Bryn Shander & Caer Dineval Guide | Rime of the Frostmaiden DMs Guide Chapter 1

[@nathanhall2012]

Very informative. I'm using these videos as a warm up to running the campaign so thank you for the effort.

[@NoFunAllowed]

thank you. in addition to helping out others, these videos help myself haha. there is just so much to cover with this book

[@ThoseKidsAreEPIC]

Planning a 2 man adventure soon for some friends through the Dale and each one did 3 rolls on the Secrets table, bolstered by your extra 30 something ones, so that'll be exciting. One got raised by hags, awakened frog turned human, and killed someone and is wanted in a town, the other got pirate cannibal, saved by a pit fiend and must serve it, and the disappointing member of a great family one. Way were rolling it is that the first is a Hexblood that would lure townsfolk from one of the towns back to the hags lair for them and got caught and had to flee the region, and the other is a reskinned-Dhampir as a Half-Wendigo that is having his transformation delayed by Levistus who saved him as the final survivor of his shipwreck. They both fled to Luskan for their own reasons, met each other by chance, and went on to become tag team serial killers where the Hexblood lures and prepares the meals while the Wendigo does the killing and eating. They got caught and mid travel to Revels End are gonna have their prisoner caravan wiped out by an avalanche they'll barely survive, immediately breaking into a hard-core tooth and nail survival setting. I'm prob gonna have Levistus reveal himself to the Wendigo early and guide him to the cult though as a means of getting off their feet and getting some allies. Love the level of detail going into these videos and can't wait to watch the rest for more inspiration on where to go.

[@justatallguy]

About the House of the Morning Lord, I have a suggestion ( I am doing that in my own run of RoTFM. If you look at the Bryn Shander from Storm King's Thunder, there is a location on the map (B4, on the main streat leading to the central square) which is the House of the Triad. This is described as the largest place of worship in Bryn Shander, built with impressive stonework from dwarves. They worship Tyr (Justice), Torm (Courage) and Ilmater (Endurance). The temple is kept by acolytes from Neverwinter who come here, but they don't stay longer than 2 years. Essentially taking turns. I want to make one of the central tensions int he bigger towns like Bryn Shander be about religious worship. In desperate times, many people go deeper into their faiths, while others question it. Since the speaker Duvessa decided to start sacrificing humans to Auril in the past few months, the city has essentially made official that Auril is the only Goddess to be worshiped. They are shutting down places of worship for other gods, in an effort to appease Auril and keep the city protected. This obviously creates a lot of tension. People who are still faithful to the Triad or other gods don't like that they have to praise Auril, and then keep "rebelling" against the city. So they decide to close the House of Triad. This leaves the House of the Morning Lord as the only still functional place of worship in town, which isn't dedicated to Auril. I think this creates a nice tension and dark mood. Players get to see the desperation in people's eyes as the cold becomes more dire, they began sacrificing their own, and now religious freedom is dissappearing. People don't like this, but they are just afraid. There is a division in Ten Towns between those who believe the way to end this situation is to embrace Auril and praise her more as well as perform sacrifices. While others believe that Auril will never bring back the sun, and the more afraid they are the longer they will be in this. They believe other gods like the Triad can save everyone and stop Auril. They may even have rituals and gatherings in secret to praise their gods. When the adventurers arrive in the city, they witness the city guard containing the acolyte Dell-von Ludwig (LG male illuskan human priest) and then disasembling the House of the Triad. They are confiscating everything. This can set the mood, and adventurers have a chance to ask questions to Dell-von. Religious adventurers may want to get involved in this religious conflict, or not, and then it will be just background. Anyway, it's an idea. Use as you wish. Peace.

[@NoFunAllowed]

I dig it! It's a nice cold entrance to this campaign!

[@Mattinalf]

drink everytime he says "low and behold."

[@NoFunAllowed]

If we did that, we'd all be drunk and saying things like "low and behold" haha

[@notimeforwargames3048]

Currently GMing this module, and my players are likely going to be entering the Ten-Towns via Bryn Shander. I really like your idea about having the lottery play a role in their visit to really show how even a seemingly successful town is still feeling the effects of the Frostmaiden's eternal winter. I think I might have them each roll a d100 to determine if any of them or one of the NPCs that they know will be selected as tribute from the lottery. Then if they are chosen, there will be an adventure to try and deal with the consequences of that event, or even if the players are not chosen, the fact that spending a night in Bryn Shander will subject them to a ritualistic lottery might prompt them to try and explore the other towns as quickly as possible.

