At its core, the Heart of Winter campaign is a storyline about battling dangerous outlaws and fearsome monsters within a rugged wilderness with only a handful of remote villages to offer shelter and security. The Heart of Winter campaign is a story about Player Characters who are dedicated to opposing threats, to the fragile hold that civilization has managed to gain within Icewind Dale while trying to uncover secrets about their past.
Central Faction: The Player Characters belong to an ancient order northman warriors known as the Wolves of Volunstag who openly hunt both monsters and men, which indirectly supports this theme. It is this faction that provides the Player Character with goals that will spawn adventures, which allow them to interact with a diverse number of NPCs of every profession and alignment.
Theme: Players can expect to frequently travel across open wilderness while attempting to use survival skills to overcome adversities such as; the dealing with the weather, braving a rugged environment, and facing many different kinds of monsters. Players will also interact with a wide variety of randomly generated and established NPCs. They will venture will be dungeons but it is not considered a focus of the campaign. While this not a campaign meant only for rangers and druids, warrior types will the best fit. However a character can be a spellcasting class and still have survival skills and find themselves a useful member of the party.
Monsters: While there are several standard monsters such as orcs and bugbears within my world, many of the standard creatures listed in the Monsters Manual have been considerable altered such as winter wolves and worgs. There are also many new monsters that are unique to my world.
Inspiration: Icewind Dale is a campaign world that draws from many sources of inspiration such as; The Witcher, Skyrim and the Forgotten Realms but yet is still its own world based on those familiar themes. However, these are merely sources of inspiration and have no narrative similarity to each other. If rampant plagiarism does not bother you and you wish to experience something completely new, then this is the campaign for you.
DM Experience: The Icewind Dale campaign has been a writing project that has taken three years to develop with unique encounter systems, hundreds of NPCs and a deep established lore. I have been writing D&D campaigns, novels and creating art since 1989 and consider helping others have a fun time within a story that I created my life long passion. I am fun loving and easy to get along with but I am very serious about my craft.
Rules: I use my own extensively developed homebrew system (largely based on elements from 3 and 5 edition) that has been professional designed and playtested. A PDF will be provided to all Players.
Campaign Length: Once it the campaign starts it could go on for years before its conclusion.
Application Perquisites
Be aware the application process will take at least a week as it takes time for the DM to help develop an extensive backstory that fits into my world. The more you invest in my world, the more I can invest in your character. The more you put in, the more you get out of it.
Group Composition: I am looking for one player or a couple (experience is not a prerequisite) who enjoy role-play, character development and epic combat that is more than just die rolls. If your interest in D&D is mainly trying out new classes, wreaking havoc and accumulating loot, I will not be the right DM for you. Only one character is allowed per player.
Roleplay: Though role-play is a strong focus of the game, characters that deal with issues with negotiation and persuasion will not be a suitable concept for this campaign. It is about enduring a harsh environment while battling monsters of course.
Alignment: My campaign does not require characters with a Good alignment. In fact the central faction would not be considered a “good” by the majority of the people within it. The most accurate way to describe them is a mixture of neutrality, honor and savagery. While a good aligned character could be a good fit within their ranks, wholly evil characters would not. Characters that wantonly kill NPCs who do not provoke them, frequently challenge or harass the other players would not only be unsuitable for the central faction but are the best kind of concept to have an application rejected.
Scheduling: Sessions will be on every Sat between 5 pm to 10 pm (US central time). Tardiness is accepted so long as it does not become habitual (3 sessions in a row). Any player that does not contact the DM in advance of an absence of a session will likely be removed from the campaign. As second offense is an automatic removal. The game can possibly continue with an absent player, if the other players consent to the DM treating the character as an NPC companion.
Races & Classes
Rules: I employ my own homebrew system that has seen extensive play testing for more than a decade. This system provides much more options in combat while also promoting roleplay to a greater degree than provided by 5th edition. While it has continued to be updated, streamlined and revised over the years, it is a complete system that will not see any major alternations aside from minor balancing issues or typos. If you are familiar with 5th ed or 3rd edition you will be able to quickly adsorb the rule changes that my system introduces.
