The Hollow Winter: Icewind Dale Survival Campaign (PbP Solo)
Experience the frozen land of Icewind Dale and fight for survival against the longest winter in known memory. Will you will ever feel warmth again?
$10.00
/ Session
Details
4 players following this game
Play by Post (Asynchronous)
Billed Weekly / Saturday - 1:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 2–3 hours
Campaign Length / 15–99 Sessions
0 / 2 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
Welcome to the Hollow Winter, a Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition play by post game. Survival and finding a way to break the endless winter are what you will face in the ice and snow as you try to make it til dawn. This game is set up for either a small group (2-3 players) or as a solo campaign with one player and the DM. All characters will start with an enhanced 36 point buy and at 3rd level. This is an asynchronous play by post Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition 2024 campaign set in the Forgotten Realms and the frozen lands of Icewind Dale during the longest winter in more than a century. The rimefrost returns and the sky stays a constant steel grey as the snow refuses to stop falling. Auril is strangely silent as her domain is encroached upon by something else with power over the cold; what could quell a goddess and steal her power? Play as the hardy survivors of the hollow winter; struggle to survive the very land itself, form alliances, investigate the endless tundra in search of answers that will break the hold of eternal cold over Icewind Dale! All is possible when your blood turns to ice and you face a fate worse than death. It will take place over Discord and use Avrae for dice rolls. I will post at least once a day but usually it will be multiple posts a game (I do take Sundays off). This game is focused on survival against monsters and the environment and roleplaying but combat, exploration and everything in between can be found! This game does NOT use AI for anything and I would prefer players who don't use AI for their roleplaying posts, please.
Game style
Play By Post
Puzzle / Mystery Focused
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Sandbox / Open World
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(8)
1 year on StartPlaying
499 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Inclusive, Storytelling
Average response time: 3 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
Hi there, my name is Chris, your friendly Canadian DM! I am someone who has been playing and running various TTRPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons, ASOIAF, Changeling: the Dreaming, Vampire the Masquerade and many others for the last three decades. I also am a published game writer and designer with over 50 publications (mostly from the heyday of the 3.5 DnD OGL) as well as a small press publishing company called "Mad Scotsman Games" I've run since 2003. My degree in English Literature actually ended up helping me with a career outside of teaching! Woo! I tend to be the forever DM but that works out well because I love telling immerse stories and doing collaborative storytelling with my players. If you are looking for games with a heavy roleplaying focus, deep lore and everything in between, look no further! I look forward to gaming with you all.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
We will using the rules set for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, the 2024 version. We will be using the Player's Handbook and other official sources (such as Eberron's Artificer and the new Forgotten Realms guides) for races and classes for this game. More details are below. Characters will be created using the character creation guidelines found in the PHB, in addition to the ones below, and characters will be hosted on DnDBeyond. I have a Master account with content sharing that I will use for this campaign so every player will have access to the books they need, free of charge. *Character creation rules:* - All official races and classes from the 2024 5e PHB and other official sources are allowed, as long as they are not "legacy" content or from the 2014 rules set. Subclasses must also come from these sources. No homebrew, please. - 36 point buy - Starting level: 3rd - Free 1st level origin feat - Standard gold or equipment by class - No "murder hobos", please. Evil characters are possible if plausible and work well if in a group with others. - A backstory would be very helpful for me to weave your characters into the narrative. Things like where they are from, their motivations, character merits and flaws, what they want in life would be perfect. Please keep it under one page in length. A character picture would be great as well. - All characters will be created before the campaign begins and added to the campaign link provided via DnDBeyond.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Please have a Discord and a DnDBeyond account for this game. Please have some experience playing the 2024 DnD 5th edition game or at least be familiar with the rules. We will also be using the Avrae discord bot for dice rolls in Discord. I will make sure to upload a tutorial for using Avrae but please have some basic knowledge of how to use it before we begin.
What Chris MacKay brings to the table
I will provide all the DnD books needed via my campaign link on DnDBeyond as well as set up and maintain the Discord server that we will play on. Players will also have their own private channels so they can chat with me freely about anything they need to. I tend to run with "Rules as Written" but favour the "Rule of Cool" over it when the situation calls for it and it would make the game more enjoyable for my players. Survival rules will be in play as the very environment fights against your character. Combat is not the main focus of the game but there will be some measure of it in play. The main focus will be upon heavy roleplaying, exploration, survival and the mysteries you face in breaking the spell of the Hollow Winter. We are all here to have a good time and that's something we can decide together just what that fun is!
Homebrew rules
Drinking a potion or feeding it to an unconscious party member is a bonus action. Otherwise, rules will be as written in the PHB or interpreted by the DM.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Chris MacKay creates a safe table
All walks of life, gender identity, orientation and gamers are welcome at my table. I do not tolerate bigotry, racism, sexism and all the other negative -isms. My gaming space is yours as well and will be a safe one. Period. We will go over any limitations and things we wish to avoid in a session zero discussion with all players present. I also use the "Red, Yellow, Green" system in play to help call attention to something that may make someone uncomfortable etc.
Content warnings
Safety tools used