D&D 5E A brief rant about Rime of the Frost Maiden, farming, logistics, and ecology

[Azzy]

bravo bravo bravo. Nice Rant. You win an Icewind Dale Snow Cookie. Don't mind the dark stuff or ask.
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HOW COLD IS IT?
Temperatures. During Auril’s everlasting winter, the average temperature in Icewind Dale is −49 degrees Fahrenheit (−45 degrees Celsius). Wind chill can lower these temperatures by as much as 80 degrees. So call it -50 Fahrenheit. Looking at my Wind Chill Chart US Army Mountain Warfare and Cold weather A 5 mile breeze drops to -57. This in the increasing danger from Freezing Exposed flesh. Any thing about that is Great Danger. Which means Postpone non-essential training; Essential tasks only with <15 minute exposure; Work groups of no less than 2; Cover all exposed skin, Provide warming facilities. Read the rest here. https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/atp3_90x97.pdf
This means trench foot is lightly.
BUT a Winter Coat capable of hiding 3 Kobolds is good enough to protect yourself. And you just wear your Hawaiian shirt and swim trunks you only need a DC 10 THAT ONE ZERO Con Save each hour.
You can freaking SWIM Bare NEKKID for ONE MINUTE PER CON SCORE. That is SCORE not Modifier before needing a DC 10 CON save.
I think they pulled the temperature out their neither regions.

For the most part, I can roll with a bunch of unrealistic stuff in my D&D games (it kinda comes with the turf), but the temperature also gave me pause when I read it. The average temperature given is comparable to some areas in Antarctica. And that wind chill that they cite requires winds, that you mention is so dangerous? Given the average actual temperature for Auril's Magic Winter Wonderland is -49℉ (-45℃), and winds can "lower" that by up to 80℉ (45℃) to give an apparent temperature of-129℉ (-90℃), that would require a wind speed of 245 mph (394 km/h). (See here for a handy-dandy wind chill calculator.) That's a wind speed greater than that of any recorded hurricane, falling into the range of a theoretical Category 5 (as proposed by NOAA). Forget being frozen to death when the wind is flensing you as you are blown through the air like a dendelion seed.

Yes, these sorts of things can be easily rectified by a DM plying some sense, but damned that's silly.

 

[TheSword]

Using magic as a solution is absolutely fine. So why didn't they mention that in the book? Also, that doesn't fix the problem for all of the native plants and animals.

It seems the WotC authors forgot a very important rule in writing fiction, whether it is a novel or a game: "The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense." It's been said many different ways and is attributed to various different authors, probably because it is so true.

And the "Don't worry about it! It is just a made up story with Dragons and Wizards!" Is fine for movies or even books where you are going to sit there passively and watch the story unfold. But when you are involved in the game you are going to be making decisions based on this story.

I know the people I play with would find this weakness immediately. The logic train would be very fast. "They still hunt for food? Then the animals must be getting food from somewhere! We should follow them to see what they are doing!"

Then then, as the DM, I would have to say. "No, actually. They don't have a source of food either. So don't waste your time."

Now if this were an adventure I made up myself, they would give me a hard time about that, but would be understanding. A good natured "Guess you didn't think that one through, huh?" and then we would all start throwing around ideas on how to explain it. Maybe we would go with magic, but we would come up with something. As part of a published adventure there really is no excuse.

I think you’re missing the point here... the people aren’t surviving, neither are the animals. They’re all going to die unless the heroes can solve these problems.

There are plenty of Sick and dying NPCs, sick and dying animals and desperate people. Why else do you think some have turned to drastic measures. Show these to the PCs and make it clear that yes this is a problem and people are dying or already dead. Winter stores are all but gone, help from neighbors is gone, fish and game stocks are running out.

What you don’t have to do is calculate the exact length of time it would take for everyone to die and the exact proportion of people in what length of time. Your players have their explanation. If they’re that pedantic then you’re probably used to it by now so make something up. There have been lots of solutions in this thread

 

[TheSword]

Stannis Baratheon: First, we ate the horses. We weren't riding anywhere, not with the castle surrounded. We couldn't feed them, so fine. The horses, then the cats-I've never liked cats, so fine. I do like dogs - good animals, loyal - but we ate them too. Then the rats... The night before you slipped through, I thought my wife was dying. She couldn't speak anymore, she was so frail. And then you made it through the lines, slipped right through in your little black sail boat with your onions...

