Spoilers for the upcoming Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden adventure ahead.
The Forgotten Realms will soon feature villains that can change into stronger forms over the course of a battle, as Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden will use a multi-stage boss battle.
In , enemies generally don't gain new abilities after taking damage. This is a trope that is more common in anime and video games, such as Frieza in Dragon Ball Z or the end bosses of the Final Fantasy franchise. The 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons had a condition called "Bloodied," which activated when a PC or enemy dropped to half of their total hit points, resulting in a shift in abilities or tactics, but they generally didn't turn into a ne𓆉w form.
It seems that Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden will use a villain who changes form over the course of the battle. A recent preview of the adventure in Dragon+ (via ) revealed that the adventurꦺe will feature a boss that changes form several times. Th🃏e identity of the boss will be revealed below the image.
The players will have to face off against three aspects of Auril, the goddess of ice and winter. The first form is the horned owl creature that is seen on the꧒ cover of the book, the second is a woman made of shards of ice, and the final form is the "Winter Womb" which is a gemstone that contains Auril's essence.
The idea of D&D bosses gaining new abilities mid-battle was recently introduced in Mythic Odysseys of Theros, as monsters can possess the "Mythic" trait, allowing them to shift tactics when certain conditions are met, such as dropping it to the zero hit points. Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden is the first time that it will be used in an official campaign, seeing as Mythic Odysseys of Theros was only released in June. The Mythic trait has been received positively by fans and it's likely that we'll see more of it with significant combat encounters in ꧒fut൩ure adventures.
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden will be released on September 15, 2020.
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