I normally hate D&D tubers. They're usually pretentious, obnoxious, and less experienced than they claim to be. But this Bob World Builder guy knows his stuff. Congrats, you've earned my sub.
I appreciate that! I try to come from the angle of "we're all learning together" because there's always new ways to improve your game, and these are just my ideas!
I like the idea of making Sephek have three forms. Though I would change things up a bit to better reflect the frost druid spirit within: 1) The first form I would keep the same more or less. 2) The second form is where things get more primal. After the players defeat the first form, the temperature drops as the area they are in becomes iced over with the source of this cold being the frost druid spirit as it's husk has now been breached. Also, if any weapons were used to slay the first form they are now encased in ice; giving disadvantage on their next attack roll but additional bludgeoning damage if it hits. Following the frost druids release, it no longer plays with mere daggers or swords of ice. Now it grows claws of ice that encompass Sepheks forearms. Its jaw unhinges revealing fangs of ice. This gives Sephek a bite and claw attack, Multiattack, and the cold regeneration which is now fueled by an aura generated by the frost druid. An aura that does cold damage to anything within 5 feet of it. 3) For the third form the frost druid completely sheds its humanoid husk. Tearing off chunks of frozen blueish flesh as it's bones contort in all manner of direction until becoming a skeletal snowy owlbear abomination. Under normal circumstances, they would have become a polar bear but Auril's effect on it has warped it into an owls visage. From here you just use the stats of a skeletal owlbear with the cold regeneration/aura. Also for added primal fury, give it Reckless. And you can throw on crystalline armor for a boost to AC to either this or the second form if you think the fight could use it. Regardless, once dead the frost druid spirit lets out a final roar in defiance as its body uses a more powerful version of an ice mephits Death Burst. ... What I like about this is that it's basically a reverse order of Auril's forms. Starting off as a protective husk, becoming an icy warrior, and then going full beast. Though I was very much inspired by a werebear, so taking a gander at its stat block could be useful. Also, I wouldn't give the weapons to a player (unless going a cursed item route) because they are an ability. Though Auril COULD bless whoever defeats her champion with said ability, especially if they have the Midwinter Child secret. Maybe even throw in a measure of werebear lycanthropy if you're feeling frosty! But all this of course goes away if Auril is slain... or will it? 🥶
I like the idea of the spirit being shown as more corrupt and evil with each form, and definitely that death burst! Plus, any excuse to get more snowy owlbear in the game is cool with me :)
100% Sephek should be the chapter one villian that is there, but not confronted yet. Interesting idea about multi form for Sephek. Need to ponder that one.
I started my campaign as trade caravan escort that have been away from Icewind Dale for nearly two years. This covers the ohh why things are really bad being a surprise for the players. They just made it though tentrails which was closed off, sealing icewind dale. They then were introduced to the murder mystery story before doing Bryn Shander quest. The town sheriff has hired them to investigate the murders further.
Yeah, I think creating a weaker form of Sephek makes him more confrontable at level 1-2, and then it just seemed fun to give him three forms like Auril and stretch it out through a longer adventure!
@@BobWorldBuilder Yeah I am just controlling how long until they find him. They will need to be level 3 before they can. But I have the Pirate Cannibal secret, and going to have that player recognise him as someone that fell over aboard and must have died.
Don't know if it's worldwide but here in UK the D&D Beyond website has a survey, one question asks about other D&D content you consume. I mentioned Bob, I'd suggest everyone else does too!
Thank you! I've become a big fan of their site and was recently granted a "press account" with all the materials!! It's very exciting to have access to all their well-formatted stuff, and I'm looking forward to an official sponsorship some day :)
Yo soy una mujer muy pobre que no siempre ha tenido suerte a la hora de jugar a la lotería. He jugado a la lotería desde que tenía 21 años y ahora tengo 45, lo que significa que he estado jugando a la lotería durante 24 años. La mayor cantidad que he ganado en mi vida fueron 400 dólares. Pero un día mi historia pasa a la historia después de encontrar el nombre de este hombre en Internet que es el mejor cuando se trata de ganar la lotería. Este hombre es un médico vudú muy fuerte que da números que nunca pueden fallar. Después de todos mis años de trabajo y lucha para ganar la lotería, finalmente gané ($ 27,000,000) Dr. Luckson es el nombre, lucksonlugard@gmail.com o contáctelo por WhatsApp ahora +234905932 6367, esta es la única forma de ganar la lotería y la mejor manera.........,
I had a really great first session with Cold Blooded Killer, one of the party lured Sephek away as they also have the midwinter child blessing so told him that they were also chosen by the frost maiden. They met out in the snow outside where the party jumped him. I made him a bit more of a crazy cultist vibe, speaking about being chosen by Auril. I love the multiple forms idea and he's now definitely making a return in the first arc!
Awesome video. Love the idea of the Cold Hearted Killer being played as a murder mystery arc for the entirety of chapter 1, nice job. I'm thinking of running Nature Spirits as the PC's first quest and along the way have them stumble upon a dead body ... with an ice dagger lodged in it. Then they can learn more from there, perhaps meeting Hlin later and getting a tip on a possible suspect. But I think what would make this more exciting is to have a few suspects, and not just Sephek.
Thanks, Nick! I love the idea of having them find a body while looking for chwingas, and I agree that more suspects will make it more interesting to seek out Sephek!
I like the idea a lot of the three forms for sepphek. Makes me a lot less worries I'll tpk the group and gives me something new to work with in the future
Yo soy una mujer muy pobre que no siempre ha tenido suerte a la hora de jugar a la lotería. He jugado a la lotería desde que tenía 21 años y ahora tengo 45, lo que significa que he estado jugando a la lotería durante 24 años. La mayor cantidad que he ganado en mi vida fueron 400 dólares. Pero un día mi historia pasa a la historia después de encontrar el nombre de este hombre en Internet que es el mejor cuando se trata de ganar la lotería. Este hombre es un médico vudú muy fuerte que da números que nunca pueden fallar. Después de todos mis años de trabajo y lucha para ganar la lotería, finalmente gané ($ 27,000,000) Dr. Luckson es el nombre, lucksonlugard@gmail.com o contáctelo por WhatsApp ahora +234905932 6367, esta es la única forma de ganar la lotería y la mejor manera.........,
I love it when I choose to change the module a certain way, and then you drop a video pretty much validating exactly what i did. You know what the say about great minds!
