Dragon Of Icespire Peak DM Guide | Icespire Hold Quest

[@BobWorldBuilder]

▶️ One-On-One D&D: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGibdHx7oNmerac 🌟 Scripts now available on Patreon! www.patreon.com/posts/37585778 Join the Pillar tier to get access and behind the scenes videos! Thank you for all your support throughout this entire series! Stay until the end to hear about what's coming next! :)

[@eros5420]

I really enjoyed this series and can't wait to see similar for other campaigns.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! I’m definitely going to keep making guides 👍🏻

[@daviddobbs6296]

This is my first campaign and also first time being a DM. Running it for my kids. If it weren’t for your series I would have no idea how to do it. SF has been very helpful, too...but I learned about him from you. Can’t thank you enough. Brought it to life for my kids and for me. Much love.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you, David! It's awesome to hear that this series has helped bring D&D to your family! I'm happy to have been a small part of it! At the end of the day it's you who spent the time to make sure the game would be fun for your kids, and that is just great! :D

[@jasoncamp9403]

I finished up DoIP last night with my daughters. I used the adolescent dragon that you suggested and it worked perfectly. The party ended up convincing the Reavers to help them with the dragon, but as soon as the dragon dropped, the Reavers turned on the party. Things were looking a little grim when suddenly the manticore from their very first encounter swept in a support and a way of saying thank you for destroying the dragon! Once the Reavers were defeated and the manticore was gone, the party looked back at the pile of snow where the dragon had been resting to discover one egg that was beginning to hatch. The wyrmling emerged, couldn't see mama, but did lock eyes with the charismatic Dragonborn party member and immediately fell in love! So, the LG Dragonborn fighter now feels 100% responsible for a CE white dragon wyrmling. Could be a very interesting next few years... Thank you so much for all your videos - it really help me as an old DM get back into the swing of things and my daughters really enjoyed the story and the adventure. :)

[@CharlieDouglas]

I'm running a combination of LMoP and DoIP, I've played lost mines as a player so I'm pretty confident running those parts, but I really like your suggestions for icespire and I'm sure I'll be taking a lot of 'inspiration' from you videos. I've put out plot hooks for the DoIP quests but so far my players have stuck to the main LMoP quest. They accepted the butterskull ranch quest so that'll probably be the first from the essentials kit I run. Looking forward to eventually putting them up against Cryovain! Thanks for all the effort you've put into these videos

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! And yeah, you can never truly know what the players are going to want to do. Butterskull ranch was easily one of my favorite quests from this module, hopefully it gets them hooked! :D

[@danbuccini5659]

I can not wait until Beyond Icespire Peak!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! I’m going to aim for same frequency of Icespire peak videos, ~every few weeks.

[@tylerking4158]

I gave my 6 players an Adult White Dragon with Max HP and modify the tail attack legendary action to make it any 1 Melle Attack and the tail attack hits all players(cause its a long tail). In the end, half the party was down with the healer druid, goliath barbarian and the wizard. The wizard with 2 HP Killed Cryovain with Lightning Bolt Kamehameha style. They will definitely not forget this campaign and hope that my homebru world of Icespire will be fun. Thanks for Bob for helping a new DM run his first Campaign

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Sounds like a blast!! 😆 Seriously, being able to get a few PCs down, but they still come out on top is the hallmark of a memorable boss battle! Well done!

[@MietoK]

Our party of 5-6 players are going to fight Cryovain soon. I am planning same. I’ll replace the Young dragon with Adult + lair actions and it is not probably sleeping. The robbers are already dead and lot of Iceblocks everywhere. If they fight on top probably few might die so hopefully they will try to lure the dragon inside to castle :D Hopefully it is going to be epic!

[@lukedixon2747]

Definitely my go to videos for running this campaign, not sure what I'm going to do when I have to think for myself 😂😂

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Haha, thank you 😊 If you start a new campaign with Icewind Dale, you won’t have to!

