D&D 5E Who got their Rime today?

[Eyes of Nine]

My FLGS has not yet got their shipment. They said maybe not even until next week

But maybe folks here want to share that they got it!? And their initial reactions?

edited to add: I am mostly interested in folks who got the hardcopy; but feel free to share your dndbeyond impressions too...

 

[Burnside]

I have it. Still in the process of reading, but some thoughts:

1. It's big. 320 pages. Tied with Dungeon of the Mad Mage for highest page count for a 5E adventure.

2. In contrast to DotMM, it has LOTS of art, much of it good.

3. Two-sided fold-out poster map. Both sides are player friendly.

4. Maps - definitely a big step up from the Waterdeep books. Includes some Mike Schley maps although not sure if they're new or re-purposed. Maps overall are comparable in quality to those in the Wildemount book, maybe slightly better. Not as good as the peak stuff in Curse of Strahd or Tomb of Annihilation, but VTT players should be pretty happy with them I think.

5. I'm still reading, but honestly it seems like they couldn't figure out any real motivation for what Auril is doing. She doesn't seem to have any particular goal or ambition in mind. She's just upset because Umberlee bullied her, and decided to plunge Icewind Dale into permanent winter in what amounts to a fit of pique. No endgame in mind. There are two other main villains who have much more fleshed out motivations and plans, but it's kinda shocking from a design standpoint that she is a central villain with no goal.

6. The weather is too extreme. I realize it's not a documentary, but we're told it's been winter for two years at the start of the campaign, average temps at 49 below but dropping another 80 degrees below that (basically the coldest temps ever recorded on earth), and the days have 4 hours of twilight followed by 20 hours of darkness. Also, travel in and out of the region is basically impossible except via magical teleportation, so no real imports/exports are happening. Under those conditions, life would not be possible. The ecology should have totally collapsed, the Ten Towns would have been starved out. What they are describing is basically Antartica, but somehow people and animals are still living there as if it's more like Alaska or Iceland or northern Canada. Someone should have considered this a little more. Even saying it's been winter for a year would be better. After two years of this, the situation would be WAY worse than what's depicted.

7. It seems more user-friendly than most of the hardcovers as far as not overwhelming less experienced DMs and offering clear guidance on how to play through while still allowing freedom for those who want it.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I got mine from Amazon today. It was thicker than I expected, but I haven't taken much time with it yet. Box was beat to hell but the book was fine.

 

[Reynard]

I got mine today as well. Special Edition cover which looks even better in person.

One impression I have is that it is much more of a "campaign sourcebook" than a simple adventure. For contrast, while I am having a good time running Descent into Avernus, it is basically one (overly) long adventure, where Rime feels like it is going to be much more of a traditional tabletop campaign. Sure, there is a strong through line with a built in Big Bad at the end, but there appears to be a lot to do in the process, with lots of room for the PCs to become part of the setting and for things to matter.

Also, it gives me a "CRPG" vibe in its structure, in the best way possible.

 

[Savage Wombat]

I got mine. Basically, it's a series of adventure locations with some really interesting encounters, but the narrative is lacking. It's fixable, though.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I got mine. Basically, it's a series of adventure locations with some really interesting encounters, but the narrative is lacking. It's fixable, though.

Frankly, that's what I want. The narrative is the easiest bit to fix and I never end up keeping it anyways.

 

[ersatzphil]

I picked up my alt-art cover today - absolutely beautiful work on the cover, but I didn't notice until I got home and cooked dinner that my copy is printed upside down and backwards. I'm not sure what to do about that, yet.

 

[Weiley31]

My alternate cover copy shipped out yesterday and will be here by Friday. Can't wait! My dice, well since it got delayed til the 30th of this month, IIRC, that's gonna be a bit longer.

 

[Flamestrike]

6. The weather is too extreme. I realize it's not a documentary, but we're told it's been winter for two years at the start of the campaign, average temps at 49 below but dropping another 80 degrees below that (basically the coldest temps ever recorded on earth), and the days have 4 hours of twilight followed by 20 hours of darkness. Also, travel in and out of the region is basically impossible except via magical teleportation, so no real imports/exports are happening. Under those conditions, life would not be possible. The ecology should have totally collapsed, the Ten Towns would have been starved out. What they are describing is basically Antartica, but somehow people and animals are still living there as if it's more like Alaska or Iceland or northern Canada. Someone should have considered this a little more. Even saying it's been winter for a year would be better. After two years of this, the situation would be WAY worse than what's depicted.

They do have magic.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

Got mine!