RPG Review: Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

Welcome to the Far North.

And thus begins our adventure. Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden is the newest 5e adventure from Wizards of the Coast. Set far to the north of the Sword Coast, the adventure will take you into biting cold adventure while you seek to end the eternal winter that Auril, the Frostmaiden herself, has placed on Ten-Towns.

Our journey begins in Ten-Towns, a collection of… ten towns, I guess you’d call them, where each town has a different adventure. You can visit Bremen where the PCs will hunt a lake monster, or Easthaven where the characters will try to rescue some fishers from a hag lair. The adventures give the PCs time to learn about the different towns, and not all ten need to be accomplished to move along with the story, so there is a lot of flexibility on the DM’s part, allowing you to pick and choose which adventures you like with ease. Don’t like a particular adventure? Eliminate it from the campaign entirely, selecting only those adventures you really enjoy.

So desperate are the villagers to end the eternal winter that they have begun making sacrifices. Some towns will leave out food overnight to appease Auril. Others will sacrifice their warmth, putting out all fires before sunset, huddling close to survive. Others have taken to human sacrifice, leaving one person tied up out in the cold overnight in hopes that the Frostmaiden will finally free them all from her icy grip. This can be played out with a lot of ominous terror as the PCs realize how far the towns have fallen in desperation.

There’s been a lot of talk about the opening quest: Cold-Hearted Killer. It’s an adventure that can be set in whatever town you want, and sees the heroes hired to kill a very deadly assassin. Yes, the CR 3 assassin is very deadly. Yes, he could kill a PC outright in a single hit, and yes he’s got 75 HP and regeneration. It could have used a little tweaking, sure. I’d halve his HP and halve his damage output, but if you want to really make him seem particularly dangerous, split his multiattack between PCs, and make him use his Misty Step ability to get away. Also, if you really play up how dangerous he is, the players may try to kill  him in his sleep, or figure out a clever way to ambush him.

Back to Ten-Towns: Each town has their friendliness, service, and comfort listed with snowflakes so you know what you’re getting into. Their heraldry and main locations are listed for a quick overview of the town, before diving into the adventure proper.

Icewind Dale is a terrifying and bitter place. The artwork throughout presents a gloomy and shockingly cold environment. The random encounters all lend themselves to some fantastic roleplaying and world building opportunities. Perhaps out in the tundra they encounter a party of Goliaths who trade rumors and info with the players before inviting them to camp with them for the night and challenge them to tests of strength. In the distance they may see a herd of reindeer, the leader of the herd with glowing blue antlers. Even if you’re not running Rime of the Frostmaiden proper, this book is still incredibly useful for the environmental challenges as well as info on Ten-Towns.

The heroes’ adventures will take them to an panopticon prison, a frozen shipwreck, a spire from a lost Netherese city, and many more. I don’t want to spoil the adventure too thoroughly, but the whole adventure is dripping with atmosphere and terror.

The art throughout is, as always, top notch. Very evocative, and helps draw you in. The new magical items are nice, though there aren’t too many to speak of. There are also three new Wizard spells, which can be tracked down for use within the adventure itself.

This adventure is a great one to run on its own, or to take elements of it to use in other adventures, such as when the characters venture into the North during Tyranny of Dragons. I definitely recommend picking it up to add to your collection, even if you’ll be using elements of it and not the main adventure.

Wizards of the Coast sent a copy of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden to Dice Monkey for review.