Erudite Frog
First Post
Thanks for the review i havent played it yet
Adventure review: Cairn of the Winter King
- Thread starter OnlineDM
- Start date
Bold or Stupid
First Post
One thing I liked was the seeming ease at injecting some character into encounters. Our Ref (my SO) still berates us over not capturing and trying to tame Hootie - the owl bear.
Evilhalfling
Adventurer
I really enjoyed this adventure for the longer term story lines - I mentioned it snowing in august as a background detail, and my players bit hard. Dropping their regular quest and going to the caern. I added 2 levels to the encounters and made the winter king a 2-stage solo. after "killing" the original version he shattered his covering of ice and became a bad-ass skeleton with a greatsword.
Winter Kings skeleton[sblock]
Notes: I shortened his petrification time, and used paragon reflexes to make him a terrible foe for 2 rounds, until his sword shatters from his curse. I chose not to make him elite to reduce grind of a long battle.
Level 6 Soldier
HP 72; Bloodied 36 Initiative +6, Perception +11
AC 22; Fort 18; Ref 17; Will 18
Resist 5 necrotic; Vulnerable 5 radiant
Traits
Paragon Reflexes
The king begins the fight with +6 AC, Defenses, Attacks and Damage. At the start of each of his turns it drops by +3. On the third round his sword shatters.
Standard Actions
Bastard Sword (Weapon) ♦ At-Will (basic attack)
Attack: Melee; +13 vs AC Hit: 1d10 + 8 & 1d6 cold damage
You Will Kneel (Weapon) ♦ Recharge when bloodied
Attack: Close burst 1; +13 vs AC Hit: 2d10 + 8 & 1d6 cold damage, and the target is pushed 1 square and knocked prone
Grip of Winter ♦ At-Will (basic attack)
Attack: Melee; +10 vs Fortitude
Hit: 1d10 + 8 cold damage, and immobilized (save ends) -1st failed save: dazed & immobilized (sv ends) - 2nd failed save petrified. (no save)
Minor Actions
Quick Stand ♦ At-Will
the king stands up from being prone
Str: 24 (+10) Con: 16 (+6) Dex: 13 (+4) Int: 15 (+5) Wis: 16 (+6)
Cha: 21 (+8)
Equipment Greatsword, Chainmail, Crown of Winter (1000gp)
[/sblock]
They left alot of people alive and had to come back in January as a new army of winter started to sweep down on the civilized world, led by a pair of mated dragons, (one much bigger than the other) They ended up defending the caern from its own invading army, and then converting alot of the surviving barbarians.
We prolly spent at least 5 session in and around the caern, + 2 more dealing with the army on the march.
Winter Kings skeleton[sblock]
Notes: I shortened his petrification time, and used paragon reflexes to make him a terrible foe for 2 rounds, until his sword shatters from his curse. I chose not to make him elite to reduce grind of a long battle.
Level 6 Soldier
HP 72; Bloodied 36 Initiative +6, Perception +11
AC 22; Fort 18; Ref 17; Will 18
Resist 5 necrotic; Vulnerable 5 radiant
Traits
Paragon Reflexes
The king begins the fight with +6 AC, Defenses, Attacks and Damage. At the start of each of his turns it drops by +3. On the third round his sword shatters.
Standard Actions
Bastard Sword (Weapon) ♦ At-Will (basic attack)
Attack: Melee; +13 vs AC Hit: 1d10 + 8 & 1d6 cold damage
You Will Kneel (Weapon) ♦ Recharge when bloodied
Attack: Close burst 1; +13 vs AC Hit: 2d10 + 8 & 1d6 cold damage, and the target is pushed 1 square and knocked prone
Grip of Winter ♦ At-Will (basic attack)
Attack: Melee; +10 vs Fortitude
Hit: 1d10 + 8 cold damage, and immobilized (save ends) -1st failed save: dazed & immobilized (sv ends) - 2nd failed save petrified. (no save)
Minor Actions
Quick Stand ♦ At-Will
the king stands up from being prone
Str: 24 (+10) Con: 16 (+6) Dex: 13 (+4) Int: 15 (+5) Wis: 16 (+6)
Cha: 21 (+8)
Equipment Greatsword, Chainmail, Crown of Winter (1000gp)
[/sblock]
They left alot of people alive and had to come back in January as a new army of winter started to sweep down on the civilized world, led by a pair of mated dragons, (one much bigger than the other) They ended up defending the caern from its own invading army, and then converting alot of the surviving barbarians.
