For the isolation i think i would make it so each party member is trapped in some kind of prison alone. They can see npc outside the but the NPCs ignore them. They can try and figure out a way to escape but it is impossible or when they success they find them self in another prison. When they give up and decide to wait it out they pass. Maybe make sure they notice some form of time tracking, like there is marking on the wall counting number to days to hint that they need to wait.
My Test of Isolation for Rime of the Frostmaiden I use Roll20 and Discord. Each day, when a player fails their save, they get put on a VERY large (50x50 with each square being 10’), barren wasteland battle map with dynamic lighting on, only 30’ of visibility, and limited movement. To add to the isolation, I put that person on their own discord voice channel and jump between each player and the group as the test progresses. I also use the “different discord channel” part of this in the Black Cabin so that it’s much more interesting when the party can’t actually talk to each other while trying to fix the Summerstar.
Thanks so much for the advice on running this chapter. I just ran it for my group and it was one of their favorite sessions so far. They loved the challenges.
We need to get you some subs, my dude. I really think you have a good channel! Probably the best companion guide to RotFm on UA-cam. Great work and much success 👍!
@@SteelySam yeah man, I think they will too. Please keep it up. I'm currently running this and the information has been very helpful to me. You're doing great work.
i haven't read the actual text in the book about it yet, but i read somewhere that the 3 tablets is due to one being missing.. and that missing tablet being broken could be the cause of the song that girl sings about the "wind" that came in and attacked her grandparents..
correct, this was in Termaline at the Eastside inn. Marta Peskryk sings about the woman 50 years ago who was attacked by a howling wind. The attacker is the hostile spirit of elemental air that is released when a tablet is broken.
My players are headed towards ravenloft in curse of strahd. Will be playing rime afterwards and these videos are incredibly helpful while im still running a seperate campaign. Keep up the great work!
Part of me wants to make chapter 5 the last chapter after chapter 7. Defeating the BBEG in the middle of the adventure feel weird to me and Auril is more BBEG then the chapter 7 boss. I would make the rime of the frostmaiden poem actually be a traditional poem that each reghede tribe leader knows a potion of. so instead of doing the test they have to find the tribe leaders and learn the pieces of the poem. Vellyn thinks that if anyone knows where hidden stuff is in icewind dale it would be the tribes. Guiding the PC to go search for the tribe to get info and stumble into each tribes problem. After they get that, they make it to chapter 6. Then in chapter 7 they find the magic artifact to help weaken Auril (don't inform the PCs she is already weaken) or that Auril has the final item to activate the chapter 7 city. This gives them reason/allows them to actually storm her island to defeat her. I would prob let them stumble on the island if they explore the sea of ice so they can find the orb and nass.
Maybe you can send just one form of auril, and then send her in the final chapter The only deal i see, is if they got any other quick ending like the Tarrasque or something, they won't deal with auril and that doesn't make sense
My party has been much more motivated to find Ythrin than they are to stop the rime. But I don't think it's really intended persay for the party to beat Auril here, it's more just that they can.
Auril is hiding in Icewind Dale because she made some divine enemies. She keeps the sun from rising because she doesn't like change. this like a new dawn, a new day, new beginnings... the frostmaiden prefers things to stay unchanged (hence the freezing and preventing the sun rise)
I also didn't like that Auril seemed to have no reason for locking Icewind Dale down under eternal winter, so I have decided that the destruction of Crenshinibon that littered the area with demonically-cursed fragments of chardalyn has also affected her, and driven her to madness. A large shard of it pierced her when the tower detonated, and is lodged within her divine spark. Since Crenshinibon (when in the form of the tower(s) called Cryshal-Tirith) gathered power from sunlight, she is attempting to limit its control of her by creating eternal darkness and cold. When my PCs eventually fight her, they will have to remove and destroy that piece of chardalyn from her body and free her from the demonic influence. They won't be able to destroy her (even temporarily) until they find the Mythallar in Ythryn and attempt to wrest the power of controlling weather from her. We'll see how that goes!
Great video, very informative. I did have a question though, if she treats the combat like she is invincible and immortal, why would she teleport to recruit the roc? Also would that move the combat to the Roc’s lair, or does the roc somehow fit into her room?
Interesting question, I think the fight would take place in the Roc's lair. As far as why she teleports away it could be that she doesn't want to damage anything in her room (preservation being in her portfolio), or she might want to show off her majestic pet Roc (she raised from birth). You could also move her throne to the top of the tower and have her waiting there instead.
@@SteelySam I like it! I’m gonna move her to the roof and give her an ice throne. Her bedchamber will be a trophy/art room(maybe with best frozen victims). From the roof she can overlook the beauty she has wrought.
The book says 'the door swings open on its own if each of the four tests was passed by at least one individual in the room". Kind of ambiguous, but I think it doesn't have to be the same individual to pass all four tests. Just, say, player A passed the first, player B the second etc. At least this is how I interpret it :D
she provides a pretty decent challenge to an 8th level party as long as the roc doesn't get involved, that may be too much depending on the party size/experience
Cool Suggestion, Analyze chapters of different campaigns much like the rotfm one you did here and give lore breakdowns, motivations of characters and how you would run it and what to focus on. Really just the classic DM basics series. Ive been thinking of doing one for DOTMM that I'm running to really cement some cool stories as players work through such a large dungeon.
really good information on all of your videos! but 1 critique is that when you speak your volume goes in and out a lot. i think its because of your head bobbing when you speak sometimes. i hope that your future videos have this fixed otherwise the content is great and awesome to listen to on my work commute!
