D&D 5E Running Rime of the Frost Maiden

[Paul Farquhar]

We went though the whole lot in around 8 months (and Chapter 7 is looong).

 

[Reynard]

Correct. What I meant in my post is that since Auril's defeat ends the curse, that's the end of the campaign.

Just as an aside, I kind of lament that this style of play has become standard. Campaigns should last years and encompass many Big Adventures, not just one.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Just as an aside, I kind of lament that this style of play has become standard. Campaigns should last years and encompass many Big Adventures, not just one.

It's got to fit in the book. There is nothing stopping any of the WotC adventures forming part of a larger campaign though.

 

[Reynard]

It's got to fit in the book. There is nothing stopping any of the WotC adventures forming part of a larger campaign though.

Sure but I was replying to the idea that "the end of the curse is the end of the campaign" which to my mind should simply be the end of the adventure against Auril and no more.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Sure but I was replying to the idea that "the end of the curse is the end of the campaign" which to my mind should simply be the end of the adventure against Auril and no more.

That is the way it is written. You could defeat Auril in chapter 5, then do the next two chapters for personal gain. The PCs might be completely disinterested in opposing Auril, like Vellynne, or even pro. It's written in quite an open fashion, but the book format with numbered chapters suggests it is more structured than it is.

 

[Retreater]

Just as an aside, I kind of lament that this style of play has become standard. Campaigns should last years and encompass many Big Adventures, not just one.

Part of the problem is that many players want to try out new characters and high level play is tedious (not to mention that there are few resources like published adventures).
The other thing for me is that I grow tired of settings. I don't want to spend years in Icewind Dale and the Ten Towns (or Chult, etc.) And if you're moving to a new region of the FR, you might as well start anew with Eberron, Dark Sun, etc.
And who knows, maybe I will move the characters to a new adventure in Thay or something, but I will certainly be ready to get out of the frozen north.

 

[Reynard]

Part of the problem is that many players want to try out new characters and high level play is tedious (not to mention that there are few resources like published adventures).
The other thing for me is that I grow tired of settings. I don't want to spend years in Icewind Dale and the Ten Towns (or Chult, etc.) And if you're moving to a new region of the FR, you might as well start anew with Eberron, Dark Sun, etc.
And who knows, maybe I will move the characters to a new adventure in Thay or something, but I will certainly be ready to get out of the frozen north.

1) Long campaigns don't require high level play. Slow down the advancement, especially in the "fun" levels (whatever that means for your group).
2) Rime would make a good module in the traditional sense, depending on when you decided to do stuff. The PCs come to Icewind Dale for whatever reason drives them there and they can fend off some duergar, free the land of a winter curse, or explore a lost ancient city, and then leave and continue their adventures across the Realms (or planes or whatever).
What I was sort of objecting to was the idea that every time you embark on a new storyline, you crate new characters, run them through a series of connected (often linear) adventures, then retire them to do the same thing all over again.

 

[tetrasodium]

1) Long campaigns don't require high level play. Slow down the advancement, especially in the "fun" levels (whatever that means for your group).
2) Rime would make a good module in the traditional sense, depending on when you decided to do stuff. The PCs come to Icewind Dale for whatever reason drives them there and they can fend off some duergar, free the land of a winter curse, or explore a lost ancient city, and then leave and continue their adventures across the Realms (or planes or whatever).
What I was sort of objecting to was the idea that every time you embark on a new storyline, you crate new characters, run them through a series of connected (often linear) adventures, then retire them to do the same thing all over again.

I agree with all of this but we shouldn't excuse the role 5e plays in fighting against anything but one & done by ignoring th deliberate design decisions it makes in its quixotic quest for simplicity at any cost.

• Players level fast without being constrained by limited milestone leveling, but limiting the rate of progression leaves them feeing shackled to a rail with their character because there are so few decision points and with classes having no unified progression rates there is little if any room for the gm to easily insert more with small offsets later.
• By getting rid of item slots & slot affinity to force the exclusive generic attunement slots 5e make it more difficult to organically create magic item replacement & churn as players willingly let go of old gear in favor of new better gear
• By failing to include any room in the system's math for magic items 5e squeezes out any room for magic item progression to take place without forcing the gm to employ oblivion/skyrim(?) style level scaling to transparently foil the very magic items they just gave out. Of course with poorly thought out bonkers math & monsters frequently designed to battle problems of old editions no longer present in 5e combined with fairly random class progression actually doing that will appear transparent & heavy handed
• etc

 

[Burnside]

Skyrim-style level-scaling can be narratively implausible/immersion breaking in some situations, but as a game mechanic it's not a terrible solution.

 

[Retreater]

What I was sort of objecting to was the idea that every time you embark on a new storyline, you crate new characters, run them through a series of connected (often linear) adventures, then retire them to do the same thing all over again.

Yeah, but this is what role-playing games are - regardless of the system or era.
Your group that has gone all the way through "Horror on the Orient Express" or "Masks of Nyarlahotep" aren't going to go through "Shadows of Yog Sothoth" or "Mountains of Madness." Your players who complete "The Enemy Within" aren't going to go through the WFRPG Starter Box adventure afterwards.
In D&D when you complete a big story arc, that's usually it. I guess theoretically in the olden days some might've played T1-4/A1-4/GDQ1-7, but I'm sure that's the exception. IMO, once you go through the Saltmarsh trilogy, that's the end. Once you go through Desert Nomads, that's the end.
A half-year campaign has always been standard for us - you play through the Fall or Spring semester at college, then have new players/DMs.