I really love this, this is the first time im going to be a DM and doing this book and i really gave me some idea's how to run this. I really like this video I'm going to watch the rest of it. So keep it up man!
Had my party start in Brynshander and read through that quest and immediately knew that it would be too hard and somewhat boring for an inquisitive party. I started off the campaign by having the lottery being the event that brought them all together with players able to hear whispers and rumours in the crowd that this was rigged and that a specific NPC was to be killed. They then had to find out who would rig the lottery and then witness the sacrifice being ceremoniously sacrificed to the frost maiden. During all of this, they started the main quest of the town. When they got back from the goblin sled with the ore I had them find out one of the shopkeepers they met had been murdered. They put two and two together and realized she'd been the one to rig the lottery. I really like the idea of the mystery and having them chase around false leads until they meet Hlin and they can point them in the 'right' direction. I love your idea of having so they can be led astray from thinking it was Sephek and him having three forms to foreshadow the maiden. Great idea!!
That sounds great! I definitely think the conspiracy themes around the lottery should be played up and I like the way to handled it. Glad you like these ideas too!
Something that I would do with cold hearted killer after the players defeat him, I would make it so that they could wear his ring and then make then do a saving throw, save or fail, they would see a vision of the world engulfed in ice. If they fail, psychic damage. You could also make it so they can cast the icy weapon as a bonus action or (if a spell caster) cast an ice bolt cantrip
@@BobWorldBuilder cannonicaly speaking, he does not but I'm adding one that the players could loot after dealing with him that would set up Auril as a bigger active threat in the campain. In the book she much more of a nuisance than an ever creeping danger, by giving them the vision I plan to set it up as if she plans to freezes the whole world so dealing with her would be the best idea. BUT! I am 100% adding the 3 form ''epic monster'' element to him. I'm thinking of an ''entombed'' like form (Frostburn 3.5e) that could communicate telepathically with an echoing voice to them but obviously weaker because an actual entomb would be way way too deadly.
Another excellent video bob, you recently gave me the jump to run my first game for my little brother. Following the dragon of ice spire peak module. It was so much fun and surprisingly he also took the route of reasoning with the manticore and hunted some deer for it as well.
I decided to start mine searching on the outskirts of town looking for the missing glass blower. My players stumbled across the body buried in the snow with an ice dagger sticking out of his chest. I made the glassblower an old drinking buddy of the fighter.
Yo soy una mujer muy pobre que no siempre ha tenido suerte a la hora de jugar a la lotería. He jugado a la lotería desde que tenía 21 años y ahora tengo 45, lo que significa que he estado jugando a la lotería durante 24 años. La mayor cantidad que he ganado en mi vida fueron 400 dólares. Pero un día mi historia pasa a la historia después de encontrar el nombre de este hombre en Internet que es el mejor cuando se trata de ganar la lotería. Este hombre es un médico vudú muy fuerte que da números que nunca pueden fallar. Después de todos mis años de trabajo y lucha para ganar la lotería, finalmente gané ($ 27,000,000) Dr. Luckson es el nombre, lucksonlugard@gmail.com o contáctelo por WhatsApp ahora +234905932 6367, esta es la única forma de ganar la lotería y la mejor manera.........,
Thanks for the shout out Bob ! we did our session 0 last week with my kids and dads game! your insight on story progression is so helpful, I feel very at odds with the more open feel and missing narrative detail of the actual module. your clearing it all up tho and im feeling more confident and excited to run this !
Thanks, Bob. I had had the notion to bump Sephek up to a background arc for the Ten Towns portion by including him in the 'cold open' murdering someone in front of the characters. I wasn't sure how to drive it through from there, but the mystery components you levelled in this video have been helpful! Thanks... looking forward to running this. And the chwingas!
Just picked up the main book this morning. I am glad I took some time to do some background research here on the tube otherwise I'd be going batsh*t atm! Thank you for this! All very solid tips. While I like the re-development of the serial killer questline, I feel that the focus on the end should be... "Wait... the townspeople here are doing WTFH types of sacrificing?!?" The murders would serve nicely to highlight just how far the ten-towns have fallen into despair about the never-ending winter.
I was given the Icewind Dale book for Christmas, and I've been reading through a lot of it. The section on Ten-Towns alone was so entertaining because it gave me so many places with so many fun quests to take part in. I also have a regular player in games that I run who absolutely will love playing with the chwinga. I am now thinking of adding a bit from this book as a bridge between my Hoarde of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat adventures. Maybe have them dive into Rime of the Frostmaiden afterwards with the events in the bridge acting as set up for those events to come.
I just had one of them roll the dice for the starting town. Got Caer-Konig and opted to forgo the murder quest(They will pick up on this later) in favor of doing the town's quest first. It worked pretty well for them. Though they cut it really really close. Almost TPK'd and had to retreat back to the town after securing the lamp instead of exploring the last two chambers. They are however a party of 4 which is like the minimum suggested players though so I'd say it was good overall.
Yeah, I haven't read each town quest yet, but they generally seem more interesting than the chwinga starter quest, and I really think the serial killer one should be turned into a longer adventure. I'm glad you're party survived! They should be alright now because level 2 is a lot easier to survive combats with than level 1 characters :) But this is horror! So future quest guides will help push the limits!
@@BobWorldBuilder I will say, the point of the 2 starting quests isn't to get the PCS to do them at level 1, but rather to visit multiple towns, getting more sidequests (and leveling up) exposing them to more content. Thats why both the starting quests ask players to visit different locations and to have random chances to find what they are looking for! So in that sense, the serial killer is intended to span multiple sessions, and culminate when the players are level 2/3 and a few towns in!
