Dungeons and Dragons has a new adventure for DMs and players to try their luck with, and this one takes place in the far-flung icy realms of the Far North. The module is entitled Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, and it's a modern horror-filled treat that provides an exciting challenge for players and the characters they roll up. DMs are also getting a challenge, but the streamlined nature of the book makes it a lot easier for Dungeon Masters to do their jobs.
After all, different adventures are better for different groups of players and their character parties, as any inexperienced DM would find when trying to run a game of Dungeons and Dragons with a group they don't know and mixing up the tone, challenge level, or themes that a group is wanting. An experienced group of players with level 10 characters wouldn't love Lost Mine of Phandelver, a beginners' adventure, and a casual group of first-timers might not love the intimidating Tomb of Annihilation module. Choosing the right DnD adventure for the right party is important.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for the Icewind Dale adventure.
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden starts players off at level 1, but the freezing setting and modern horror themes in this roleplay game may not be what every player wants, especially those who got squeamish watching Alien or panicked watching The Thing. Simply put, Icewind Dale isn't everyone's cup of tea, but for players who are into that sort of scare and want a challenge, this adventure serves one. However, the way the book is designed makes the experience a lot easier for DMs, who may find themselves coasting while their players struggle to work out puzzles and fights.
Easier for DMs
The book is organized into an intro, seven content chapters, an epilogue with appendices, and maps. Every chapter begins with a helpful section called "Running this Chapter," and is accompanied by plenty of overviews and flowcharts that clarify everything from character levelling pace to implementing character secrets into the campaign for more integrated backstories.
The intro section's "Adventure Flowchart" provides a short one-sentence blurb for each chapter for quick reference, along with a recommendation for what level characters should be when taking on this particular challenge. The following chapters go even more into detail, for example, the Ten-Towns chapter tells DMs to let players level their characters up to level 2 upon finishing one quest in the chapter, level 3 after completing three quests, and level 4 after completing five quests. After that, DMs are instructed to not give any more level-up rewards even if players complete more or even all of the Ten-Towns quests. This method, used throughout the book, easily cuts back on the confusion of calculating XP level ups or the nebulous nature of milestone-based levelling.
DMs used to homebrew may find themselves initially overwhelmed by all the information and background presented to them in this module, or they may feel stifled creatively. However, once a DM spends more time with the book, it's easy to become more familiar with and immersed in the world of Icewind Dale. Good DMs utilize both careful planning and improv when they plan their sessions and run them, and having a module as well-organized as this gives the DM something to fall back on should they be presented with a character's choice that ignores their planning, or is at a loss as to what to improvise.
Harder for Players
Icewind Dale isn't harder for players to manage or understand, but it certainly presents a huge challenge to players' mettle and their ability to roleplay their characters and guide them in fights against the natural elements and horrifying monsters alike. The final enemy in the module is potentially a ferocious tarrasque with a CR of 30, and if that doesn't strike fear into even the most experienced players' hearts, nothing will.
Players will get thrown at a wide range of enemies, from the aforementioned tarrasque to a literal deity, as well as some less-frightening creatures and NPCs at lower levels in Icewind Dale's starting quests. Some of these fights can be avoided by characters making smart social or tactical decisions, so this module doesn't just reward players who can smash or curse an opponent into oblivion, but players who can talk or sneak their way out of a hairy situation.
Icewind Dale's character secrets feature provides another interesting challenge for players to test their roleplay and backstory-crafting skills against. The Escaped Prisoner secret, for example, tells the player that they were imprisoned by mind flayers in another world and brought to the Forgotten Realms in a spaceship that crashed in Icewind Dale.
Given the card-drawing randomized nature of the character secrets, some players might struggle to integrate this into a backstory, especially for people who like to create intricate, multi-page histories for their characters. DMs can allow the player to redraw if they are absolutely struggling to mesh their idea of their character with such outlandish backstories, but the book encourages players to go with the flow and seek out ways to put their characters into the world of Icewind Dale through these methods handed to them. Other secrets are less extreme or might fit more easily into a given backstory, with some handing players useful items or minor quests.
With a good Dungeon Master, players won't be confused or feel deprived of character moments and agency during the campaign. Icewind Dale makes the DM's job of keeping track of plot and NPCs easier, hopefully giving them more brainspace to check in on their players. This is even more important during a game with horror elements that may prove uncomfortable for some people.
Overall, this module has streamlined mechanics and challenging gameplay, although hopefully the challenges come from fighting in-game enemies and bad situations, and not muddling through rules or dealing with inter-party conflict. Icewind Dale is not for the faint of heart, but experienced DMs (or newer ones who can learn quickly and want a challenge) coupled with a good player group dynamic can use this module to create a truly memorable campaign for both the DM and the players.
Dungeons and Dragons: Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden is available to play now.