Welcome to the sixth set of game notes of our The Rime of Frost Maiden campaign from a player’s perspective. We’ll discuss the pre-game, the session itself, the post-game and what I’m taking into the next session in each of these posts. The aim is to provide a diary of the experience from a player’s perspective.
Disclaimer
These posts are written from the perspective of a player who has purposefully not looked up spoilers. I am enjoying the game. These thoughts are my own and I can’t speak for my fellow players.
These reports are written close to the session but may not be released immediately after.
The sections
The pre-game
Sometimes, despite the fact that it’s only a game, it’s possible to be disappointed with yourself. Some people will find this weird, I find it entirely logical as the experience at the table is a creative one. When looking through that lens it’s possible to be disappointed with your creative efforts.
Not soul-destroying disappointment, just irritated with yourself disappointment.
The idea for session three was to start forming more meaningful character connections and overtly get more flashbacks in since that seemed to be the established way to bring character narrative in.
I didn’t do it. So, I’m disappointed in myself because I’m allowing it to become a passive experience.
Key points
The session had the following key points: –
- We arrived at the town of Termalaine
- One of the group is off to Lonelywood in the back of a suspicious merchant cart
- A mine had been overrun by Kobolds and the quest was to clean it out
- A loved how the mine was built around a shaft to the Underdark
- The lead Kolbold was more intelligent, why? Was the ghost?
- A ghost attacked from the lead Kobold, but that was all we know
- There was a cool creature, a Grell, I assume from deep within the shaft
- We descended, tried to talk to things but failed – so we killed everything
- There was a skull with some sort of Psionic Crystal
I’m actually starting to think something is going on with these adventures.
The session
Something happened for the first time during this session. What I took away from the session was what it could have been not what I experienced. I loved the structure of the mine. I thought that was genius.
I felt this should have been like when they descend into the caves in The 13th Warrior. Shadows. A bit confined. Kobolds providing a constant, if not an immediately dangerous, threat. The sense of The Grell as a thing, Alien-style, before it’s actually seen. Tension. The drama around whatever was going on with the Kobold leader and the dynamic of the Kobolds and The Grell and how the heroes change that dynamic ‘just by entering the situation’.
I mention this because it is these situations and the protagonists entering them as a force of change that triggers opportunities for the players to insert and author stuff in response.
The post-game
It’s interesting following the no spoilers experience for a pre-written adventure, as you’re never sure how what makes it to the table represents what’s in the adventure. I think there was more to this one.
The leader of the Kobolds seemed to be something interesting. He was possessed, yet all the ghost seemed to do what pop out and deliver a low hanging fruit age inducing attack. I don’t get it, surely the ghost wanted something and was at least part of the reason they were in the mine?
The Grell was awesome. I assume it had risen from the bottomless cavern. A literal ‘Balrog-like creature’ from the depths. How were the Kobolds interacting with it? It could silently float (so also no terrain issues), paralyse people and float away with them. In a cave complex. That is terrifying.
There was an atmosphere, an ominous presence, a mystery and some drama in that mine, I’m sure of it, yet you can’t engage with what isn’t present. I may be wrong, but if I am, it verges on being gaslit by the potential of what I imagine was there.
Stars and Wishes
At the end of each session, we can list stars (things to keep doing) and wishes (things we want to see).
None were provided.
Plans for the next session
I’m starting to think I’ve taken the wrong approach with the character. Instead of doing my usual thing of a kernel of a ‘situation as background’, a signal of what the story is about and then playing to find out I should have created a more general character.
A character with a few shticks or quirks, stick to being an actual half-orc, keep it to simple interactions. I think that would fit into the experience as presented better. I’ve made this mistake before with published adventures so I was aware of keeping the character rather innocuous with respect to the pre-written adventure.
I did try to adopt an approach that matched up to the recommendation to use the ideals, bonds and flaws stuff and the approach to D&D manifesto.
As for the next session? No idea. I have 11 days as of writing this so maybe I’ll figure something out!