I agree, I just think calling them "starting quests" is a little counterintuitive. I would have appreciated more guidance on how to complete the quests in stages if that were the intention, so I try to provide some guidance in this video
Yo soy una mujer muy pobre que no siempre ha tenido suerte a la hora de jugar a la lotería. He jugado a la lotería desde que tenía 21 años y ahora tengo 45, lo que significa que he estado jugando a la lotería durante 24 años. La mayor cantidad que he ganado en mi vida fueron 400 dólares. Pero un día mi historia pasa a la historia después de encontrar el nombre de este hombre en Internet que es el mejor cuando se trata de ganar la lotería. Este hombre es un médico vudú muy fuerte que da números que nunca pueden fallar. Después de todos mis años de trabajo y lucha para ganar la lotería, finalmente gané ($ 27,000,000) Dr. Luckson es el nombre, lucksonlugard@gmail.com o contáctelo por WhatsApp ahora +234905932 6367, esta es la única forma de ganar la lotería y la mejor manera.........,
Yep! We had that big jump after the first Frostmaiden video!! Things are slowing back down now, but it looks like we're still growing a little bit faster each month :)
Been using your channel to help me prep for my first DM session! Thanks so much for covering so many elements of the new module. I can't wait to run some half-orcs and kobolds on Sunday (We're starting in Termaline!)
This definitely was helpful for how I want to kick off my first time running this game. I plan on making Sephek a sympathetic villain. Maybe hes not in control as he likes to be but hes there...still has those powers... who knows... i think hes super interesting
Great video. I started my party with the Toil and Trouble quest in Easthaven (they began at level 2), while dropping foreshadowing about Sephek and the upcoming lottery. Next session the lottery will be held and they will hear rumors that it has been rigged and then the murder. Let the players actually see the chain of events unravel rather than be dumped in their lap as exposition.
I'm gonna expand upon the idea of *Sephek's different forms!* Instead of him having 3 forms, I'm going to have him be a returning enemy throughout the campaign. The idea here is that every time the players defeat him, he returns a while later with an even stronger form; the more often they kill him, the longer it takes for him to regenerate, and the stronger he becomes. This can be ended by killing his master Auril, or as I am running him; by killing the Demilich in Ythryn who built Sephek as an undead experiment. Perhaps he will end up being some sort of half elemental / half undead frost giant!
I think the original intent of both "Cold-Hearted Killer" and "Nature Spirits" WAS to have them be the driving force in the first arc of the campaign. Both are designed such that the players have to visit a few towns before completing each, so it seemed obvious to me that players are expected to deal with some of the individual town quests along the way to level up before potentially needing to fight Sephek, especially since it's a difficult foe for level 1 characters. Definitely like your idea of making it more of a mystery though. I'm starting this module soon and your videos are really well put together and inspirational. Thank you!
Yeah, they’re definitely written to be back ground quests during the first few levels, so I just felt like calling them starting quests was a little deceiving. Technically those two and every town quest is a starting quest! Glad you’re enjoying the series!
I have to say I'm really loving your Icewind Dale tweak suggestions. I'm completely new to D&D, but have already fallen deep down the rabbit hole. I'm hungrily learning everything I can and practising lots too, as I'm trying to start up a local D&D group and am assuming I'll need to DM it. At least to begin with anyway. Would be nice to switch to player sometimes though. I doubt I'll run this adventure for my first one, but I've read through the whole thing and am really psyched to try it out when I can.
The sephek quest for my party was actually presented as a mission given to Hlin by the council of speakers and that she was asking us to help with. We managed to get clues from various speakers about sephek’s movements simply because we introduce ourselves to them as “Hiln sent us to help her complete a favor” without ever mentioning the speakers were the ones that sent her. We never explicitly state what the favor hiln sent us to do either or the name of the one we search for. We are simply pointed a direction and read between the lines. Basically double talk. Lol. We managed to get some information without clueing in our quarry so far. The goal of our party was to pursue this mission while also completing other town missions along the way, if it was reasonable. It’s worked out so far. I think our dm is going to allow us to pursue as many of the side quest missions as we wish, especially any plot relevant ones, before moving on to another chapter. This method of how we have been going about our missions though has actually been making us rather welcomed by the speakers as we have completed all the ones we have done so far fairly efficiently and with very good results. It’s been nice. Mostly we are trying to build up capital to fund the renovation of the ramshackle and pay our kobold employees, even try to contribute more to the town we settled in (Lonelywood obviously). Our reputation as being helpful has gotten or speaker to push us certain directions though which is nice. Good on our dm for realizing it makes for a good plot hook, especially over the local tavern gossip. At least two of the characters don’t drink so it kinda makes the tavern a not so good plot hook location. I think that is why he implemented the reputation for our group. It suits the personality of our group though. None of us are evil aligned, mostly neutral actually and pretty much helpful in general. Oh and pretty sure none of us are lawful aligned either. We are a polite and sincere group though, even my drow (who is actually neutral good as I play him). Anyway, yeah, Sephek has been an interesting mission so far.
I was thinking something similar! First this would be my first campaing using a module. Im very slow reader. But watcha bunch of videos and defitnitly Cold killer wont be my first quest. I was thinking about giving clues too! And man, reading this comment have give a lot of ideas! Im still trying to figure out what would be my first quest. But no matter what I thinking let the players hears of some dead body with the ice dagger in the chest. Then know some npc (randomly I also though about a glass blower) amd after the second or third quest they hear the rummor of his dead. And then continue. Bob, thanks a lot for you videos. I begin to watch it recently, and to be honest yours are the one that had been more helpful for this campaing.
