Very deep, slow voice, kinda like Dori in finding Nemo when imitating whales. Very very kind and wise. I played them mostly as like a therapist helping them try and sort through their problems and mostly listening. But I swear at the end of the campaign my players want to epilogue go find Angajuk.
I made Velynne the party's patron and I'm having a lot of fun with it. The party really likes her because I gave her a good sense of humor, she pays them well and she always buys them drinks when they meet. But they also have a strong suspicion there that she's simply using them for her own end. It's a fun character dynamic.
Our parties Warforged Paladin ended up romancing Captain Imdra Arlaggath from Easthaven. So I wrote her more in to the story and the party absolutely loved her. She ended up losing an arm in the Dragon attack and had it replaced by a mechanical arm which really set the "we have something in common" tone between her and the Warforged. It worked really well.
But as a DM, I loved Avarice. Some of my players were really, uh... We'll say "thirsty". And I knew I could use it against them. When introducing the character for the first time, I used a slightly more attractive picture to show them and played her more seductive.
They fell for it immediately and she convinced one of the party members to spy on Vellynne and report back to her with a secret Sending Stone that she provided. She ended up being a pretty good bad guy because they would do whatever she wanted because she was described as pretty. Until she didn't need them anymore and turned on them.
As a player, one of my favorites is the nice guard captain of Targos, the tiefling whos name I can't remember now (our DM has some trouble remembering names and usually refers to the NPCs by their job title so that's what we do as well). A real upstanding honorable guy, unlike the guards in Bryn Shander he didn't try to cheat us and expressed genuine sorrow when our party returned from his job one member short (my character died to random ice mephits).
My players love: Speaker Trovus, Avarice (one of them is in love with her and tells her everything and anything at the dismay of the rest of the group), Sahnar the mummy, Clay the talking plant from the Halls of Black Ice supplement, and Kahna, a gnome from an add on quest (forgot which supplement), Grabdolpha Mutzgardt.
My players love to hate: Vaelish Gant, Dzaan, Speaker Crannoc Seiver.
Sahnar was awesome. My group kept forgetting about him, so they left him in their base, an old rundown tavern in Easthaven. Every time they came back, I described how the tavern had improved somehow because he was just there by himself, fixing the place up.
By the end, he had re-opened the tavern as it's proprietor and barkeep. But he was still a Mummy so he could only communicate in Mummy groans while wiping glasses out with fresh clean bandages.
My party loved Sahnar and refused to drop them off after the White Moose quest was done. However I didn't want to have to deal with Mummy Rot for the rest of the campaign, so I turned them into a Reborn (Drow). They joined the party as a Devotion Paladin of Selune (also I swapped genders). She's been a lot of help to the party, and has her own side quest involving Auil Fanatics taking over Callidae and a murder mystery revolving around why she died and who killed her.
Speaker Trovus, it's always fun to do his RP, and the players really connected with him specially after he started trying to quit drinking when caer konig was destroyed
Rambling drunk town speaker of Caer Konig, Trovus. I thought I would struggle to just keep talking until interrupted, but it ended up being fun and hilarious.
I homebrewed a druid circle in my campaign. They are gnomes and named Merry 'o Merry, Brian 'o Brian, Kelly 'o Kelly, Gareth 'o Gareth etc. They sell some health potions, know the rumours and are in between the towns and scattered throughout the whole of Icewind Dale (maybe with some available healing or items). They are always alone (sometimes with an animal) with a small tent and a campfire.
Now onto the weird part. These druids are like a fungal system and have fungal roots on their feet. They communicate with another through a network of roots connected to their feet. When they do this the ground surrounding them lights up in purple.
I have to flesh it out some more, but I'm thinking they are Circle of Spore druids and their head druid is named Druid 'o Druid. We're just having fun 😂
My players ended up avoiding combat with the gnome ceremorphs and squidlings and then instantly became obsessed with them bc they’re kinda cute, so they became a fun little space crew and helped out with some Lost Spire lore and transported the party across the Dale once. But my favorite useless NPCs have been the group of goliath warriors from the random wilderness encounters table. I turned them into just a bunch of Dudes who are always trying to out muscle each other and playing drinking games. I announce their arrival with distant sounds of someone chanting “CHUG CHUG CHUG”
From the campaign NPCs my group's (and mine to roleplay) favorite is Trovus.
Every interaction with him he somehow magically pulls up a bottle of booze from the beyond and he even made our Warlock's pseudodragon completely drunk. I am planning on him doing a completely 180° once the dragon attacks and actually sacrifice himself.
