Summary
- If you're looking to run Dragon of Icespire Peak in your D&D campaign, make sure you craft character motivations during a zero session to ensure player investment in the story.
- Create an exciting start to the campaign to grip players from the beginning. Introduce the dragon threat early or add urgency by incorporating orc invasions or attacks.
- Enhance the adventure by adding more exciting encounters during travel. Devise your own scenarios and random encounters to make the journeys more thrilling and surprise the party.
There are plenty of ways to start a campaign in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons. You could try 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a short ꦫadventure from Candlekeep Mysteries or perhaps jump right into 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the terrifying domains of dread. But🐻 a great way to start your next adventure is to try a Starter's kit. The Essentials kit is precisely this. It𒁏 contains the adventure module: Dragon Of Icespire Peak and is designed for new DMs and players to be eased into this fantastic hobby.
It can be a little daunting for a new DM to take on their first-ever campaign. Although the Essentials Kit provides a lot of content, it can feel a little eꦚmpty in terms of the story. Here are plenty of tips to enhance Dragon Of Icespire Peak and turn it into an epic campaign that your party will remember forever.
Updated September 8, 2023 by Luke Ackroyd: Running an entry-level campaign such as Dragon Of Icespire Peak can be a rewarding experience and a great way to introduce new players into this creative role-playing world. The book is very helpful, with simple quests to guide your players through. But there are still lots of ways to improve the experience. You can add more plot hooks to get your players invested. You can mix together campaigns.
Perhaps you could even make it Dragons of Icespire Peak instead of just the one. So, if you are looking for more D&D Dragon of Icespire Peak tips, this Dragon of Icespire Peak DM guide is for you. It has been updated with even more suggestions for running Dragon of Icespire Peak to give you the inspiration you need to make your campaign incredible.
16 Craft Relevan🐎t PC Motivations 𒈔In Session Zero
Out of all the tips for running Drꦦagon of Icespire Peak, this is one of the most important: Have a zero session. A session zero is essential for all campaigns, not just Dragon of Icespire Peak. Everyone must be on the same page about what to expect from the ca🧜mpaign.
Session zero is also an excellent way for the players to develop character concepts that fit well in the current setting and with one another's characters. So, when helping your players craft thei🤪r character backstories, it is a good idea to disc🐼uss potential motivations and goals that they could potentially fulfill while you're running Dragon♕ of Icespire Peak.
For example, do they know someone personally in Phandalin? This could be an old friend or mentor that has settled down in the town. But, by the time the party reaches Phandalin, perhaps they are missing. Having connections to the town is a great way to ensure you💫r players are genuinely invested in saving it. There are plenty of other character motivations you could help craft to fit with💯 this particular campaign.
Maybe one player character is seeking out dragon's blood for a ritual? Another could be an aspiring dragon slayer, determined to get vengeance for a dragon attack that destroyed their humble village. The more relevant the backstory and goals of the party, the easier it will be to get everyone invested in this noble quest.
15 ༺ Ensure 🍸An Exciting Start To The Campaign
A captivating opening scene is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:just as vital as a thrilling finale. The Essentials Kit does not have an exhilarating beginning. You simply arrive at Phandalin and soon check out the notice board for potential quests. There is no urgency or actual signs that the town is distressed over the arrival of a dragon and plenty of orcs. You want to grip your players from the very first session an𒐪d make it clear that their intervention is vital to save this town.
There are different ways you could begin the adventure excitingly. The party could encounter the dragon immediately when they are just at level one. It could attack the caravan they traveled with on the way to Phandalin. Alternatively, the party might make it into town when it is right in the middle of an orc invasion to clarify that threat.
You could jump right into one of the notice board quests by introducing it more dramatically. For example, the Umbrage Hill quest could be started by a terrified villager rushing up to the party and begging for them to save their friend Adabra from a manticore attackꦇing her at the windmill. Begin the adventure with something thrilling.
14 A𓂃dd More Exciting Encounters To The Travel
The D&D Icespire Peak adventure has a few encounters to play out with your players on the way to some of its locations. Still, they are usually relatively small and uneventful, such as finding a frozen dead orc. Since the module does not have a random encounter table, you can devise your own scenarios to make the journeys to each location more thrilling.
🌜Th🌸ere are lots of fun random encounters in the forest that you can incorporate into your adventure, such as bandit attacks and mysterious structures that seem out of place. Adding one or two encounters into the travel time between locations ensures a bit more surprise to the adventure. It can also help give y♉ou time to prep for an area, if necessary, by delaying the party’s arrival.
13 Give Reasons T🌳o Return To Locations
The Dragon Of Icespire Peak adventure 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:can feel quite episodic, which is fine if that is the style of campaign you are after. But, if you wish to avoid that one-shot feeling and want a more cohesive campaign, there are plenty of ways to do so. A great option is to give reasons for the party to want to return to the locations they have visited. This helps make the places feel more relevant to the overall story and is a great way to showcase how your player's actions have had good or bad consequences.
For example, perhaps they hear word that the gnomes of Gnomengarde have crafted some new magical items to aid the party in their quest, or perhaps after the Loggers’ Camp is up and running again, a new danger awakens that the party is requested to deal with. It's always fun for the party to hear how thei🎃r visit has since impacted a location.
