The Last Winter - Icewind Dale - Rime Of The Frostmaiden

Creating your character

Character creation begins with a simple question: why are you in Icewind Dale? Characters begin at Level 1 and are created collaboratively before entering the campaign. Rather than starting with race or class, I ask players to first choose one of six character motivations: The Exile, The Native, The Missionary, The Fortuitous, The Treasure Hunter, or The Called. Your motivation establishes why your character has come to—or remained in—Icewind Dale and gives me opportunities to weave their personal story into the larger campaign. Your origins, beliefs, relationships, and choices can have meaningful consequences later in the adventure. A detailed Session 0 document is provided to guide you through character creation, campaign expectations, available options, house rules, safety tools, and the setting. Custom characters use 27-point buy, begin with starting equipment rather than gold, and must be suitable for cooperative play: no Evil characters and no PvP. Multiclassing and options outside the standard framework can be discussed with me. Characters are created and maintained on D&D Beyond, and I am always happy to help with rules, concepts, Forgotten Realms lore, or the technical side of character creation. Alternatively, you may choose one of six pregenerated characters, one for each motivation. These are not generic starter characters: each has a unique background, personality, equipment, secrets, and personal story specifically written for this campaign. Their histories are deliberately connected to people, places, and events you may encounter, and choosing one does not mean sacrificing character agency—you will decide who that character becomes. Their confidential backgrounds and full character sheets are revealed only after you make your choice. Whether you build your own character or adopt a pregen, the goal is the same: create someone you are excited to portray over a long campaign and who has a genuine reason to care about what happens in Icewind Dale. Beginners are absolutely welcome; enthusiasm, curiosity, and commitment matter far more to me than rules mastery.

Preparing for the session

Getting ready is simple, and I'll guide you through everything you need. 1. Join our Discord server. Discord is the heart of the campaign. Because this is a Play-by-Post game, all roleplay, OOC discussion, announcements, and most day-to-day interaction will take place there. You'll need a free Discord account and reasonably regular access to it. 2. Create a free D&D Beyond account. Your character sheet will be hosted on D&D Beyond, with Avrae handling dice rolls and combat directly through Discord. Maps and battlemaps will be shared through Owlbear Rodeo, a lightweight virtual tabletop used whenever exploration or tactical positioning benefits from a visual map. No paid subscription is required from players. 3. Read the Session 0 document. Before creating or choosing your character, please read the campaign guide. It covers Icewind Dale, campaign themes, Play-by-Post expectations, character motivations, house rules, available pregenerated characters, and our social contract. Don't worry about memorizing it—it's there as a reference throughout the campaign. 4. Complete the RPG Consent Checklist. Every player will privately complete Monte Cook's RPG Consent Checklist before play begins. Your answers are confidential and help me establish boundaries so that Icewind Dale can remain dark, dangerous and dramatic without making the game uncomfortable for its players. 5. Create—or choose—your character. You can build your own Level 1 character with my help or choose one of six campaign-specific pregenerated characters. We'll work together to make sure your character belongs in Icewind Dale and has meaningful reasons to engage with the story. That's it. You don't need previous experience with D&D, Avrae, Roll20, or Play-by-Post. I'll help you learn the tools and rules as we play. There is also no need to read Rime of the Frostmaiden beforehand—in fact, please don't! Discovering the Dale and its secrets is a major part of the experience. What I do ask for is enthusiasm, communication, and regular participation. Rules can be learned; commitment to the shared story matters much more.

