I ran both these towns and adventures in both of my Frostmaiden campaigns. I ran them mostly as is and both parties had a blast. One made the deal with the cultists and then killed them, the other party shrugged, said "we got enough problems to deal with" and moved on. I added a secret escape route out of the Caer of Caer Dineval so that Avarice and some of the cultists could escape to torment the party later. I also added a short combat encounter to the ruined Caer of Caer Konig because the party was interested in. Both were fun towns and fun quests.
Very nice! Yes, my party also left without really dealing with the cult, and you just gave me an idea of having an “escape” tunnel that runs all the way between the two castles!
@@BobWorldBuilder Glad I could help! To follow up on on one of my party's escapades, the surviving cultists and Avarice are now holed up in Targos working with the Zhentarim. XD It bugs me that the module doesn't actually say what the cultists and Avarice are doing between the first and the last chapter!
I remember my group wasnt so keen on giving up the search in Caer-Konig when the tracks towards Kelvin's Cairn stopped. So I ran it that the duegar had actually just stopped moving, standing there invisible and hoping the party would give up and leave. In this case, they could still give up and try again in the morning as written or they could discover the invisible creature which flees back towards its allies.
Another awesome video. I ran "The unseen" last week. Since I'm playing with my kids, I made Trovus a lovable bumbler who needed the party's help to keep his job as speaker/constable and recover his stolen "Hearthstones"--little pink tourmaline marbles that give immunity from the cold weather which Trovus gave to the party as thanks. It was getting too tedious tracking exhaustion and cold for the kids. I also added Chwingas to help guide the party to the fortress (They find tracking pretty boring, but love chasing Chwingas). Dineval is next. Thanks again.
Those are awesome adjustments! Chwingas must be a great way to keep them moving haha, and I’m sure these will be useful tips for others running the game for kids!
Perfect timing. One of my groups has just made it to Caer Dineval. I am having a blast roleplaying some of the NPCs in this area (Hethyl, Kadroth, and Sooth...yes I gave Sooth a larger role). My first group is now faced with a serious moral quandary about how to proceed, and they haven't even seen everything going on yet!
Excellent! Love a good moral quandary haha, though it definitely seems like these cultists make better allies than enemies in the short term if they can help thwart the dragon!
Really helpful for us DMs running the campaign Bob. I am definitely going to use the prophecy wording you wrote, and take your advice regarding Hethyl leading with another vision concerning a PC secret. Great idea about the Candlekeep link from a book in the library too!
Totally, I think the short-cut through chapter one is just to start here. Level up quick, and get em right to Sunblight and curious about these wizards!
I played the daughter of the Speaker in Cear Dineval and the black sword actually let me and the group right in and lodged us, letting me see my father and kept him quiet that he was trapped. Cadroth told us he was leader of of the black sword and that they follow Levistis. My character worshiped Auril so she was not upset about the levistis inherently and because they were so nice (the old dwarf woman telling us about sunblight) we just left after a few days . Not realizing they were keeping my father against his will! 😂 It was at like level 5 or 6 when we ended up taking the castle
I read about the speaker relieving himself and immediately thought there is now ay I could RP that, it is funny, but glad to know I am not the only one skipping it.
I think it's good but there are many subplots that kinda muddle the story for your players and draw focus away from their characters. Also it starts getting a lot cooler once these towns are done!
@@BobWorldBuilder a lot of factions and deities added for the sake of it rather than properly linking into the adventure. Definitely think about whether the quest motivations could be transplanted to be Auril related instead of random monster of the week.
It says of Avarice: "Levistus sent a telepathic message to Avarice, urging her not to antagonize a certain party of adventurers until they've helped her reach her goal [...] If she no longer feels safe in the castle, Avarice leaves without a fight," so I'd imagine she's a non-starter.
I made them a bit more sinister. They're kidnapping 10 towners and using chardalyn amulets as mind control devices. They're trying to gain power to overcome the duergar. I'm playing with my kids, so it's easier to draw starker lines between the good guys and the bad guys and not get hung up with chardalyn mechanics. I've also added enemy agents in Bryn Shander and Targos so far.
@@CaptPoco they are to be fair cultists with the backing of levistus, and if the rime isn't stopped within a year or two there will be portals opened to stygia. But still, Asmodeus is more powerful than Levistus and thus the dueregar ultimately succeed over the cult unless the players intervene. From the epilogue Winter Everlasting
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I ran both these towns and adventures in both of my Frostmaiden campaigns. I ran them mostly as is and both parties had a blast. One made the deal with the cultists and then killed them, the other party shrugged, said "we got enough problems to deal with" and moved on. I added a secret escape route out of the Caer of Caer Dineval so that Avarice and some of the cultists could escape to torment the party later. I also added a short combat encounter to the ruined Caer of Caer Konig because the party was interested in. Both were fun towns and fun quests.
Very nice! Yes, my party also left without really dealing with the cult, and you just gave me an idea of having an “escape” tunnel that runs all the way between the two castles!