[@paulbigbee]

Fantastic production quality and an original niche in D&D content on KZbin. Serious kudos and eager to watch more.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Much appreciated! Special thank you for commenting on the quality, because I'm currently doing my best with pretty basic equipment. I actually just filmed next week's video with a newer camera (read: a used, but better phone), so I'm hoping it turns out better than ever! Slowly but surely the support is helping me upgrade :D

[@CardboardCleric]

Awesome summary ass always! I did end up running the quest before this video went up but also boosted the Dragon as my party has gotten pretty strong and also added some Kobolds for fun and flavor. The lack of treasure should definitely be addressed by an DM - In my case Cryovain froze a bunch of Loot in an ice block on top of the Tower. With collecting anything flammable and a couple fire bolts later my party got half of it. Looking forward to the Expansions!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! The kobolds are a great addition, and I love the frozen treasure idea! You would think this stronghold had some kind of treasury. I feel like WotC just didn't want to give out a bunch of loot all at once to low-ish level characters, but as far I'm concerned, that's what they should get for defeating a dragon!

[@zaahirkhan7795]

Thanks Bob. Your kind demeanour, dry wit and excellent suggestions have made running DoIP so much easier for me and way more interesting for my players

[@kit_katmck2995]

I’m just starting playing dungeons and dragons and I’m being the dm for Icespire Peak and this was so much help. Thank you! :)

[@BobWorldBuilder]

That’s awesome! Feel free to ask questions on the other quest videos! You’re going to do great! 👍🏻

[@BlueShuckleJuice]

My party already negotiated with the manticore to help in the fight. On some downtime one of the party members tracked him down and asked for aid. They are going to use the wand of pyrotechnics to summon him when they are ready. So I am going to for sure use the boosted stat block. Thanks for providing a wonderful guide.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I love the wand idea as a signal flare, and I'm glad you found this useful :)

[@JoeyTee420]

Watched this series the first time I ran this book, running it a second time now and rewatching this whole series :) great tips videos bob keep them coming

[@BobWorldBuilder]

That's really awesome to hear! Glad you're still finding it valuable! :)

[@JoeyTee420]

@@BobWorldBuilder the party really loved the ‘mamma Cryovain’ hook. Went another step and made the stone cold reavers zhentarim agents going after the egg, instead of just dumb mercenaries after non existent treasure. The party got some good charisma rolls and the reavers joined them in the fight, only to turn on them immediately once cryovain was slain in order to try to take the egg for themselves. The party prevailed, and now they have a white dragon egg as a reward; they are going to sell it in waterdeep to a wizard someone in the party knows from their backstory. A nice 10,000 GP reward for a campaign, and then they will have the property in leilon in storm lords wrath to sink the money into :)

[@monty-woodpeg]

I like the idea of the Adolescent White Dragon, something to fill the (relatively large) gap between adult and the young. I tend to overestimate the challenge in my experience, 4 Lv6 PCs loaded up with some nifty gear and some luck might stand a chance against it. I might have to see how they go against some enemies preceding this particular quest. I was thinking of putting some Ice Mephits up there, since they offer a few complications to the fight. - They have perfect disguise, so are unlikely to be surprised. Scattering them around the rooftop means they might start moving when the players are sneaking up focused on the dragon, and flip the encounter. I don't want it to be to much of a "gotcha" moment though, so it might be one near the entryway and some others are on the lower level, but starting the fight wakes the dragon for round 2. - They can cast Fog Cloud, which obscure visibility to allow the dragon to fly up without provoking opportunity attacks, potentially allowing it a round to regain the breath weapon (or take a victim up with it). It would be blown away after one round. Cryovain has Blindsight, so would get quite a boon for a round. - Their attacks are relatively weak, but their frost breath gets players attention with the 15' cone. Their Death Burst adds a bit of drama, and could be what wakes Cryovain after they encounter the first Ice Mephit on the roof. Unrelated, but I was thinking of giving the players an encounter with some hungry Winter Wolves on their expedition through the mountains. I recently noticed they have an intelligence of 7 and can speak Common, Giant and 'Winter Wolf'. I thought their having a Cold Breath attack could be a teaser for the fight to come against Cryovain, but now I'm really thrown by considering they're somewhat intelligent. Perhaps it could be a rehash of their first ever encounter with the emaciated Manticore at Umbrage Hill...

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Whoa I did not realize winter wolves were intelligent creatures! And I really like the inclusion of ice mephits for this. I think it makes sense to have one or two being encountered on the way to the dragon -- perhaps they just freely roam the icy terrain -- and it's always good to include some lesser foes to make the party choose between fighting the big bad and the annoying minions! I had considered some white kobolds, but mephits are much more interesting.

[@apollo6326]

Talking wolves... will definitely include those. Good idea!