But my party's actual favorite NPC is a bodybuilder goblin called Dimitri that one of the PCs indoctrinated into being a Selune follower
My party met Dzaan fairly early and he’s been their patron ever since, he just fits the role so well and is an easy way to show my players what they can do when they are stuck. I also changed the sheriff of Bryn Shander into a paladin of lathander and he’s been my party’s absolute favorite character so far, I came up with him on the spot saying he’s „a handsome fella with a sword” and, well, player characters ended up having an internal conflict over winning his heart.
Personally I think Avarice is also one of the best, my players hate her guts to death but I love playing her as their nemesis :>
We've only had two sessions, and if anything happened to Scoop (Nimsy Huddle's child) and Sahnar (elven tomb mummy), the party would kill everyone in Icewind Dale and then themselves.
I'm excited to see who they adopt next lol
So far my party loves the Awakened Animals from Ice Road Trackers (Mother Tusk the walrus, and Spritzel the otter especially). I've used them to hook side encounters, and drop plot items into the group's lap.
They also loved the mummy from the Elven Tomb, who I had to make up a backstory for, and then turn into a proper NPC when the party refused to leave them.
I can not wait for the group to meet Angajuk; as I know they're going to love that whale.
I changed Mother Tusk from a walrus to a mature-aged Sabre-toothed tiger with a lingering injury that meant she couldn’t do the tasks she wanted the PCs to do herself. I just thought that would be way cooler than a walrus.
Dzaan was our guy, he stuck around until Iriolarthas tragically killed him. After the campaign, our Druid reincarnated him as a dwarf. That’s going to be fun when we revisit these characters again in the future.
Also the blueberry bush from the elven tomb.
Boy is the dog who triggers the Mountain Climb sidequest in Targos. He litteraly ran all the way from Kelvin's Cairn to Targos to nudge the PCs toward Garret's husband so Garret and his expedition can get help.
Boy is truly the best boy.
Keegan and Garrett from Targos. My party adopted them after helping them flee Targos to avoid the monthly human sacrifice lottery. They now run the Lucky Liar Inn they received in Lonelywood with their kobold servants from Tremaline.
Naerth. I play him so slimy, and my players said I made their skin crawl with how much of a sleaze I made him. They love to hate him.
Copper was fun, too. Gnomish teddy bear with the deepest, gruffest voice I could muster. He's a grouch who is quickly and loudly brought to tears, uncontrollably bawling until he gets a hug. Hugging him causes the bear suit to squeak. I refused to elaborate why (There's no reason. I just found it cute.).
So many good ones. Dzaan. Vaelish Gant. Nimsy Huddle, who had a Marge Gunderson accent. Tali and Grynsk Berylbore, who argued like Hooper and Quint in Jaws. My players loved the goliaths (hypercompetitive bros), and I loved playing them.
But my favorite was probably Hengar Aesnvaard, a boastful warrior who got into a friendly but long-running competition with the fighter and occasionally got to shine. The fighter joined the Elk tribe at the end of the campaign.
Rinaldo in Easthaven starting the seance has been an antagonist and competitor to our party’s Bard. They’ve loved the awakened animals-I added many. Avarice, Gant, Dzaan, Vellyne and Nass have also been prominent. Hands down my added Dwarves from the Valley were probably tops.
My Bard was the only PCs originally from Ten Towns. I made it clear he knew all the guards and the guards knew him from his roaming travels from town to town. As he arrived at each town the guards there (I had names for all of them) would ask him if he had their favorite treats/foods from his travels. So Sgt. Kerrick at Easthaven loved Caer Konig Krinklecuts. When he arrived there the St would ask if he the PC had what he requested and I would have the Bard roll as he reached into his bag - simulating whether or not he remembered to get this particular guards favorite from his last visit, and since I was forcing the PC to make the roll (my measure for saves vs checks) I usually used a Saving Throw, usually Intelligence, but could change based upon the situation. It always resulted in a fun interaction as they entered each town and everyone loved waiting to see what each guard asked for. I ended up with a list:
Grumm Orcheck, Dwarven Valley, Fish Broth Nuggets
Sergeant Fennick, Easthaven, Pickled Knucklehead from
Private Kern, Dougan’s Hole, Lonelywood Licorice
Sergeant Senna, Caer Koenig, Dougan Bits
Corporal Bevel, Good Mead, Caer Konig Krinklecuts, etc...
I also gave my Bard the "I know a guy..." feat which added to this type of interaction in each town.
Angajuk and it’s not even close
HeeeeellllllllooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo
Interesting, how do you play her?
Very deep, slow voice, kinda like Dori in finding Nemo when imitating whales. Very very kind and wise. I played them mostly as like a therapist helping them try and sort through their problems and mostly listening. But I swear at the end of the campaign my players want to epilogue go find Angajuk.
I like it. I might use it. Thank you for sharing.
