu en gerist alla jafna。Fyrstu tveir kaflarnir eru mikið að ferðast frá einum bæ til næsta og er það augljóslega gert til hópurinn kynnist frosna helinu sem er Ísvindadalur。Af gefinni reynslu er það ekki spennandi fyrir spilara eða meistara að sinna slíkum erindagjörðum og kemur það aftur til undirbúningsvinnunnar sem ævintýrið krefst。Ein leið sem ég gæti séð fyrstu tvö kaflana virka væri í dúet-spili milli meistara og spilara sem myndi byggja upp söguheiminn hægt og bítandi með einhverjum stórviðburði sem myndi síðan sameina hópinn。 En eins og ævintýrið er skrifað er ekki hægt að taka því eins og það leggur sig。Þó eru mörg góð fræ í bókinni og myndi ábyggilega henta hópi sem væri til í að leggja á sig vinnuna til að lifa og jafn vel dafna í Ísvindadal。 。。。more
David Syzdek
，
Good adventures。 Looks like it would a great challenge for players in a hostile environment。
Julian Meynell
，
SPOILERS GALORE This is an adventure set in Icewind Dale in the Forgotten Realms setting。 It basically divides into two parts。 The first part is a sandbox and the second part is a more linear adventure。 These parts are on average OK but not great。 There is in addition a setting which is a well established one and is explained in context of the sandbox portion of the adventure。 This is done pretty well。 There are several appendices which include a large amount of well done monsters and even inter SPOILERS GALORE This is an adventure set in Icewind Dale in the Forgotten Realms setting。 It basically divides into two parts。 The first part is a sandbox and the second part is a more linear adventure。 These parts are on average OK but not great。 There is in addition a setting which is a well established one and is explained in context of the sandbox portion of the adventure。 This is done pretty well。 There are several appendices which include a large amount of well done monsters and even interesting new spells and magic items。 However， the whole thing starts by elaborating new rules for cold environments。 This is very disappointing and sets the tone for what is to come。 I've just read Ghosts of Saltmarsh。 That book saves maritime and aquatic environments from the not-a-problem purgatory that the 5e DMG had sent them to。 More or less the opposite of this happens here。 There are a lot of magical items designed to deal with arctic weather conditions， but these aren't a problem。 Nor do you have to do anything to deal with the weather; make a fire？ pitch a tent？ huddle together for warmth？ get inside a dead tauntaun？ Why bother？ Just put on mittens guys！ You'll be fine。 I live in Canada and my players would just reject this。 They could have at least put in optional rules making things tougher。 All of this would not be such a problem if the book wasn't trying to generate a horror feel， concentrating on a frigid hostile isolated landscape。 The rules throughout the book do not support this， nor does the adventure design or even the boxed descriptive text。 The book generally fails to set a tone of anything other than generic lowest common denominator D&D。 In general， I found it consistently competent and mostly forgettable。 There is almost nothing here that as a DM I wouldn't run， but little that I consider to be top rank。The sandbox elements are fine but uninspired。 For instance， there is a clear the mine of kobolds adventure which is probably the third best clear the mine of kobolds adventure I have ever read。 I've been playing D&D for forty years， so admittedly I have been at this for awhile， but if they had advertised this as the third best version of all your favorite D&D tropes it would have been very accurate。 The linear elements in the backhalf are more uneven。 For instance， at one point you have to decide whether to raid a fortress or intercept a dragon attack。 But this is just not going to be apparent to most parties。 That fortress is very very standard。 Everything is highly competent and very forgettable。 It is destined to a future where it is confused with other facilities by the players and no one will remember it， although no one will have a bad time。 There is also a dungeon ice cave crawl which reminds me of the Lost Caverns of Tsjocanth in that it starts out with promise but descends into a bunch of random monsters。 The main villain， Auril （the titular frostmaiden diety） is very well done and poorly used。 I made the mistake of reading her stat block first， getting excited and then being disappointed。 However， the whole thing ends well。 The climax is set in a crashed flying city under the ice。 For the first time， consistency of setting matters。 While， I suppose it is not really innovative either， it feels like it is and it feels as if it would be a barrel of monkeys to play。 Before going on to my conclusion， I just want to mention the art。 The art in the book， especially the first two thirds， is easily the best art I have seen in an adventure。 In addition， it does capture the tone of dark， chilly isolation that the rest of the book misses and is genuinely beautiful。 I wanted this book to raid for my upcoming viking campaign。 It was surprisingly unhelpful in that。 The barbarian tribes are shorn of virtually all Norse and Sami references， because depicting Norwegians is racist， I guess。 It is all a little bland but I'll probably cannibalize quite a bit of it， because all of it is ok and I am lazy。 。。。more