Yo soy una mujer muy pobre que no siempre ha tenido suerte a la hora de jugar a la lotería. He jugado a la lotería desde que tenía 21 años y ahora tengo 45, lo que significa que he estado jugando a la lotería durante 24 años. La mayor cantidad que he ganado en mi vida fueron 400 dólares. Pero un día mi historia pasa a la historia después de encontrar el nombre de este hombre en Internet que es el mejor cuando se trata de ganar la lotería. Este hombre es un médico vudú muy fuerte que da números que nunca pueden fallar. Después de todos mis años de trabajo y lucha para ganar la lotería, finalmente gané ($ 27,000,000) Dr. Luckson es el nombre, lucksonlugard@gmail.com o contáctelo por WhatsApp ahora +234905932 6367, esta es la única forma de ganar la lotería y la mejor manera.........,
Love this! I'll start with the campaign in a few weeks as a more or less first time dm (only did a few oneshots till now) How would you make Sephek reappear in his 2nd/3rd form after killing him? Does he start haunting the party? is he going to continue killing people to give the group a feeling of "oh, we killed the wrong dude"? thanks in advance
Currently ending a campaign of Icespire Peak and gonna transition the same characters to Icewind Dale. I written a pretty good dialog of sorts. Inviting the heroes to help aid the dale. They are lvl 7 so I gotta upscale alot for the beginning.
Coming from DM-ing Lost Mine of Phandelver, I struggled with Icewind Dale. I did come up with The Cold Hearted Killer scenario to be an arching campaign for chapter 1.But the idea of the three forms of Sephek gives me a lot of handles and sense of direction. Very clever!
I really love the idea of the spirit possessing Sephek attempting to possess a party member, but I'm not as fond of Sephek becoming an undead and going back to Auril. I'll likely use the powered up version of Sephek found elsewhere and have the nature spirit attempt to possess another party member after it's vessel becomes too weak to suit its needs (ie, Sephek is reduced to 0 and does not regen the next turn). That change should provide that continued creepy feeling!
Hi Bob, how would you recommend the second form of Sephek be encountered by the party? On the Island? In another town? I think it is cool that they will think he is dead/ defeated at first, but how best to tie him in again as an "ah ha! fooled you" moment?
If he going to be player as the arc 1 villain, I would just say in another town, but after at least one or two town quests so they almost forget about him
Depends on when they encounter him and what you are hoping for narratively. If it is after they are already lvl 3 and you want a big boss fight, second form could materialise straight away. I am inclined to do that anyway, because I would with Aurel. The third form is the one that could come later if you wanted to delay.
I would have the player hook be that the serial killer had killed a family member of every player, and they have journeyed to Icewind Dale together to hunt him down
For the Sephek encounters, would the first one occur where they find Torrga’s treasure? Or simply if they confront him? And what about the 2nd and the 3rd?
Hi! The guides are available to everyone who joins Patreon :) You can join through the link in the pinned comment or the description. Currently that's the only place the guides are available.
An old video and was looking forward to supporting you on Patreon. After signing up I found the guides have been removed. I’m out £6 for the experience of signing up. Good video, I like the creator but if I knew the guides were on DM guide I’d have purchased them there instead. Maybe a disclaimer informing people the guides are. I longer available on Patreon bob.
I do! I'll leave it here, but I prefer when people ask questions in the comments because it gives other DMs the chance to answer and spread great ideas that I wouldn't have come up with! Furthermore, all Patrons and UA-cam members get discord access where a tighter community of DMs can ask questions and talk about these modules :) Email: bobworldbuilder@gmail.com
Currently ending a campaign of Icespire Peak and gonna transition the same characters to Icewind Dale. I written a pretty good dialog of sorts. Inviting the heroes to help aid the dale. They are lvl 7 so I gotta upscale alot for the beginning.
@@BobWorldBuilder its all thanks to you Bob! You taught me so much and made me into a great DM. Your guidance is what helps inspires us newbie DMs. Il let you know more details soon! Thx for everything Bob
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I normally hate D&D tubers. They're usually pretentious, obnoxious, and less experienced than they claim to be. But this Bob World Builder guy knows his stuff. Congrats, you've earned my sub.
I appreciate that! I try to come from the angle of "we're all learning together" because there's always new ways to improve your game, and these are just my ideas!
bob really feels like a friend huh :P
I like the idea of making Sephek have three forms. Though I would change things up a bit to better reflect the frost druid spirit within:
1) The first form I would keep the same more or less.
2) The second form is where things get more primal. After the players defeat the first form, the temperature drops as the area they are in becomes iced over with the source of this cold being the frost druid spirit as it's husk has now been breached. Also, if any weapons were used to slay the first form they are now encased in ice; giving disadvantage on their next attack roll but additional bludgeoning damage if it hits.
Following the frost druids release, it no longer plays with mere daggers or swords of ice. Now it grows claws of ice that encompass Sepheks forearms. Its jaw unhinges revealing fangs of ice. This gives Sephek a bite and claw attack, Multiattack, and the cold regeneration which is now fueled by an aura generated by the frost druid. An aura that does cold damage to anything within 5 feet of it.
3) For the third form the frost druid completely sheds its humanoid husk. Tearing off chunks of frozen blueish flesh as it's bones contort in all manner of direction until becoming a skeletal snowy owlbear abomination. Under normal circumstances, they would have become a polar bear but Auril's effect on it has warped it into an owls visage.
From here you just use the stats of a skeletal owlbear with the cold regeneration/aura. Also for added primal fury, give it Reckless. And you can throw on crystalline armor for a boost to AC to either this or the second form if you think the fight could use it. Regardless, once dead the frost druid spirit lets out a final roar in defiance as its body uses a more powerful version of an ice mephits Death Burst.
...
What I like about this is that it's basically a reverse order of Auril's forms. Starting off as a protective husk, becoming an icy warrior, and then going full beast. Though I was very much inspired by a werebear, so taking a gander at its stat block could be useful.
Also, I wouldn't give the weapons to a player (unless going a cursed item route) because they are an ability. Though Auril COULD bless whoever defeats her champion with said ability, especially if they have the Midwinter Child secret. Maybe even throw in a measure of werebear lycanthropy if you're feeling frosty! But all this of course goes away if Auril is slain... or will it? 🥶
I like the idea of the spirit being shown as more corrupt and evil with each form, and definitely that death burst! Plus, any excuse to get more snowy owlbear in the game is cool with me :)
100% Sephek should be the chapter one villian that is there, but not confronted yet.
Interesting idea about multi form for Sephek. Need to ponder that one.