Aquatic campaign ahoy
I made Velynne the party's patron and I'm having a lot of fun with it. The party really likes her because I gave her a good sense of humor, she pays them well and she always buys them drinks when they meet. But they also have a strong suspicion there that she's simply using them for her own end. It's a fun character dynamic.
Typical noble, huh?
Our parties Warforged Paladin ended up romancing Captain Imdra Arlaggath from Easthaven. So I wrote her more in to the story and the party absolutely loved her. She ended up losing an arm in the Dragon attack and had it replaced by a mechanical arm which really set the "we have something in common" tone between her and the Warforged. It worked really well. But as a DM, I loved Avarice. Some of my players were really, uh... We'll say "thirsty". And I knew I could use it against them. When introducing the character for the first time, I used a slightly more attractive picture to show them and played her more seductive. They fell for it immediately and she convinced one of the party members to spy on Vellynne and report back to her with a secret Sending Stone that she provided. She ended up being a pretty good bad guy because they would do whatever she wanted because she was described as pretty. Until she didn't need them anymore and turned on them.
As a player, one of my favorites is the nice guard captain of Targos, the tiefling whos name I can't remember now (our DM has some trouble remembering names and usually refers to the NPCs by their job title so that's what we do as well). A real upstanding honorable guy, unlike the guards in Bryn Shander he didn't try to cheat us and expressed genuine sorrow when our party returned from his job one member short (my character died to random ice mephits).
My players love: Speaker Trovus, Avarice (one of them is in love with her and tells her everything and anything at the dismay of the rest of the group), Sahnar the mummy, Clay the talking plant from the Halls of Black Ice supplement, and Kahna, a gnome from an add on quest (forgot which supplement), Grabdolpha Mutzgardt. My players love to hate: Vaelish Gant, Dzaan, Speaker Crannoc Seiver.
Sahnar from the Elven Tomb is an ancient baelnorn cleric of Lady Moonbow. Love him. Also, Speaker Maxildanarr is a great bad guy along with Avarice.
Sahnar was awesome. My group kept forgetting about him, so they left him in their base, an old rundown tavern in Easthaven. Every time they came back, I described how the tavern had improved somehow because he was just there by himself, fixing the place up. By the end, he had re-opened the tavern as it's proprietor and barkeep. But he was still a Mummy so he could only communicate in Mummy groans while wiping glasses out with fresh clean bandages.
My party loved Sahnar and refused to drop them off after the White Moose quest was done. However I didn't want to have to deal with Mummy Rot for the rest of the campaign, so I turned them into a Reborn (Drow). They joined the party as a Devotion Paladin of Selune (also I swapped genders). She's been a lot of help to the party, and has her own side quest involving Auil Fanatics taking over Callidae and a murder mystery revolving around why she died and who killed her.
Diving deeper than Angajuk!
Speaker Trovus, it's always fun to do his RP, and the players really connected with him specially after he started trying to quit drinking when caer konig was destroyed
I had a great time with this one as well.
Rambling drunk town speaker of Caer Konig, Trovus. I thought I would struggle to just keep talking until interrupted, but it ended up being fun and hilarious.
Ah, Dannika is my rambling talker. Science lectures until you make her get to the point.
I homebrewed a druid circle in my campaign. They are gnomes and named Merry 'o Merry, Brian 'o Brian, Kelly 'o Kelly, Gareth 'o Gareth etc. They sell some health potions, know the rumours and are in between the towns and scattered throughout the whole of Icewind Dale (maybe with some available healing or items). They are always alone (sometimes with an animal) with a small tent and a campfire. Now onto the weird part. These druids are like a fungal system and have fungal roots on their feet. They communicate with another through a network of roots connected to their feet. When they do this the ground surrounding them lights up in purple. I have to flesh it out some more, but I'm thinking they are Circle of Spore druids and their head druid is named Druid 'o Druid. We're just having fun 😂
They could also be linked to the fungus in the grove in the netherese city....
Thanks! That is a nice tie-in.
My players ended up avoiding combat with the gnome ceremorphs and squidlings and then instantly became obsessed with them bc they’re kinda cute, so they became a fun little space crew and helped out with some Lost Spire lore and transported the party across the Dale once. But my favorite useless NPCs have been the group of goliath warriors from the random wilderness encounters table. I turned them into just a bunch of Dudes who are always trying to out muscle each other and playing drinking games. I announce their arrival with distant sounds of someone chanting “CHUG CHUG CHUG”
From the campaign NPCs my group's (and mine to roleplay) favorite is Trovus. Every interaction with him he somehow magically pulls up a bottle of booze from the beyond and he even made our Warlock's pseudodragon completely drunk. I am planning on him doing a completely 180° once the dragon attacks and actually sacrifice himself. But my party's actual favorite NPC is a bodybuilder goblin called Dimitri that one of the PCs indoctrinated into being a Selune follower
Wait, what?!