[@skelator88]

Thank you BWB. This series of videos helped me run my first ever DM experience for the Essentials Kit. I totally stole the idea of the spirit of Azdraka being freed by the players so they become responsible for the adventure in Sleeping Dragons Wake. I also had an Orc that wore a white cowboy hat with the initials of BAC show up every now and again to taunt the group, he was eventually crisped up by a fireball. Thanks again BWB and some of the commenters below for all the help. My group had fun playing and I had fun running.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

That's great to hear! Glad this series and community helped you out :)

[@neopyroxxyt728]

This video (and Channel) is pure gold

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! It would mean a lot if you share the video (or my channel) with some people who like D&D! :)

[@RPGeek]

Picked up a lot of ideas from your videos, or at least inspiration. Thanks. Cryovain is male tho. Had a mate, had some eggs, eggs stolen by frost giants. Giants used them as leverage. Dragons were used for flying attacks on ships. Cryovain escaped at some point.

[@Laraaxmovies]

thank you so much for this series! Its my first full campaign dm’ing and very helpful in finding my way

[@Gojoseon]

Nice work so far! Dragon Heist would be a fun one to have a guide for! I recommend looking at the Alexandrian remix for a way to incorporate the villain lairs as well, as I find that makes Dragon Heist much more interesting (and much more of a Heist).

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Noted! Is "Alexandrian" a KZbin channel, blog, etc?

[@Gojoseon]

It’s a website! If you Google “Alexandrian Waterdeep Dragon Heist” it should come up.

[@madotom8829]

Love the idea of dragon cultists! though knowing my groups they will be slaughtered at the first sign of hostility.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! Then they better be sneaky with their signs of hostility! lol

[@vengeful_lowky653]

ya my wife an kids first reactions are to toss oil flasks with a rag in them to make a Molotov cocktail, its stupid how much damage it does for just the cost of a few silver...there straight murder hobo'in it up killed a quest giver early on. But in there are consequences for there actions for sure lol. brutally murder 3 redbrands an leave there bodies in the street...orcs invade phandalin while your not there and now the finger is pointed at them for stirring up trouble lol! but im also nice an follow the rule of cool an let my wife read/use a fireball scoll even though shes level 4 with no roll to make sure she could do it, i saw the look like screw this im nuking the boss and it was an epic moment so had to let it happen :)

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Haha, yes! Those epic moments are important, and I love their Molotov cocktail idea! PS: Richard, today's video came from your suggestion about how to keep players focused! Thank you!

[@craven1927]

I'm getting ready to prep this encounter now (even though my players are still several adventures away) and it's tricky to get this balanced right. I want the dragon encounter to be challenging and memorable for my players. On the one hand, I worry that the breath weapon and damage output of the dragon might be too much for my players, but on the other hand I worry that they'll end up doing so much damage to the dragon that it'll be over too quick. Thanks to your videos (and some others) I'm gathering a list of ideas that I may employ. I think the biggest thing is don't let your players get a surprise round in. The dragon needs to be awake and aware of them, either through a magical warding or warning rune, a minion that alerts him to their presence, or something. The other of course is to try and get the dragon off the roof and in the air. That's hard if they kill him in one or two rounds though. I've come up with an idea that might be useful, consider keeping this in your back pocket for emergencies. Give the dragon a Legendary REACTION: Disengage. You can limit it to once per day, on a player's turn the dragon can use its reaction to take the disengage action and fly away up to its fly speed. Players with good ranged attacks may still be able to finish him off, but it could give you an ace card to pull out at the right moment. I really like the adolescent dragon idea. The HP seems to be the tricky part. With the stats you provided it only has about 30 more HP as the young, but that's based on the average. If you max out the young white dragon's HP based on the dice roll provided, he maxes at 196 HP, which I think you could just round up to 200. An adult white dragon averages 200 HP but only maxes out at 288 based on the dice rolls. (Once again maybe round up to 290 there) So I'm not sure where an adolescent white dragon would max out at, maybe 240? Would that help?

[@deaconfrozt1]

Since there was no treasure hoard in this quest, I had Falcon buy the Dragon head off the party so he could add it to his trophy room. Also I had the Stone Cold Reavers fight the party when they arrive with Dobin heading the rear. You can then change the encounter by having the noise wake-up the dragon.

[@kyanchambers260]

I think it could be fun to have the manticore from umbrage hill, if previously befriended, join the party for this. It'd be fun to have the manticore offer to lure the dragon out so they can ambush it when it returns to it's lair, and then it returns with the manticores corpse. Seems more dramatic and a little tragic

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Definitely good to have a flying ally however they will be involved!