We prolly spent at least 5 session in and around the caern, + 2 more dealing with the army on the march.
Last edited:
Motorskills
Explorer
So I was looking to run this once we are done with Reavers, which we have just started.
I'm already a little nervous about the large amount of combat in Reavers Part 2 (running around the castle), and I wouldn't want to double up on that with another dungeon crawl.
Having read through the the adventure, all sorts of questions ran through my mind, questions that my players/PCs may well ask Marko (the thief).
Maybe all y'all can suggest some solutions....
Where is the prison camp (mine) he escaped from?
Where is the Cairn in relation to that?
How far is the Cairn from Fallcrest?
How did this lowly half-elf thief just walk away with the scepter in the first place? If he was trying for safety, why the hell would he poke around an obviously occupied tomb?!
The text indicates that the scepter was in the Winter King's hand. Surely it was also frozen 12 inches under the ice, like the rest of the body?
How did he get it out of the King's hand without damaging the hand?
Why didn't the Winter King - who obviously has access to very powerful stuff (skyship, zombie horde, army of underlings, regional weather control) - just stop Marko at the time?
If Marko could take the scepter...why didn't he take the Crown as well?
(My answer to this one is that as the Crown appears to be made of ice, it is nigh-on impossible to see under a foot of ice.)
So my thoughts on the scenario is that the Winter King was called that after obtaining a powerful item (the Crown) which gave great control over climate and granted powerful cold effects.
As part of the King's subsequent expansion he assaulted a dwarven stronghold, where he heard a powerful scepter was located.
As the stronghold fell, the dwarven high priest (Area 4 ghost) prayed to Moradin, offering eternal service in return for his divine intervention. Through the priest Moradin cursed the scepter.
Thus it is the scepter that is cursed (rather than the King himself), it is what is keeping the Winter King and his forces frozen.
Without the scepter in place, the King is starting to thaw, along with all of his forces. The party must return the scepter quickly, else this powerful force will return to wreak havoc on the Nentir Vale.
(I like the idea of having a thousand-strong frozen army, regimented like the terracotta army of the Chinese Emperor.)
So why does the King want his scepter back, if it will keep him frozen, unable to act?
The simplest answer is because the scepter is cursed, the King is forced to want to have it back.
Alternatively - or additionally - someone else wants the scepter returned, to ensure the King remains frozen. A dwarf cleric resident of Fallcrest who knows the history (legend) would be a good source of information.
I actually like this two-pronged approach, gives extra motivation to the PCs to take on the mission.
It also gives extra (and differing) motivations to the denizens of the Cairn, some want to own the scepter, others want it returned to the King (but only by themselves), others want to stop the scepter being returned to the King at all costs.
I would have had Marko explore an empty, completely-frozen (but navigable) Cairn. The only thing that was not encased in ice was the hand of the Winter King, grasping the scepter. Marko pried the valuable scepter from the hand without difficulty, but as soon as he did so, the tomb started (very obviously) to thaw, some places/people faster than others. Marko then freaks out and heads towards Fallcrest as fast as he can.
The main problem I am still having is the initial encounter, with the zombies and the skyship.
On its own, it's a good fight, shows the power of the King, and provides a fast, interesting, way to the Cairn.
But in general I dislike it. It's too high-fantasy for my tastes, the ship is a ludicrously powerful item, and it doesn't really fit with the rest of the tale.
My first thought would be to have a large White(?) Dragon, carrying a 'crate' which has enough space for the PCs (but no more). the undead could be crammed in there no problem (don't care about comfort, crushing, or breathing), the rest could be hanging off the outside (undead don't care about the cold).
When the PCs arrive at the Cairn, the dragon can fly off, or perhaps just hang around. Maybe the party could negotiate a return ride, not sure how that would work.
I still am uneasy about the Winter King sending in zombies to begin with.
If some of his forces are undead...why aren't all of them?
Anyway, thoughts/suggestions most welcome!
