DM’s Tool: Rime of the Frostmaiden Player’s Guide
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This is a guide for DMs to hand out to their players before session zero for the 5e Dungeons & Dragons adventure Rime of the Frostmaiden. Feel free to copy the text below, place it in your word processor, and make changes that match the adventure you want to run. For instance, if you know which town you want to start in then add it to the Where are you from? section. You can also send the link to this article to your players if that is more convenient for you. There is a player-friendly map linked in the text below and a PDF version of the player’s guide that you can download if you like.
Rime of the Frostmaiden Player’s Guide
Session Zero
We will get together and create the characters for the campaign as a group. Come with a couple of character concepts (race, class, and background combinations) that you want to play. Together we will come up with the backstories to tie the characters together.
Character Secrets
Everyone will have a skeleton in their closet as we will be choosing secrets at random during Session Zero. We will do this first so that your character can be created with your secret in mind. Whether your secret is a boon or a bane, it will be incorporated into the story.
Icewind Dale
It has been two long cold years since Ten-Towns has seen a summer. The cold harsh winds of the north have not let up in all that time. It has become desperate with many turning to sacrifices to try and appease the goddess Auril the Frostmaiden, who has imposed this unending winter.
The cold weather is not just a backdrop to this campaign but a force that will need to be dealt with. The snow and cold will create issues like avalanches and blizzards. The extreme cold can cause exhaustion that will require characters to make DC 10 Constitution checks every hour they are exposed to it. Review exhaustion in the Player’s Handbook (on page 291) to be familiar with the effects it can have on your character.
Knucklehead trout are a cornerstone of the Icewind Dale economy. They are prized for both food and their ivory-like bones. They are hard to catch in nets and are a challenge when fishing using a line.
Where are you from?
Are you trapped in the north having arrived just before the endless winter started? Or were you born and raised in one of the towns in Icewind Dale? Take some time and review The Ten-Towns – Player’s Guide to learn more about the location. I strongly suggest tying your character to Icewind Dale to make the story more impactful.
If you are new to Ten-Towns, have you visited often or is this your first outing into the north?
The sub-zero temperatures make travel difficult in Icewind Dale. Every hour the characters are exposed to the cold of Auril’s winter they will need to make an exhaustion check unless they have immunities or cold weather gear. Characters will either have to walk, snowshoe, or use mounts. Dogsleds and axe beaks can be used to carry gear or characters across the frozen landscape.
If you are from Icewind Dale, you could be from the tiny Dougan’s Hole which only has a population of 50 people, to the relatively bustling Bryn Shander which boasts a population of 1200 people, or any of the other eight towns in between. Here is a map of the region to get the lay of the land. The campaign will start in one of the Ten-Towns of Icewind Dale.
Who Are You?
You are a group of adventures with ties to Icewind Dale, whether you grew up here or have been trapped here in Auril’s unending winter.
There are hooks provided in Rime of the Frostmaiden for the different backgrounds that are provided in the Player’s Handbook and, if you are interested, we can discuss these during session zero.
Here are some ideas for characters you can create:
You could be a Guild Artisan whose shop is no longer profitable and now you must use your other skills to keep food on the table and a fire in the hearth.
You came to Icewind Dale as a Sailor aboard a vessel that is now locked in ice in the harbor.
You grew up in the town of Bremen and have returned home having spent years as a Soldier in the king’s army. You are tired of seeing the suffering of your friends and family and want to do something about it.
You made your living as a fisherman on Lac Dinneshere and the ice has made it impossible to catch enough fish to survive.
Gear
There are additional items available to buy in Ten-Towns that are important for winter survival and travel.
Clothing, cold-weather - 10gp – 5 lb
This outfit consists of a heavy fur coat or cloak over layers of wool clothing, as well as a fur-lined hat or hood, goggles, and fur-lined leather boots and gloves.
As long as cold weather clothing remains dry, its wearer automatically succeeds on saving throws against the effects of extreme cold.
Crampons (2) – 2 gp – ¼ lb
A crampon is a metal plate with spikes that are strapped to the sole of a boot. A creature wearing crampons can't fall prone while moving across slippery ice.
Snowshoes – 2 gp – 4 lb
Snowshoes reduce the likelihood of their wearer getting stuck in the deep snow and can speed up travel
Dogsled – 20 gp
Sled Dogs – 50 gp each
An empty sled costs 20 gp, weighs 300 pounds, and has room at the back for one driver. A sled dog (use the wolf stat block in appendix A of the Monster Manual) costs 50 gp and can pull 360 pounds. Sled dogs must take a short rest after pulling a sled for 1 hour; otherwise, they gain one level of exhaustion.
Axe Beaks – 50 gp
An axe beak's splayed toes allow it to run across snow, and it can carry as much weight as a mule. A domesticated axe beak can be purchased in Ten-Towns for 50 gp. See appendix A of the Monster Manual for the axe beak's stat block.
Everyone also starts with a set of cold-weather clothing.