Matthew
，
Going to be running this campaign with my group。 I'm very excited for it。 Going to start them at level 3， since I've read that some of the beginning quests are tough for a level 1。 If I remember to， I'll update this periodically as we play （but it took us just over a year and a half to go through Saltmarsh， so this is a long-hauler） Going to be running this campaign with my group。 I'm very excited for it。 Going to start them at level 3， since I've read that some of the beginning quests are tough for a level 1。 If I remember to， I'll update this periodically as we play （but it took us just over a year and a half to go through Saltmarsh， so this is a long-hauler） 。。。more
Jason Caldwell
，
Really great adventure， loving running this with my friends
Doug
，
Filled with lore and excellent campaign ideas。 A great story （even if a bit lethal）。
Allyn R。
，
i'm sorry did someone say super aesthetic frozen tundra isolated towns ice lady goddess arctic horror adventure？？？ sign me the FUCK up i'm sorry did someone say super aesthetic frozen tundra isolated towns ice lady goddess arctic horror adventure？？？ sign me the FUCK up 。。。more
Brian
，
We've played nearly all the pre-written adventures and to finally get an answer as to what the black obelisks are is great。 Pg 255 if you want to find the answer。 However， otherwise this adventure is poorly done。 There's no plot， it's essentially random encounters until level 7 and your adventuring heroes are supposed to ignore the fact that the sun doesn't come up， and hasn't for two years。 What heroes ignore the most obvious quest hook ever？ If you like a sandbox game， then maybe this book is We've played nearly all the pre-written adventures and to finally get an answer as to what the black obelisks are is great。 Pg 255 if you want to find the answer。 However， otherwise this adventure is poorly done。 There's no plot， it's essentially random encounters until level 7 and your adventuring heroes are supposed to ignore the fact that the sun doesn't come up， and hasn't for two years。 What heroes ignore the most obvious quest hook ever？ If you like a sandbox game， then maybe this book is to your liking， but for me this is one of the poorer offerings from Wizards。 。。。more
Bracken
，
As far as horror adventures go， it's aimed too squarely at the middle of the road。 But I get it。 D&D is intended to be a broadly accessible game， and suitable for kids。 Had just hoped for more with nods to At the Mountains of Madness and John Carpenter's The Thing。 Both are off the mark。 It's more relatable to a darkened version of Frozen。 As far as horror adventures go， it's aimed too squarely at the middle of the road。 But I get it。 D&D is intended to be a broadly accessible game， and suitable for kids。 Had just hoped for more with nods to At the Mountains of Madness and John Carpenter's The Thing。 Both are off the mark。 It's more relatable to a darkened version of Frozen。 。。。more
Ike
，
Can't wait to run this campaign！ Can't wait to run this campaign！ 。。。more
Evan
，
It's not a book really 。 。 。 :） But I'm excited to DM this campaign！ It's not a book really 。 。 。 :） But I'm excited to DM this campaign！ 。。。more
Regan
，
I doubt I'll end up running the full thing， but there are some fun ideas and tools in here。 Worth getting and reviewing， for sure！ I doubt I'll end up running the full thing， but there are some fun ideas and tools in here。 Worth getting and reviewing， for sure！ 。。。more
Owen
，
I loved how they included a whole new part of lore in the storyline， it gave a new sense of enjoyment for me and the players。
Toby
，
