Rime of the Frostmaiden

Creating your character

Characters are built before your first session (or during session zero). I have premades available for new players. Once you book, I'll send you to my discord with my houserules and we'll chat about your concept. Submit your sheet and backstory, and I'll approve it before we play. No need to arrive with everything perfect; we'll polish it together. STARTING POINT - Level 1 (or higher is you're joining late) - 2024 rules preferred; 2014 characters are welcome with the listed houserules. - Ability scores: Point Buy only. It's a generous pool, though. BOOKS & CONTENT Any official sourcebook is fair game, including setting-specific options (Eberron, Faerûn, Ravenloft, etc.) as long as we can explain how your character ended up in Icewind Dale. Third-party and homebrew content is case by case; ask first. DEEPER PROGRESSION My tables use a few bonuses to make characters feel more developed: - Bonus feats at levels 1, 7, 13, and 19 (Origin feats at level 1; General feats open up later). - An extra +1 ability increase at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20. - Extra proficiencies or expertise at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20. Build your sheet WITHOUT these first. Once it's approved, we'll add them together. BACKSTORY Icewind Dale is harsh, remote, and trapped in endless winter. Give me a reason your character is here, and a reason they stay. A few hooks (a person, a debt, a secret, a goal) go a long way; I'll weave them into the campaign. A few paragraphs is plenty. WHAT TO EXPECT This is a resource-heavy survival campaign. Supplies, rests, and the cold all matter. Optimized characters are welcome; broken ones will be adjusted. Characters who can contribute outside combat (survival, exploration, social) will shine here.

Preparing for the session

You'll need a desktop or laptop computer with a microphone for communicating through Discord voice chat. If there is feedback from your monitors you'll be asked to get some headphones or ear buds. You'll need an account with Discord and an account with Roll20 (both are free). New players are welcome, I just ask you do your best to understand the features of your class and race, and don't hesitate to message me before the game so we can both understand these better. We can learn as we go!

What Nico brings to the table

Access to any published character content on Roll20, advanced use of API scripts and macros to expedite combat and provide other quality of life or immersion building benefits, DMsguild material and homebrew ideas to flesh out the campaign.

Homebrew rules

RESTING (the big one) - Short Rest: you must spend at least one Hit Die. - Long Rest comes in three tiers. A Full Rest needs 24 hours of downtime or 8 hours of real comfort; resting in the wilderness means a Wisdom or Constitution check. Fail and you get a Partial Rest (half your resources and Hit Dice). Fail badly and you get a Minimal Rest. All three remove one level of Exhaustion, and you can take on Exhaustion to upgrade a rest. - Potions of Rest exist, and they matter. COMBAT - Dynamic Initiative: initiative is rerolled every round. - Flanking: +1 to hit with an ally at 90°, +2 when surrounded on 3 sides or pinned from opposite sides. - Cover: quarter cover +2 AC, half cover +3. - Diagonals: every second diagonal costs 10 ft. - Ranged: −1 to hit per 10 ft beyond 50 ft; −2 against flying creatures (−1 if hovering). - Mounted: −2 melee, −4 ranged while mounted, reducible if your mount gives up movement or Dodges. - Enemy death saves: downed enemies roll once. Under 10, they're out; a 19 or 20 puts them back up at 1 HP. - Turns: aim to decide your action in about 60 seconds. WEAPON MASTERY (2024) Topple, Vex, Sap, and Push can each be used Proficiency Bonus + 1 times per Short or Long Rest. Cleave, Graze, Nick, and Slow are unlimited. EQUIPMENT & ITEMS - Healing potions: Bonus Action to drink. As an Action, half the dice are maximized; use both (moving no more than half your speed) to maximize all of them. - Shields: don as a Bonus Action, doff with your free object interaction. - Variant encumbrance, softened: worn armour counts at half weight, and your first backpack weighs 15 lb less. - Spell Scrolls: anyone can attempt one with an ability check. Fail by 2 or less and the scroll isn't used up. CHARACTER GROWTH - Deeper Progression: bonus feats, extra ability increases, and extra proficiencies as you level (see Character Creation). - Linked Might: Strength and Constitution rise together. - Downtime training: learn languages, tools, skills, expertise, even feats, with time, gold, and a teacher. - A few class tweaks for 2014 characters (e.g., Clerics and Paladins can use Wisdom for Religion checks).

How Nico creates a safe table

Professional, streamlined D&D5e Roll20 experience. I'll provide dynamic lighting, macros, and mods to the VTT to make sure we can learn and move things along in a fluid manner, and provide immersive and dramatic moments. Of course, you should expect a fair amount of violence, as with any DnD adventure. For this and other reasons, games can tend to be a bit gory in description. There may also be times when a survival/horror element will be evoked. As for any other type of mature themes, everything should be relatively tame. I am happy to implement any sort of toolset for players who feel they may have certain anxieties. I want my games to be as inclusive as possible and the only thing that matters is that everyone feels like a part of a team, given the opportunity to have fun and shine in their own character/role.