Backstory: It is strongly suggested to not present a history or concept for your character before reading the Players Book for my world. It is a full color professionally designed PDF that will have all the information you need about my world.
Race: Those who already have a character in mind should consider that Humans, Half-Orcs or Half-Elves would be an easy fit while elves, halflings or dwarves would need a well developed backstory in order to fit into the campaign. There are no Goliath or Dragonborn within my world. Anthropomorphic creatures, monsters or custom races are not considered appropriate for Icewind Dale.
Class: Only the classes listed within the Players Handbook will be considered appropriate. Any custom classes will be under a heavy amount of scrutiny and will likely not be considered. The starting level will be 2nd.
Special Powers and Equipment: Be aware that all the characters regardless of race or class will give given a wide assortment of innate abilities, magic runestones, potions, along with masterwork weapons and gear.
Application Process
Application Submission: If you wish to submit an application or have questions, please send me a application in a PM. If accepted, will provide a link to a discord server.
Application Time: Be aware the application process will take at least a week as it takes time for the DM to help develop an extensive backstory that fits into my world. I will be investing a good amount of my free time and interest working with you and I expect the same dedication from anyone who wishes to be part of my campaign. I understand that real life does take priority and you will certainly have the room to do so. However having the free time and interest to create and develop a backstory is a perquisite for joining the Icewind Dale campaign.
Information: Once your application has been reviewed and accepted, you will be given an invite to the Farpoint Outpost Discord server and a link to a One Drive where you will be able to download the Players Book. This One Drive also contains artwork, portraits, music, new rules and maps that will provide more inspiration and information about the campaign. However you will need to create a hotmail account (if you do not already have one) in order to access this information.
Meet & Greet: The next part of the process is to have a meet and greet voice chat with the DM so that he can get better get to know you and your play style. This will include reviewing your background choices listed in the Players Book and creating a more detailed account that is built around your choices. As time permits and through additional sessions you will choose your character’s name, portrait, race, class and purchase your equipment.
Campaign Server: The final part of the process is an invitation into the campaign with a finalized character personality, history and the Icewind Dale Discord server, which has a die rolling bot and several voice channels.
Icewind Dale
Campaign Concept
At its core, the Heart of Winter campaign is a storyline about battling dangerous outlaws and fearsome monsters within a rugged wilderness with only a handful of remote villages to offer shelter and security. The Heart of Winter campaign is a story about Player Characters who are dedicated to opposing threats, to the fragile hold that civilization has managed to gain within Icewind Dale while trying to uncover secrets about their past.
Central Faction: The Player Characters belong to an ancient order northman warriors known as the Wolves of Volunstag who openly hunt both monsters and men, which indirectly supports this theme. It is this faction that provides the Player Character with goals that will spawn adventures, which allow them to interact with a diverse number of NPCs of every profession and alignment.
Theme: Players can expect to frequently travel across open wilderness while attempting to use survival skills to overcome adversities such as; the dealing with the weather, braving a rugged environment, and facing many different kinds of monsters. Players will also interact with a wide variety of randomly generated and established NPCs. They will venture will be dungeons but it is not considered a focus of the campaign. While this not a campaign meant only for rangers and druids, warrior types will the best fit. However a character can be a spellcasting class and still have survival skills and find themselves a useful member of the party.
Monsters: While there are several standard monsters such as orcs and bugbears within my world, many of the standard creatures listed in the Monsters Manual have been considerable altered such as winter wolves and worgs. There are also many new monsters that are unique to my world.
Inspiration: Icewind Dale is a campaign world that draws from many sources of inspiration such as; The Witcher, Skyrim and the Forgotten Realms but yet is still its own world based on those familiar themes. However, these are merely sources of inspiration and have no narrative similarity to each other. If rampant plagiarism does not bother you and you wish to experience something completely new, then this is the campaign for you.