This is a great adventure guide。 I don't call it a campaign because it is 'sandboxy' and not very linear; there's a beginning and an end， and everything in between is rather open ended。 I am DM'ing the adventure and find that it has enough detail to be helpful， but not so much that I feel some unspoken obligation to adhere too closely。The setting is fun。 I highly recommend making sure that all players have read the Icewind Dale trilogy before playing。 Those stories all happen before this adventu This is a great adventure guide。 I don't call it a campaign because it is 'sandboxy' and not very linear; there's a beginning and an end， and everything in between is rather open ended。 I am DM'ing the adventure and find that it has enough detail to be helpful， but not so much that I feel some unspoken obligation to adhere too closely。The setting is fun。 I highly recommend making sure that all players have read the Icewind Dale trilogy before playing。 Those stories all happen before this adventure， but give you a much richer experience if you know the setting。 。。。more
Diego Souza
，
Amazing book！
Gary
，
For me， this is the worst of the new 5th edition D&D books。Very disjointed and just not well thought out。I'm glad I bought the alternate cover because maybe I can at least recoup my money。 Save your $$ and if you really need it， buy the pdf instead。 For me， this is the worst of the new 5th edition D&D books。Very disjointed and just not well thought out。I'm glad I bought the alternate cover because maybe I can at least recoup my money。 Save your $$ and if you really need it， buy the pdf instead。 。。。more
Ogre
，
Awkwardly set up; early adventures are set at a DC FAR above a first level party's ability （one of the early missions sets the party against several DC 3 monsters！）; the rewards are not logical （an early mission is to retrieve a missing iron shipment。 The reward is a set of gems worth 200-300 gp {depending on number of party members} -- to retrieve a shipment worth 150 gp！）; and the later adventures are rather random and involve high level traps and monsters with little logic to their appearance Awkwardly set up; early adventures are set at a DC FAR above a first level party's ability （one of the early missions sets the party against several DC 3 monsters！）; the rewards are not logical （an early mission is to retrieve a missing iron shipment。 The reward is a set of gems worth 200-300 gp {depending on number of party members} -- to retrieve a shipment worth 150 gp！）; and the later adventures are rather random and involve high level traps and monsters with little logic to their appearance。 Some of the magic items are either nonsensical or have no details added to them （a scroll of tarrasque summoning， for instance， is ridiculously overpowered; in addition there is a scroll that summons a comet a mile away。。。with no indication of game effect in doing so。） Awkward， tedious， and relying greatly on the DM to fill in the huge blanks left in the adventure; this is a great disappointment compared to Descent into Avernus。 。。。more
Igor Padoim
，
This book summarizes the aesthetic for one such myself， who loves the cold and the dark of night。As this adventure runs on （view spoiler）[a night-encased version of （hide spoiler）] a northern real assaulted by freezing winds and the barrenness of tundras， it takes you into a universe of mystery and secrecy。（view spoiler）[The first thing in character creation is to choose a secret， which may be as benign as a personal taste for R。A。 Salvatore's Drizzt novels or as life-threatening as hosting a t This book summarizes the aesthetic for one such myself， who loves the cold and the dark of night。As this adventure runs on （view spoiler）[a night-encased version of （hide spoiler）] a northern real assaulted by freezing winds and the barrenness of tundras， it takes you into a universe of mystery and secrecy。（view spoiler）[The first thing in character creation is to choose a secret， which may be as benign as a personal taste for R。A。 Salvatore's Drizzt novels or as life-threatening as hosting a tadpole ready to burst open your character's chest。 （hide spoiler）] And， even though the overarching theme is not one of horror， the setting has enough horror in it that the environment must reflect a facet of that。After （view spoiler）[choosing a secret to your character （hide spoiler）]， you are thrown into a city driven into despair by the winter。 Such desperation that （view spoiler）[the citizens agree to banish their peers into the unavoidable death on the desolate tundra， to lessen their meager food reserves， or even to risk frostbite on warmless nights。 （hide spoiler）]On top of such scenery， there is no lack of antagonists ready to either take advantage of the neverending winter or further it。A particular joy was to find no shortage of non-straight and/or non-binary NPCs， which show their true colors in spite of the harsh and cruel surroundings - an allegory for the LGBTQ+ community， as I read it。As the story unravels and the characters grow， the main goals are possible to attain， as one would surely hope for。 And yet， you may avoid all trouble presented （view spoiler）[and travel back into the long-lost past （hide spoiler）]， only to be faced with new （view spoiler）[（or， rather， quite old） （hide spoiler）] and even more complicated problems to solve。 。。。more
