I think while the party is sitting outside of Kadroth's chambers, who could see them right away but feels it is fitting to his station to actually keep them waiting, (the party) sees a side door open and Hethyl pokes her head out, "Ah, you're here.. please come in", her voice is shaky and strained with age, her words slow and indistinct. "I have something to tell you before I go".
First-Time DM here, currently running RotF and this week will be my second session. I made the choice of having my players start at Caer-Dineval which led me to believe they may be interested in the Caer after completing Nature's Spirits. I've been worrying for the last few days about how to even run this quest. But you've given me a lot more clear insight on this than anything in the book or any other person has. I really appreciate this!
Really love your comment about how the other quests don't provide enough information to get the party hooked into why they care about the 10 towns and how this quest move stomach into chapter 2 and 3 with sunlight. Really love your videos as they help me prep for our weekly game.
Thanks for this! These videos are incredibly helpful. You sum up what’s important and interesting in easy to watch, concise videos and have damn good pointers for every town and quest. My level 1 party just finished “The Unseen” in Caer Konig. Now that they are level 2, My plan is to give them Cold Hearted Killer whene they get back to town and use it to lead them around the 10 Towns (where they’ll have the option of picking up quests or not). I’m going to tell them that the serial killer is heading to Easthaven. That will take them through Caer Dineval, where we’ll see if they bite in having the Black Swords as allies or going all heroic, and then to Easthaven, where I’m hoping they’ll get that Cauldron and all the fun it brings. From there, Targos and maybe Lonelywood. Anyway, hearing your takes on the towns and the quests has been helpful in figuring out which interest me and which I think will be fun and challenging (but not a TPK) for my party. Looking forward to watching the rest of your Ten Towns videos, and hopefully the Icewind Dale quests after that. Keep up the great work!!!
I knew when this adventure came out that I wanted to make video guides on it. I decided to run it right away with as many groups as possible so I could get as much experience and feedback as possible. I'm having a blast doing it and glad it's helping DMs out there
Sam this series is amazing! I'm prepping to run this campaign for my home group and this is absolutely invaluable! Thank you and I hope you do this for more adventures in future!
I'm inclined to make Auril the leader of this cult, instead of Levistus. She is trying to stop the dwarves from using the winter she created to destroy the Ten-Towns. The reason why she created the winter was to contain a powerful entity at the Necropolis. She is basically using her own tools to try and stop the end of the world, but also to get worshipers and turn the world cold, it's a lot of grey. I think this makes Auril more important, and the party could basically ally to her instead of going against her. And if they destroy the entity in the necropolis she ends the Winter, everyone wins.
This what I'm running. Trapped in the Necropolis is a modified Oblex that (due to a rather warm summer pre-rime) was able to let loose some young oblex that have been out killing people and taking their place (very "The Thing") working like a hive mind. The Oblex is manipulating Xardorak in hopes of wiping out all worshipers of Auril so that she loses power and stops the rime so it can escape.
Hey wanted to say thanks for these detailed individual videos for RotF. I just started running it and tbh didn't love it as a DM. You've done a great job of bringing me back around to enjoying it
Great vids! Keep up the good work! I’d have to check but I think the bodies weighed down in the cistern are half frozen dead guards that were disposed of when the cultists took over the castle. I don’t think they’re frozen cultists.
I've been loving the frostmaiden videos Sam. I like that this quest relays to the party the threat of sunblight and the Duergar threat. However the book doesnt do a great job of giving the players a reason to side with an arch devil unless their evil. I'm interested to see how my players approach this one
The timeline is at minimum 2 weeks, which in Toril is 20 days. It's not stated that the cult immediately imprisoned the servants -- it's far more likely the cultists first tried to ply their way with charm and friendliness, and took a few days to do so. I went with a full month of the cultists in the Caer proper before the start of the entire campaign, plus time spent by the group since the campaign began. This module necessitates that the DM track all events in tandem because there are some things which could change based on where they go and when, and in which order they hit up the Ten Towns (or if they do them all, even).
Great video, I`m planning on joining your Discord to bounce ideas off of the group. I am running this area this weekend with a small group who have come from the north and already defeated the Outpost. I am planning to run it like a vampire-type scenario... keep Avarice well hidden until they can approach Kadroth while he`s alone. Bring her in following Kadroth`s demise as the new leader. None of the other cultists will be interested in helping Kadroth as he is severely unliked, Levistus would know this and communicate that to the remaining cultists. I`d prefer the Black Swords to remain unlikely allies going forward. I`m also planning to have Yajath, play more of a doctors role and up-play the poor health of Speaker Siever... given the current world situation, I think we may be able to avoid contact with sick individuals.
My players had already gone through Caer Dineval so they knew of the mead shortage. When they came back to investigate the behavior Cora's son, they brought two barrels of mead. Rolled a crit on persuasion so some of the patrons offered to buy the barrels -- starting a bidding war. Wizards gotta pay for their paper somehow!
