Taking the great advice I got from here regarding starting an online campaign, I'm about to start DMing a group of three people in RotFM! Reading over the first chapter a few times, however, I was left feeling a little dissatisfied with just dumping them in one of the Ten-Towns at random and taking it from there. Two of the players are completely new to the game, and I'd really like to avoid spending the first chapter of the campaign consumed with too much of that awkwardness where people are working out who their own characters are (and what they can do). Since none of the players know anything about Icewind Dale or Ten-Towns, I thought it would be easier for their characters to all be outsiders to this place, but it would also be nice if they all at least knew each other too.
I had the thought that it might be better to start with a 'Chapter 0', where the first session or two is a relatively simple series of encounters for their journey to Ten-Towns together. It would also be nice to level them up to 2 when they arrive at Ten-Towns, as I feel most of the chapter 1 quests are all far too deadly for three level 1 players. I really don't want to TPK a group of newbies.
What I was looking for was either really good one-shots which could be adapted for this purpose of getting them to the start of the adventure, or perhaps some suggestions to why three travelers might be venturing to such a dangerous place while this whole endless winter thing is going on. None of the Ten-Towns are anywhere near a harbour, so my idea of them being merchants that get their ship frozen into the ice shelf doesn't really work.
Adventurer’s League must have had similar desires for the current season’s narrative. Because they released Ice Road Trackers (DDAL10-00) as an introductory module. It’s set up in 4 short episodes written for characters level 1 and 2 only. The premise is getting your adventurers trekking to the 10 Towns up from the south. I’ve only played the first 2 episodes myself, but it is rather a more lighthearted feel than RotF, though the things that can be played as silly are quite present in RotF. It was written to parallel the the hardcover adventure.
As for why your characters would be going there, that’s what the Character Secrets in the book are helpful for. They can either provide a background of previous interaction with the setting or a reason that they would be fleeing the more populous south. And if nothing else, just being adventurers who seek to investigate and stop the seemingly eternal winter is on brand.
Honestly the Luskan Deliveries Icewind Mail that they posted here was a wonderful little set of encounters that hand holds and slowly brings the party up to level 3 or 4 and drops them into Ten Towns and most of Icewind dale by the end. You can even limit it by only doing 3 or 4 of the deliveries instead of all 6. Just make sure to do at least the ones that get you to icewind dale by the end.
For the Icewind Dale campaign I am going to be running, the prelude/session 0 is them acting as Caravan Guards going up to Ten Towns. They could have known each other for a while or not, but the caravan gets destroyed by something (assumed to be group of yeti but left ambiguous in case it could be used later) in a blizzard. The group know they can't return, the blizzard will have blocked the mountain pass behind them again, so they carry on to Ten Towns.
You could also run some sort of one-shot hijinks against mages in an entirely different part of the world (or even a different world??), and have it culminate in escaping (or being dumped) through a portal that lands them on the opposite side of the world in Ten Towns. If they aren't natives of the area, or even the Sword Coast region, it can help hand waive away the need to tell the characters "what they know" about things rather than just narrating present-day action. The climate/events of ROTF does a better job than most campaigns of giving this type of group, with no real character investment in the plot other than finding themselves in the middle of it, some decent rails that keep them stuck in the sandbox and not wandering away to more comfortable climates with the next caravan heading south, so just dropping a party in cold (ha!) works better than it would for something like Tyranny of Dragons, or Dragon Heist, etc.
Lost Mines of Phandelver (from the Starter Set) is a really good introductory module for new players, if you have access to it. It takes characters up to lvl 5, strictly speaking, but you can easily reduce that to lvl 4 and if necessary beef up the first RotF encounters a bit. For first timers being a little above the curve level-wise is not a bad thing, and you can have them more or less at the right level by the end of the 2nd part of Rime. Tell the players they can still create their characters as they see fit, with the caveat that they should originate from Ten Towns, and use the hook that they were hired to deliver a wagon in Phandalin to get them there - travelling back home after the events in LMoP will drop them off in Ten Towns again.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I'm using Frozen Sick as the intro by placing it in Icewind Dale, specifically in Bremen. Easy enough to change the names of people and organizations. For example, Paleblank Village becomes Bremen, Eiselcross becomes the Sea of Moving Ice, Aeor = Netheril, and the Uttolot Family = Torrga Icevein. I'm leaving the last section out from Frozen Sick and blending right into the Cold-Hearted Killer beginning quest to wrap the intro into a nice blend with RotFM.
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#OpenD&D #ORC
"...or you can find the secret tunnel that leads to the Vault of Dickish DM which is filled with 10,000,000 copper coins and a 5,000 pound solid gold statue of a middle finger that is too big to fit through the door."
Oddly enough, I started my campaign in Neverwinter. My players sailed on a ship hunting sharks into the north. Then Alice in wonderland style a tornado on the ocean swooped em into Icewind Dale.
