The Frozen Stars (GM Reference)

[Ectar]

For the attack bonus, -1 because they are large.

[Ectar]

Dragonkin seem to have had their strength bumped up in their bestiary 5 reprint. In Distant Worlds they have 22 str, just like the AP.

[Ben the Red]

Does anyone know what the object near the northwest edge of Baba Yaga's Garden is? There's a trail leading up to it, but I can't find any mention in the area descriptions. If there's nothing on it, I'll just assume it is the outhouse.

[Ben the Red]

Does anyone know if there is a picture of Ivoryglass floating around. I like giving my players a visual and I haven't had luck on Google.

[Serum]

I think the only picture I have is the one in my mind, sorry.

[Dhrakken]

It seems this book in the RoW series has the least amount of posts on these forums and I'm wondering why that is? Did most people skip it, replace it with something else entirely or was it so uneventful that it's not worthy of comment?

I'm personally thinking of relocating this AP to Krynn but wondering if it's worth the effort.

[Serum]

I haven't gotten to it yet, and am still waffling as to whether or not to run it. There are a number of people on the previous page that said it's a good adventure, assuming you're okay with its only hook to the adventure as a whole being "Baba Yaga wants to test the PCs some more".

I'm trying to figure out a way to bring it more in line with the plot, but my current thought process (a triaxian in Artrosa wants to go home, so swaps out the keys) is still extremely tangential to the plot as a whole.

[Dhrakken]

I'm only starting book 2 in a 3 weeks so I still have time to decide but I want to start weaving in plot elements from it now. As I mentioned above, I'm thinking of using Krynn instead and as a means of foreshadowing a bit, while the party is still in Waldsby, there will be a night attack on the village led by Rohkar (he got away at the end of Snows) with a force of Draconians (Baaz and Kapak) to level the town. Reinforcements came in late to help him at the Pale Tower...

It will be interesting to see the reaction from the players once their weapons get stuck in the "lizard mens" bodies...

[Serum]

Seems like it could work if you know how Rokhar manages to get in contact with aliens from a different solar system/galaxy.

[Dhrakken]

It won't be Rokhar, Elvanna has made an alliance with a powerful being on Krynn to supply her with Draconian troops.

[ryschwith]

I relocated it to the Wormwood setting from Rifts, but mostly just reskinned everything and kept the stats the same. As far as story connection, I took it not so much as Baba Yaga testing the PCs as simply they they're retracing her route and she stopped here to check on her winter engines. Those are mentioned but not addressed anywhere in the module; if you wanted to tie it in more storywise, I'd suggest starting there.

[Cap'n Coal]

My party is still in Whitethrone. I will have them learn of a secret meeting between the witches and mysterious new allies and might throw in an encounter with dragonriders somewhere along the way.

[Manuelexar]

I did run this the first time but I think that this time I'm gonna replace it with something else, maybe I'll run a module like academy of secrets between the third and fifth books this is my idea: Baba Yaga placed a book somewhere in the special place in the academy and they need as an ingredient to go to earth.

[Lintecarka]

One idea I had while playing this (as written) was that it could work well enough as an attack on Whitethrone as well. Our group was pretty attached to the events there and it felt like a wasted opportunity to just abandon the city.

Basically in the alternate version the players attack Elvannas palace (mostly using the siege from the attackers perspective). They don't find her, but some messages she exchanged with a mysterious ally (Rasputin), as well as a description of the keys required to get there.

Make it so that one of the keys is guarded by some northern tribe (replaces the attack on the commander after the siege) and one guarded by a powerful dragon (you guess it).

This creates a stronger connection to the main plot, while also giving your players some more agency. I feel like directly opposing Elvannas forces would have done a lot to motivate us.
Connecting book 3 to all of this is as easy as saying the players visit the megadungeon to find a way of removing some protection magic Baba Yaga placed on the palace.

[Ectar]

My party didn't have enough fly to go around, so they teleported into Spurhorn, having been warned by Bescaylie and Efrixis that it was going to fail. But, the NPC pair decided that whatever happened, it was likely better if they were with the PCs.

However, I find the teleport trap to be REALLY lame. If any legionnaire is with the PCs, they know the answer. If that's the case, I really feel like this teleport trap situation would've been figured out by now. So, I'm making it harder. The lore question will remain more or less unchanged, except the specific names will be different. But on top of that, I bought a blank slide puzzle and wrote the names on the tiles, one letter per tile, and jumbled them up.
So the NPCs will still provide the names, but the players will have to solve the puzzle.
And if they get stuck or frustrated, I threw a Displacing Stone inside the golem. So if they kill it, it can move the 20000 lb stone away for a minute.

[Translucent Wolf]

My group was also lacking in 'Fly'. So, they sent Bescaylie, Efrixis, and a group member ahead to inform the defenders that the rest of the group would be teleporting in.

This allowed a delegation of defenders to be waiting at the trap when the group arrived, thus avoiding the golem fight.

[PutAShrimpOnTheBarbarian]

Does Spurhorn need to be so absurdly large? It's breaking my player's games when they try to load it.

[Tikael]

PutAShrimpOnTheBarbarian wrote:

Does Spurhorn need to be so absurdly large? It's breaking my player's games when they try to load it.

It's also not an area they would really explore unless they choose to join the attackers. I'm just dropping it entirely and am using some maps from elsewhere.

[raintoad]

Has anyone run this with a group of Rick & Morty fans after their episode with a take on Dragonriders of Pern aired? I have a feeling it would really change the vibe of some of the book, and GMs who don't want it going too silly might want to consider just not bringing up the bonding thing if they have players who really like the show.