Ben
，
I'm far from an expert as I only got into D&D properly this year but this is the book I've enjoyed the most and the only one I've read cover to cover。 Art direction-wise it's phenomenal both in its consistency， colour schemes and evocation of the hostile snowy setting。 I'm so excited to use a lot of the stuff in here and there's a good cross section of various types of horror in here too， as well as some excellent character secrets to incorporate。 That said， it definitely doesn't seem suitable a I'm far from an expert as I only got into D&D properly this year but this is the book I've enjoyed the most and the only one I've read cover to cover。 Art direction-wise it's phenomenal both in its consistency， colour schemes and evocation of the hostile snowy setting。 I'm so excited to use a lot of the stuff in here and there's a good cross section of various types of horror in here too， as well as some excellent character secrets to incorporate。 That said， it definitely doesn't seem suitable as a first campaign if you're running it straight from the book as you'd have to make a lot of tweaks to keep people alive， or run it as a high risk game with lots of backup characters/helpers。 The back half of the campaign seemed less interesting to me too， unless you can maneauver all your pieces into an epic crescendo， so that may require some work， but overall it's been incredibly useful for getting the imagination going。 And it's pretty hard to argue with something that reveres The Thing and contains Snowy Owlbears， Baby Yetis， and 3 Kobolds in a trenchcoat really。 。。。more
Callum Woodward
，
Having read every page in this book and not just flicked through looking at the pretty pictures， I have a fairly good idea of how everything fits together。 While there's a lot that is fantastic in Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden， there are a few central plot points that leave me scratching my head。 They work， they're just unexpected from what I presumed the adventure would pertain to。 Let's break this up in two sections， one for players and one for DMs。 If you plan on playing， just read th Having read every page in this book and not just flicked through looking at the pretty pictures， I have a fairly good idea of how everything fits together。 While there's a lot that is fantastic in Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden， there are a few central plot points that leave me scratching my head。 They work， they're just unexpected from what I presumed the adventure would pertain to。 Let's break this up in two sections， one for players and one for DMs。 If you plan on playing， just read the first section （don't worry， I'll let you know when I'm changing）。 If you don't mind spoilers or are planning on running the game， go ahead and read both sections。 First up is for players:Playing through this， the opening chapters provide a LOT of leeway to go nuts and have a bunch of freedom and fun while completing the quests and learning everything that Icewind Dale has to offer。 Learning about NPCs and how they progress through the story is brilliant。 With a few options to take out of the book for character creation， this adventure allows you to work with your DM to create a backstory that suits the setting as either an inspiration to get you started or something to tie your already planned chronicle of what they did before winding up here。 The best part is that a lot of what's given is also included in the adventure's narrative， providing a personal stake in the happenings of Icewind Dale with some cases either being able to provide the party with an advantage， by means of lore or something else。 This adventure also allows a collection of races， which are commonly considered unplayable due to sunlight sensitivity， to be played without hinderance because of the sun being blocked out by Icewind Dale's everlasting winter。While your playgroup will likely have humourous scenarios throughout the course of this adventure， it is largely inclusive of horror moments。 As Perkins writes， a large part of the adventure is isolation。 Being trapped in an inescapable tundra filled with blizzards and monsters that lurk within the aforementioned obscuring ice storms， you won't know what's behind you until it's too late。 I had a lot of Curse of Strahd vibes while reading this so if you're familiar with the gothic and vampiric nature of Ravenloft， you'll have an idea of what to be prepared for。Time for the DMs （read as "It's time for spoilers！"）:There is so much you can use in the opening few chapters。 Perkins has delivered a gold mine of quests， NPCs， inspiration and maps for you to use in whatever game you want - even one not centred in Icewind Dale。 