D&D 5E Running Rime of the Frost Maiden

[Khelon Testudo]

Yeah, I've seen people do the analysis for chapter 4 and it turns out that the PC's only chance is to go straight to the final town on the route to get there before the dragon does - and that's with a bit of generosity from the DM. I'm probably going to have Velynne's sled be pulled by zombie dogs (since she's a necromancer) so the party doesn't have to rest an hour every hour, meaning they can try and intercept earlier and save more towns.

I'd go skeletal hounds. Zombies have reduced movement rates, don't they?

 

[Weiley31]

Do Phantom Hounds have to worry about movement rates or exhaustion? You can always have spectral dogs pull the sled.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I'd go skeletal hounds.

Skeletons would sink into the snow!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Do Phantom Hounds have to worry about movement rates or exhaustion? You can always have spectral dogs pull the sled.

What spell are you proposing? I would rule that the 10MPH speed of the Phantom Steed overrides the stats of the riding house if ridden, as "specific beats general", but if you tried to use it to pull a dogsled then it would function as a riding horse i.e. it can't pull it at all. Phantom Steed spell cannot summon a sled dog, nevermind a team of sled dogs.

NB RL dog sled teams typically have 8 dogs, +1 spare.

 

[Khelon Testudo]

Skeletons would sink into the snow!

Their legs aren't that much thinner than when living. If it's a problem give them fur or woollen leggings!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Their legs aren't that much thinner than when living. If it's a problem give them fur or woollen leggings!

It's the surface area of their feet that matters, not the thickness of their legs. Sled dogs have large splayed paws that give them the ability to run on top of snow.

 

[Khelon Testudo]

Ok, woolly boots then!

 

[MarkB]

curious on what others are choosing as the intro adventures? im find many of them to be lacking and its going to take a few to get into the middle of the book

So far, I like Lake Monster, Foaming Mugs or A Beautiful Mine as starting adventures. After that, chaining The Unseen and Black Swords, culminating in the Easthaven ferry subquest, would do well at leading into the subsequent main plot. Alternatively, following up Lake Monster with Holed Up and The White Moose becomes its own "awakened animals" questline, culminating in confronting Ravisin.

Reposting this from the Review thread, because this is probably a more fruitful place to have the discussion. Has anyone else planned out which towns and quests they're likely to start their players off with?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Reposting this from the Review thread, because this is probably a more fruitful place to have the discussion. Has anyone else planned out which towns and quests they're likely to start their players off with?

Wait and see what characters the players come up with, and if they choose to give the party a preestablished relationship.

Also, remember the players do not have to bite the hook. So don't stick them somewhere where the only available quest won't interest them. My preference is to dangle several hooks in front of the players and let them choose for themselves which to bite.

 

[wicked cool]

the problem with that is it sees the quest is catered towards the town you drop them in and could cause you headaches if say you use (2-3 quests options in the same town)

Some of these intro adventures are not fleshed out and feel like outlines of adventures compared to the essentials set which has much more guidance for a DM. Lake monster vs Dwarven excavation is one example that comes to mind. this adventure could probably have used a death house type adventure to also setup the ten town experience (maybe an adventure on an abandoned ship)