My isolation I did basically what you did I just adjusted it so they become separated as the book said as they wait. Then had them basically trying to get back to where they were with no idea and prompted them with questions till they were ready to give up and then teleported them back the only way they failed the test is if they broke RP in an inappropriate way I fully committed to the idea you can't fail this test unless you didn't admit to your character feeling alone or worried they might not find anyone else. Otherwise I treated isolation as a test with no way to actually fail. I even gave socially distant characters advantage in this scenario based on their personality. Honestly the isolation test is stupid.
For the isolation test, as I am playing this campaign online I am going to have each of the players get separated and make them join different discord calls. I’ll jump between them and ask them how they’re planning to survive individually and make them make checks for each day. Hopefully being alone whilst playing D&D will give them a strange feeling of isolation
What about her getting help from her Roc? Need deets on the two of them teaming up and how that fight would go. (I also feel like the Roc needs some kind of wing/wind attack that knocks PCs back 10-20 feet and prone rather than just one talon/beak attack.)
First TPK(ish) last night when all five decided to try for Auril's blessing....one passed. He then got destroyed by Auril, they had already alerted her they were there. Felt bad but what can you do lol they played fast and loose for awhile
For the isolation i think i would make it so each party member is trapped in some kind of prison alone. They can see npc outside the but the NPCs ignore them. They can try and figure out a way to escape but it is impossible or when they success they find them self in another prison. When they give up and decide to wait it out they pass. Maybe make sure they notice some form of time tracking, like there is marking on the wall counting number to days to hint that they need to wait.
interesting way to handle isolation
thanks for taking the time to make these videos! I really like this format over just reading the book.
having a video of someone talk things out like this has always helped me, which is why I set out to make these vids
My Test of Isolation for Rime of the Frostmaiden
I use Roll20 and Discord. Each day, when a player fails their save, they get put on a VERY large (50x50 with each square being 10’), barren wasteland battle map with dynamic lighting on, only 30’ of visibility, and limited movement. To add to the isolation, I put that person on their own discord voice channel and jump between each player and the group as the test progresses. I also use the “different discord channel” part of this in the Black Cabin so that it’s much more interesting when the party can’t actually talk to each other while trying to fix the Summerstar.
Thanks so much for the advice on running this chapter. I just ran it for my group and it was one of their favorite sessions so far. They loved the challenges.
We need to get you some subs, my dude. I really think you have a good channel! Probably the best companion guide to RotFm on UA-cam. Great work and much success 👍!
thanks this means a lot, if I can provide consistent and helpful content I know the subs and views will come
@@SteelySam yeah man, I think they will too. Please keep it up. I'm currently running this and the information has been very helpful to me. You're doing great work.
Most definitely. I have listened to a bunch of guides and this is Top Shelf stuff
Second! I work too many hours and would be pressed to run this without your clear, concise, and entertaining walk throughs.
i haven't read the actual text in the book about it yet, but i read somewhere that the 3 tablets is due to one being missing.. and that missing tablet being broken could be the cause of the song that girl sings about the "wind" that came in and attacked her grandparents..
oh I may have missed that
@@SteelySam i don't think it was in the actual book, just something i read on reddit
@@gameblasteralpha oh ok, thank you
correct, this was in Termaline at the Eastside inn. Marta Peskryk sings about the woman 50 years ago who was attacked by a howling wind. The attacker is the hostile spirit of elemental air that is released when a tablet is broken.
Been watching all of your videos and loving your insight and summary and visuals on all the rime of the frostmaiden stuff! Keep up the good work
Glad they are helping
Very nice! Your getting close to finishing this up.
just in time for Tasha's!
My players are headed towards ravenloft in curse of strahd. Will be playing rime afterwards and these videos are incredibly helpful while im still running a seperate campaign. Keep up the great work!
I'm glad they are helping
Part of me wants to make chapter 5 the last chapter after chapter 7. Defeating the BBEG in the middle of the adventure feel weird to me and Auril is more BBEG then the chapter 7 boss. I would make the rime of the frostmaiden poem actually be a traditional poem that each reghede tribe leader knows a potion of. so instead of doing the test they have to find the tribe leaders and learn the pieces of the poem. Vellyn thinks that if anyone knows where hidden stuff is in icewind dale it would be the tribes. Guiding the PC to go search for the tribe to get info and stumble into each tribes problem. After they get that, they make it to chapter 6. Then in chapter 7 they find the magic artifact to help weaken Auril (don't inform the PCs she is already weaken) or that Auril has the final item to activate the chapter 7 city. This gives them reason/allows them to actually storm her island to defeat her. I would prob let them stumble on the island if they explore the sea of ice so they can find the orb and nass.
this is a good idea, I agree that Auril makes for a much better end boss
Maybe you can send just one form of auril, and then send her in the final chapter
The only deal i see, is if they got any other quick ending like the Tarrasque or something, they won't deal with auril and that doesn't make sense
My party has been much more motivated to find Ythrin than they are to stop the rime. But I don't think it's really intended persay for the party to beat Auril here, it's more just that they can.