@@BobWorldBuilder Glad I could help! To follow up on on one of my party's escapades, the surviving cultists and Avarice are now holed up in Targos working with the Zhentarim. XD It bugs me that the module doesn't actually say what the cultists and Avarice are doing between the first and the last chapter!
I remember my group wasnt so keen on giving up the search in Caer-Konig when the tracks towards Kelvin's Cairn stopped. So I ran it that the duegar had actually just stopped moving, standing there invisible and hoping the party would give up and leave.
In this case, they could still give up and try again in the morning as written or they could discover the invisible creature which flees back towards its allies.
Ooh that's good!
Man you are the Bob Ross of D&D. Haha amazing videos by the way!
Lol thank you! :)
Another awesome video. I ran "The unseen" last week. Since I'm playing with my kids, I made Trovus a lovable bumbler who needed the party's help to keep his job as speaker/constable and recover his stolen "Hearthstones"--little pink tourmaline marbles that give immunity from the cold weather which Trovus gave to the party as thanks. It was getting too tedious tracking exhaustion and cold for the kids. I also added Chwingas to help guide the party to the fortress (They find tracking pretty boring, but love chasing Chwingas). Dineval is next. Thanks again.
Those are awesome adjustments! Chwingas must be a great way to keep them moving haha, and I’m sure these will be useful tips for others running the game for kids!
Perfect timing. One of my groups has just made it to Caer Dineval. I am having a blast roleplaying some of the NPCs in this area (Hethyl, Kadroth, and Sooth...yes I gave Sooth a larger role). My first group is now faced with a serious moral quandary about how to proceed, and they haven't even seen everything going on yet!
Excellent! Love a good moral quandary haha, though it definitely seems like these cultists make better allies than enemies in the short term if they can help thwart the dragon!
Really helpful for us DMs running the campaign Bob. I am definitely going to use the prophecy wording you wrote, and take your advice regarding Hethyl leading with another vision concerning a PC secret. Great idea about the Candlekeep link from a book in the library too!
Glad it was helpful! :)
Some of my favorite towns, and I love getting those Arcane Brotherhood members in early!
Totally, I think the short-cut through chapter one is just to start here. Level up quick, and get em right to Sunblight and curious about these wizards!
really enjoying all of these! Are you planning to continue these for the rest of the campaign after chapter 1?
It is my duty. Yes!
I would appreciate it.. (inscribed from Brazil, so, sorry for the english)
I played the daughter of the Speaker in Cear Dineval and the black sword actually let me and the group right in and lodged us, letting me see my father and kept him quiet that he was trapped. Cadroth told us he was leader of of the black sword and that they follow Levistis. My character worshiped Auril so she was not upset about the levistis inherently and because they were so nice (the old dwarf woman telling us about sunblight) we just left after a few days . Not realizing they were keeping my father against his will! 😂 It was at like level 5 or 6 when we ended up taking the castle
Thanks for these guides!
Your welcome! :)
Yes! Bob is BACK!🤙🏻
Haha, I swear I never left!
Always looking forward to more guides 👍🏻
Glad you like them! More to come!
I read about the speaker relieving himself and immediately thought there is now ay I could RP that, it is funny, but glad to know I am not the only one skipping it.
Yeah it was a little over the top for me haha
it was been extremely helpful! greetings from Sonora!
Awesome! Thank you!
My favorite Cities
Hope I did them justice! 😅
Love your vids! I will say though, I preferred your "Hi" to "Hey" - just imho
Hahah, yeah I've been switching up the intro alittle
What do you think of this adventure overall?
I think it's good but there are many subplots that kinda muddle the story for your players and draw focus away from their characters. Also it starts getting a lot cooler once these towns are done!
As a matter of fact, I completely shafted Holed Up for another quest about a Wendigo
@@BobWorldBuilder a lot of factions and deities added for the sake of it rather than properly linking into the adventure. Definitely think about whether the quest motivations could be transplanted to be Auril related instead of random monster of the week.
Avarice is challenge level 7. How do you stop the black swords quest becoming a TPK?
It says of Avarice: "Levistus sent a telepathic message to Avarice, urging her not to antagonize a certain party of adventurers until they've helped her reach her goal [...] If she no longer feels safe in the castle, Avarice leaves without a fight," so I'd imagine she's a non-starter.
Why the knights of the black sword dont deal with Xardorok?
They're just cultists. They're the weakest power group in Icewind Dale by far.
I made them a bit more sinister. They're kidnapping 10 towners and using chardalyn amulets as mind control devices. They're trying to gain power to overcome the duergar. I'm playing with my kids, so it's easier to draw starker lines between the good guys and the bad guys and not get hung up with chardalyn mechanics. I've also added enemy agents in Bryn Shander and Targos so far.
They can in your game! I'm hoping my players will ally with them temporarily!
@@CaptPoco they are to be fair cultists with the backing of levistus, and if the rime isn't stopped within a year or two there will be portals opened to stygia. But still, Asmodeus is more powerful than Levistus and thus the dueregar ultimately succeed over the cult unless the players intervene. From the epilogue Winter Everlasting