[@Laraaxmovies]

My party succeeded 2 persuasion checks with nat 20’s so it was agreed that the manticore sees them as allies in defeating the dragon

[@alazdmfirst5980]

I've really enjoyed your input about ideas to run the game. As a DM since the inception of D&D I often modify module games myself. I currently have a two player group going through DoIP and some of the modifications you suggest are very helpful. I have also listen to Sly Flourish's games and ideas. You both make good adaptations and provide similar changes. However, I'm confused by how you sometimes make suggestions to alter things to keep people from being offended but choose to not alter other things that could just as well be offensive to other people. For example, I think half-naked bird women are classic D&D monsters and many sentient creatures eat humanoids as part of the game. Just an observation not a complaint. Keep up the great work.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! That’s high praise coming from a DM of your experience! Yes, Sly Flourish is great, and he and I will hopefully collaborating on a video or two in the future. As for the sensitivity changes, I just bring up the things that stand out to me. These are just “guides” after all, and the DM will always have to use their own instincts to make the best game for their group! 👍🏻

[@michaelmccarthy789]

Thanks for the videos. They have definitely helped my first DM campaign. My party are nearing Icespire Hold now but first they have decided to migrate the townspeople of Phandalin to the newly safe Axeholme. They plan then to look for the dragon destroying weapon in the barrow but they are already quite OP. So I think eventually I want to somehow trap them in the Axeholme so that their only way out is through a secret back entrance and up the mountain straight to the dragon. I like the adolescent dragon idea and am hoping I can make this next part work well with the story. Perhaps the dragon will cause some sort of avalanche. What do people think? It all seems to be getting very Rohan to Helmsdeep but I like that!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Haha I love the Helmsdeep connection! If they’re the right level and if there’s nothing else they were really looking forward to before the fight, I think the avalanche is a cool idea. But it obviously rises the line of taking away player agency. If there were still some other way out (like they could dig themselves free, it would just take a week or so), and they know they have that option but choose the dragon anyway, then you’re in the clear!

[@michaelmccarthy789]

@@BobWorldBuilder Good point! You are right it is important that they always have a choice. If they end up getting to the barrow anyway I will just have to make the dragon encounter harder. The Adolescent Dragon sheet looks great so thanks and I noticed a few other comments about Ice Mephits which also look interesting. I am definitely excited about this next part of the campaign and looking forward to your next videos!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yeah the mephits seem like a great addition to this quest! Thank you for your support :)

[@wodash666]

First of all, great video series, i found you a week ago because i'll be running this adventure for some newbies and wanted to look for a few tips, as i mostly DM a Star Wars campaign. I wanted to share some changes i'm going to make to the storyline as, while reading, the quests for both dwarven excavation and axeholm seemed to come from nowhere, and to not play any role on the main story, so I started investigating about Talos (the god of the anchorites) and I found that one of his "servant" gods is Auriel, godess of winter, so maybe this two evil gods have some plans for the region... Sooo... I changed the icespire hold location to be an old abandoned shrine of Auriel and, as cryovein is really young, she has been speaking to him. Still have to see what influence has she had over him, but i still have time to think. Then i thought: Why would the temple be abandoned? Easy, as she is an evil godess the dwarves from Axeholm, many centuries ago went to erradicate the temple and its inhabitants. One of the younger priestesses, as she didn't want to die, abandoned the temple before the dwarves arrived and asked for amnesty on axeholm, but as they didn't trust her, they imprisoned her. Feeling betraid, she prayed again to Auriel and she used this "backdoor" to transform her into an ice maiden (look it up on 5esrd, pretty interesting stat block) and transform axeholm into an icy hell, killing everyone that didn't go to attack the temple and sealing the door. Instead of ghouls, they are frost bitten skeletons ( i found them searching on google xD ) The attackers, after returning from the battle found Axeholm sealed, with no way of opening it after trying for some months decided to settle on another place, that was later sepulted by a rockslide... the dwarven expedition. I feel this makes this locations feel more like they are part of an overall arc, not just a place to explore and kill. Also, in Axeholm there is a journal with the plan of attack and the location of the Icestire hold. What do you think? Will my players catch the overall story? P.D: Also, one other god of this small pantheon the "Gods of Fury" is Malar, god of evil lycanthropes... you know... like the wererats from the gold mine?