I started my campaign as trade caravan escort that have been away from Icewind Dale for nearly two years. This covers the ohh why things are really bad being a surprise for the players.
They just made it though tentrails which was closed off, sealing icewind dale. They then were introduced to the murder mystery story before doing Bryn Shander quest. The town sheriff has hired them to investigate the murders further.
Yeah, I think creating a weaker form of Sephek makes him more confrontable at level 1-2, and then it just seemed fun to give him three forms like Auril and stretch it out through a longer adventure!
Starting as a trade caravan also makes a nice little connection to having some knowledge about Torrga's Company!
@@BobWorldBuilder Yeah I am just controlling how long until they find him. They will need to be level 3 before they can. But I have the Pirate Cannibal secret, and going to have that player recognise him as someone that fell over aboard and must have died.
Oooohh that is good!!
Don't know if it's worldwide but here in UK the D&D Beyond website has a survey, one question asks about other D&D content you consume. I mentioned Bob, I'd suggest everyone else does too!
Thank you! I've become a big fan of their site and was recently granted a "press account" with all the materials!! It's very exciting to have access to all their well-formatted stuff, and I'm looking forward to an official sponsorship some day :)
Done!
Yo soy una mujer muy pobre que no siempre ha tenido suerte a la hora de jugar a la lotería. He jugado a la lotería desde que tenía 21 años y ahora tengo 45, lo que significa que he estado jugando a la lotería durante 24 años. La mayor cantidad que he ganado en mi vida fueron 400 dólares. Pero un día mi historia pasa a la historia después de encontrar el nombre de este hombre en Internet que es el mejor cuando se trata de ganar la lotería. Este hombre es un médico vudú muy fuerte que da números que nunca pueden fallar. Después de todos mis años de trabajo y lucha para ganar la lotería, finalmente gané ($ 27,000,000) Dr. Luckson es el nombre, lucksonlugard@gmail.com o contáctelo por WhatsApp ahora +234905932 6367, esta es la única forma de ganar la lotería y la mejor manera.........,
I had a really great first session with Cold Blooded Killer, one of the party lured Sephek away as they also have the midwinter child blessing so told him that they were also chosen by the frost maiden. They met out in the snow outside where the party jumped him.
I made him a bit more of a crazy cultist vibe, speaking about being chosen by Auril.
I love the multiple forms idea and he's now definitely making a return in the first arc!
Perfect! I really hope my PC with that secret tries something similar depending on how much they learn about him beforehand
Awesome video. Love the idea of the Cold Hearted Killer being played as a murder mystery arc for the entirety of chapter 1, nice job. I'm thinking of running Nature Spirits as the PC's first quest and along the way have them stumble upon a dead body ... with an ice dagger lodged in it. Then they can learn more from there, perhaps meeting Hlin later and getting a tip on a possible suspect. But I think what would make this more exciting is to have a few suspects, and not just Sephek.
Thanks, Nick! I love the idea of having them find a body while looking for chwingas, and I agree that more suspects will make it more interesting to seek out Sephek!
I like the idea a lot of the three forms for sepphek. Makes me a lot less worries I'll tpk the group and gives me something new to work with in the future
Thanks! Yeah, I think it's a great way to introduce some of Auril's influence and maintain the tension of this adventure!
Yo soy una mujer muy pobre que no siempre ha tenido suerte a la hora de jugar a la lotería. He jugado a la lotería desde que tenía 21 años y ahora tengo 45, lo que significa que he estado jugando a la lotería durante 24 años. La mayor cantidad que he ganado en mi vida fueron 400 dólares. Pero un día mi historia pasa a la historia después de encontrar el nombre de este hombre en Internet que es el mejor cuando se trata de ganar la lotería. Este hombre es un médico vudú muy fuerte que da números que nunca pueden fallar. Después de todos mis años de trabajo y lucha para ganar la lotería, finalmente gané ($ 27,000,000) Dr. Luckson es el nombre, lucksonlugard@gmail.com o contáctelo por WhatsApp ahora +234905932 6367, esta es la única forma de ganar la lotería y la mejor manera.........,
I love it when I choose to change the module a certain way, and then you drop a video pretty much validating exactly what i did. You know what the say about great minds!
Haha, glad it helped!
Great video, Bob! I'm eatin em up here - so glad you're doing so many on this campaign. Thanks for the shoutout for my campaign too. :)
Any time! I really appreciate your support Nate! :)
I really love this, this is the first time im going to be a DM and doing this book and i really gave me some idea's how to run this. I really like this video I'm going to watch the rest of it. So keep it up man!
That's awesome! You got this!
thanks bob
this day was already being good, and with this better
You're welcome! That's great to hear :)
Had my party start in Brynshander and read through that quest and immediately knew that it would be too hard and somewhat boring for an inquisitive party. I started off the campaign by having the lottery being the event that brought them all together with players able to hear whispers and rumours in the crowd that this was rigged and that a specific NPC was to be killed. They then had to find out who would rig the lottery and then witness the sacrifice being ceremoniously sacrificed to the frost maiden. During all of this, they started the main quest of the town. When they got back from the goblin sled with the ore I had them find out one of the shopkeepers they met had been murdered. They put two and two together and realized she'd been the one to rig the lottery.
I really like the idea of the mystery and having them chase around false leads until they meet Hlin and they can point them in the 'right' direction. I love your idea of having so they can be led astray from thinking it was Sephek and him having three forms to foreshadow the maiden. Great idea!!
That sounds great! I definitely think the conspiracy themes around the lottery should be played up and I like the way to handled it. Glad you like these ideas too!
Something that I would do with cold hearted killer after the players defeat him, I would make it so that they could wear his ring and then make then do a saving throw, save or fail, they would see a vision of the world engulfed in ice. If they fail, psychic damage.
