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

[Ovinomancer]

Every 'excuse' that's been used in this thread is, in the very least, implied in the adventure. I suspect it's probably (at least partly) by design that there isn't "one way" for everyone to have survived up until now. Perkins especially seems to like to leave lingering notes for DMs to riff on.

I think nearly everyone agrees that "two years; no light; minus fifty" is too much. Then again, the book says that people, plants, and animals are struggling, but still surviving, so I don't think that it's too much to assume that one shouldn't take that premise too strictly (unless they really want to, for whatever reason).

To start, I don't think it's an excuse -- there's not much to excuse, just a poorly presented premise. I happen to think the premise is important -- it's one of the reasons I ended up finding SKT lackluster as written -- it has a cool premise but never delivers on it. Frostmaiden, as I've skimmed and read in synopses, has both this part of the premise that's very shaky AND takes so many twists and turns it doesn't really deliver on it, either. Endless winter should be terrifying, and having survived two solid years of it already and things are starting to get bad doesn't deliver that at all.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I didn't intend for you to take it as the grand total of possibilities.

Did you want me to guess at the other things you intended? I don't understand. You want me to assume what arguments you're making, or just assume the ones that support you?

 

[TheSword]

How polar animals cope with frigid darkness for months at a time

A good article for people who want to add a little science for how they have survived this far.

Teeming water ecology, plants storing energy in root masses that are foraged under the snow, reduced activity cycles... ... then add magic and a healthy dose of Suspension of Disbelief. Et voila!

 

[TheSword]

The poster I responded to used Human Sacrifice. If you'd like a different argument, I'm all ears.

Well it’s clearly detailed in the book in the section Sacrifices to Auril, that all the ten towns follow in one form or another. It’s the same section as the human sacrifices.

 

[TheSword]

Frostmaiden, as I've skimmed and read in synopses...

My advice would be to read the book properly before taking such strident positions about what it does or doesn’t do. After all you have already recognized you weren’t aware of the other forms of sacrifice made to Auril, there may well be other details you are unaware of.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

To start, I don't think it's an excuse -- there's not much to excuse, just a poorly presented premise. I happen to think the premise is important -- it's one of the reasons I ended up finding SKT lackluster as written -- it has a cool premise but never delivers on it. Frostmaiden, as I've skimmed and read in synopses, has both this part of the premise that's very shaky AND takes so many twists and turns it doesn't really deliver on it, either. Endless winter should be terrifying, and having survived two solid years of it already and things are starting to get bad doesn't deliver that at all.

By 'excuse' I was referring to every example that is used to explain how people might have survived the premise. I called them excuses, I didn't mean to imply that you thought they were.

Did you want me to guess at the other things you intended? I don't understand. You want me to assume what arguments you're making, or just assume the ones that support you?

No, I just didn't think that suggesting a single possibility meant that I was taking all other possibilities from the table.

 

[MichaelSomething]

This thread really puts me in a mood to take a trip to Greenland...

 

[TheSword]

This thread really puts me in a mood to take a trip to Greenland...

That’s a great site. Thanks for the link my favourite quote is...

-40ºC does not feel as bad as it sounds! As long as you dress right, you can enjoy the magic of Greenlandic winter in comfort and style.

It sounds like the IWD writers aren’t outrageous for pushing the bar a little higher to achieve the desired setting.

 

[Cadence]

It sounds like the IWD writers aren’t outrageous for pushing the bar a little higher to achieve the desired setting.

I wonder how the "dressing right" meshes with plate mail and gloves with enough feeling to swing a sword

But I did find it interesting that some sites list temperatures a lot colder than I would have expected (wind chill of -85F is apparently too cold to make it worth the risk of going out; with exposed skin apparently freezing in two minutes at -67F). But one of my great aunts would tell us they'd close school in northern Wisconsin when they got to -28F and the kids would go out and play -- (if true) I doubt they had arctic quality snowgear but made it.

Does part of the sacrifice section you mentioned above mention going overnight with out fire as a sacrifice? That one feels like a bad plan unless she's answering prayers.

 

[pukunui]

Does part of the sacrifice section you mentioned above mention going overnight with out fire as a sacrifice? That one feels like a bad plan unless she's answering prayers.

Here's what it says:

Towns that can’t bring themselves to give up their people or their food forsake warmth for a night. No fires are lit between dusk and dawn, forcing locals to share body heat for warmth. Anyone who dares to light a fire is savagely beaten.

However, the sacrifices only occur once a month on the night of the new moon. So they're not nightly occurrences. And I don't think it would be much of a stretch to think that some people don't survive the night.