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Dude! This is AWESOME! The themes of dwarven history are all there, but like with many D&D modules, only more recent history of locations is written about. I think your ideas for tying together these locations with the history and the additional evil god are great! My only caution would be to be sure you can find simple ways to express this lore. Unless your players are naturally investigative and interested in pantheons, having more than one significant god involved could be an issue that prevents them from making the connections. The campaign is way more cohesive this way from the DM perspective, and it has the potential to be way more cohesive from a player perspective, but it's all about what your players are actually into! Looking forward to hearing how it goes! :)

[@skrobogiraffe]

Nice. Probably going to use this adolescent white dragon. I have seven players, and have been concerned that no lair actions would make this far too easy for such a group. Definitely not gonna let Cryovain sleep through a whole round unless some truly incredible dice rolls happen lol.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yeahhh for 7 PCs, Cryovain should be awake and ready to rock!

[@thejawgz6719]

I peppered the fortress with a few ice mephits prior to the players facing Cryovain. By the time they reached the dragon they weren't as refreshed as they would've liked to be, which helped to increase the difficulty a little bit. The book says there are 3 stirges in the fortress, but I found that lame as any party beyond 4th level can basically steamroll stirges. Plus ice mephits made more sense; my justification was that the dragon made the fortress even colder than usual, so the mephits would've been attracted to it.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

That's a great addition and execution. And I totally agree about the stirges! I like them, but they were really overused in this campaign haha

[@thejawgz6719]

@@BobWorldBuilder Agreed lol. I seriously think you make some of the best D&D content around, man (especially for newer players). As a fairly new 5e DM of about a year, other content creators have good stuff to say but tend to go overboard with extremely long videos that more often than not leave me with more questions than answers. Your content is usually bite-sized and to-the-point in comparison, with a laid back atmosphere that I really appreciate. The fact that you follow DM guide with an example of gameplay (even if edited) is just the icing on the cake.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

That means a lot to know that this type of video is resonating with you and other new DMs. I'm doing my best to make the type of videos I wish I had available when I was starting out. I agree those longer-form ones don't usually give a clear answer so I'm glad you're able to find them in some of my guides :)

[@te1381]

I'm going to use the mother dragon part. I was trying to think of a way to make it more interesting and now they may even be sympathetic toward the dragon.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yes! Giving the party a reason to pity or reason with "the bad guy" is always interesting!

[@ScottB1775]

Something that may be able to add some flavor to the campaign would be to differentiate between the orcs in the module. I noticed that some of the orcs joined the Anchorites of Talos (i.e. the ones at the Woodland Manse) and some were just on their own (i.e. Shrine of Savras and Butterskull ranch). To differentiate between these groups I had the Anchorite orcs wearing furs and forest paraphernalia while the orc that went put on their own had piecemeal armor scavenged from Icespire Hold. This way my places can track how the orcs made their way around the area.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

That's really helpful! And maybe the orcs who joined the anchorites can be turned into wereboars as well!

[@aliceking756]

Just finished this yesterday, which means I finished my first module as a DM! I had a BLAST being a DM and my players keep telling me how much they are enjoying it. I guess obsessively researching makes for a better adventure, LOL. I had PLANNED to have a wight and three specters in the area where the previous leader had killed her people and herself. The sounds of the battle would have woken the dragon. BUT my wizard used her spider familiar to spy the whole place out and as a result decided to just skip straight up to the roof! So once again my players went in a TOTALLY different direction than I had planned. I gave them the altered PC map (thank you) and one of them immediately says "what's this cave?" Which basically gave away that there was an undercroft. Then what did the other player do? Notice that there are arrow slits from the Orc War Chief's lair (area H19) looking out straight to the sleeping dragon on the roof!!! So with much planning and strategizing, use of the arrow slits, and an invisibility spell, they managed to surprise a sleeping dragon. Fight over in three rounds, and that was with the adolescent dragon, but they still had a fabulous time and were thrilled with the treasure I added (frozen into the ice on the roof of the hold.) I was also playing a fighter along with being the DM in this adventure, and happily my fighter has retired, with perhaps a chance for her to be seen again, but for now I will be quite content just to DM without having to worry about playing a character at the same time. Thank you again for all the great ideas. We will be staring Storm Lords Wrath at the first of the year and I just finished watching your DM guide. REALLY appreciate all the help!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

That's fantastic!! Yes, the players will almost always figure out ways to make things easy on themselves, but putting in the time and effort to prep is rarely a waste. I think it always improves the group's experience, and it sounds like you all had a great time. Good luck with Storm Lord's Wrath!!