You could also make it so they can cast the icy weapon as a bonus action or (if a spell caster) cast an ice bolt cantrip
His ring? I must have missed that, but I really like the idea of wearing a ring that allows you to produce those icy swords! :)
@@BobWorldBuilder cannonicaly speaking, he does not but I'm adding one that the players could loot after dealing with him that would set up Auril as a bigger active threat in the campain. In the book she much more of a nuisance than an ever creeping danger, by giving them the vision I plan to set it up as if she plans to freezes the whole world so dealing with her would be the best idea. BUT! I am 100% adding the 3 form ''epic monster'' element to him. I'm thinking of an ''entombed'' like form (Frostburn 3.5e) that could communicate telepathically with an echoing voice to them but obviously weaker because an actual entomb would be way way too deadly.
As a relatively new dm with icewind dale as my first official campaign, these videos are insanely helpful and amazing!
Thanks for all you do to help DMs with great ideas. A man that honesty deserves more notice
Your ideas make way more sense than what's in the book
Haha, thank you for the support!
I've been waiting for a video like this!
Awesome! Hope you find it valuable for your campaign :)
Love this.
Starting Rime of the Frost Maiden as a continuation of Dragon Heist. This will give my Level 4 group have something to do.
Thanks.
Starting the campaign at level four should work pretty well!
Hi! I would be curious which hook do you use to send your players to Icewind Dale after the Dragon Heist ? :)
same. Strange we both had the same idea
I will definetly take this into consideration. I am preping Icewind dale right now.
Great! I'm glad you like these ideas :)
Another excellent video bob, you recently gave me the jump to run my first game for my little brother. Following the dragon of ice spire peak module. It was so much fun and surprisingly he also took the route of reasoning with the manticore and hunted some deer for it as well.
Haha, that's awesome! Glad you enjoyed that series :)
Rarely I find usfule, logical ideas that can improve my games. Good work! Had the same feeling about quests but you put them into words. :)
Glad I could help! Great minds think alike :)
I'm struggling a bit with Cold Hearted Killer and this has helped loads! So many ideas to make it work
I decided to start mine searching on the outskirts of town looking for the missing glass blower. My players stumbled across the body buried in the snow with an ice dagger sticking out of his chest. I made the glassblower an old drinking buddy of the fighter.
That’s a lot better than a standard exposition-drop from a quest giver!
Yo soy una mujer muy pobre que no siempre ha tenido suerte a la hora de jugar a la lotería. He jugado a la lotería desde que tenía 21 años y ahora tengo 45, lo que significa que he estado jugando a la lotería durante 24 años. La mayor cantidad que he ganado en mi vida fueron 400 dólares. Pero un día mi historia pasa a la historia después de encontrar el nombre de este hombre en Internet que es el mejor cuando se trata de ganar la lotería. Este hombre es un médico vudú muy fuerte que da números que nunca pueden fallar. Después de todos mis años de trabajo y lucha para ganar la lotería, finalmente gané ($ 27,000,000) Dr. Luckson es el nombre, lucksonlugard@gmail.com o contáctelo por WhatsApp ahora +234905932 6367, esta es la única forma de ganar la lotería y la mejor manera.........,
Thanks for the shout out Bob ! we did our session 0 last week with my kids and dads game! your insight on story progression is so helpful, I feel very at odds with the more open feel and missing narrative detail of the actual module. your clearing it all up tho and im feeling more confident and excited to run this !
You're welcome! And that's awesome! Glad to hear you're really getting value out of these videos and sharing the experience with other families :)
Hey, caught you smiling at me, that’s the way it should be, like a leaf is to a tree… so fine.
i’m running this as my first full-fledged campaign in a few months & am absolutely having Sephek be a longer & bigger deal
Thanks, Bob. I had had the notion to bump Sephek up to a background arc for the Ten Towns portion by including him in the 'cold open' murdering someone in front of the characters. I wasn't sure how to drive it through from there, but the mystery components you levelled in this video have been helpful!
Thanks... looking forward to running this. And the chwingas!
Just picked up the main book this morning. I am glad I took some time to do some background research here on the tube otherwise I'd be going batsh*t atm! Thank you for this! All very solid tips. While I like the re-development of the serial killer questline, I feel that the focus on the end should be... "Wait... the townspeople here are doing WTFH types of sacrificing?!?" The murders would serve nicely to highlight just how far the ten-towns have fallen into despair about the never-ending winter.
Another awesome and helpful video! Thanks Bob!
My pleasure! Glad you liked it! :)
Also, in "Sea of Swords" by R. A. Salvatore, Regis is the speaker for Lonelywood.
I don't even play D&D but I'm really enjoying your content.
Awesome! Thank you :D
I was given the Icewind Dale book for Christmas, and I've been reading through a lot of it. The section on Ten-Towns alone was so entertaining because it gave me so many places with so many fun quests to take part in. I also have a regular player in games that I run who absolutely will love playing with the chwinga. I am now thinking of adding a bit from this book as a bridge between my Hoarde of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat adventures. Maybe have them dive into Rime of the Frostmaiden afterwards with the events in the bridge acting as set up for those events to come.
Hmm, I haven't read enough of Tyranny of Dragons to see how they could connect. But there's got to be a way! :)
I just had one of them roll the dice for the starting town. Got Caer-Konig and opted to forgo the murder quest(They will pick up on this later) in favor of doing the town's quest first. It worked pretty well for them. Though they cut it really really close. Almost TPK'd and had to retreat back to the town after securing the lamp instead of exploring the last two chambers. They are however a party of 4 which is like the minimum suggested players though so I'd say it was good overall.
Yeah, I haven't read each town quest yet, but they generally seem more interesting than the chwinga starter quest, and I really think the serial killer one should be turned into a longer adventure. I'm glad you're party survived! They should be alright now because level 2 is a lot easier to survive combats with than level 1 characters :) But this is horror! So future quest guides will help push the limits!
@@BobWorldBuilder I will say, the point of the 2 starting quests isn't to get the PCS to do them at level 1, but rather to visit multiple towns, getting more sidequests (and leveling up) exposing them to more content. Thats why both the starting quests ask players to visit different locations and to have random chances to find what they are looking for! So in that sense, the serial killer is intended to span multiple sessions, and culminate when the players are level 2/3 and a few towns in!