Taking the great advice I got from here regarding starting an online campaign, I'm about to start DMing a group of three people in RotFM! Reading over the first chapter a few times, however, I was left feeling a little dissatisfied with just dumping them in one of the Ten-Towns at random and taking it from there. Two of the players are completely new to the game, and I'd really like to avoid spending the first chapter of the campaign consumed with too much of that awkwardness where people are working out who their own characters are (and what they can do). Since none of the players know anything about Icewind Dale or Ten-Towns, I thought it would be easier for their characters to all be outsiders to this place, but it would also be nice if they all at least knew each other too.
I had the thought that it might be better to start with a 'Chapter 0', where the first session or two is a relatively simple series of encounters for their journey to Ten-Towns together. It would also be nice to level them up to 2 when they arrive at Ten-Towns, as I feel most of the chapter 1 quests are all far too deadly for three level 1 players. I really don't want to TPK a group of newbies.
What I was looking for was either really good one-shots which could be adapted for this purpose of getting them to the start of the adventure, or perhaps some suggestions to why three travelers might be venturing to such a dangerous place while this whole endless winter thing is going on. None of the Ten-Towns are anywhere near a harbour, so my idea of them being merchants that get their ship frozen into the ice shelf doesn't really work.
Adventurer’s League must have had similar desires for the current season’s narrative. Because they released Ice Road Trackers (DDAL10-00) as an introductory module. It’s set up in 4 short episodes written for characters level 1 and 2 only. The premise is getting your adventurers trekking to the 10 Towns up from the south. I’ve only played the first 2 episodes myself, but it is rather a more lighthearted feel than RotF, though the things that can be played as silly are quite present in RotF. It was written to parallel the the hardcover adventure.
As for why your characters would be going there, that’s what the Character Secrets in the book are helpful for. They can either provide a background of previous interaction with the setting or a reason that they would be fleeing the more populous south. And if nothing else, just being adventurers who seek to investigate and stop the seemingly eternal winter is on brand.
Honestly the Luskan Deliveries Icewind Mail that they posted here was a wonderful little set of encounters that hand holds and slowly brings the party up to level 3 or 4 and drops them into Ten Towns and most of Icewind dale by the end. You can even limit it by only doing 3 or 4 of the deliveries instead of all 6. Just make sure to do at least the ones that get you to icewind dale by the end.
It worked for my group really well.
For the Icewind Dale campaign I am going to be running, the prelude/session 0 is them acting as Caravan Guards going up to Ten Towns. They could have known each other for a while or not, but the caravan gets destroyed by something (assumed to be group of yeti but left ambiguous in case it could be used later) in a blizzard. The group know they can't return, the blizzard will have blocked the mountain pass behind them again, so they carry on to Ten Towns.
You could also run some sort of one-shot hijinks against mages in an entirely different part of the world (or even a different world??), and have it culminate in escaping (or being dumped) through a portal that lands them on the opposite side of the world in Ten Towns. If they aren't natives of the area, or even the Sword Coast region, it can help hand waive away the need to tell the characters "what they know" about things rather than just narrating present-day action. The climate/events of ROTF does a better job than most campaigns of giving this type of group, with no real character investment in the plot other than finding themselves in the middle of it, some decent rails that keep them stuck in the sandbox and not wandering away to more comfortable climates with the next caravan heading south, so just dropping a party in cold (ha!) works better than it would for something like Tyranny of Dragons, or Dragon Heist, etc.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Lost Mines of Phandelver (from the Starter Set) is a really good introductory module for new players, if you have access to it. It takes characters up to lvl 5, strictly speaking, but you can easily reduce that to lvl 4 and if necessary beef up the first RotF encounters a bit. For first timers being a little above the curve level-wise is not a bad thing, and you can have them more or less at the right level by the end of the 2nd part of Rime. Tell the players they can still create their characters as they see fit, with the caveat that they should originate from Ten Towns, and use the hook that they were hired to deliver a wagon in Phandalin to get them there - travelling back home after the events in LMoP will drop them off in Ten Towns again.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I'm using Frozen Sick as the intro by placing it in Icewind Dale, specifically in Bremen. Easy enough to change the names of people and organizations. For example, Paleblank Village becomes Bremen, Eiselcross becomes the Sea of Moving Ice, Aeor = Netheril, and the Uttolot Family = Torrga Icevein. I'm leaving the last section out from Frozen Sick and blending right into the Cold-Hearted Killer beginning quest to wrap the intro into a nice blend with RotFM.
#OpenD&D #ORC
"...or you can find the secret tunnel that leads to the Vault of Dickish DM which is filled with 10,000,000 copper coins and a 5,000 pound solid gold statue of a middle finger that is too big to fit through the door."
Oddly enough, I started my campaign in Neverwinter. My players sailed on a ship hunting sharks into the north. Then Alice in wonderland style a tornado on the ocean swooped em into Icewind Dale.
These are all really great ideas! Now I'm tasked with narrowing it down to the one I think I'll like the most.. a good problem to have - thanks!