[@DeCurtisProductions]

I actually had the Reavers join the party as one of the party members convinced them with a good argument and lied about there being a huge reward for killing Cryovane. I too photoshopped the map to hide the secret doors.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Ohh that is a good move! If they just want money after all, claiming there's a bounty would surely get them on the party's side. Nicely done!

[@scheele1646]

I'm definitely going to use that adolescent dragon statblock for icespire hold, I have a party of 5 and was worried about them slicing through cryovain first round of combat like you said lol

[@Scottoz_]

Just binged all these quest guides in one day, truly amazing ideas thank you! Cant wait to try these out in a merged starter set campaign. Any clearer ETA on that LMOP guides you mentioned ?

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Woo! Thank you! The Icewind Dale series will be first, and probably go until early 2021. I may sprinkle in some LMoP in the meantime, but the plan is to do that series after Icewind Dale

[@umbriferus]

I had one extra lair action (plus a added hoard) the hoard is frozen on the roof and every time the dragon uses this lair action the floor shines so brightly that you have to make a dc 12 con saving throw or be blinded for 1 minute. Rerolling on the start of the blinded creatures turn.

[@HHSDaily]

Love the guide. Will be going through the other videos again and again. Love the idea of making Mama Cryovain. Maybe that's why she tried to steal my husband's Dragonborne (what a nice playmate for my babies). I have a long way to go before I get here but cant wait to keep going at it.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! And that's perfect!! Definitely sets up a great connection between Cryovain and your Dragonborn, for better or for worse!

[@Irroxin]

I read the follow up adventures to DoIP and I gotta say, they almost sound more interesting than DoIP itself. Would love to see your perspective!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Don't tell the others, but I agree! haha I haven't read them thoroughly yet, but yeah the overall concept seems like a more cohesive story with cooler villains. Maybe that's just because they're more powerful, but I'll find out when I get to work on those guides!

[@CommanderS579]

I wish i would have seen this sooner. I went with an adult dragon because PC's are OP (Rolled Stats.) New players who treat the game like an elder-scrolls game, trying to exploit everything to be all powerful. The adult dragon was so powerful that instead of my players respecting it as a treat and a challenge. They assumed it was too above them and that they needed to grind to level 10 before facing it.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Wow haha, that just proves how unpredictable the players are! Hopefully the dragon trained a little too! In any case, that’s also why milestone leveling is sometimes better than experience points- no such thing as grinding

[@CommanderS579]

@@BobWorldBuilder Yeah, I really don't like EXP Because it tends to send the wrong message, especially when you want to enforce concepts like long rests in the middle of a dungeon aren't easy. its no longer an obstacle they have to worry about its just bonus EXP to them. I am planning on discussing swapping to Milestone mid campaign when we transition from Dragon of Ice spire peak to storm-lord's Wrath. I actually purchased your never-winter pack on DM's guild and i am planning to give them some downtime in never-winter before having them head out to the next story arc

[@HouseDM]

Hey Bob, I'm pretty sure the module mentions that Cryovain made Icespire Hold his lair so shouldnt the dragon also have the default lair actions? Loving your content, cheers!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

That's a good point. The module does not mention any lair effects though, so people running it without the Monster Manual wouldn't have those available. And off the top of my head, I'm not sure young dragons (as Cryovain is written to be) develop those lair affects

[@HouseDM]

@@BobWorldBuilder I just checked and I think your'e right. The lair actions are only available for "Legendary Dragons" whatever that means. I think it would be cool to add a few of those lair effects but lower there damage from 3d6 to 2d6 since Cryovain is a young dragon.

[@blackunoichi]

I changed the reavers for cultist interested to recruit Cryovain, as a way to introduce the tyranny of dragons They were looking for the dragon to join em or trying to locate one of the masks. Depending on the circumstances it could or could not be here

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Nice! The Reavers are a great little group to replace with a faction from another book or something related to a character backstory 👍🏻

[@naroe2001]

I had that problem one round where everyone beat cryovains initiative and they got a full round in while he slept followed by a few members getting their second hit in and that was it, especially as the thief got an assassination roll in first.

