Arctic Campaign; Suggestions, Ideas, etc. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Arctic Campaign; Suggestions, Ideas, etc. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Moradin
12-28-04, 09:05 PM Right, so, I have been wanting to do an arctic based campaign for a while now, and since acquiring Frostburn, I have initiated it. I have a basic layout of the area already drawn, and a few site-based adventures here and there, some plans for down the road, and some general ecology. What I am looking for is any sggestions or ideas that I could perhaps fit into this campaign. I have already held one session and it seems to be going great, and I want to keep it that way. Oh yes, the PCs are starting out at level 5.

First, the party:

Half ogre barbarian with very impressive strength score but horribly painful intelligence. (24 and 4, respectively.) On the road to taking up the Forsaker prestig class, this character hates magic and can be easily influenced to embark on anything where he is told magic could be slain. In his own words "Magic equals bad. KILL." Luckily I have a good player playign this character, and he is keeping well IC.

Neanderthal druid who will be focusing on wild shape. On the road to become a shifter. As of now, lacks animal companion.

Gnome sorcerer. This character will be introduced probably in the next session as the player was unable attend the first one. All i know about him right now is that he is big on Profession (Engineer).

And then the NPC - Human Favored Soul. Somewhat reserved as I want him to take the backseat of the campaign and not try to spell things out or take the lead of the ground, even if the group is low on the inelligence side.

It started of with the two first PCs and the NPC all in a sled convoy heading north to a Harbor Capitol of Glysten in thr Frostfell. It was a trading convoy of many merchants and their cargo, and few adventurers. As they were traveling, a 'pack' of four wolves lead by one winter wolf attacked one of the sleds. The PCs then went into battle and damaged the wolves into retreat.

The half ogre assumed and was informed that the white wolf was somewhat magical to some degree (as it used its cold breath against them) and ollowed the tracks into a pine forest eastward.

This forest is one of the site based encounters, where half worg/half winter wolf named Durshkaan has claind dominions. Hie and his winter wolf companions moved into the forest just recently, killing the resident Druid/Wolflord by somehow enslaving the wolves of the forest mentally. The NPC used for this can be found in the Part of the Pack article on the Random Encounters seciton of the DnD site.

The PCs stumbled across another band of wolves in the woods and dealt with them, and then were confronted by a ghost wolf who posessed the body of the druid and explained to the group the occurances, asking for their aid in freeing his wolflord master and ridding the forest of Durshkaan. (Yes, the wolf did this. Not probably, but it happened). So now they head off to kill Durshkaan.

I went into detail on that because I have another unique area south of the forest which I may choose to be linked with this encounter. On a massive lake of nevrmelting black-tinted ice, there is a huge spire-like tower that looks like an icicle named Glazerook. It isn't much of anything to be talked about, as travelers dont usually stray off of the main roads, and even the tribesfolk dont bother traveling across the frozen lake. However, within, I plan to have it be the home of some spellcaster who is plotting some twisted schemes for the frostfell. I have ideas that it could be she who was the master of Durshkaan and bestowed upon him the power to mentall enslave wolves. Just an idea, though, but I don't want it to realy turn into a BBEG-hunting-campaign. Her presence would be subtle and unknown, acting vicariously through dangers she casts into the wilderness.

Anywho, another thing I have set up is the premade fifth level adventure on the DnD site- Fallen Angel, fit into an arctic environment. This adventure features a young trumpet archon who fell from Celestia during a planar anomaly, and taken in by a lonesome town. This same lanar disturbance also took away the Ogre mage leader of a nearby tribe experimenting with creature fusion. The son of the ogre mage, Brath the Lesser, and his band of insectile ogres kidnap the child, who Brath plans on taking the tears and blood from to make powerful weapons.

