Rime of the Frostmaiden: Character Secrets

I decided, after my experience with Witchlight (you can read about the Problem with Lost Things in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight here), to give out the secrets in Rime of the Frostmaiden at the start of Session 0. Some of the secrets could break a player’s build or even make the build moot (I’m looking at you Doppelganger). By giving the secret first the player could use it as a jumping-off point to create their character. I believe the secret should be central to the build and inform it instead of being tacked on at the end.

Everyone had veto power over their secret. I am not interested in forcing a player to make a character that they had no interest in running. I also had a very young and new player to D&D, so I decided that they would be the first to choose from a limited set of secrets. I did not want something either too complicated or too dark for their first real campaign. Here are the choices I made that I felt were appropriate:

• Escaped from Revel’s End (a new secret I used in place of Escaped Prisoner)

• Littlest Yeti

• Midwinter Child

• Orc Stone

• Owlbear Whisperer

• Ring Hunter

• Runaway Author

• Spy

I removed the Drizzt Fan secret from the possibilities since I’m the only one in my group who knows the character. This would be no fun to play and it really does not have a part in the campaign unless you introduce Drizzt and given my players’ knowledge would be met with deafening silence. I also did not have them roll for their secret but pick the number out of a cup, so it would be guaranteed no one would get the same one. And, if someone decided they did not like their secret and put it back then if another player rolled the same number then the secret would be known.

Secrets Connections to Quests:

• Doppelgangers could have their secret revealed in the Lonelywood quest White Moose

• Littlest Yeti could be revealed in the Targos - Mountain Climb quest

• Pirate Cannibal is linked to Dark Duchess in Chapter 2

• Reghed Heir is saved by Oyaminartok

• Reincarnation:

  • The character could have been killed by goblins from Karkolohk which would tie them to Bryn Shander - Foaming Mugs quest and the goblin fortress in Chapter 2

  • If mauled by yeti and the Littlest Yeti is part of the party then the character might have seen them

  • The character could have been killed by the white moose in Lonelywood

• Ring Hunter might find the ring in Ol’Bitey at The Northlook in Bryn Shander or anytime the characters cut open a knucklehead trout. Lonelywood, Termalaine, and Targos are all on Maer Dualdron

• Runaway Author is connected to Caer-Dineval - Black Swords quest

I was not a big fan of the illithid and their spacecraft in Id Ascendant found in Chapter 2 and linked to the character secret of Escaped Prisoner. So, I changed it. The escaped prisoner is now linked to Revel’s End.

Escaped Prisoner

I escaped from Revel’s End last year but have been unable to escape from Icewind Dale due to Auriel’s Endless Winter. My cellmate was a member of the Arcane Brotherhood, serving a life sentence, known to me only as Prisoner 237.

Some secrets have the potential to be linked to each other. Doppelganger and Reincarnate are the most intriguing to me. The Reincarnated character was killed by the Doppelganger, that would be such an interesting dynamic.

What secrets were given out in your campaign? Which ones were your favorite? Did you make any of your own? Let me know in the comments below.