[@christopheryoung935]

I'm almost rewriting this map entirely. Which is kinda scary as a DM. First thing I'm doing is making scaling the Sword Mountains actually a little challenging. They're going to run into the manticore again and (hopefully) convince them to come along. They'll get attacked by wolves and stalked by a yeti, they'll also see some scenery, such as a frozen lake with a giant elk taking sips from a hole, the frozen remains of a frost giant (Lakkar for you lore aficionados). And finally, I'm turning Icespire Hold itself into an Orc War Camp, or at least the remains of one. Outside the fortress they'll find some general stuff, a fighting pit with two dead worgs and a betting booth with a good chunk of gold in it, a trophy tent containing, what orc trophy tents contain (curtosey of Volo's Guide), and a bunch of dead orcs, basically having their battle with Cryovain frozen in time. I'm hoping this is a lot more interesting than "okay, you know where Cryovain is, you leave, and you get there." The fortress is more or less the same thing, most of the empty rooms I've kinda rewritten to tell the story of the orcs living there (more than just "the orcs destroyed everything!). With a lot of inspiration from Volos Guide. I've also turned the Reavers into cultists of Ularan, scouting out potential hosts for Ebondeath. Dobin is out reporting to Ularan, if the party needs him to locate the fortress then he'll be making a stop in Phandalin. With this motivation they won't really want Cryovain killed just yet and will attempt to stop/stall the party from killing Cryovain. Attacking if they refuse. I also gave Brakkis a couple of Mastiff's because he's a dog lover and I love that about him. Also in room H12 I replaced the Stirges with some Ice Mephits, it just doesn't make sense to me that Stirges would be up here. Perhaps given the Orc War Camp vibe it might be better to use a starving worg or perhaps even a polar bear but, Mephits are good. Also, I've stolen the mama Cryovain idea, and taking this she's built a nest on the roof out of various debris. Scattered around the roof will be various frozen corpses that will be intended to be food for her young. And, conveniently, will make for great places for the party to find loot, one notable one being Delsendra's Axe which I'm turning into a Vicious Greataxe.

[@christopheryoung935]

I've actually lowkey ended up creating a theme, kind of, for this quest. Parenthood. For one, Mama Cryovain. For two, the Manticore, in the encounter with them, I've planned that they'll find a cave, and inside that cave will be a baby manticore that is the offspring of our main manticore, whom fled to protect it's young. For three, the yeti, if the yeti ambush goes well (for the yeti) it will drag off one of the members to a cave, where I've planned for it to have try to feed the party member to its child. Hopefully the party manages to track it down.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Wow! that's an adventure alright!! Great tie-in with Ularan too :D

[@xSunnyDazex]

So I have a group that decided to run off to Neverwinter and Luskan for some character side quests. They're coming back to fight Cryovain with potions of cold resistance, and they've just defeated the undead green dragon from the Dragon Barrow DM Guide. It was not as difficult as I hoped, and they're all level 9 now. Should I just skip the adolescent dragon and sick an adult dragon on them since they spent time away from Phandalin? Or maybe Cryovain suddenly has a mate that swoops in, adding a second young adult dragon and the dragon eggs? Our fighter just did 53 damage in one turn.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Wow, level 9! That must have been some great times in the city! I definitely think using an adult dragon would be a good move to show that Cryovain has grown more powerful in their absence, though your ideas of two young dragons would certainly be more interesting (maybe a red dragon for extra surprise!) and using the dragon eggs are a great touch. But I would only have one egg, lest your party become the parents of several dragons! Excited to hear what you come up with! :)

[@xSunnyDazex]

Bob World Builder Thanks for replying! Oooh, a red dragon would be nice since they’re not prepared for that damage type. And I agree that one egg is best. They have a gift for adopting animals and npcs. Lol.

[@stephenwells2464]

Came specifically to see your advice on this fight since it seemed a little lame as written so thanks! My party got some lucky shots and almost took out the dragon in one round when he attacked phandalin at one point so I was worried it would be a little anticlimactic. Going to adjust the stats like you suggested and add some freshly hatched wyrmlings that are maybe a little less tough than their actual stats so hopefully they don’t all go down in a surprise round! 😂

[@heyitsMattyP]

Another banger! Man, I can't stand secret doors - at least the ones that just need a perception check to find and open. They're just so uninteresting and needlessly slow the game down. I would fight a secret door. And I have.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! Haha, fighting a secret door just sounds like forcibly making a whole in a wall, but sometimes that needs to happen.

