D&D 5E Running Rime of the Frost Maiden

[Paul Farquhar]

So, my party are currently in Auril's abode, and are about to face the Trials of the Frostmaiden in order to recover the Codicil. That's where we left off last week, and this evening the Trials begin. So I need some advice - has anyone run this part yet?

Because, as written, they sound both very cool and extremely impractical. The way they begin - by teleporting everyone who's in the antechamber when the inner door is opened - is practically guaranteed to split the party, and that wouldn't be so bad, except that some of these trials go on for literally days. I could see one character being left behind in Auril's fortress while the others do their trial, with Auril due to get home in a few hours. Or one character teleported away to face a trial alone while the rest just hang around for the best part of a week.

My plan A was to make sure everyone keeps their position on the map updated (we're playing on Roll20) so I know who does and doesn't get taken, and then after the first trial they'll know how it works.

But I'm wondering if it's better to just have the trial teleport everyone in the main room when someone opens a door. That's going to be bad news for the awakened walrus who wasn't looking to take on any trials, but I don't think bringing him along will actually invalidate any of the trials.

Yes, I've run it. Didn't have any party separation, since it teleports everyone in the chamber leading up to the door. And once they had done the first one they knew how it worked and had everyone prepared. If you do have issues with party members wandering off it doesn't really matter if they are left behind - they can camp out with the giant walrus until they get back. The Giant Walrus being the reason for not teleporting everything in the central room. No reason they couldn't catch up by opening the door themselves though. It won't wreck the trial if someone arrives a few minutes late. Or they could attempt a different trial.

What I did change: I buffed Isarr Kronenstrom from the Trial of Preservation and made him a full blown werewolf. Like many of the bosses in RotFM he is a bit weak - this is a one-day-one-fight set up (the giant vultures don't really count), so he needs to be deadly - around CR 11 or 12.

What I would change if I ran it again: I would use the stress rules from Ravenloft, for the whole adventure, but particularly in the Trial of Isolation. I would also allow party members to take turns using the Performance skill to reduce stress - there is little enough opportunity for players to make use of this skill.

 

[MarkB]

Thanks for the reply. I'll see how it goes. A couple of the party are werebears at this point and in Large hybrid form so they may not cluster in the anterooms, and there was talk of one character taking on the Cruelty test alone, basically sacrificing his honour, so I think there will most likely be some separation. I'm just hoping it's not on the Isolation trial.

Thanks for the tip on boosting the opponent's stats in the Preservation trial. I'll go with that assuming I get a full party for that one.

 

[MarkB]

Update: The session went well. Two of the more morally-flexible party members went into the antechamber for the Test of Cruelty. They will never speak to their companions of what took place there, but they all caught onto the way the tests worked, and all party members undertook the Test of Endurance. That was pretty brutal - of five characters, only one emerged unscathed and one of them was on four levels of exhaustion. After that they retreated from the fortress - Auril was due back soon - and Vellynne, who had accompanied them but stayed out of the tests, set up a tiny hut in a sheltered spot on the island for them to rest in.

They're now working their way through the shipwrecks in between getting a couple more rests.

 

[Retreater]

Update: The session went well. Two of the more morally-flexible party members went into the antechamber for the Test of Cruelty. They will never speak to their companions of what took place there, but they all caught onto the way the tests worked, and all party members undertook the Test of Endurance. That was pretty brutal - of five characters, only one emerged unscathed and one of them was on four levels of exhaustion. After that they retreated from the fortress - Auril was due back soon - and Vellynne, who had accompanied them but stayed out of the tests, set up a tiny hut in a sheltered spot on the island for them to rest in.

They're now working their way through the shipwrecks in between getting a couple more rests.

Glad it went well. I plan to cut out the rest of the adventure after fighting Auril and just have that be the end of the curse.
The adventure is turning into a sunk cost fallacy for me. The sooner it ends, the better.

 

[MarkB]

Glad it went well. I plan to cut out the rest of the adventure after fighting Auril and just have that be the end of the curse.
The adventure is turning into a sunk cost fallacy for me. The sooner it ends, the better.

Sorry it's a bust for you. I've had adventures I've bounced off (really enjoyed running the first half of Out of the Abyss, but couldn't summon any enthusiasm for the second half).

This one, however, is still bringing me a lot of joy to run.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Auril and just have that be the end of the curse.

That's RAW.

It's both a strength and weakness of RotFM is it doesn't impose a motivation on the PCs. If Auril is killed off early, that last two chapters become a treasure hunt. Or they could just clear off. Really, the PCs can clear off any time if the don't find the Ten Towns engaging, although the pass is easier once Auril is dead.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Vellynne, who had accompanied them but stayed out of the tests, set up a tiny hut in a sheltered spot on the island for them to rest in.

This happened a lot in my game too. Dispensing Tiny Huts is about all she is good for, her spell selection sucks!

 

[MarkB]

This happened a lot in my game too. Dispensing Tiny Huts is about all she is good for, her spell selection sucks!

She's also having to be very circumspect in my game, as one of the PCs is a Lathander worshipping Grave cleric. So she left her zombie kobolds behind. That's going to be an awkward moment at some point.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

She's also having to be very circumspect in my game, as one of the PCs is a Lathander worshipping Grave cleric. So she left her zombie kobolds behind. That's going to be an awkward moment at some point.

"Necro what? Nope, never touch the stuff!"

At least her spell selection doesn't give her away, although I suspect it might come out in a confrontation with Avarice in Chapter 7!

My players never quite trusted her. She is a sort of Doctor Smith character.

 

[Retreater]

That's RAW.

It's both a strength and weakness of RotFM is it doesn't impose a motivation on the PCs. If Auril is killed off early, that last two chapters become a treasure hunt. Or they could just clear off. Really, the PCs can clear off any time if the don't find the Ten Towns engaging, although the pass is easier once Auril is dead.

Correct. What I meant in my post is that since Auril's defeat ends the curse, that's the end of the campaign.
I've already lined up the quest to defeat Auril, told them how to find her, where to collect Macguffins to weaken her. Hopefully at this rate we can be ready to end it in around 3 months game time after trudging through 4 months of side quests.
A 7 month campaign is about all I have the attention span to do. (We went through Curse of Strahd in a similar time.)