[@NoFunAllowed]

absolutely, the knowledge of being in a secure town but the risk of losing someone to the lottery is terrifying. this place is scary, and its not just the monsters or the cold they have to deal with, its other people too.

[@jaakkosippola7191]

Im glad that you do these video series in a way where you go through most of the stuff inside the book as it is before you go for ways to modify it. I have a dyslexia and these really help me to learn the stuff inside the books. I am really greatfull for your work

[@NoFunAllowed]

Thank you! Always happy to help!

[@O4C209]

I plan to play the Tavern owner, Roark, as someone trying to heavily hint that something is wrong. A lot of looking back and forth to see if anyone's listening but also choosing his words carefully. "You're Adventurers? You should stay the night. Unfortunately I have no rooms available. Perhaps you should check out the Caer. Sometimes people stay there. I can't say how welcoming they will be. The speaker, has been sick, no ones seen him in a long while."

[@NoFunAllowed]

awesome stuff! getting players to bumble into adventure is always great fun!

[@t0prar]

The Knuckleheadtrout was caught in Lac Dinnenshere and there are two places further up the river's flow: * Cave of the Berserkers and * Caves of Hunger Depending on your choice of river.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Hopefully your party doesn't head to the caves of hunger early haha

[@Docsun1635]

Dont forget that the dog sleds arent that fast. They can run for an hour and must rest for an hour so it cuts a trip in half from 10 to 5 hours but really takes 9 so saves 1 hour at most unless you wanna exhaust the dogs.

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha yup, thats why its good to review these things. getting around the tundra is tough work!

[@lightwulf9]

Ol' Bitey has definitely become a fan favorite in my party. During events later, Scramsax wound up dying, and they (the party) buried Ol' Bitey with him. They finish burying him and then turn around, take a single step forward, and under the ice they can faintly hear Ol' Bitey singing Taps XD

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha now thats a sendoff!

[@lightwulf9]

@@NoFunAllowed i thought you'd appreciate that. XD

[@lightwulf9]

@@NoFunAllowed Do you have a patreon and/or discord server?

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@lightwulf9 I have both! Links in the description!

[@jenettahansen4919]

I'm prepping this adventure for my group and your videos have been extremely helpful. I'm fairly new to DMing so the things you point out that I have missed have helped me so much with learning how to think about the adventure. What size was the party you ran the adventure for? Mine will probably be 6 and I'm wondering if that many will change how much I have to 'nerf' the encounters so I don't kill them all. Thanks again!

[@NoFunAllowed]

I ran for a group of 5. With 6, it could be all over. Some events could be trivial, but others could be hardcore death mode engage haha. It really comes down to the players capabilities and their decision making!

[@gameblasteralpha]

i just realized the fish song is probably talking about the caves of hunger entrance..

[@NoFunAllowed]

it probably is haha, but if your players find that out, then go up there too early, it sucks haha

[@DickVeerman123]

I explained the rivalries between caer dineneval - caer konig and easthaven like it is mentioned in the RA salvatore books. They all live on the same lake and always argue about fishing rights. Easthaven used to be a very small settlement so they split the lake in half at first. Everything north of Dinneval was for konig and everything south of it was for Dinneval. But since the eastway was realized Easthaven has grown to the 3rd biggest town in the region so Dinneval is not happy about the fishing borders anymore. For my campaign i'm going to do the bryn shander quest first since that is one of the less deadly starting quests. Hope it goes well thnx for the video keep up the good work!!

[@NoFunAllowed]

no problem. and for sure, the rivalries can be played up greatly, especially if you start to have resources become scarce in the ten towns. in the dark and the cold, maybe you cant rely on that town next over!

[@sphh69]

Nice i'm dyslexic and this helps alot with campaign prep.

[@NoFunAllowed]

thank you and no problem!

