Rime of the Frostmaiden: DMs Guide- Chapter 4 Destruction's Light

[@ThisAintAStupidName]

Regarding Vellynne and exposition: I agree it needs to be introduced much earlier for a good storyflow. However, I went a step further. I used the locations in chapter 2 to inform about Ythryn and how to get there, as well as the fact that it is sealed shut. I made it so that the caves of hunger froze over months before the eternal winter started, hinting that Auril fears what is down there. Vellynne, being a bookworm, doesn't know where this thing is. She just knows the Codicil of White lets you speak with Aurils voice. That way the players get to piece it together themselves.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Awesome stuff

[@Bysentenial]

My players went into sunblight fortress and just finished that, meanwhile their new and most certainly going to die level 4 characters in caer konig just had the black sword amulet around their necks glow and tell them 'My enemy has made his move. The doom of Ten-Towns comes. You will stand in defiance, even if it costs you your life!' which was a fun reveal to them who knew well about the cult. [yes caer konig not caer dinnertable because reasons] They evacuated the town into the duarger fort [now Black Sword Fort] and just before dragon touched town [and instant war of the worlds vaporized one of the cultists they had on the perimeter] duarger ambushed them. Tomorrow's session will be fun.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Heck yeah awesome stuff!

[@mugghunter66]

Wonderful vid man! Stocked for the Arcane BH vid. Been working on Dzaan a bit and I decided to make Krintaas (the undead bodyguard) his younger brother who had died a long time ago and the reason for the sim is to make the sim a vessel for krintaas new body one they make the sim a real person. He will of coarse cast an illusion on the sim to make it look like Krintaas before he died.

[@NoFunAllowed]

that is an awesome idea! now an undead person actually has more meaning to him, thats great!

[@mugghunter66]

@@NoFunAllowed he would feel more save sending the sim as a test rat rather than his undead brother.

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@mugghunter66 true true, but then the moral canundrum comes up if the real Dzaan is dead. so much juicy content waiting to happen!

[@TheGilray84]

This is great. I'm stealing this ;)

[@ronanmurray503]

​@@mugghunter66 This idea is so good! I'm going to steal it😎

[@NinjaBenjamin]

Glad to see I am not the only one whom had a bit of an issue as written. I am still not set on how exactly I want to run it yet except an idea I had to prevent the Chardalyn Dragon from just leaving after taking damage. My thought was to let the fight itself go more or less as written. With it taking flight after taking 30HP. However with the White Wyrm having heard the Chadalyns roar, which the White might interpet as another dragon challenging its domain, it comes crashing into the Chardalyn Dragon (Partially because of poor sight) as it wants to engage. The fall breaks one of the wings of the Charadlyn dragon so it cannot fly anymore. They wrestle, White Wyrm tries to use the breath weapon, which the Chardalyn cares nothing for because of its cold immunity, then responds in kind with its own breath weapon, which does hurt. The white Wyrm, hurt from the breath weapon, maybe some claw or bite attacks retreats to lick its wounds and consider how to deal with this new rival that seem unaffected by its breath. The Chardalyn dragon now without its ability to fly allows the PCs to continue the fight. The point here is not to steal the kill or do a huge chunk of the Chardalyns HP, but more a visual spectacle and to ground the construct. You can also have the White wyrm speak in Draconic how it wont let a perverse interpertation of dragon challenge their domain.

[@NoFunAllowed]

A godzilla battle is always awesome to see haha

[@TylerMacInnis]

Excited for that arcane brotherhood video! Got an ETA on it?

[@NoFunAllowed]

Tomorrow I believe haha

[@galactacat2652]

I know I am super late but I had the dragon leave from sunlight while they where there meaning the party will be very weak and might not be able to long rest there. I had each Arcane brotherhood member give a quest to the party in party 2 and they choose Nass so she will be there instead of Vellynne with a living version stat block. I also have some players who had to drop but I want to invite them as guests that can be in the town the party decides to defend and can be there to help

[@isphus]

Here's an idea for beating the dragon (or at least saving one town): cannons. Say the party loots the Dark Duchess. Toss in some small falconets that the players could feasibly haul away on a sled. Just selling a cannon or two to a town would allow it to deal 30 damage to the dragon, causing it to move on and spare it while also softening it up to the players. I have no idea how much i'll have to soften this thing up, so i better have like a dozen potential ideas ready lol. Now, Horn of Blasting math. Horn gives constructs disadvantage, Magic Resistance gives it advantage. +8 con on a DC15 save means it has to roll 6 or less to fail, so a 30% fail rate 10d6 means 35 damage 0.3x35+0.7x17.5 = 22.75 damage on average 147/22.75 = 6.46 So it'll take 6.5 blasts to kill it on average. Another way of seeing it is that the horn deals on average 113.75 damage to the dragon, leaving just 33.25 to be dealt by the party. You were totally right in saying how the horn is useful here. Its like a completely different fight, but then again they might need it later against a certain ice maiden...

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha absolutely an awesome idea with the cannons and for sure, the horn could be massive! feel free to add in plenty of options!