The Fallen Angel adventure will be the main reason the group is traveling north to Glysten. Word of the planar disturbance jumped quickly throughout the frostfell (with dfiffering accounts, of couse) an to a bit of the surrounding area. Glysten is "the place to go", if you will, to find out information due to it's size and inhabitants. This town also happens to be lead by a neutral white dragon. The druid is going becaue of the possibility of this dimensional malfuction bringing in unwanted creatures - outsiders and aberrations and whatever unnatural threats that could come. The half ogre goes because he heard a lot of big words, thinks big words equal big magic. And magic equals bad. The NPC is going for reason similar to the druid, but more focused on the probabliity that infernal or abysal beings could be filtering into the world A spellcaster in Glysten will direct the PCs to Elton, where the planar anomaly occured near.

I'm also incportating an adventure from the back of Frostburn, the one about Delzomen's forge, where there is a ave with a small tribe of neanderthal raiders and the old forge of an eccentric wizard who got a bit carried away and ended up getting into a battle with his own minions.

As of now, that's all of the real plans I have. I know other general ideas, like a pack of marauding Snow Goblins that patrol he tundra, and a frost giant establisment to the north (wqho the white dragon leader of Glysten is secretly linked with, unbeknownst to the townsfolk). I alsoi have plans for regular random encounters - ice trolls, snowflake oozes, snow orcs, and other multiple animals and beasts that roa the frostfell. I have another town set up to the ferther nortwest, also a port town, but not as prosporous or popular as Glysten. I don't know what I will do with this town as of yet. There is an island in the sea to the north of Glysten which holds a portal to the elemental plane of water, who have pacts with the beings of the meterial plane around it, ownership clauses and such., which is guarded but will probably come into play later. There is also a sea drake in the parts of the sea close by, who is involved in one of the extra-planar pacts, which grants him pseudo-ownserhip and warden status of te part of the sea. He travels and meets ships to collect tolls, and is by no means evil - just doing his job.

For later, or sooner, it all depends, I am also incporating the whole Icerazer thing, also found in the back of frostburn. An evil city set up on a moving glacier that holds cultists and followers of Levistus. I dont plan on having the Pcs go there yet, and even if/when they do, I dont plan on having them fight there. It is just another place to be, and upon reading the section on Icerazer, guests are actually quite welcom, as far as a place like this goes. I have an idea to do a bit of cosmology endeavoring, later in the campaign; having levistus freed from his icy tomb and actually make an assault on another layer of Hell.

Well, those are the ideas I have so far. I am gracious to ehar any contributions made to any of these plans, or new ideas entirely. I have access to the following books:

DMG, MM, PHB 3.0/3.5, Deities and Demigods, Savage Species, Frostburn, Complete Arcane, Complete Divine, Complete Warrior, Fiend Folio, Planar Handbook, Races of Stone, Monster Manual 3, Libris Mortis, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Draconomicon, Arms and Equipment, Book of Exalted Deeds, Book of Vile Darkness Unearthed Arcana, Masters of the Wild, Sword and Fist, Defenders of the Faith, Tome and Blood, Song and Silence, Ghostwalk, Stronghold Builders Guidebook, Hero Builder's Guidebook, and Epic Level handbook.

Thank you in advance.
Kainy
12-28-04, 11:14 PM For a while, at least, just surviving the conditions can be hard. There are a bajillion and one rules in FB (which I love) about surviving in those conditions, so for a bit (maybe even half a session) their characters, if not already accustomed to living in the frostfell, can get used to it, and learn how to better protect themselves, as well as what the hazards are.

Site-based adventures can be very fun - I just ran one where two PCs went into an abandoned midgard dwarf stronghold made from blue ice, with all sorts of random baddies living in it (and a subplot involving its abandonment that they never caught on to). There were some abominable yeti, a dire polar bear (that the druid handled MASTERFULLY, I must add, kudos to you Steve), an ice golem, and some frost giants (who had to squeeze to get around, wuaha).
clarkvalentine
12-28-04, 11:25 PM (It's possible this is mentioned in Frostburn, that book whose title I can't recall.)

