After months of writing, play testing, and making/commissioning artwork we have FINALLY released our most recent and most substantial Dungeons and Dragons supplement yet! We are tired but happy. Rather like new parents to a 50+ page baby. Gaze upon our newest addition! "Caul of Winter" is a new starting quest and supplement for "Rime of the Frostmaiden" featuring optional villain motivations, 31 new encounters, environment rules, and beautiful distance, story, and battle maps.
Why would one need a Frostmaiden supplement?
Auril , cruel goddess of winter, is at the heart of the Frostmaiden storyline, but the module gives the reader relatively little information about what has caused her to plunge the land into an eternal winter’s night. Why has she taken over Icewind Dale? What does she really want? Our module “Caul of Winter” , proposes several answers to these questions in the form of an all-new level one starting quest designed to take new players into Icewind Dale and get them emotionally hooked on the story. Not only that, we've offered even more goodies, including optional weather rules to make the atmosphere painted in the original text more relevant to gameplay.
What's the new starting quest?
To find what motivations lie at the cold heart of the Frostmaiden, characters find themselves leading a tiefling NPC, Faith, through the freezing North where they soon learn that Faith is answering a call from the goddess herself. Players are tasked with helping Faith reach her destination through treacherous terrain, but beyond that, find the strength inside herself to rise to the occasion. Faith's quest gets the players invested in Auril's storyline from the first moments of the game. But the module doesn't stop there. Ashton has added dozens of small encounters which can add flavor and character to the region of Ten Towns. Many of these encounters follow up on Faith's storyline and integrate it with the material in the hardcover, creating a cohesive and engaging storyline.
What solutions do you offer for Auril's backstory?
Now. Now. No Spoilers! But, we can say this. We don't just offer one possible motivation for Auril. There are three possible backstories in "Caul of Winter" for the DM to choose from. All of which are easily integrated into the plot of Rime of the Frostmaiden.
You mentioned a freebie???
Ten Towns is a sandbox with many different locations that may lead to more locations with even more story options. This is great for the players who enjoy a level of agency but, it can make DMing difficult. For the sake of ease, we created an info-graphic depicting the towns relevant locations, quests, side quests, and plot hooks. In addition, there are a danger ratings for the quests in each town. Forewarned is forearmed after all. For full resolution, download the map here.
ATTENTION! For DM use only! SPOILERS in the map below!
And don't forget to pick up a copy of "Caul of Winter" before starting your Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign, you won't regret it! Also we wanted to thank everyone who signed up for our blog newsletter updates. We are glad to make the acquaintance of fellow nerds!