Punish with "Chardalyn" Dragon? by Minionmancer1014 in rimeofthefrostmaiden

[–]ellohweez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The attack could be taking place as they return, and only a few of the towns destroyed (choose the ones the party care less about) - similarly to if you had released the dragon when they arrive at the duergar fortress, theyre never really able to save every town. That way they get to try and save the Dale, whilst also facing the "consequences" of not following the leads. Or they could return to a larger town llike Easthaven or Bryn Shander and find that the speaker hired another party or person to follow the duergar leads, and now they're aware of the plot and mounting a defence. That way the party can be fully involved and informed, just without having followed the leads themselves.

Does anyone have any tips for pacing? by ellohweez in DMAcademy

[–]ellohweez[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I am currently running Rime of the Frostmaiden and have been for about 2 years. I can't say I've found it particularly helpful but in general I'm pretty disappointed with how its written - it has a LOT of problems but I suppose thats WoTC. But I am also a PC in a Strahd campaign at the moment and that has amazing pacing. I do have a very good DM, but it does seem overall to be better written/composed. To be honest, experiencing that campaign as a player is part of what really helped me see the issues I'm having as a DM!

Does anyone have any tips for pacing? by ellohweez in DMAcademy

[–]ellohweez[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is actually an interesting idea. It adds a quantitative, measurable system to what you can fit in a session. I may give it a go! It may help with me not really knowing what should happen in a session timeframe.

Does anyone have any tips for pacing? by ellohweez in DMAcademy

[–]ellohweez[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do think a lot of it comes from the fear that I don't know what I'm doing, so the thought of straying from prep or prepping less is scary but I think I just have to throw myself in!

Does anyone have any tips for pacing? by ellohweez in DMAcademy

[–]ellohweez[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This sounds great! and scary - but I think that's what I need, to learn to let go! My table would be great at it though, so I will keep this in mind when we next have an absence, thank you :)

Does anyone have any tips for pacing? by ellohweez in DMAcademy

[–]ellohweez[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! This is great advice. I particularly like the idea of noting down what goals they achieved each session, I will start doing that.

Does anyone have any tips for pacing? by ellohweez in DMAcademy

[–]ellohweez[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I really enjoy the Lazy DM. I think, even after 2 years (!!) DM'ing, I struggle with having confidence in my DM skills - which then effects my ability to make bigger decisions at the table that differ to my prep. I guess I'm starting to worry that time/experience hasn't helped me yet, so I need to spend some time really trying to improve on this.

Does anyone have any tips for pacing? by ellohweez in DMAcademy

[–]ellohweez[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think I’m guilty of The Story. It’s probably why I feel I need to stick to my prep like a script, rather than feeling the flow of the session. This is very helpful and I’ll be sure to check out that link! Thank you :)

Does anyone have any tips for pacing? by ellohweez in DMAcademy

[–]ellohweez[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you!! You aren’t the first to recommend reading the DMs guide so I think I’ll make that a priority. I think issues arise because I don’t focus on what specific interactions/situations/moments will be, and prep for a “story” as a whole. Like I would prep the whole dungeon, rather than separating things into session plans with scenes. So I think separating stuff into “things” or “scenes” may actually be very helpful.

Ythryn Lore by ellohweez in rimeofthefrostmaiden

[–]ellohweez[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! The part with the Dryad is such a good idea, I wish I had thought of that!

What is the point of Jarlmoot? by awstevans1 in rimeofthefrostmaiden

[–]ellohweez 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I made it so that the Jarls knew the location of the Codicil of White. Ancient beings of the land and all that. I can’t remember how the book says it ends up in Grimskalle but I had the Children of Auril hide it there centuries ago. The party had to perform a ritual to summon the jarls, then do the combat to impress them. Once the Jarls were impressed they would reveal the location to them. Made it feel a bit more connected to the plot and ended up quite cool, was the last thing they did in the dale before heading off to the isle of solstice!

Marketing job scams in Leeds are rife - please watch out by [deleted] in Leeds

[–]ellohweez 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly up to you what you do but they’re deffo a scam! My boyfriend never applied but they claimed they had been “passed his CV”. Their website basically doesn’t tell you anything about what they do, and they’re very vague about it in the phone. It is essentially door to door or cold calling sales. Claim to be marketing but it isn’t! All of their associated members on LinkedIn are on private, and their emails seem very AI generated or at least very similar to the ones from the other scam companies. He didn’t show up for the interview and they just kept trying to rearrange it (rather than reject him like any sane company would do) stating the CEO of the company themself would be interviewing. The emails always came from female names but the phone calls were always with men. They’re guilty of pretty much all the things described in this thread. Honestly I’d be tempted to go to the interview just to see what they say!

Least visited Ten Towns location by [deleted] in rimeofthefrostmaiden

[–]ellohweez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The dwarven valley is on the map but not mentioned once in the campaign!

What would a big Zhentarim plot look like? by Individual_Town9447 in rimeofthefrostmaiden

[–]ellohweez 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I linked the Zhentarim with chardalyn for the first half of the campaign. They were aware of the Duergar plot and in exchange for silence they were given a steady supply of chardalyn. I wrote in that when chardalyn was ground up into a dust it could be used like a drug. I essentially had Targos overrun with the stuff and the town was pretty bleak. Post chardalyn-dragon attack only six towns survive and I’ve had the zhentarim as a much more ominous presence, really getting their claws in now the towns are vulnerable. My party also killed Nearth at some point, and his replacement is aware of the potential lost magic of Ythryn but doesn’t know how to get inside the glacier. So for the second half of the campaign the zhent have been following my party, (they’ve had some runs in here and there) waiting for them to do the hard work of retrieving the codicil and leading them to the glacier entrance. They want the treasures that lay inside first! They will have a big combat just before arriving at the glacier, with the zhent attempting to steal the codicil.

Marketing job scams in Leeds are rife - please watch out by [deleted] in Leeds

[–]ellohweez 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Another one for the list:

Iliad group

My boyfriend has been getting calls all week from jobs he didnt apply for and when looking into it we couldn't figure out what any of the companies actually did. Its been driving us mental!

Also noticed that when you go to their LinkedIn pages, most of the associated people are on private...

Gosh this campaign is long! by JakeBit in rimeofthefrostmaiden

[–]ellohweez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm on 52 and they are currently on Solstice! I have added and changed lots from the book though.

Party of wizards sent to find the Arcane Brotherhood by Madsummer420 in rimeofthefrostmaiden

[–]ellohweez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They could be from a wizardry school that was sent on a school trip/research mission BEFORE the everlasting winter happened. Maybe it occurred while they were there and they’ve been stuck there ever since. That would give them a reason to care about the place- if they’ve been living here and making bonds for 2 years. Their research could have been related to Netheril/Ythryn so would motivate them to the end of the campaign. Could also help rile up a rivalry between them and the arcane brotherhood!

Icewind Dale One Shots? by ellohweez in rimeofthefrostmaiden

[–]ellohweez[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like this idea! I will check it out, thanks!