Remember that the length of day and amount of sunlight is greatly dependent on the time of year. During the winter the sun may never rise above the horizon at all, shedding only an hour or two of dim, indirect light. This may require weekly will saves to avoid depression or other psychological problems setting in for PCs not used to the long periods of relentless darkness.
Someoneelse
01-27-05, 02:13 AM I've had great fun with Norse / Viking style tribes of the north. Great opportunites to either fend off (or participate in) Viking raids! The culture just lends itself well to adventuring.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Moradin 12-28-04, 09:05 PM	Right, so, I have been wanting to do an arctic based campaign for a while now, and since acquiring Frostburn, I have initiated it. I have a basic layout of the area already drawn, and a few site-based adventures here and there, some plans for down the road, and some general ecology. What I am looking for is any sggestions or ideas that I could perhaps fit into this campaign. I have already held one session and it seems to be going great, and I want to keep it that way. Oh yes, the PCs are starting out at level 5. First, the party: Half ogre barbarian with very impressive strength score but horribly painful intelligence. (24 and 4, respectively.) On the road to taking up the Forsaker prestig class, this character hates magic and can be easily influenced to embark on anything where he is told magic could be slain. In his own words "Magic equals bad. KILL." Luckily I have a good player playign this character, and he is keeping well IC. Neanderthal druid who will be focusing on wild shape. On the road to become a shifter. As of now, lacks animal companion. Gnome sorcerer. This character will be introduced probably in the next session as the player was unable attend the first one. All i know about him right now is that he is big on Profession (Engineer). And then the NPC - Human Favored Soul. Somewhat reserved as I want him to take the backseat of the campaign and not try to spell things out or take the lead of the ground, even if the group is low on the inelligence side. It started of with the two first PCs and the NPC all in a sled convoy heading north to a Harbor Capitol of Glysten in thr Frostfell. It was a trading convoy of many merchants and their cargo, and few adventurers. As they were traveling, a 'pack' of four wolves lead by one winter wolf attacked one of the sleds. The PCs then went into battle and damaged the wolves into retreat. The half ogre assumed and was informed that the white wolf was somewhat magical to some degree (as it used its cold breath against them) and ollowed the tracks into a pine forest eastward. This forest is one of the site based encounters, where half worg/half winter wolf named Durshkaan has claind dominions. Hie and his winter wolf companions moved into the forest just recently, killing the resident Druid/Wolflord by somehow enslaving the wolves of the forest mentally. The NPC used for this can be found in the Part of the Pack article on the Random Encounters seciton of the DnD site. The PCs stumbled across another band of wolves in the woods and dealt with them, and then were confronted by a ghost wolf who posessed the body of the druid and explained to the group the occurances, asking for their aid in freeing his wolflord master and ridding the forest of Durshkaan. (Yes, the wolf did this. Not probably, but it happened). So now they head off to kill Durshkaan. I went into detail on that because I have another unique area south of the forest which I may choose to be linked with this encounter. On a massive lake of nevrmelting black-tinted ice, there is a huge spire-like tower that looks like an icicle named Glazerook. It isn't much of anything to be talked about, as travelers dont usually stray off of the main roads, and even the tribesfolk dont bother traveling across the frozen lake. However, within, I plan to have it be the home of some spellcaster who is plotting some twisted schemes for the frostfell. I have ideas that it could be she who was the master of Durshkaan and bestowed upon him the power to mentall enslave wolves. Just an idea, though, but I don't want it to realy turn into a BBEG-hunting-campaign. Her presence would be subtle and unknown, acting vicariously through dangers she casts into the wilderness. Anywho, another thing I have set up is the premade fifth level adventure on the DnD site- Fallen Angel, fit into an arctic environment. This adventure features a young trumpet archon who fell from Celestia during a planar anomaly, and taken in by a lonesome town. This same lanar disturbance also took away the Ogre mage leader of a nearby tribe experimenting with creature fusion. The son of the ogre mage, Brath the Lesser, and his band of insectile ogres kidnap the child, who Brath plans on taking the tears and blood from to make powerful weapons. The Fallen Angel adventure will be the main reason the group is traveling north to Glysten. Word of the planar disturbance jumped quickly throughout the frostfell (with