DM Experience: The Icewind Dale campaign has been a writing project that has taken three years to develop with unique encounter systems, hundreds of NPCs and a deep established lore. I have been writing D&D campaigns, novels and creating art since 1989 and consider helping others have a fun time within a story that I created my life long passion. I am fun loving and easy to get along with but I am very serious about my craft.
Rules: I use my own extensively developed homebrew system (largely based on elements from 3 and 5 edition) that has been professional designed and playtested. A PDF will be provided to all Players.
Campaign Length: Once it the campaign starts it could go on for years before its conclusion.
Application Perquisites
Be aware the application process will take at least a week as it takes time for the DM to help develop an extensive backstory that fits into my world. The more you invest in my world, the more I can invest in your character. The more you put in, the more you get out of it.
Group Composition: I am looking for one player or a couple (experience is not a prerequisite) who enjoy role-play, character development and epic combat that is more than just die rolls. If your interest in D&D is mainly trying out new classes, wreaking havoc and accumulating loot, I will not be the right DM for you. Only one character is allowed per player.
Roleplay: Though role-play is a strong focus of the game, characters that deal with issues with negotiation and persuasion will not be a suitable concept for this campaign. It is about enduring a harsh environment while battling monsters of course.
Alignment: My campaign does not require characters with a Good alignment. In fact the central faction would not be considered a “good” by the majority of the people within it. The most accurate way to describe them is a mixture of neutrality, honor and savagery. While a good aligned character could be a good fit within their ranks, wholly evil characters would not. Characters that wantonly kill NPCs who do not provoke them, frequently challenge or harass the other players would not only be unsuitable for the central faction but are the best kind of concept to have an application rejected.
Scheduling: Sessions will be on every Sat between 5 pm to 10 pm (US central time). Tardiness is accepted so long as it does not become habitual (3 sessions in a row). Any player that does not contact the DM in advance of an absence of a session will likely be removed from the campaign. As second offense is an automatic removal. The game can possibly continue with an absent player, if the other players consent to the DM treating the character as an NPC companion.
Races & Classes
Rules: I employ my own homebrew system that has seen extensive play testing for more than a decade. This system provides much more options in combat while also promoting roleplay to a greater degree than provided by 5th edition. While it has continued to be updated, streamlined and revised over the years, it is a complete system that will not see any major alternations aside from minor balancing issues or typos. If you are familiar with 5th ed or 3rd edition you will be able to quickly adsorb the rule changes that my system introduces.
Backstory: It is strongly suggested to not present a history or concept for your character before reading the Players Book for my world. It is a full color professionally designed PDF that will have all the information you need about my world.
Race: Those who already have a character in mind should consider that Humans, Half-Orcs or Half-Elves would be an easy fit while elves, halflings or dwarves would need a well developed backstory in order to fit into the campaign. There are no Goliath or Dragonborn within my world. Anthropomorphic creatures, monsters or custom races are not considered appropriate for Icewind Dale.
Class: Only the classes listed within the Players Handbook will be considered appropriate. Any custom classes will be under a heavy amount of scrutiny and will likely not be considered. The starting level will be 2nd.
Special Powers and Equipment: Be aware that all the characters regardless of race or class will give given a wide assortment of innate abilities, magic runestones, potions, along with masterwork weapons and gear.
Application Process
Application Submission: If you wish to submit an application or have questions, please send me a application in a PM. If accepted, will provide a link to a discord server.
Application Time: Be aware the application process will take at least a week as it takes time for the DM to help develop an extensive backstory that fits into my world. I will be investing a good amount of my free time and interest working with you and I expect the same dedication from anyone who wishes to be part of my campaign. I understand that real life does take priority and you will certainly have the room to do so. However having the free time and interest to create and develop a backstory is a perquisite for joining the Icewind Dale campaign.