It gives both you and the players so much freedom that you can pretty much run these short quests that set the tone of the campaign and allows players to interact with each other and the scenarios they find themselves in。 Once they've done a few quests within the towns， the players find themselves in the surrounding wilderness to find more secrets hidden within the snow covered land。 Perkins provides a brilliant table for you to use for wilderness encounters that makes complete sense - because he includes a weather table that scales with the likelihood a monster would appear in such conditions。 The thought that went into helping the person running this adventure is so wonderful to stumble upon and smile at。Even in chapter 4 when a dragon construct is rampaging the towns that the players have to stop， the adventure provides what happens if the characters aren't present in a town to stop the destruction - involving casualties， town damage and the general response of the town and whether or not they fight back。 However， I found that after felling the dragon the story took a turn I didn't expect。 The players then go to Auril's abode and - whether they defeat her there or not - find themselves needing to go to a place not foreshadowed to have much to do with their current objective。 With that said， the course players get set on in the second half of the book would likely be the best moments for horror to truly take them by the throat and it works， it just feels like two seperate adventures stitched together。Once all is said and done， the adventure provides an epilogue section to help DMs guide the players and characters out of the story rather than just ending like it did in Baldur's Gate: Decent into Avernus。 The appendices following are great and while magic items are limited in this book the creatures section makes up for it， providing another CR8 creature for characters to polymorph into along with some ingenious creations that further cements my love for ideas that Perkins conjures up in his wild imagination。 New spells are also included but unless you ignore what the adventure presents， players won't be able to access them til late game and considering this is written for levels 1-10， the level 1， 7 and 9 spells will only have one third available for use and be pretty useless compared to what they could otherwise cast at that point anyway。As a whole， I'm really looking forward to running this adventure and seeing how it plays out rather than just reading it。 It's a little like reading the dictionary start to finish and then writing something using all the cool words you've used。 I really enjoyed reading this。 There are things included to make you smile as you're going through it， finding Easter eggs left referencing books， films and older adventures。 I enjoyed all the quests Perkins included and how they involve in the wider narrative， I just hope I do the transition between the first and second half of the book justice。Also Goliaths now have cold resistance when picking it as a race from this book， so that's pretty neat。 。。。more
Rob Moore
，
Man so much about this book！ It does a lot of things really well。 The dungeons are really cool， the art is amazing， and the setting is unreal in all the best ways。 There are some rules and mechanics here that are very vague and leave a lot of guesswork for DMs。 It also is not a "right out of the box" solution to take the job of writing out of the DM's hand。 Nope， you have to do a LOT of work to run this campaign。 All that being said， I am really excited to loose some of my friends on this world Man so much about this book！ It does a lot of things really well。 The dungeons are really cool， the art is amazing， and the setting is unreal in all the best ways。 There are some rules and mechanics here that are very vague and leave a lot of guesswork for DMs。 It also is not a "right out of the box" solution to take the job of writing out of the DM's hand。 Nope， you have to do a LOT of work to run this campaign。 All that being said， I am really excited to loose some of my friends on this world and see what they do with it！ 。。。more
Beth
，
The book has some interesting ideas and some VERY interesting post-adventure consequences but the particular horror in this adventure may not be everyone's taste。 For more details see my review at https://www。enworld。org/threads/icewi。。。 The book has some interesting ideas and some VERY interesting post-adventure consequences but the particular horror in this adventure may not be everyone's taste。 For more details see my review at https://www。enworld。org/threads/icewi。。。 。。。more
Drew
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