dfiffering accounts, of couse) an to a bit of the surrounding area. Glysten is "the place to go", if you will, to find out information due to it's size and inhabitants. This town also happens to be lead by a neutral white dragon. The druid is going becaue of the possibility of this dimensional malfuction bringing in unwanted creatures - outsiders and aberrations and whatever unnatural threats that could come. The half ogre goes because he heard a lot of big words, thinks big words equal big magic. And magic equals bad. The NPC is going for reason similar to the druid, but more focused on the probabliity that infernal or abysal beings could be filtering into the world A spellcaster in Glysten will direct the PCs to Elton, where the planar anomaly occured near. I'm also incportating an adventure from the back of Frostburn, the one about Delzomen's forge, where there is a ave with a small tribe of neanderthal raiders and the old forge of an eccentric wizard who got a bit carried away and ended up getting into a battle with his own minions. As of now, that's all of the real plans I have. I know other general ideas, like a pack of marauding Snow Goblins that patrol he tundra, and a frost giant establisment to the north (wqho the white dragon leader of Glysten is secretly linked with, unbeknownst to the townsfolk). I alsoi have plans for regular random encounters - ice trolls, snowflake oozes, snow orcs, and other multiple animals and beasts that roa the frostfell. I have another town set up to the ferther nortwest, also a port town, but not as prosporous or popular as Glysten. I don't know what I will do with this town as of yet. There is an island in the sea to the north of Glysten which holds a portal to the elemental plane of water, who have pacts with the beings of the meterial plane around it, ownership clauses and such., which is guarded but will probably come into play later. There is also a sea drake in the parts of the sea close by, who is involved in one of the extra-planar pacts, which grants him pseudo-ownserhip and warden status of te part of the sea. He travels and meets ships to collect tolls, and is by no means evil - just doing his job. For later, or sooner, it all depends, I am also incporating the whole Icerazer thing, also found in the back of frostburn. An evil city set up on a moving glacier that holds cultists and followers of Levistus. I dont plan on having the Pcs go there yet, and even if/when they do, I dont plan on having them fight there. It is just another place to be, and upon reading the section on Icerazer, guests are actually quite welcom, as far as a place like this goes. I have an idea to do a bit of cosmology endeavoring, later in the campaign; having levistus freed from his icy tomb and actually make an assault on another layer of Hell. Well, those are the ideas I have so far. I am gracious to ehar any contributions made to any of these plans, or new ideas entirely. I have access to the following books: DMG, MM, PHB 3.0/3.5, Deities and Demigods, Savage Species, Frostburn, Complete Arcane, Complete Divine, Complete Warrior, Fiend Folio, Planar Handbook, Races of Stone, Monster Manual 3, Libris Mortis, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Draconomicon, Arms and Equipment, Book of Exalted Deeds, Book of Vile Darkness Unearthed Arcana, Masters of the Wild, Sword and Fist, Defenders of the Faith, Tome and Blood, Song and Silence, Ghostwalk, Stronghold Builders Guidebook, Hero Builder's Guidebook, and Epic Level handbook. Thank you in advance.
Kainy 12-28-04, 11:14 PM	For a while, at least, just surviving the conditions can be hard. There are a bajillion and one rules in FB (which I love) about surviving in those conditions, so for a bit (maybe even half a session) their characters, if not already accustomed to living in the frostfell, can get used to it, and learn how to better protect themselves, as well as what the hazards are. Site-based adventures can be very fun - I just ran one where two PCs went into an abandoned midgard dwarf stronghold made from blue ice, with all sorts of random baddies living in it (and a subplot involving its abandonment that they never caught on to). There were some abominable yeti, a dire polar bear (that the druid handled MASTERFULLY, I must add, kudos to you Steve), an ice golem, and some frost giants (who had to squeeze to get around, wuaha).
clarkvalentine 12-28-04, 11:25 PM	(It's possible this is mentioned in Frostburn, that book whose title I can't recall.) Remember that the length of day and amount of sunlight is greatly dependent on the time of year. During the winter the sun may never rise above the horizon at all, shedding only an hour or two of dim, indirect light. This may require weekly will saves to avoid depression or other psychological problems setting in for PCs not used to the long periods of relentless darkness.
Someoneelse 01-27-05, 02:13 AM	I've had great fun with Norse / Viking style tribes of the north. Great opportunites to either fend off (or participate in) Viking raids! The culture just lends itself well to adventuring.