 

[Azzy]

It is a module....you the DM build the world, the module is a set of IKEA Blueprints that serves as the inspiration.

Yes, IKEA Blueprints.

If only all instructions were as good as Japanese model kits instructions (praise be Bandai, Tamiya, Takara, et al.!).

 

[Jd Smith1]

I know the people I play with would find this weakness immediately.

So true. My guys would carp on that endlessly, and immediately scheme on how to get food up into the area to sell at exorbitant prices. And then question every aspect of the story 'because if we're supposed to ignore the food issue, how can we trust...'.

And say hurtful things about my decision to run a pile of for them.

 

[Flamestrike]

Using magic as a solution is absolutely fine. So why didn't they mention that in the book? Also, that doesn't fix the problem for all of the native plants and animals.

There are literally Druids everywhere in the module, most of them spending an inordinate amount of time awakening animals.

Safe to say they've been helping out the local native flora and fauna in other ways as well.

Re the Ten Towners, due to the freezing environment, any food they do have is likely pretty safe for years as it can be frozen.

Whales, Crag Cats, Sled Dogs, Axe Beaks, Polar Bears, Walruses, Seals, Knucklehead trout, Mastadons etc are all still roaming about (albeit in lesser numbers) as are Yetis.

The locals are all likely surviving on the dwindling frozen supplies left over (supplemented by whatever else they can catch) and further supplemented by magic (Goodberry, create food and water spells, plant growth etc).

 

[Jd Smith1]

I'd wager that the combined sum of the magical and fantastic elements in Rime heavily outweigh the inconsistency of a society that persists through an extended winter. And folks that blow it off as a fluke. Those people are real, by the way. They're called Minnesotans.

Having grown up on the Minnesota border (the land of 10,000 lakes and two public docks), I will point out that people who willingly live in Minnesota can only be used as examples of fact that stubbornness can be taken to insane extremes. And as witnesses to the fact that mosquitoes can grow large enough to be mistaken for quail by an outsider.

 

[Flamestrike]

If you even believed half the metaplot, there'd be only about three people left in the desolate, depeopled wasteland of north-west Faerun (and one of them would be Elminster). Where's the famine? Where's the vast depopulated districts in every city? Where's the enfeebled armies drained white by constant war against, y'know, masses of frigging dragons?

Being tended to by thousands of spell casting Clerics.

Churches in Faerun have the ability to heal and feed the masses, and even bring them back from the dead. A mid level Cleric is capable of medical marvels that we cant emulate with modern technology (regrowing lost limbs, curing blindness, eradicating viruses and bacterial infections, and even raising people from the dead).

Most Faerun cities are run by incredibly potent spellcasters. The Zents can fall back on the Church of Bane. Halruua has literally hundreds of Archmages at its disposal, as does Thay. The Cowled Wizards run Amn. And so forth.

Even barren and desolate places like Icewind dale have 1 spellcaster per 100 people capable of casting 3rd level spells.

Imagine the sorts of spellcasting resources a place like Baldurs Gate or Waterdeep have at their disposal.

Faerun is not a medieval setting. There are modern instantaneous communications via magic and even instantaneous transportation via teleport, flying ships that can remain aloft indefinitely, interstellar space-craft (and there is one of them in this very adventure), planar travel, advanced healing (you can be literally brought back from nothing more than a finger to be fully formed and alive and well), weather control and other relatively common magical phenomena that far surpass our own technology level, and approaches that seen on Star Trek.

Archmages can literally convert energy into matter, or alter reality with a word. And there are thousands of them wandering around Faerun alone.

 

[Don Durito]

All this stuff about super reliable magic is reminding me why I loathe the Forgotten Realms.

What people are describing is not magic. It's technology.

 

[pukunui]

There are literally Druids everywhere in the module ...

But aren't they all followers of Auril?