What Meneur2Jeu (Remy) brings to the table

A campaign built for its characters—not characters dropped into a campaign. I put a lot of preparation into my games. This version of Rime of the Frostmaiden has been extensively reorganized and expanded to create a stronger overarching story while preserving the freedom to make meaningful choices. I pay particular attention to character backgrounds, motivations and relationships: decisions made early in the campaign may create allies, enemies, opportunities or consequences much later. I want your character's personal story to become part of Icewind Dale's story. A rich audiovisual experience. Important NPCs and locations receive dedicated artwork, and major scenes are regularly illustrated to help bring our shared story to life. Maps and tactical battlemaps are provided through Owlbear Rodeo, while curated ambient music and soundtracks accompany locations, encounters and important dramatic moments. Players who want one can also receive a custom portrait for their character. D&D Beyond content sharing and integrated tools. My D&D Beyond campaign gives players access to my available shared sourcebooks and character options. Avrae is integrated into our Discord for transparent dice rolls and streamlined combat, while Owlbear Rodeo provides visual support whenever positioning actually matters. Narrative play with meaningful mechanics. I'm primarily a narrative and character-focused GM, but I enjoy the tactical side of D&D and don't treat the rules as an inconvenience. Combat is not constant—especially in Play-by-Post—but when initiative is rolled, I want the encounter to matter. I generally let the dice stand and allow both success and failure to move the story forward. Clever ideas, good roleplay and creative use of the environment are encouraged; I favor sensible rulings and the spirit of the rules over stopping the game for rules-lawyering. An experienced and involved GM. I've been playing and running tabletop RPGs since the 1980s, across many systems and styles. I'm comfortable welcoming complete beginners as well as experienced players. You can expect regular communication, help with rules and tools whenever needed, individual attention to your character's development, and ongoing opportunities to give private feedback about the campaign. Above all, I want to provide a long-term collaborative story in which your characters genuinely matter. I will bring the world, its inhabitants, its dangers and its secrets. What Icewind Dale ultimately becomes will depend on what you do with them.

Homebrew rules

A few—but we'll discuss them together before the campaign begins. I use a small number of house rules, mostly intended to improve pacing, make survival and environmental hazards more meaningful, and keep Play-by-Post gameplay moving smoothly. Before the campaign begins, I will present the proposed rules to the group so we can discuss them together. Nothing should come as a surprise once play starts. As a general philosophy, I follow the D&D rules as closely as reasonably possible, but the rules are a framework for our shared story rather than the purpose of the game. When an unusual situation arises, I would rather make a fair ruling, keep the scene moving, and revisit the technical details later than interrupt an exciting moment with a lengthy rules debate. Clever ideas and creative solutions are welcome, even when the rules don't perfectly anticipate them. At the same time, “Rule of Cool” does not mean automatic success: actions still have consequences, dice still matter, and characters can absolutely fail. If you enjoy D&D primarily for character development, adventure, meaningful choices, tactical encounters and collaborative storytelling, you'll probably feel at home here. If precise RAW interpretation, character optimization, rules interactions, or debating technical edge cases are a major part of what makes D&D enjoyable for you, this may simply not be the best table for your preferred style of play—and that's perfectly fine. My priority is simple: use the rules to help us tell an exciting story, not let the story become an excuse to discuss the rules.

How Meneur2Jeu (Remy) creates a safe table

Icewind Dale can be a dark and unforgiving place. The game table should never be. Rime of the Frostmaiden includes horror, isolation, extreme survival, violence, sacrifice, mental distress and other potentially sensitive themes. Before the campaign begins, everyone will receive a detailed Session 0 document outlining the expected tone and content of the game, as well as our shared social contract. Every player will also privately complete Monte Cook's RPG Consent Checklist. Your answers are confidential and will be seen only by me. They allow me to identify Lines (content that will not appear), Veils (content that may exist but will remain off-screen or implicit), and subjects that may require particular care. If something in the published adventure conflicts with a player's boundaries, I am perfectly comfortable changing, replacing or removing it. Safety remains active once the campaign begins. At any time, a player can privately message me—or speak up OOC—to pause a scene, fade to black, skip content, or ask that we approach something differently. No justification is required. Because this is Play-by-Post, there is always time to stop before moving a scene forward, and if necessary we can edit or rewind what has already been posted. I also use Stars & Wishes throughout the campaign. Stars tell me what you're particularly enjoying; Wishes tell me what you'd like to see more of, change, or explore differently. I will regularly invite feedback, but you never need to wait for me to ask—my private messages are always open for concerns, discomfort, or simply discussing how the game is going. My goal isn't to remove darkness, danger or difficult themes from the campaign. They are an important part of Icewind Dale. The goal is to create fictional discomfort without real discomfort: characters may be frightened, desperate, angry or miserable; players should still feel respected, informed, and in control of their own boundaries.