As a fun sidenote. Levistus is the ruler of the fifth layer, the book incorrectly states the sixth layer. Also, the dead cultists are not encased in ice. They are just wrapped in sheets.
Thanks for the comment. 2 excellent points! At the end of the quest section, the writers even refer to "Chapter 8." Some bizarre mistakes, if you ask me.
the issue I have is how to get the party to transition to chapter 2 if they have this information i feel they might just go do the duergar quests and then sunblight
Here's how i'm running this so far: My players didn't find a way to enter the castle after the guards negatives, so i gave them a side quest, to investigate at Dinev's Rest. They found one of the black sowrds members kidnaped, after they rescued him (killing the duergar), the member of the black sword (which is Cora's Son) told them to go inside the castle. They were like "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"... So, they went to the castle, met avarices and Hethyl and they started their quest against the duergar. After they killed both of the Sunblight Brothers, They went with avarice and she gave them rings of magic (homebrewed) and also she gave them those chardalyn amulets. 3 of them accepted them, and instead of rollling the d6 at down, I'm gonna do a Nightmare-like encounter, impossible to win for the players, but levistus is going to offer some help. If the 3 players wearing the chandalyn accept, now they are under levistus control. We'll see how this goes.
I guess it's something they changed. But in the past (including the video games) it was pronounced more like "Dwair-gahr." I checked DnDBeyond though and your pronunciation is fine.
Thank you for the amazing video! What do you suggest happens with Avarice after she/the party part ways? I thought she might appear again in chapter 5, trying to find a way to get to Ythryn, which would result in a nice conflict with the party+Vellynne. Or maybe later, as an encounter when the party is travelling to the Reghed Glacier. Thoughts? :)
I would have her show up at the island of solstice looking for the codicil. She could find the party around the time they find Nass and have a big arcane brotherhood reunion
why are the cultists evil? whats there day to day job? and long term goal? what do ten towners think of the black swords? what does a level 3 party know of demons levistust and asmodeus?
I think while the party is sitting outside of Kadroth's chambers, who could see them right away but feels it is fitting to his station to actually keep them waiting, (the party) sees a side door open and Hethyl pokes her head out, "Ah, you're here.. please come in", her voice is shaky and strained with age, her words slow and indistinct. "I have something to tell you before I go".
First-Time DM here, currently running RotF and this week will be my second session. I made the choice of having my players start at Caer-Dineval which led me to believe they may be interested in the Caer after completing Nature's Spirits. I've been worrying for the last few days about how to even run this quest. But you've given me a lot more clear insight on this than anything in the book or any other person has. I really appreciate this!
Really love your comment about how the other quests don't provide enough information to get the party hooked into why they care about the 10 towns and how this quest move stomach into chapter 2 and 3 with sunlight. Really love your videos as they help me prep for our weekly game.
Thanks for this! These videos are incredibly helpful. You sum up what’s important and interesting in easy to watch, concise videos and have damn good pointers for every town and quest.
My level 1 party just finished “The Unseen” in Caer Konig. Now that they are level 2, My plan is to give them Cold Hearted Killer whene they get back to town and use it to lead them around the 10 Towns (where they’ll have the option of picking up quests or not). I’m going to tell them that the serial killer is heading to Easthaven. That will take them through Caer Dineval, where we’ll see if they bite in having the Black Swords as allies or going all heroic, and then to Easthaven, where I’m hoping they’ll get that Cauldron and all the fun it brings. From there, Targos and maybe Lonelywood.
Anyway, hearing your takes on the towns and the quests has been helpful in figuring out which interest me and which I think will be fun and challenging (but not a TPK) for my party. Looking forward to watching the rest of your Ten Towns videos, and hopefully the Icewind Dale quests after that.
Keep up the great work!!!
I knew when this adventure came out that I wanted to make video guides on it. I decided to run it right away with as many groups as possible so I could get as much experience and feedback as possible. I'm having a blast doing it and glad it's helping DMs out there
@@SteelySam I especially enjoyed your breakdown of how Kadroth would fight. Makes perfect sense.
Sam this series is amazing! I'm prepping to run this campaign for my home group and this is absolutely invaluable! Thank you and I hope you do this for more adventures in future!
I'm inclined to make Auril the leader of this cult, instead of Levistus. She is trying to stop the dwarves from using the winter she created to destroy the Ten-Towns. The reason why she created the winter was to contain a powerful entity at the Necropolis. She is basically using her own tools to try and stop the end of the world, but also to get worshipers and turn the world cold, it's a lot of grey. I think this makes Auril more important, and the party could basically ally to her instead of going against her. And if they destroy the entity in the necropolis she ends the Winter, everyone wins.