I'm already a little nervous about the large amount of combat in Reavers Part 2 (running around the castle), and I wouldn't want to double up on that with another dungeon crawl.
Having read through the the adventure, all sorts of questions ran through my mind, questions that my players/PCs may well ask Marko (the thief).
Maybe all y'all can suggest some solutions....
Where is the prison camp (mine) he escaped from?
Where is the Cairn in relation to that?
How far is the Cairn from Fallcrest?
How did this lowly half-elf thief just walk away with the scepter in the first place? If he was trying for safety, why the hell would he poke around an obviously occupied tomb?!
The text indicates that the scepter was in the Winter King's hand. Surely it was also frozen 12 inches under the ice, like the rest of the body?
How did he get it out of the King's hand without damaging the hand?
Why didn't the Winter King - who obviously has access to very powerful stuff (skyship, zombie horde, army of underlings, regional weather control) - just stop Marko at the time?
If Marko could take the scepter...why didn't he take the Crown as well?
(My answer to this one is that as the Crown appears to be made of ice, it is nigh-on impossible to see under a foot of ice.)
So my thoughts on the scenario is that the Winter King was called that after obtaining a powerful item (the Crown) which gave great control over climate and granted powerful cold effects.
As part of the King's subsequent expansion he assaulted a dwarven stronghold, where he heard a powerful scepter was located.
As the stronghold fell, the dwarven high priest (Area 4 ghost) prayed to Moradin, offering eternal service in return for his divine intervention. Through the priest Moradin cursed the scepter.
Thus it is the scepter that is cursed (rather than the King himself), it is what is keeping the Winter King and his forces frozen.
Without the scepter in place, the King is starting to thaw, along with all of his forces. The party must return the scepter quickly, else this powerful force will return to wreak havoc on the Nentir Vale.
(I like the idea of having a thousand-strong frozen army, regimented like the terracotta army of the Chinese Emperor.)
So why does the King want his scepter back, if it will keep him frozen, unable to act?
The simplest answer is because the scepter is cursed, the King is forced to want to have it back.
Alternatively - or additionally - someone else wants the scepter returned, to ensure the King remains frozen. A dwarf cleric resident of Fallcrest who knows the history (legend) would be a good source of information.
I actually like this two-pronged approach, gives extra motivation to the PCs to take on the mission.
It also gives extra (and differing) motivations to the denizens of the Cairn, some want to own the scepter, others want it returned to the King (but only by themselves), others want to stop the scepter being returned to the King at all costs.
I would have had Marko explore an empty, completely-frozen (but navigable) Cairn. The only thing that was not encased in ice was the hand of the Winter King, grasping the scepter. Marko pried the valuable scepter from the hand without difficulty, but as soon as he did so, the tomb started (very obviously) to thaw, some places/people faster than others. Marko then freaks out and heads towards Fallcrest as fast as he can.
The main problem I am still having is the initial encounter, with the zombies and the skyship.
On its own, it's a good fight, shows the power of the King, and provides a fast, interesting, way to the Cairn.
But in general I dislike it. It's too high-fantasy for my tastes, the ship is a ludicrously powerful item, and it doesn't really fit with the rest of the tale.
My first thought would be to have a large White(?) Dragon, carrying a 'crate' which has enough space for the PCs (but no more). the undead could be crammed in there no problem (don't care about comfort, crushing, or breathing), the rest could be hanging off the outside (undead don't care about the cold).
When the PCs arrive at the Cairn, the dragon can fly off, or perhaps just hang around. Maybe the party could negotiate a return ride, not sure how that would work.
I still am uneasy about the Winter King sending in zombies to begin with.
If some of his forces are undead...why aren't all of them?
Anyway, thoughts/suggestions most welcome!
Klaus
First Post
My thoughts:
- The Scepter wasn't in the King's grasp, it floated (out of the ice), just outside the King's reach.
- The Scepter being in the *Cairn* (but out of his grasp) kept the WK frozen. When Marko removed it from the Cairn, the thawing began.
- The WK wants the scepter to complete his power.
- The Scepter wasn't in the King's grasp, it floated (out of the ice), just outside the King's reach.
- The Scepter being in the *Cairn* (but out of his grasp) kept the WK frozen. When Marko removed it from the Cairn, the thawing began.
- The WK wants the scepter to complete his power.
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