[@connortonight]

great video. do you happen to have a citation for the passive perception of sleeping dragons being -5?

[@trentbilley9185]

Hey, Bob, Any suggestions for what loot to include in the undercroft/ dragon lair? I’ve read the White Dragon entry in the MM, but I don’t know how much or what kind of loot is level appropriate.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

If it's going to be the end of your campaign, go wild! In my gameplay I said that one of the sarcophagi was basically filled with different coins and treasures, but kept it vague since we were stopping there. If you're continuing with the D&D Beyond expansion quests, I would give them some thing to detect or turn undead, or really any decent magic item would be good to throw in, but maybe have it buried under a bunch of gold or something so they don't get to use it on the dragon and make that fight and easier than it already is!

[@isaacurner7604]

In the Adolescent stat block, is it making four attacks including the tail attack, or three, with the tail replacing one of the claws? Or something else? My party is only level 5, but the paladin with the dragonslaying sword put out horrifying damage...

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Great question! Notice that all of the attacks on a stat block are usually listed under "Actions." So the dragon can take the multiattack action to do bite/claw/claw, or the bite action, or the claw action, or the tail action, or the cold breath action on their turn. Typically, a monster like that will start with a breath action on its first turn, then multiattacks on its next few turns (tail if it needs to reach someone further away) until the breath recharges

[@gariko]

I kept the stone-cold reavers as mercenaries, hired by Robin Noreth who I changed to a cleric/follower of Myrkul with plans to capture Cryovain, dead or alive. Players rode up with him, helped that they had an undead horse for him to have interest in the rider. All his plans failed as while I gave him gentle repose and revivify, after Cryovain hit 0hp and combat ended, my barbarian player with a grudge against the dragon declared his desire to chop off its head. Combat then ensued with the reavers and Dobin, before two of the reavers escaped. I hope I put into my players the hint of Myrkul followers looking for a dragon, so when it comes up later in the continuing campaign, it'll click for them.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Really well done! That's a great way to only make the reavers more interesting, but also to seed the expansion adventures. Love it! :D

[@JasonIsTheManWithThePlan]

Hey Bob, if you want someone to bounce around ideas for your voices/roleplay section I'm up for helping. I wrote down all my character voices through the campaign so I can bring it up with little trouble.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you, Jason! Do you mean you wrote out how they actually pronounce words and phrases, or other details describing their voices? In any case I'd love to see it!

[@jamesa8619]

The journey to Icespire Hold just didn't seem as difficult as it should be. I brushed over the first 15 miles of journeying from Phandalin, but for each of the 5 mile hexes in the Sword Mountains, I had them roll a Survival check on an encounter table. The encounters were as follows (numbers are Survival roll result): 0-5: Avalanche! I used the avalanche stats from Icewind Dale (Crazy encounter) 6-10: Ice Bridge which is slippery (DC 10 Dex saves or fall prone) and difficult terrain. When they are in the middle of the bridge, two Ice Trolls rush out and attack them. (Hard encounter) 11-15: A blizzard prevents them from going on (unless they make DC 10 Con rolls for every hour of travel and take disadvantage on further Survival checks). But they can duck into a cave, where there are two Yetis protecting a baby Yeti. (Medium encounter) 16-20: An overhang where icicles fall off and they have to make Dex saves to avoid damage, then fight Ice Mephits x 5 (Easy encounter) 21-25: I 'borrowed' the scene with the dwarf with blue boots and Astrix the tiefling wizard from Icewind Dale: the reward is Astrix's spellbook. But you can put any kind of reward which fits your party/campaign. (Reward)

[@TheAlexanderKnight]

Hey Bob. I’ve really enjoyed this video series and I’m looking forward to future content about the expansion packs for DoISP. I use dndbeyond for my sessions and was curious if I could recreate you “adolescent white dragon” in their homebrew section. I can add credits to you and any acceptable links.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! And yes, that would be great! Please link this video

[@TheAlexanderKnight]

@@BobWorldBuilder www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/1012594-adolescent-white-dragon

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! I added it to the video description and credited you for writing it up! :)

[@danbuccini5659]

Dwayne "The Rock-Golem" Johnson

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Haha I remember reading a Reddit post once about a party that had an earth elemental ally named Rock “The Dwayne” Johnson 😂

[@ChrisAlftine]

Thanks!

[@BerlinRams85]

cause stone cold said so