12 Add More To Mountain's Toe Mine
Although Mountain's Toe Gold Mine can be a thrilling moment in the adventure, you can still do plenty of things to make it all the more exciting. Many rooms are uneventful on the map, so feel free to add a few surprises for the players to stumble upon. For example, perhaps one of the miners is sneaking around, trying to spy on the wererats, or maybe there are traps and alarm systems the party needs to avoid triggering. Additionally, the wererats have perhaps left the place to get infest🔜ed once mor🔯e with monsters lurking in the tunnels.
The wererats themselves are quite deadly due to their immunity to non-magical attacks, so provide your party with an opportunity to find silvered weapons on an earlier quest or to make the gang more open to negotiation. In the book, the wererats lie about 🎃being willing to leave the mine, meaning that a battle is inevitable. Instead, you coul🌜d make them more sympathetic and open to solutions.
Perhaps the wererats originally came to the mine peacefully, but the miners were skeptical and refused to shelter them. The wererats were desperate and had no choice but to fight their way in, leading to a battle neither side truly wanted to take place. It is up to the party to find a compromise that both sides will be happy with, but combat could break out at any moment 𒀰if they say the w♓rong thing.
11 Add Some Ur𒁃gency To The Dwarven Excavation๊ Quest
The Dwarven Excavation quest can technically be a pretty short adventure. After all, the main goal is just to warn Dazlyn and Norbus about the dragon threat, nothing more. There is a possibility the party will ignore the quest and leave in an anticlimactic fashion. To ensure your party is more likely to head inside, you have a perfect opportunity with the prospectors to add some thrilling urgency to the encounter.
Instead of both the prospectors eating lunch peacefully outside the entrance, perhaps the party witnesses just one of them rushing out. They spot the party and hurry over to them, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:their voice full of distress, as they frantically explain that their partner is trapped behind some rubble after a collapse. To make m𒀰atters worse, one of tꦍhe Ochre Jellies is trapped near them, too.
This adds a ticking clock to the encounter, building pressure and allowing the party to feel like trueℱ heroes. Additionally, the prospector outsid🍌e has one of the sending stones, so if the party wants the complete set, they'll need to rush in and save their partner before it is too late.
10 Incorporate Fizban's Treasury Of Dragons
Fizban's Treasury Of Dragons is unsurprisingly all about dragons. It has advice on portraying a dragon in your campaign to make it more than just a wild animal wreaking havoc. It also has dragon-specific items and spells that the party might find in Cryovain's hoard. Alternatively, they could hear about weapons, such ꧂as the Dragonlance, which deals additional damage to dragons. This would be a tremendous weapon to seek out before the final battle.
There is a bunch of exciting content in this sourcebook 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:that migh﷽t inspire 💝some more side quests for the party to get invested in during the adventure. For example, the book has different concepts for minions that the players might need to take out first before heading to defeat Cryovain. Even in character creation, new races, and draconic feats🌠 migh🦂t be fun for your players to try out during the campaign.
Since Dragon Of Icespire Peak is supposed to be a dragon-focused adventure, incorporating Fizban's Treasury will allow you to enhance the campaign with dragon lore and mysteries.
9 🐼 Have One-Off NPCs Return Later On In The Campaign ♈
The Essentials Kit campaign does not go into too much detail about the NPCs that you meet throughout the adventure. You need to add your own flair to the characters to bring them to life. For example, you could really play up the cowardice of the townmaster, Harbin Wester. Most of the characters the players meet throughout the campaign do not have much reason to show up again. It is a great idea to give them additional goals and ambitions to allow them to become regular characters.
Adabra Gwynn 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:could decide to move into town instead of staying behind, setting up a potion store that the party can frequent later. If the players manage to save the 𝐆townmaster's half-brother at the Logger's Camp, perhaps he works past his cowardly ways💟 and decides to run for townmaster to replace Harbin.
For a more exciting example, if the adventurers decide to bargain with the manticore on Umbrage Hill, perhaps it becomes an unexpected ally, showing up to help them during a more dire fight later. By giving the NPCs more agency, the players will feel that their interactions have a tangible impact on the world around them.
8 ꦅ Make Sure The Dragon Shows Up Throughout The Adventure
Having an unmemorable main villain of your adventure is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:something a DM should never do. It can be easy to forget about the dragon completely until the party feels ready to face it in its lair. Cryovain, the white dragon, can be quite an intimidating, scary encounter, especially early on. Have the dragon appear nearby when the party is trave🐻ling. It will keep the threat of the dragon in their minds.
You could also make sure Cryovian attacks Phandalin. The town could be in chaos right when the party returns from their latest quest. The party will need to save as many locals as possible and decide on a safer location for everyone to stay until the dragon threat is finally taken care of. This encounter will be intense for a low-level party but very memorable.
7 💎 Have Neverwinter Prepared
Although there is not much information available in the Essentials Kit about Neverwinter, its visibility on the map makes it incredibly likely that your players will want to visit for supplies. Be ready for a session in Neverwinter and make it more exciting than a shopping spree.
Perhaps the party will encounter a shop full of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:strange puzzles to overcome before they can buy anything, or they will meet an NPC that will help them with their quest. The city will be a clear contrast to the smaller locations in the rest of the adventure. Having Neverwinter prepared will help your players feel more iﷺmmersed in the world.
