Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 rachweded Oct 22, 2010 9:52:50	next session my group are almost guaranteed to fight chillreaver, which looks like a brutal fight :D my only concern, beyond a solo being able to spend 2 surges in an encounter for a mere minor action, is that chillreaver is noted as fleeing with the seed if it looks likely the pcs will get hold of it. my main issue is that there are two possiblities 1 he retreats through the rest of the iceberg with 5 rounds fought in each section until he escapes or dies (lots of map re-drawing which will be a total pain) 2 he goes atop the iceberg with players in pursuit and fights them there the issue is the fight on top will be very dull and boring: he has reach 3 to attack pcs i have one real ranged combatant with a halfling ranger and everyone else is basically melee. the entire top is difficult terrain plus risk of falling over. i'm just confused as to why chillreaver is bothering at this point to hang around: the iceberg is collapsing and his plans will not now work he can flee with his life with the winter seed and attempt another evil plot so i'm a bit meh about the way this is likely to end (aside from dominated party members slaughtering each other!!) any ideas to avoid this meh-ness? i was thinking about chillreaver flying off as iceberg was collapsing and pcs pursuing elsewhere for a final showdown?
#2 gargs454 Oct 26, 2010 6:49:49	I'm just now reading through Alliance at Nefelus (my party is only on Umbraforge currently), but I like your idea of having Chillreaver fly off.  Honestly, I think the main reason that they have him sort of hanging around is because a lot of players hate it when they don't get to finish off their enemies.  That said though, I think bringing Chillreaver back later makes for a good recurring villain, something that SOW could use a couple more of.  In the end, I agree that it makes little sense for him to hang around.  Even the dumbest of dragons are pretty dang smart.
#3 rachweded Oct 27, 2010 4:21:29	i think i'll have him fight for a bit out of anger basically and then fly off with the seed. Bejam will not ally without the threat of the dragon being settled and the seed of winter being recaptured so the pcs will have to pursue him (skill challenge) eventually culminating in a showdown in his own lair surrounded by some form of icy nastiness. more than likely use of spawning minions of icyness along with a few (cold) creatures changed by the seed preivously and left behind due to lack of mobility. he he he
#4 rachweded Nov 03, 2010 7:42:04	i typed up a long response and then computer died so lost it all. basically chillreaver and seed kicked party's ass they dislodged the seed and chill fled with it, one party member died.   found seeds attack chance too high, +24 when highest will in party is 28 was a bit much especially with a dominate power, i gave the seed -1 to hit per mirror smashed. so i'm having chill fly off, leaving them to deal with a body to carry and an iceberg to escape. bejam will not join coalition until chill is dead and seed is captured so a new adventure is being drawn up!
#5 SamtheDM Dec 20, 2010 14:15:54	My party just fought Chillreaver last night, and things did not go well for the heroes.  Through a combination of some bad rolls late in the encounter, and the fact that none of them could get around to smash the mirrors, we experienced our first TPK in 10 years. Things really started to go south around round 17 when two of the party members were dead (and one of them had three failed death saves) and the other four were dominated by the Seed of Winter.  If you are about to DM this encounter, keep these things in mind: - Rachweded has a great idea about knocking the attack roll down -1 for each mirror smashed.  At +24 to hit, a PC will get dominated every round, which not only means they will probably make an attack on another PC, but after they save, they are still immobilized another round. That's two round of that PC not making attacks. - You really have to stress the importance of smashing the mirrors.  My group tried for the first two rounds to smash them, but kept getting 27 or 28 on their to hit (it has an AC of 29) and then kinda gave up. - Chillreaver can hover just off the 30' high walkwalk, eliminating the threat of melee attacks, but he is still able to attack with with reach 3. - Chillreaver has a ton of abilities that immobilize and daze PCs, and for our group, that really limited movement for them, specifically to get around to the other mirrors.  I think in the end, they only managed to smash 3 or 4 mirrors, and those were the closest to the entrance.  As I said before, they didn't really make this a priority (shame on them, but then again, they didn't really have a chance to move around much). - Once Chillreaver burns through his two action points, his Breath Weapon and Deep Freeze aren't recharged, and he as used his encounter power of Frightful Presence, he is much easier to fight since he only has Chillreaver's Fury (Bite and a Claw attack).  Much easier to deal with.  My party was discouraged by the great start he had, but I had to assure them not to give up hope. In the end I think the fight went 19 rounds, Chillreaver was down to 210 hit points,  four PCs were dropped and dying, the other two were dominated; one had 7 hit points and the other had 16 hit points when we called it off.  As you save from the domination of the Seed of Winter, you take 2d10 +5 damage and are then immobilized.  That would have easily killed the PC with 7 hit points, and had the other one survived that aftereffect, Chillreaver would have certainly killed them before they could even move. Overall, this encounter was a ton of fun, but parts of it (especially the trap that the Seed of Winter is) was too much.
#6 rachweded Dec 21, 2010 4:27:45	i made a follow up encounter as chill fled with the seed, still think my group would have been fine had they entered via the other door. and also had the stupid archer not walked to within range of the seed(they knew the range as well due to a really high arcana check on the trap) but yes the trap was a bit much, i added it to a supporting controller in my final showdown and the encounter was a lot smoother, i made the seed work exactly as per encounter but it recharged whenever someone was no longer under it's influence so pretty much every other round. i'll post up my replacement if anyone is interested.
#7 SamtheDM Dec 21, 2010 11:52:03	i made the seed work exactly as per encounter but it recharged whenever someone was no longer under it's influence so pretty much every other round. That's another great idea for someone running this encounter.