[@XxFarrinxXv2]

my characters are still in chapter 1, as of right now i think im going to let some of these towns be destroyed. maybe all of them. I think it will drive the characters out of the towns safety and into the wild. I like the idea of this being a survival game and right now the ten towns seem to be little bastions of safety.

[@NoFunAllowed]

hardcore mode engaged haha. your players will have to struggle against the elements, which can be a an awesome adversity to overcome!

[@damioncastellano5299]

Yeah that's not a bad idea! They can storm the fortress while the terror of ten towns does its work

[@XxFarrinxXv2]

@@NoFunAllowed they have been doing really well so far. I'm not pulling any pinches either. Pretty much playing it as written with some small changes. Basically just letting them explore the sandbox of icewind dale. Even more impressive is that they are a party of three dwarves brothers. A cleric, a rogue who multiclassed as ranger, and a barbarian.

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@XxFarrinxXv2 haha sounds awesome. I hope the three brothers pull through!

[@joeld2925]

How would you say PCs' exhaustion should factor into this 56-hour encounter? Normally at my table we follow the rules: if there is more than 8 hours in a day, it's a Con save against exhaustion for each additional adventuring hour. I don't know what the writers were thinking here, are the PCs expected to be able to gain the benefits of a long rest while banging around on a dogsled?

[@NoFunAllowed]

Haha either that or give up the chase for 8 whole hours! This is a tough one for sure as written, thats why I made a whole separate video on ways we can change up how this chapter goes down!

[@toddgrx]

How’d you run this chapter? I think I’ll plan to run this with the PC’s having a chance to stop the dragon, but not exactly sure how to accomplish this. I do like the idea of running parts as skill challenges: to get to Easthaven, to fight the dragon, and such

[@NoFunAllowed]

i have a whole video on the many different ways to apraoch handling the destruction, and I agree, at least giving the players a chance is one of the beter ways to go. It really comes down to theme of your game, and if you like darkness and despair, or heroics and high action!

[@jaakkosippola7191]

I have to ask. Why doesn’t the dragon fly away in bryn shander If it takes 30 damage? What i Read from the chapter is that If it gets that amount of damage in bryn it flies back to the fortress. Doesn’t that just mean there is no epic fight here? It’s a construct so it would be only as intelligent as it’s ”coding” makes it.

[@NoFunAllowed]

absolutely! as written, this thing kills everything and everyone, and makes sure not to die, which can certainly suck. thats why I made a whole other video on ways we can change things up here!

[@jaakkosippola7191]

@@NoFunAllowed it just sounded that there is a big showdown fight

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@jaakkosippola7191 as written no, but depending on the tone and feel of your campaign, you may go ahead and add it. Also there is the Earthbind spell, which could mean the dragon cant run away!

[@jaakkosippola7191]

@@NoFunAllowed did not think about that spell. I tend not to memorize more then lvl 1 spells so i can help new players

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@jaakkosippola7191 haha for sure. I forget half the spells in the book, and then I get hit with something crazy from my players haha

[@dallisjohnson662]

The map you are showing has Chapter 2 locations. I have looked for that map for a long time. Please, where can I find it?

[@NoFunAllowed]

if you have the book, its in Chapter 2 haha!

[@dallisjohnson662]

@@NoFunAllowedI do. How have I been overlooking that. Thanks...

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@dallisjohnson662 haha no problem!

[@oldomen3788]

Chardalyn hydra dragon. Give the thing like multiple breath attacks. Let's be dicks XD I think.... I may put in a recharge. First town qnd 2nd unlikely to be saved due to travel times. Then dragon travels back to solubility for repair and recharge. Allowing players to contact any allies they have until next day. Where it will proceed to attack settlement 3 and 4. Go in twos. Qnd Allow a 24 hour period to prepare for the encounter?

[@NoFunAllowed]

sounds fair and fun haha!

[@hctor6170]

Como DM, eu alterei totalmente o plot desse capítulo. Na minha campanha, os pjs tiveram que levar uma bolsa mágica cheia de suprimentos para a torre de um gnomo chamado Yaztromo, mas ele havia desaparecido com sua família. O gnomo é um artífice e estudava os cristais que só existem nas cavernas de Icewind Dale quando o inverno eterno aconteceu e ele foi sequestrado pelo Rei Xanathor para construir o dragão construto. Os cristais serviam como uma bateria para o dragão voar, se mover e disparar rajadas de dano radiante. O grupo intercepta o carregamento final de cristais que estava indo para a fortaleza, invadem ela escondidos acham os planos do dragão, salvam a família do gnomo e, com a ajuda dele, destroem o dragão. O dragão fica com pouca energia depois de destruir algumas cidades e precisa voltar para a fortaleza para recarregar. O gnomo revela um ponto fraco do dragão (estrela da morte) se esconde na fortaleza e derrota o dragão em casa. Plot Twist: o dragão estava sendo pilotado pelo Rei duergar em pessoa, que salta para fora usando sua própria armadura estilo homem de ferro usando a energia que restou dos cristais para aniquilar os aventureiros.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Buena cosa!