Almost at 666 subscribers..... 👀
Also, it may be a stupid question but why exactly is Auril doin what she is? Simply evil?
Auril is hiding in Icewind Dale because she made some divine enemies. She keeps the sun from rising because she doesn't like change. this like a new dawn, a new day, new beginnings... the frostmaiden prefers things to stay unchanged (hence the freezing and preventing the sun rise)
@@SteelySamThanks, that clarifies most of where that comes from
I also didn't like that Auril seemed to have no reason for locking Icewind Dale down under eternal winter, so I have decided that the destruction of Crenshinibon that littered the area with demonically-cursed fragments of chardalyn has also affected her, and driven her to madness. A large shard of it pierced her when the tower detonated, and is lodged within her divine spark. Since Crenshinibon (when in the form of the tower(s) called Cryshal-Tirith) gathered power from sunlight, she is attempting to limit its control of her by creating eternal darkness and cold. When my PCs eventually fight her, they will have to remove and destroy that piece of chardalyn from her body and free her from the demonic influence. They won't be able to destroy her (even temporarily) until they find the Mythallar in Ythryn and attempt to wrest the power of controlling weather from her. We'll see how that goes!
Great video! Did you do one yet on the "Cold Hearted Killer" Quest? or is it in one of the other videos?
I go over that quest briefly in the bryn shander video, but I might do an entire video on the quest if viewers want
Would love this
Thank you so much for your videos they have been a lifesaver as a new DM
Youre a legend mate, these videos are great
You've been a ton of help running my game. Keep it up man!
I like your vids.. they help me.. thank you
Great video, very informative. I did have a question though, if she treats the combat like she is invincible and immortal, why would she teleport to recruit the roc? Also would that move the combat to the Roc’s lair, or does the roc somehow fit into her room?
Interesting question, I think the fight would take place in the Roc's lair. As far as why she teleports away it could be that she doesn't want to damage anything in her room (preservation being in her portfolio), or she might want to show off her majestic pet Roc (she raised from birth). You could also move her throne to the top of the tower and have her waiting there instead.
@@SteelySam I like it! I’m gonna move her to the roof and give her an ice throne. Her bedchamber will be a trophy/art room(maybe with best frozen victims). From the roof she can overlook the beauty she has wrought.
@@joeborgatti7377 now we're talking
The book says 'the door swings open on its own if each of the four tests was passed by at least one individual in the room". Kind of ambiguous, but I think it doesn't have to be the same individual to pass all four tests. Just, say, player A passed the first, player B the second etc. At least this is how I interpret it :D
Great video. Do you think characters at this level have a much chance of defeating her?
she provides a pretty decent challenge to an 8th level party as long as the roc doesn't get involved, that may be too much depending on the party size/experience
Cool Suggestion, Analyze chapters of different campaigns much like the rotfm one you did here and give lore breakdowns, motivations of characters and how you would run it and what to focus on. Really just the classic DM basics series. Ive been thinking of doing one for DOTMM that I'm running to really cement some cool stories as players work through such a large dungeon.
really good information on all of your videos! but 1 critique is that when you speak your volume goes in and out a lot. i think its because of your head bobbing when you speak sometimes. i hope that your future videos have this fixed otherwise the content is great and awesome to listen to on my work commute!
My isolation I did basically what you did I just adjusted it so they become separated as the book said as they wait. Then had them basically trying to get back to where they were with no idea and prompted them with questions till they were ready to give up and then teleported them back the only way they failed the test is if they broke RP in an inappropriate way I fully committed to the idea you can't fail this test unless you didn't admit to your character feeling alone or worried they might not find anyone else. Otherwise I treated isolation as a test with no way to actually fail. I even gave socially distant characters advantage in this scenario based on their personality. Honestly the isolation test is stupid.
Can you do videos like this for Baldurs Gate: Descent into Avernus
For the isolation test, as I am playing this campaign online I am going to have each of the players get separated and make them join different discord calls. I’ll jump between them and ask them how they’re planning to survive individually and make them make checks for each day. Hopefully being alone whilst playing D&D will give them a strange feeling of isolation
What about her getting help from her Roc? Need deets on the two of them teaming up and how that fight would go. (I also feel like the Roc needs some kind of wing/wind attack that knocks PCs back 10-20 feet and prone rather than just one talon/beak attack.)
*Finishes a sentence*
*Spanish Music in Wordless ad plays*
Me:
Wait ¿¡Los Gigantes?!
post for the money
First TPK(ish) last night when all five decided to try for Auril's blessing....one passed. He then got destroyed by Auril, they had already alerted her they were there. Felt bad but what can you do lol they played fast and loose for awhile
So help me out, i am in chapter 3 and i have 1 PC with the opportunity to receive a blessing, should i reveal DC roll needed to pass to PC?