I agree, I just think calling them "starting quests" is a little counterintuitive. I would have appreciated more guidance on how to complete the quests in stages if that were the intention, so I try to provide some guidance in this video
Yo soy una mujer muy pobre que no siempre ha tenido suerte a la hora de jugar a la lotería. He jugado a la lotería desde que tenía 21 años y ahora tengo 45, lo que significa que he estado jugando a la lotería durante 24 años. La mayor cantidad que he ganado en mi vida fueron 400 dólares. Pero un día mi historia pasa a la historia después de encontrar el nombre de este hombre en Internet que es el mejor cuando se trata de ganar la lotería. Este hombre es un médico vudú muy fuerte que da números que nunca pueden fallar. Después de todos mis años de trabajo y lucha para ganar la lotería, finalmente gané ($ 27,000,000) Dr. Luckson es el nombre, lucksonlugard@gmail.com o contáctelo por WhatsApp ahora +234905932 6367, esta es la única forma de ganar la lotería y la mejor manera.........,
About to run this game for my son, and a friend. He bought me the book for fathers Day so I can run it for him. This is his first game.
Notice Boards and Halfway for better open quest
Nice! It's so cool to see this channel grow. I'll be one day it'll be 7k, then 3 or 4 days later, we're at 9.58k subs!
Yep! We had that big jump after the first Frostmaiden video!! Things are slowing back down now, but it looks like we're still growing a little bit faster each month :)
Looking at this 9 months later and you're at 33k, lol. Congrats on the the growth!
Been using your channel to help me prep for my first DM session! Thanks so much for covering so many elements of the new module. I can't wait to run some half-orcs and kobolds on Sunday (We're starting in Termaline!)
Great to hear! Definitely follow-up with your Termalaine adventure. I'd love to hear about other group's experiences before I make my video :)
Thank you for this!
This definitely was helpful for how I want to kick off my first time running this game. I plan on making Sephek a sympathetic villain. Maybe hes not in control as he likes to be but hes there...still has those powers... who knows... i think hes super interesting
Stopping by been busy 😞😴
I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment! :)
@@BobWorldBuilder Sorry #support
Great video. I started my party with the Toil and Trouble quest in Easthaven (they began at level 2), while dropping foreshadowing about Sephek and the upcoming lottery. Next session the lottery will be held and they will hear rumors that it has been rigged and then the murder. Let the players actually see the chain of events unravel rather than be dumped in their lap as exposition.
Yeah, another user commented about doing something similar. I really like this idea of the lottery scene playing out before the characters!
I'm gonna expand upon the idea of *Sephek's different forms!*
Instead of him having 3 forms, I'm going to have him be a returning enemy throughout the campaign.
The idea here is that every time the players defeat him, he returns a while later with an even stronger form; the more often they kill him, the longer it takes for him to regenerate, and the stronger he becomes.
This can be ended by killing his master Auril, or as I am running him; by killing the Demilich in Ythryn who built Sephek as an undead experiment.
Perhaps he will end up being some sort of half elemental / half undead frost giant!
I think the original intent of both "Cold-Hearted Killer" and "Nature Spirits" WAS to have them be the driving force in the first arc of the campaign. Both are designed such that the players have to visit a few towns before completing each, so it seemed obvious to me that players are expected to deal with some of the individual town quests along the way to level up before potentially needing to fight Sephek, especially since it's a difficult foe for level 1 characters.
Definitely like your idea of making it more of a mystery though. I'm starting this module soon and your videos are really well put together and inspirational. Thank you!
Yeah, they’re definitely written to be back ground quests during the first few levels, so I just felt like calling them starting quests was a little deceiving. Technically those two and every town quest is a starting quest! Glad you’re enjoying the series!
Great ideas!!! I think I’ll make Sephek the BBEG for the first arc.
I really think it's a good move since their is no other main bad guy for it! I look forward to hearing about how it goes for you and your group!
Great ideas, I'm about to run this!
Have fun!
I have to say I'm really loving your Icewind Dale tweak suggestions. I'm completely new to D&D, but have already fallen deep down the rabbit hole. I'm hungrily learning everything I can and practising lots too, as I'm trying to start up a local D&D group and am assuming I'll need to DM it. At least to begin with anyway. Would be nice to switch to player sometimes though. I doubt I'll run this adventure for my first one, but I've read through the whole thing and am really psyched to try it out when I can.
The sephek quest for my party was actually presented as a mission given to Hlin by the council of speakers and that she was asking us to help with. We managed to get clues from various speakers about sephek’s movements simply because we introduce ourselves to them as “Hiln sent us to help her complete a favor” without ever mentioning the speakers were the ones that sent her. We never explicitly state what the favor hiln sent us to do either or the name of the one we search for. We are simply pointed a direction and read between the lines. Basically double talk. Lol. We managed to get some information without clueing in our quarry so far. The goal of our party was to pursue this mission while also completing other town missions along the way, if it was reasonable. It’s worked out so far. I think our dm is going to allow us to pursue as many of the side quest missions as we wish, especially any plot relevant ones, before moving on to another chapter. This method of how we have been going about our missions though has actually been making us rather welcomed by the speakers as we have completed all the ones we have done so far fairly efficiently and with very good results. It’s been nice. Mostly we are trying to build up capital to fund the renovation of the ramshackle and pay our kobold employees, even try to contribute more to the town we settled in (Lonelywood obviously). Our reputation as being helpful has gotten or speaker to push us certain directions though which is nice. Good on our dm for realizing it makes for a good plot hook, especially over the local tavern gossip. At least two of the characters don’t drink so it kinda makes the tavern a not so good plot hook location. I think that is why he implemented the reputation for our group. It suits the personality of our group though. None of us are evil aligned, mostly neutral actually and pretty much helpful in general. Oh and pretty sure none of us are lawful aligned either. We are a polite and sincere group though, even my drow (who is actually neutral good as I play him). Anyway, yeah, Sephek has been an interesting mission so far.
