D&D 5E Running Rime of the Frost Maiden

[MarkB]

One slight annoyance I've run into when running the quest "The Unseen" - even from the description given to the players, Chardalyn is clearly a useful substance, described as being ideal for manufacturing items, and the duergar seem to value it, but there's no indication as to what the few shards found in this quest would be worth if sold.

I let the party sell them to Black Iron Blades for 20 gp, but given the importance of the material in the adventure it seems odd not to provide a value for it.

 

[Reynard]

The party continued their exploration of Toil and Trouble. They barely managed to destroy the frost giant skeleton before it freed itself. That encounter gave them enough XP to hit level 2 (I am counting XP and ignoring the milestone leveling guidelines because Old School) and I decided to let them "ding" video game style. Normally I would require a long rest but they entered a pretty tough location as 1st level characters.

They moved on to talk to the hag. Everything was going fine until one PC decided to take a potshot at her. We stopped at the beginning of that fight. We'll see how it goes. There are 6 PCs so they punch above their weight class, but individual characters are still fragile.

 

[pukunui]

One slight annoyance I've run into when running the quest "The Unseen" - even from the description given to the players, Chardalyn is clearly a useful substance, described as being ideal for manufacturing items, and the duergar seem to value it, but there's no indication as to what the few shards found in this quest would be worth if sold.

I let the party sell them to Black Iron Blades for 20 gp, but given the importance of the material in the adventure it seems odd not to provide a value for it.

That is annoying. There are some prices for black ice items in Legacy of the Crystal Shard but not a base price as a trade good, I don’t think.

 

[MarkB]

That is annoying. There are some prices for black ice items in Legacy of the Crystal Shard but not a base price as a trade good, I don’t think.

Yeah, I had a look through the Xardorok's Fortress section, which has several items forged from Chardolyn, but the only one I could find with a listed price is a figurine which is worth 50 gp as an art object, not for the value of the material itself. Plus it drives people insane.

 

[MarkB]

The party continued their exploration of Toil and Trouble. They barely managed to destroy the frost giant skeleton before it freed itself. That encounter gave them enough XP to hit level 2 (I am counting XP and ignoring the milestone leveling guidelines because Old School) and I decided to let them "ding" video game style. Normally I would require a long rest but they entered a pretty tough location as 1st level characters.

I've been using the milestone levelling, but it can get weird. My players finished the Lake Monster quest first and got to 2nd level, then picked up the Mountain Climb quest in Targos, traveled from there to Bryn Shander on their way to Caer Koenig and got the Foaming Mugs quest there, then cut straight across the wilderness towards Kelvin's Cairn because the Foaming Mugs quest was on their way. They found and killed the goblins who'd stolen the ingots for the Foaming Mugs quest, dropped those off at the mine in the Dwarven Valley and promised to return to deliver them safely on their way back, continued to Caer Koenig, found out about the burglaries there, and then set off towards Kelvin's Cairn in pursuit of both the duergar thieves and Garrett's ill-fated expedition.

Long story short (too late!), they wound up having three quests essentially done and ready to turn in as one round-trip, plus they've got the Nature Spirits quest on the back-burner but haven't come across any Chwingas yet, so they basically blew through nearly two levels' worth of quests without actually finishing any of them.

I let them level up to third level after clearing the Duergar keep in The Unseen, and they've now brought back the stolen treasures to Caer Koenig, the ingots to Bryn Shander and Garrett to his husband in Targos all as one narrated round-trip at the end of the session. Whatever quest they tackle next, completing it will get them to 4th level and start opening up the next chapter.

 

[wicked cool]

just curious of overall reviews now that people have been running it for a while

Also what are the best parts of the adventure if one were to streamline it

 

[TheSword]

So there are some things to up the fear factor I’m considering for Rime. What do people think?

I’ve just finished reading Alive, the story of the Uraguayan Rugby team trapped in the Andes and have been heavily inspired.

• Strict encumbrance rules, made worse at higher altitudes.
• Remove backgrounds that give free foraging like Outlander
• Insitute the slow healing Optional Rule from the DMG (Spend HD on long rest to heal)
• Use lingering injury (with a DC10 Con check to mean they only last one week rather than permanent)
• Remove healing word from the game
• Remove Leo’s tiny hut.
• Ensure there are no handy haversacks or bags of holding.
• Expand rules for hunger to include greater consequences psychological and physical. I considered a score similar to shadow points (from AIME) depending on the availability of food, rather than having to track individual days. Make hunger a much bigger deal.
• Potentially look at lingering injuries for frostbite etc.

 

[Al'Kelhar]

So, scanning the 1st level, 1-session introductory adventure Cold-Hearted Killer, I've come to the conclusion it's a TPK. The mission is to kill the bad guy - no other option is given and killing him is the sole success criterion. Even capturing him alive (which is impossible BTW; see below) will result in the PCs not receiving their reward.

The BBEG in this case will kill a 1st-level character each and every round (2 attacks, +5 to hit, for average 13.5hp damage per hit); has 75 hit points and regeneration; an at-will bonus action teleportation (well, 3 uses per day, which is all he needs to kill an entire 1st level party), so cannot be pinned down or sniped at safely from a distance and can escape from any restraint; and exceptional ability scores meaning he will more than likely save against any spell cast by a 1st level spellcaster.

Even assuming that the dice gods favour the PCs bizarrely well, if the BBEG is badly injured and might not survive, he can just teleport and escape.

This is just really, really bad design.

Has anyone played through this adventure and had a party of four 1st level characters both survive and kill the BBEG to receive the reward?

Cheers, Al'kelhar

 

[Savage Wombat]

So, scanning the 1st level, 1-session introductory adventure Cold-Hearted Killer, I've come to the conclusion it's a TPK. The mission is to kill the bad guy - no other option is given and killing him is the sole success criterion. Even capturing him alive (which is impossible BTW; see below) will result in the PCs not receiving their reward.

The BBEG in this case will kill a 1st-level character each and every round (2 attacks, +5 to hit, for average 13.5hp damage per hit); has 75 hit points and regeneration; an at-will bonus action teleportation (well, 3 uses per day, which is all he needs to kill an entire 1st level party), so cannot be pinned down or sniped at safely from a distance and can escape from any restraint; and exceptional ability scores meaning he will more than likely save against any spell cast by a 1st level spellcaster.

Even assuming that the dice gods favour the PCs bizarrely well, if the BBEG is badly injured and might not survive, he can just teleport and escape.

This is just really, really bad design.

Has anyone played through this adventure and had a party of four 1st level characters both survive and kill the BBEG to receive the reward?

Cheers, Al'kelhar

The module doesn't make this clear, but the intent is to have the party stumble arount Ten-Towns looking for the bad guy, but not find him until they've done another quest or two. My party was 3rd when they caught him and the fight was short.

 

[Anthony Winter]

Agreed! its in the initial quest but is more of a long-mid term goal for tier ones.
3rd level is fine - as is 2nd if you have a larger or min/maxed party. our party encounter is available at about 3hours into this youtube clip. I tried all the tricks with misty step and interposed roughnecks but he still didnt stand much of a chance.
youtube clip of sephek battle