#8 nyteskie May 03, 2011 14:46:05	One really cool option for the cold-based, weather manipulating Chillreaver is presented in 'baby' form here: at-will.omnivangelist.net/2010/04/1511/ In particular, take a look at Bilfaaz, the young white dragon and his 'Winter's Fury' power. I *really* like the countdown mechanics of the worldbreaker powers, and having Chillreaver able to manipulate the artifact's energies to create a blizzard is very flavorful and encounter-appropriate. Now that i think about it, instead of making this a power of Chillreaver's, you could eliminate the Seed's domination power and give it a Winter's Fury-like effect, with the appropriate countdown. This would eliminate a lot of the issues with domination, though Chillreaver would still have an effect on the PC's action budget with dazes, immobilizes & slows. Thoughts on that?
#9 SamtheDM May 03, 2011 22:50:49	Those are some really neat ideas! This give me an idea for my campaign.  Currently we are playing several generations down the line from the group that got TPK'd by Chillreaver.  Might be neat for Bilfaaz to come bother the group just like his father Chillreaver did.
#10 Dunk Jun 02, 2011 20:06:40	My party will be fighting Chillreaver tomorrow. I decided to give him a make over in the spirit of Monster Vault. I may hve over done it, but I will let every one know how it turned out. Chillreaver, Exarch of Tiamat Level 17 Solo Soldier Huge natural magical beast (dragon) XP 8,000 HP 680; Bloodied 340 AC 33; Fortitude 30; Reflex 29; Will 29 Speed 8 (ice walk), fly 8 Resist 25 cold, 10 poison Saving Throws +5; Action Points 2 Initiative +13 Perception +16 Darkvision Traits Action Recovery Whenever the dragon ends its turn, any dazing, stunning, or dominating effect on it ends. O Chillwrath Aura (cold) • Aura 2 Each square within the aura costs enemies 1 extra square of movement to enter. Head of the Brute On an initiative of 10 + its initiative check, the dragon can use a free action to charge or to use bite. If the dragon cannot use a free action to make this attack due to a dominating or stunning effect, then that effect ends instead of the dragon making the attack. Instinctive Assault On its initiative check - 10, the dragon can use a free action to use bite or claw. If the dragon cannot use a free action to make this attack due to a dominating or stunning effect, then that effect ends instead of the dragon making the attack. Savage Blood While the dragon is bloodied, it can score a critical hit on melee attacks on a roll of 18-20. Standard Actions m Bite (cold) • At-Will Attack: Reach 3; +22 vs. AC Hit: 3d12 + 12 Cold damage. Miss: 1d12 Cold damage. M Claw • At-Will Attack: Melee 3 (one or two creatures); +22 vs. AC; If the dragon targets only one creature, it can make this attack twice against that creature Hit: 2d10 + 9 damage, and the dragon grabs the target (escape DC 23) if it has fewer than two creatures grabbed. R Deep Freeze (cold) • Recharge 5 6 Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +20 vs. Reflex Hit: The target is stunned, cannot be pulled, pushed, or slid, and takes ongoing 30 cold damage (save ends all). Aftereffect: The target is slowed and takes ongoing 15 cold damage (save ends both). C Breath Weapon (cold) • Recharge 5 6 Attack: Close blast 5 (creatures in the blast); +20 vs. Reflex Hit: 4d10 + 8 cold damage, and the target is slowed (save ends). Miss: Half damage. Triggered Actions C Bloodied Breath (cold) • Encounter Trigger: The dragon is first bloodied. Effect (Free): Chillreaver’s breath weapon recharges, and he uses it immediately. M  Tail Strike • At-Will Trigger: An enemy leaves a square within 3 squares of the dragon. Attack (Immediate Reaction): Melee 4 (the triggering enemy); +20 vs. Reflex Hit: 1d8 + 6 damage, and the target falls prone. Skills Arcana +15, Athletics +24 Str 22 (+14) Dex 16 (+11) Wis 17 (+11) Con 26 (+16) Int 14 (+10) Cha 14 (+10) Alignment evil     Languages Common, Draconic © 2010 Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved. This formatted statistics block has been generated using the D&D Adventure Tools.
#11 Dunk Jun 09, 2011 7:19:16	This Chillreaver worked out well. He gave the party some sweaty palms to start but after they bloodied him they pinned him down and finnished him off. The dragon played well, feeling scary and the fight did not drag. Deep Freeze and the Seed of Winter domination can take away a lot of actions and will make this encounter really swingy.
#12 rob_douglas Apr 20, 2012 12:39:37	My party was nearing a TPK, and I wasn't even using the Seed properly, forgetting to make its attack several rounds in a row.  On the fly, I also implemented the -1 per mirror destroyed.  That helped some, as it was then able to miss with 8 mirrors now out of commission, but the party was nearly out of HS, and had few ways to use the ones they had left, and Chillreaver still isn't bloodied and has a HS of his own to use. But I did not level the party up before this encounter, and they are all level 14, with all their dailies gone, and many magic items used as well.  I think that made a huge difference.  So the party has retreated, and is using the Solace Bole ritual to get in an extended rest, which will allow them to level up anyway (they are supposed to be 15th when facing Chillreaver!)  Now they get to go in knowing what they know, and with their powers ready for use. I am also planning to limit the power of the Seed - that it can only dominate one creature at a time.  That will cut down on the complete lack of actions on the party's part.  Chillreaver is in for a big surprise when they come back - but they will always know that they escaped by the skin of their teeth...