D&D 5E Running Rime of the Frost Maiden

[Reynard]

The Alexandrian isn't just "some guy". He's an award-winning blogger who's given a lot of thought on how adventures work, what makes them function etc.

He's also published pretty thorough fixes for a number of WotC adventures, and they are pretty good at fixing the structural problems of these scenarios.

The Alexandrian

Welcome to The Alexandrian!

thealexandrian.net

for example: Dragon Heist Remix – Part 1: The Villains

edit: So this is why, earlier in this thread, I recommended waiting for his fixes to be published.

You'll forgive me if I am suitably impressed by this blogger.

Here's the point I was actually trying to make: that you don't like this adventure, or that The Alexandrian doesn't like it, does not make it an objective fact. I think it is the best adventure WotC has produced yet, with an open world section that actually works as such, with plenty of room for DM freedom without also leaving the DM out in the cold (ha!). I think people complaining about encounter difficulty and it not being a perfect introductory module are conflating "good" with their preferences.

Now, that I feel that way doesn't carry any more weight than his or yours, but it doesn't carry any less either.

 

[Guest User]

Edit: for example, the fact that they don't even bother to tag encounters with the expected difficulty or give some guide to the adventuring day break down of the adventure, shows they give little thought to the DMs trying to run these damn things

The Occam's Razor response is: by not including such features, the designers did not feel such features were needed or useful.

Rime is a Milestone Advancement adventure. Minute XP calculations are not required.
If you as the DM want to do such calculations, it is not hard to do, just turn to
page 82-84 of the DMG.

No module I have ever read has had a list of "20 Scripted Plays" to call for all the encounters inside. No module does All the Work.

No module, no matter how well written will turn you into a "Just pick up the book and go style DM"....if that is not your proclivity.

Some, the very best, come close, but modules Work when DMs understand the Terrain, when the DM can go with the flow. For most, this means prep.

 

[Guest User]

You'll forgive me if I am suitably impressed by this blogger.

I am impressed by the Alexandrian as well. I also agree with your sentiments.

No matter what module is released, the Alexandrian is going to modify it.
That is what DMs do...you tinker, and tailor the story to the characters.

I'm not saying you coddle players, but if someone plays a Warlock in Rime...it is easy the story going in a very different way then a play through that only has Druids, Goliaths and Elk Tribe members in it.

The only products written for your specific campaign is just what you write yourself.

 

[robus]

Rime is a Milestone Advancement adventure. Minute XP calculations are not required.
If you as the DM want to do such calculations, it is not hard to do, just turn to
page 82-84 of the DMG.

It’s not about XP. it’s about delivering the expected challenge for our inevitably different set of characters from the default 4.

 

[Istbor]

It’s not about XP. it’s about delivering the expected challenge for our inevitably different set of characters from the default 4.

Please no. Let me take the encounters as given and tweak them as needed. I don't need more crud in my book thanks.

WOTC doesn't know my party, I do. Let me the DM be the one deciding the difficulty of the encounters during a given day.

 

[Sacrosanct]

For me, I just assumed that after 50 years of adventure creation it would be down to a fine art for professionals in the business. But apparently it's still kind of hit and miss.

Edit: for example, the fact that they don't even bother to tag encounters with the expected difficulty or give some guide to the adventuring day break down of the adventure, shows they give little thought to the DMs trying to run these damn things. And that's just some basic info they could easily provide.

I don't think that's the case at all. I think they are smart enough to realize that every table is going to be different, every table plays different (not only between optmizers vs casual, or large parties vs small, or class make up, but also groups that take a ton of rests vs those that don't, ect), that putting in any such guidance would be worthless filler that wouldn't apply to a lot of people. Especially since this can be played as a sandbox. I.e. the same encounter could happen when the party is level 2, or level 4, which of course makes listing the encounter difficulty nearly impossible factoring in all of these varying factors.

The adventure is already lengthy. They are assuming DMs have at least a modicum of proficiency with the game rules to be able to figure out basic things like this knowing the people they are playing with, that they don't want to add tons of extra stuff that many, if not most, tables won't even find relevant to them.

 

[Guest User]

It’s not about XP. it’s about delivering the expected challenge for our inevitably different set of characters from the default 4.

There is guidance like that in the module. Guidelines like "the Players should be level X before starting this", or "After two side missions the characters should advance one level".

If you want to throw in some side plots and adventures, go ahead, and just keep everyone about the same level. A good milestone adventure is like trying to maintain a good buzz....eventually you are going to have to break out the hard stuff...but try to enjoy the buzz while you can,

WotC could certainly design more DM aids, NPC Combat Tracker sheets, Looseleaf artwork, PDF downloads with Hardcover purchase....etc.
So WotC modules could be substantially better, I have no dispute with that sentiment.

 

[Reynard]

On the subject of actually running Frostmaiden, I have been creating spreadsheets for each of the Ten Towns with basic, easily accessible information (such as population, resources and quests available, as well as PC backstory involvement). As the adventures go on I expect to add fields for player interactions, completed or flubbed quests and minor NPCs that just get made up on the fly. What other "fields" do you think are important for tracking progress and repeated visits by the PCs throughout Ten Towns?

 

[Scott Christian]

What’s worse is all the posters I see not only defending this product, and in some cases, enthusiastically praising it.

This is why we won’t see advances in the design quality coming out of WITC anytime soon.

What is worse are DM's that feel they do not need to prep when running another person's adventure.

I have written about this many times. Several have thought it was impossible to spend four hours prepping per session to run an AP. It is easy to spend that much time.

As has been pointed out, each table is different. They have different strengths and weaknesses. They roleplay differently. They make decisions differently. They rest differently. And the DM, DM's differently. This is true for D&D and Pathfinder and Numenera and almost all RPG's. So if a DM can't understand that an AP is an adventure outline (a very thorough one at that), and that they need to tailor it to their group by prepping, then I would like to see their table's playstyle. Not to criticize. But to understand where they are coming from.

 

[Reynard]

What is worse are DM's that feel they do not need to prep when running another person's adventure.

I have written about this many times. Several have thought it was impossible to spend four hours prepping per session to run an AP. It is easy to spend that much time.

As an aside, I have found that when I am prepping my own games I get a ratio of about 1:4 -- that is, an hour of prep gets me four hours of table time. Now, I do a lot of improvisation, so prepping is outlining locations and NPC motivations and stuff more than "writing" an adventure.

For published adventures is is at best 1:2 and sometimes closer to 1:1 because I not only have to parse everything the author(s) intended, but also do the work of making sure I have the appropriate stat blocks on hand and make any changes due to incompatibility my group, their play style, etc.