[Tusk the Half-Orc]

My group is just starting this book, and I’m looking forward to it as a light chaser after the unrelenting grimdarkawfulness of book 3.

[JankInTheTank]

Hey all! just starting this book (though we are converting to 2e for this game)

As I've found for the other modules in this AP, there is a serious lack of maps! pretty much any combat that isn't in the Hut intro or in Ivoryglass has nothing...

What are you all using for maps? Looking for some good maps to use on Roll20 for the encounters on the way to Spurhorn, during the siege fights and in the drakelands.

[Warped Savant]

I did a google search for "Pathfinder winter map" "D&D winter map"... probably used "snow" instead of winter as well....
The camp, I just used a big map of an army camp I found that I liked and told the players to pretend there was snow.

[Stormcrow1618]

Question about the keys to the Dancing Hut that lead to Triaxus, but first a little prefacing:

Each pair of keys is clearly related in some way to the destination. For example: the lock of a frost giant’s beard is a reference to the frost giants that inhabit Iobaria (and Kostchtchie in particular), and the plague doctor’s mask is a reference to the constant plagues that have ravaged Iobaria for the entirety of its known history; the two-headed eagle is a reference to Imperial Russia’s coat of arms, and the bearskin is a reference to the Russian bear symbol that has been in use since the 16th century; the keys to Triaxus are a blue dragonscale and a gold nugget.

On one hand, the dragonscale is obvious (Triaxus is dominated by dragons and dragonkin), but why blue? What specifically about blue dragons and their kin would specifically lead the hut to plop down on Triaxus? Wouldn’t a white dragonscale make more sense? And why a gold nugget? That’s the one key out of the six that I *really* can’t figure out at all. I’ve read through the entire AP multiple times, and I feel like I’m missing something obvious.

Having the keys make logical sense (if only in retrospect) would really enhance the feeling of verisimilitude for my players that are deep in the lore, and eventually might lead to them trying to determine the keys to other destinations beyond the scope of this adventure, which I would encourage.

[Scimmy]

I am running this book currently and I am very confused on how access to Ivoryglass works. I know there is a long and deep shaft that leads to the fortress but is that an opening in front of the fortress? It says the fortress sits in the moulin itself but the only entrance to the fortress is D1. So in my mind the circular slab of pale stone supports a smaller version of the full glacier and the inside has been hollowed into the rooms of the palace. But I feel like every time I read a description of it all it contradicts itself.

Any insight?

[Marcovic]

That is exactly how a see it.

A long and wide vertical chimney carved by melting glacier water. At the botom lies a slab of pale stone and on top of it sits a giant carved block of ice, ivorystone.

[Fiendish Dire Weasel]

Hey all - I hope someone sees this soon, I know this is an old AP but my group and I are just now getting to it.

Anyway my party is in the crevasse and making their way to Ivoryglass. They are following Baknarla and all seems to be going well. But I'm having a disconnect and it's not making sense to me.

The whole point (apart from the dragon bane longspear) of taking the Crevasse is that it gives them a "back door" entrance to the Dragon's fortress. But when they arrive there it just says they make it to the southern edge of the moulin... which is a solid wall. So then what? they have to go over to the front entrance? Which solved what exactly?

What am I missing?

[The_Mothman]

Fiendish Dire Weasel wrote:

Hey all - I hope someone sees this soon, I know this is an old AP but my group and I are just now getting to it.

Anyway my party is in the crevasse and making their way to Ivoryglass. They are following Baknarla and all seems to be going well. But I'm having a disconnect and it's not making sense to me.

The whole point (apart from the dragon bane longspear) of taking the Crevasse is that it gives them a "back door" entrance to the Dragon's fortress. But when they arrive there it just says they make it to the southern edge of the moulin... which is a solid wall. So then what? they have to go over to the front entrance? Which solved what exactly?

What am I missing?

As I understand it Yrax has a number of armies and agents on the march and on patrol in the area. He would want to resume the siege as soon as possible afterall and the adventure makes it sound like he has a lot of resources to throw around. Taking the Crevasse is a backdoor in the sense that it avoids these patrols and the bulk of Yrax's army but does not necessarily mean they don't still have to go through the front entrance. Though it has been a while since I prepped to run this book so I may be misremembering.

[Fiendish Dire Weasel]

The_Mothman wrote:

As I understand it Yrax has a number of armies and agents on the march and on patrol in the area. He would want to resume the siege as soon as possible afterall and the adventure makes it sound like he has a lot of resources to throw around. Taking the Crevasse is a backdoor in the sense that it avoids these patrols and the bulk of Yrax's army but does not necessarily mean they don't still have to go through the front entrance. Though it has been a while since I prepped to run this book so I may be misremembering.

Right, they do miss some of the patrols, but then still have to fight the creatures in the Crevasse... doesn't really seem like it helps them much.

But that's the way it looks to me too. I don't see alternative but walking right up to the front door, and either bluffing or fighting their way through.

I will read it again before everyone arrives this evening.

[Warped Savant]

Going through the crevasse allows the PCs to bypass a veritable army of evil dragonkin.
They're going deep behind enemy lines and having to fight everything you come across would surely do the group in.

[Solomani]

I have not read this entire thread yet, but I have read the adventure. I was toying with the idea of actually making this a desert world or even Mars/Barsoom. Or potentially a Dark Sun visit. I thought it would be a nice change from all the winter, and both Barsoom/Dark Sun are interesting settings.

For context, I run my games on Earth (Dying Earh-type setting, distant future) so Mars is an option as are any other planet/moons in our system.