I love this idea
This what I'm running. Trapped in the Necropolis is a modified Oblex that (due to a rather warm summer pre-rime) was able to let loose some young oblex that have been out killing people and taking their place (very "The Thing") working like a hive mind. The Oblex is manipulating Xardorak in hopes of wiping out all worshipers of Auril so that she loses power and stops the rime so it can escape.
Stealing this, much thanks
Hey wanted to say thanks for these detailed individual videos for RotF. I just started running it and tbh didn't love it as a DM. You've done a great job of bringing me back around to enjoying it
Love the vids! Thanks for putting in the work for them.
thank you and I'm glad you are enjoying them
Great vids! Keep up the good work!
I’d have to check but I think the bodies weighed down in the cistern are half frozen dead guards that were disposed of when the cultists took over the castle. I don’t think they’re frozen cultists.
I'm refering to C17 but it looks like they aren't frozen just sheet wrapped. I misread it
I've been loving the frostmaiden videos Sam. I like that this quest relays to the party the threat of sunblight and the Duergar threat. However the book doesnt do a great job of giving the players a reason to side with an arch devil unless their evil. I'm interested to see how my players approach this one
The timeline is at minimum 2 weeks, which in Toril is 20 days. It's not stated that the cult immediately imprisoned the servants -- it's far more likely the cultists first tried to ply their way with charm and friendliness, and took a few days to do so. I went with a full month of the cultists in the Caer proper before the start of the entire campaign, plus time spent by the group since the campaign began. This module necessitates that the DM track all events in tandem because there are some things which could change based on where they go and when, and in which order they hit up the Ten Towns (or if they do them all, even).
Great video, I`m planning on joining your Discord to bounce ideas off of the group.
I am running this area this weekend with a small group who have come from the north and already defeated the Outpost. I am planning to run it like a vampire-type scenario... keep Avarice well hidden until they can approach Kadroth while he`s alone. Bring her in following Kadroth`s demise as the new leader. None of the other cultists will be interested in helping Kadroth as he is severely unliked, Levistus would know this and communicate that to the remaining cultists.
I`d prefer the Black Swords to remain unlikely allies going forward. I`m also planning to have Yajath, play more of a doctors role and up-play the poor health of Speaker Siever... given the current world situation, I think we may be able to avoid contact with sick individuals.
My players had already gone through Caer Dineval so they knew of the mead shortage. When they came back to investigate the behavior Cora's son, they brought two barrels of mead. Rolled a crit on persuasion so some of the patrons offered to buy the barrels -- starting a bidding war. Wizards gotta pay for their paper somehow!
Thanks man! Appreciate the info
As a fun sidenote. Levistus is the ruler of the fifth layer, the book incorrectly states the sixth layer.
Also, the dead cultists are not encased in ice. They are just wrapped in sheets.
Thanks for the comment. 2 excellent points! At the end of the quest section, the writers even refer to "Chapter 8." Some bizarre mistakes, if you ask me.
the issue I have is how to get the party to transition to chapter 2 if they have this information i feel they might just go do the duergar quests and then sunblight
One of my party members died in an avalanche on Kelvins carin, I got Levestus to offer them a spot in the cult.
Here's how i'm running this so far:
My players didn't find a way to enter the castle after the guards negatives, so i gave them a side quest, to investigate at Dinev's Rest. They found one of the black sowrds members kidnaped, after they rescued him (killing the duergar), the member of the black sword (which is Cora's Son) told them to go inside the castle. They were like "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"... So, they went to the castle, met avarices and Hethyl and they started their quest against the duergar. After they killed both of the Sunblight Brothers, They went with avarice and she gave them rings of magic (homebrewed) and also she gave them those chardalyn amulets. 3 of them accepted them, and instead of rollling the d6 at down, I'm gonna do a Nightmare-like encounter, impossible to win for the players, but levistus is going to offer some help. If the 3 players wearing the chandalyn accept, now they are under levistus control.
We'll see how this goes.
I guess it's something they changed. But in the past (including the video games) it was pronounced more like "Dwair-gahr." I checked DnDBeyond though and your pronunciation is fine.
Yep, I only just started pronouncing it this way after seeing it on dnd beyond
Thank you for the amazing video! What do you suggest happens with Avarice after she/the party part ways? I thought she might appear again in chapter 5, trying to find a way to get to Ythryn, which would result in a nice conflict with the party+Vellynne. Or maybe later, as an encounter when the party is travelling to the Reghed Glacier. Thoughts? :)
I would have her show up at the island of solstice looking for the codicil. She could find the party around the time they find Nass and have a big arcane brotherhood reunion
These are super helpful. My party just me Kadroth.
I rolled on the table for a random starting town and ended up with caer konig. This quest being their 2nd in the setting feels a bit early
why are the cultists evil? whats there day to day job? and long term goal? what do ten towners think of the black swords? what does a level 3 party know of demons levistust and asmodeus?
Y'all, don't make this the first quest the party does, it's pretty miserable at level 1.
Spoken from experience?
This seems a little too railroad-y
how so?