North of the Spine of the World and west of the towering Reghed Glacier is a frigid expanse few dare to explore, let alone inhabit. This icy land of windswept tundra recently became locked in a perpetual, dark winter without reprieve. Auril the Frostmaiden, the divine embodiment of winter's fury, has withdrawn to this cold corner of the world to live among mortals. Further, she has cast a terrible spell over Icewind Dale, to the detriment of most of its denizens. Each night before midnight, Auril takes to the sky on the back of a white roe and weaves her spell, which manifests as a shimmering curtain of light-a beautiful aurora that illuminates the night sky and fades before dawn. This powerful magic prevents the next day's sun from rising above the horizon, turning midday into twilight and trapping lcewind Dale in winter's dark embrace, with no sunlight or warmth to melt the snow and ice. Each casting of the spell leaves the Frostmaiden weakened, with just enough divine power left to barricade the mountain pass with blizzards and churn the Sea of Moving Ice with blistering winds. Such measures discourage travelers from approaching or leaving Icewind Dale, further isolating the region. Icewind Dale has thus been trapped in a different reality from the rest of the world, for though the sun never rises over the dale, it continues to rise everywhere else. The people of Icewind Dale know Auril's wrath when they feel it, and they have a name for the unending winter she has inflicted on them. They call it the Everlasting Rime. No one understands why the Frostmaiden has imposed her will in this way or why the other gods refuse to challenge her. This prolonged winter, which has gone on for more than two years, threatens to doom not just the flickering lights of civilization known as Ten-Towns but also the indigenous flora and fauna that need sunlight and the change of seasons to survive. Not all creatures are discouraged by what has transpired north of the Spine of the World. The long nights and sunless days are a blessing to Xardorok Sunblight, a duergar who longs to carve out a domain for himself on the surface and enslave the people of Ten-Towns in the process. Already, he has taken advantage of Auril's magic and raised a fortress amid the dark shadows of the mountains. From here, his underlings strike out across the tundra in search of chardalyn-a crystalline substance known to exist only in Icewind Dale. Once he gathers enough of it, Xardorok plans to construct a chardalyn dragon and unleash it upon Ten-Towns. Despite Auril's blizzards and other deterrents, visitors still come and go. Among the recent arrivals are four wizards of the Arcane Brotherhood, a powerful society of spellcasters based in Luskan. They've come chasing rumors of a lost city buried under the Reghed Glacier-a fragment of the long-gone Empire of Netheril, whose wizards wielded magic that terrified the gods. Netherese magic has a way of attracting power-hungry wizards, as members of the Arcane Brotherhood often are. The cities of Netheril floated among the clouds, making them almost impervious to assault for centuries. Then, nearly two thousand years ago, this floating city crashed during the fall of the empire, and no one has found or explored it since. It is, arguably, Icewind Dale's greatest secret-a necropolis of Netherese wizards and the magic they left behind. What survived the crash is anyone's guess, but we're about to find out! Welcome! Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden is a D&D adventure optimized for four to six characters. The player characters are the heroes of the story; this book describes the villains and monsters the heroes must overcome and the locations they must explore to bring the adventure to a successful conclusion. Speaking of GM-ing. Let's go through some brief introductions. I'm DM Rat. I'm 23 years old and I am an experienced Dungeon Master. I've been behind the screen for over seven years now and have run well over 50 games over that period. D&D has always been a passion of mine, and only recently have I decided I wanted to turn this passion into something I can do full-time, even if it doesn't pay the best. In my games, I always do my best to be prepared. So expect battle maps, carefully selected music and ambiance, handouts, and the like. As a DM, I believe in letting my players drive the narrative forward. I merely ask the question and let the group find a way to their answer. I prefer to let the party take center stage and do my best to provide information and give my rulings on the game as fairly as possible. I'm also a firm believer in the rule of cool. While I do believe in arbitrating certain rules as written, I always like to encourage creativity and free-thinking in my games. I find that it makes it more enjoyable for all parties involved. I have my own set of house rules and etc. for each game I run. These are more complementary to my GM-ing style and some of them are open to change if agreed upon by the majority. Character Creation and Homebrew Rules Character Creation is fairly open in my games. I try to keep an open mind for most races, classes, and subclasses. I also do allow Homebrew/UA within reason, provided they make sense in fiction. If you can find a creative way to fit in whatever you have in mind into the world, chances are I will allow it. So be creative! So as long as you run them by me beforehand, it should be okay. I do, however, reserve the right to change and rebalance certain features if they turn out to be unbalanced in play. Stats will be rolled. 6 sets of 4d6kh3. These will be rolled twice and you get to pick which stat line you would like to use. Stat line totals below 75 will be rerolled. What time is the session? As listed above, sessions will be held on Sundays at 6 PM CST or onwards. Session time is relatively flexible and will be set firmly once at least 4 players have signed up for the campaign. Any requirements to play? Primarily Discord, as that is where voice and text will be handled. There will be a server dedicated to this campaign which I will be putting up for ease of access. Payment? Each session per week will cost 10 USD . Payment will be transacted through PayPal only. Kindly pay at least one day before each session. Payment for a missed session will not be refundable if you do not notify me at least 4 hours before the session. On the occasion that I miss a session that you have already paid for without notifying the server ahead of time, the payment will carry over to the next session. Our first session together will be free. That session will be used for character creation and for introductions/discussions. Any further questions and inquiries you may have will be answered there. I offer half price on the first actual session. That session will be for you to get a sense of how I DM and for the players around you play the game. Also, tipping is entirely up to you! I'd appreciate it a lot, but it is also not necessary. Rules? Players aged 18 and above only, please. This campaign tackles dark and mature themes. I cannot, in good conscience, DM for anyone younger than 18 and broach adult topics. Kindly inform me or the server ahead of time if you cannot make it to a session. Be respectful. Be mindful. Be tactful. A surefire way to ruin a group's fun is to not do any of these. Have fun! This is a game at the end of the day. How do I apply? If this sounds interesting to you or you would like more information, please feel free to reply to this topic, send me a direct message on Roll20, or add me on Discord @ Rat#1483. Game Link: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/318394/rats-rime-of-the-frostmaiden-sunday-6pm-cst" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/318394/rats-rime-of-the-frostmaiden-sunday-6pm-cst</a> Thank you! :D This game will require payment to the Game Master at a rate of $10 per game. Roll20 is not responsible for any mishaps that may arise thereof. Please note that Roll20 is not responsible for any payment transactions and cannot enforce any private arrangements.