[@onat7697]

About the Fish in the inn. I think it's a nice foreshadow. Up the river flow, there is a glacier. And under all that snow, there IS something. On top of that, it was a wizard who did the enchantment. So maybe this wizard was going to travel to the glacier and left the song as a clue just in case he wouldn't make it back. And maybe, players with high arcana can sense something 'fishy' about this spell and after further investigation, they find a magical gem (or anything small) in the fish. It contains information about the wizard's whereabouts but to reveal it, they must gather the necessary resources and conduct the rituals which turns into a treasure hunt. Maybe the last piece of the puzzle is hidden in Sunblight. Just so the players don't find the hidden city too soon. It could be a fun mystery to solve for the players as they trace the footsteps of a wizard from the past. PS. I'm still watching the video. I loved the last episode. These are great for inspiration. Thanks for the great content!

[@NoFunAllowed]

thank you! and for sure the fish can take you anywhere! its a font of inspiration haha

[@williamroe9887]

Lmao Ol' Bitey is singing about Ythryn. Up the rivers flow, all water flows from the glacier in the Dale. Under all that snow, under the glacier.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Haha but if your players follow it early then they hit a dead end and that sucks

[@williamroe9887]

@@NoFunAllowed you know what, true. Watching your vids cuz I'm gonna run this game in a few months and your review of the story are so far the only ones worth listening to. Could be a good way to lead the players to the lost spire of Netheril

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@williamroe9887 haha thank you and for sure, the lost spire is a must see in chapter 2

[@toddgrx]

@14:45...I read Foaming Mugs that the ingots were on a sled being dragged by the goblins to the goblin cart being pulled by the polar bears- setting the cart ablaze shouldn’t affect the ingots. Maybe just serves as a distraction to cover Izobai’s escape

[@NoFunAllowed]

For sure, the ingots could be on the cart or being transferred, or on the goblin cart already!

[@ShroudedSciuridae]

Hruna has six bloodstones worth 50gp each, but his payment for the quest is only one bloodstone for each party member.

[@boblinhobgoblin]

As for the sacrifices, I plan on telling my players that the months when they've forgone their "concessions", Auril or an abominable creature has appeared, bringing with it a deadly blizzard that freezes children in their homes, ices over the lakes completely, and becomes so fierce and cold that travel becomes impossible and visibility next to none.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Awesome stuff!

[@swilt88]

I thought Ol' Bitey was talking about the glacier that blocks access to the hungering caves? A common theme in this module is wizards desire for uncovering Ythryn secrets

[@NoFunAllowed]

it absolutely could be! we get no info on the wizard that casted that spell, but they could have been on to something, who knows!?!

[@markj9282]

Since the wizard is a prankster, I made it guide the group out of curiosity to a small cave, that only contained a chest in the corner of the small cave. (A Mimic, so the group is so excited, and once again the trickster wizard plays them, he has also left a letter inside the mimic). If I should lead them to another joke, or just end it there haven't I figure yet.

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@markj9282 haha exactly the kind of stuff I wanna hear, awesome stuff!

[@michaelfox8297]

Closing thoughts is there's a misprint in the physical book pg 45 aswell as the roll 20 module there is no CHAPTER 8 lol. But keep up the good work thought I was seeing things.

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha we caught that. you'd think they would reread these things before sending them to the printers haha

[@mauricioquintero2420]

The fact that the human sacrifices don't do anything is kind of the point...

[@Ciofey]

The town sacrifices to Auril. Where is her church? There should be one. Given the type of sacrifice, it should be more prominent that the Amaunathor/Lathander temple. Also, the Black Iron Blades is the only smithy in all of Tentowns. Why are people dissing it? They produce the best weapons available.

[@NoFunAllowed]

People probably don't want to worship the being thats activly killing them haha. Also it's presumed that there is smith's in the other large towns, they just don't get mentioned in this book for space!

[@Ciofey]

When ppl wish that Auril not choose them for a sacrifice, are they not worshipping her? Out of fear, yes, but they are asking for her favour, no? If for space, why print the worst smithy? Maybe the situation is terrible; there is only one, shitty smithy, but everyone has to buy from them. ;)

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@Ciofey thats the great thing about these modules, you can and should make them your own!

[@blizzrd6578]

Lo and behold

[@NoFunAllowed]

if you take a shot for everytime i say that, you will end up drunk and say dumb things like "lo and behold" haha

[@blizzrd6578]

@@NoFunAllowed lol, seriously though, very informative video! Helped me a lot as a newbie DM

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@blizzrd6578 thank you so much! plenty more videos in the series!