Released as the first part of the Plague of Ancients series for the D&D Adventurers League, The Frozen North starts a group of new characters lost in the frozen wilderness after an avalanche and sends them on a desperate chase for survival. A four-hour adventure for level 1 or 2 characters, this is the second introductory adventure for Season 10, after Ice Road Trackers.
As with many DDAL adventures, it is primarily linear in form. The characters get presented with a situation which they need to solve, then another one, then another one, until the finale. The adventure has a good mix of combat, exploration, and puzzles but is mostly lacking in role-playing opportunities. That is to say, role-playing with NPCs. The situation lends itself to role-playing between party members, which is something I prefer.
The adventure wants you to play up the horror elements. So each chapter identifies the themes it is designed around. Fear, paranoia, isolation – these are all things the designers would like the player characters (and, I guess, the players) to experience. And there are some events explicitly designed to raise the tension and work horrifyingly.
But all of this can go wrong.
Horror requires buy-in from the players. It requires them to engage with the adventure in a different way than is usual in DDAL adventures. I note that there is nothing of this horror in Ice Road Trackers. And it can very easily tip into comedy, as indeed it did when I ran The Frozen North. So, while the adventure is full of wonderful encounters and environments, the horror element may not work for your group. (If, indeed, you want a horror element at all).
The adventure includes a little bit of collaborative designing with the players. Early on in the scenario, the characters rescue three NPCs, who then accompany them afterwards. Upon saving them, the players name the NPCs and choose their race and possibly their martial role. The adventure details their personalities and goals. I am a little conflicted by this, as it takes the players out of the situation to do this – it is a break from the horror of their position, and not all players are comfortable with this sort of collaboration. (My preference would be to do all of this before the action starts at the start of the session).
The other element that breaks the tension is a logic puzzle. When you have a puzzle consisting of interpreting clues to fill out a grid, you ask the players to solve something rather than their characters. I enjoy puzzles – and this is a nice one – but I think it is out of place here, especially with the attention given to atmospheric elements.
With those caveats in mind, The Frozen North has an excellent selection of challenges for the players. They must race against time to save their companions, cross the frozen wilderness to a place of shelter, and explore a strange cave system while a dreadful monster hunts them.
It is nice to see the foreshadowing of the final encounter. The adventure is also full of little details the characters can discover. While it might be difficult maintaining the tone, the scenario gives you every chance with its descriptive text to do so.
This adventure is full of tips for running it, although these primarily aim to highlight rules for new DMs rather than provide suggestions for running encounters.
At times, the descriptions of the areas are a bit imprecise. I particularly noticed this in the opening section when the avalanche rolls down a mountainside towards the players, but then they are suddenly a long way from the mountain. How far did the avalanche sweep them? And how big is the valley? Likewise, I have no idea what peril faces the Expert if he keeps searching for his flask. (The text notes that the Expert dies after four rounds). But most of the text is clear and presents no problem in running it.
The scenario is definitely the first part of a series; the adventure ends with the immediate danger passed, but the characters have only just begun their journey – which will continue in Gnashing Teeth.
When I will have a chance to run the next part is anyone’s guess, as we got locked down a couple of days after I ran The Frozen North.
Overall, I like a lot of The Frozen North. It works as a standard (non-horror) scenario and can also be an atmospheric horror adventure with the right group – assuming you adapt some of the pieces that might take you out of the mood. Recommended!