I was thinking something similar! First this would be my first campaing using a module. Im very slow reader. But watcha bunch of videos and defitnitly Cold killer wont be my first quest. I was thinking about giving clues too! And man, reading this comment have give a lot of ideas! Im still trying to figure out what would be my first quest. But no matter what I thinking let the players hears of some dead body with the ice dagger in the chest. Then know some npc (randomly I also though about a glass blower) amd after the second or third quest they hear the rummor of his dead. And then continue.
Bob, thanks a lot for you videos. I begin to watch it recently, and to be honest yours are the one that had been more helpful for this campaing.
That's really awesome to hear! I'm glad you're finding the series valuable :)
Yo soy una mujer muy pobre que no siempre ha tenido suerte a la hora de jugar a la lotería. He jugado a la lotería desde que tenía 21 años y ahora tengo 45, lo que significa que he estado jugando a la lotería durante 24 años. La mayor cantidad que he ganado en mi vida fueron 400 dólares. Pero un día mi historia pasa a la historia después de encontrar el nombre de este hombre en Internet que es el mejor cuando se trata de ganar la lotería. Este hombre es un médico vudú muy fuerte que da números que nunca pueden fallar. Después de todos mis años de trabajo y lucha para ganar la lotería, finalmente gané ($ 27,000,000) Dr. Luckson es el nombre, lucksonlugard@gmail.com o contáctelo por WhatsApp ahora +234905932 6367, esta es la única forma de ganar la lotería y la mejor manera.........,
Im starting RoTFM this week here in canada and its gonna be -21F here ....kinda fitting if you ask me! Thank you for this series! its been a huge help
Haha, play your session outside for the REAL experience!
Love this!
I'll start with the campaign in a few weeks as a more or less first time dm (only did a few oneshots till now)
How would you make Sephek reappear in his 2nd/3rd form after killing him? Does he start haunting the party? is he going to continue killing people to give the group a feeling of "oh, we killed the wrong dude"?
thanks in advance
Let’s go !!!
Love the enthusiasm :D
Great info!
I like the idea of Sephek Kaltro's third form having Armor of Agathys (for all intents and purposes).
Great insight!
Thank you :)
Great ideas
Great!!!!
Glad you think so :D
Currently ending a campaign of Icespire Peak and gonna transition the same characters to Icewind Dale. I written a pretty good dialog of sorts. Inviting the heroes to help aid the dale. They are lvl 7 so I gotta upscale alot for the beginning.
Or jump into chapter two or three, still need scaling but not as much.
Got me to sub on this one. Great ideas and a wonderful fix to a sloppy 2 1st chapters.
Awesome, thank you! And thanks for subscribing!
Great vídeo!
Thanks for your support :)
Coming from DM-ing Lost Mine of Phandelver, I struggled with Icewind Dale. I did come up with The Cold Hearted Killer scenario to be an arching campaign for chapter 1.But the idea of the three forms of Sephek gives me a lot of handles and sense of direction. Very clever!
Thanks! Yeah RotF is very different from LMoP
I love these ideas! I have a quick questio , what Patreon tier do I need to get the pdfs you made for this?
I really love the idea of the spirit possessing Sephek attempting to possess a party member, but I'm not as fond of Sephek becoming an undead and going back to Auril. I'll likely use the powered up version of Sephek found elsewhere and have the nature spirit attempt to possess another party member after it's vessel becomes too weak to suit its needs (ie, Sephek is reduced to 0 and does not regen the next turn). That change should provide that continued creepy feeling!
Hi Bob, how would you recommend the second form of Sephek be encountered by the party? On the Island? In another town? I think it is cool that they will think he is dead/ defeated at first, but how best to tie him in again as an "ah ha! fooled you" moment?
If he going to be player as the arc 1 villain, I would just say in another town, but after at least one or two town quests so they almost forget about him
Depends on when they encounter him and what you are hoping for narratively.
If it is after they are already lvl 3 and you want a big boss fight, second form could materialise straight away. I am inclined to do that anyway, because I would with Aurel.
The third form is the one that could come later if you wanted to delay.
Great video! The starting quests seem to encourage the party to strike out and explore other towns. Does that seem necessary or helpful?
I would have the player hook be that the serial killer had killed a family member of every player, and they have journeyed to Icewind Dale together to hunt him down
For the Sephek encounters, would the first one occur where they find Torrga’s treasure? Or simply if they confront him? And what about the 2nd and the 3rd?
1. Anytime they confront him, 2. when they least expect it, 3. Probably as they arrive on Auril's island
Hi Bob! Is there a way to donate and have access to some of those campaign ideas/DM Guides you talked about?
Hi! The guides are available to everyone who joins Patreon :) You can join through the link in the pinned comment or the description. Currently that's the only place the guides are available.
An old video and was looking forward to supporting you on Patreon. After signing up I found the guides have been removed. I’m out £6 for the experience of signing up. Good video, I like the creator but if I knew the guides were on DM guide I’d have purchased them there instead. Maybe a disclaimer informing people the guides are. I longer available on Patreon bob.
Thank. The Gods. For you.
Do you have an email? If I have questions, would you be willing to give me some help? I won't spam, promise!!
I do! I'll leave it here, but I prefer when people ask questions in the comments because it gives other DMs the chance to answer and spread great ideas that I wouldn't have come up with! Furthermore, all Patrons and UA-cam members get discord access where a tighter community of DMs can ask questions and talk about these modules :) Email: bobworldbuilder@gmail.com
@@BobWorldBuilder Thanks so much. I will try to ask questions here where possible and I may become a Patreon to get dem sweet stat blocks for Sephek!
Awesome! Stat blocks coming this Wednesday!
Currently ending a campaign of Icespire Peak and gonna transition the same characters to Icewind Dale. I written a pretty good dialog of sorts. Inviting the heroes to help aid the dale. They are lvl 7 so I gotta upscale alot for the beginning.
Glad you're able to enjoy both of the series on my channel! :D I'd love to hear more about how you end up leveling up the quests for your party
@@BobWorldBuilder its all thanks to you Bob! You taught me so much and made me into a great DM. Your guidance is what helps inspires us newbie DMs. Il let you know more details soon! Thx for everything Bob
You're welcome! I really appreciate the kind words :)