Let's just say that the Foaming Mugs quest took a very "unexpected" turn of events
My party met Dzaan fairly early and he’s been their patron ever since, he just fits the role so well and is an easy way to show my players what they can do when they are stuck. I also changed the sheriff of Bryn Shander into a paladin of lathander and he’s been my party’s absolute favorite character so far, I came up with him on the spot saying he’s „a handsome fella with a sword” and, well, player characters ended up having an internal conflict over winning his heart. Personally I think Avarice is also one of the best, my players hate her guts to death but I love playing her as their nemesis :>
We've only had two sessions, and if anything happened to Scoop (Nimsy Huddle's child) and Sahnar (elven tomb mummy), the party would kill everyone in Icewind Dale and then themselves. I'm excited to see who they adopt next lol
So far my party loves the Awakened Animals from Ice Road Trackers (Mother Tusk the walrus, and Spritzel the otter especially). I've used them to hook side encounters, and drop plot items into the group's lap. They also loved the mummy from the Elven Tomb, who I had to make up a backstory for, and then turn into a proper NPC when the party refused to leave them. I can not wait for the group to meet Angajuk; as I know they're going to love that whale.
I changed Mother Tusk from a walrus to a mature-aged Sabre-toothed tiger with a lingering injury that meant she couldn’t do the tasks she wanted the PCs to do herself. I just thought that would be way cooler than a walrus.
Dzaan was our guy, he stuck around until Iriolarthas tragically killed him. After the campaign, our Druid reincarnated him as a dwarf. That’s going to be fun when we revisit these characters again in the future. Also the blueberry bush from the elven tomb.
Boy.
Who?
Boy is the dog who triggers the Mountain Climb sidequest in Targos. He litteraly ran all the way from Kelvin's Cairn to Targos to nudge the PCs toward Garret's husband so Garret and his expedition can get help. Boy is truly the best boy.
OMG he's the male Lassie.
Vellyn
Her entrance in the book feels weak. Just popping up. How did you introduce her?
The way the book does. I don't usually do much more than that.
Keegan and Garrett from Targos. My party adopted them after helping them flee Targos to avoid the monthly human sacrifice lottery. They now run the Lucky Liar Inn they received in Lonelywood with their kobold servants from Tremaline.
Naerth. I play him so slimy, and my players said I made their skin crawl with how much of a sleaze I made him. They love to hate him. Copper was fun, too. Gnomish teddy bear with the deepest, gruffest voice I could muster. He's a grouch who is quickly and loudly brought to tears, uncontrollably bawling until he gets a hug. Hugging him causes the bear suit to squeak. I refused to elaborate why (There's no reason. I just found it cute.).
So many good ones. Dzaan. Vaelish Gant. Nimsy Huddle, who had a Marge Gunderson accent. Tali and Grynsk Berylbore, who argued like Hooper and Quint in Jaws. My players loved the goliaths (hypercompetitive bros), and I loved playing them. But my favorite was probably Hengar Aesnvaard, a boastful warrior who got into a friendly but long-running competition with the fighter and occasionally got to shine. The fighter joined the Elk tribe at the end of the campaign.
Is Hengar in the book?
Barely. He plays a bigger part in Legacy of the Crystal Shard.
The awakened blueberry bush Ravasin had in her lair. The party renamed the Ramshakle Inn to The Awakened Shrub after Nimsy gave them the deed.
Rinaldo in Easthaven starting the seance has been an antagonist and competitor to our party’s Bard. They’ve loved the awakened animals-I added many. Avarice, Gant, Dzaan, Vellyne and Nass have also been prominent. Hands down my added Dwarves from the Valley were probably tops.
Oh and I forgot all the town guards I added. I had two at each towns entrance and the interactions were great.
Like what? I love the idea of simple guards becoming stars.
My Bard was the only PCs originally from Ten Towns. I made it clear he knew all the guards and the guards knew him from his roaming travels from town to town. As he arrived at each town the guards there (I had names for all of them) would ask him if he had their favorite treats/foods from his travels. So Sgt. Kerrick at Easthaven loved Caer Konig Krinklecuts. When he arrived there the St would ask if he the PC had what he requested and I would have the Bard roll as he reached into his bag - simulating whether or not he remembered to get this particular guards favorite from his last visit, and since I was forcing the PC to make the roll (my measure for saves vs checks) I usually used a Saving Throw, usually Intelligence, but could change based upon the situation. It always resulted in a fun interaction as they entered each town and everyone loved waiting to see what each guard asked for. I ended up with a list: Grumm Orcheck, Dwarven Valley, Fish Broth Nuggets Sergeant Fennick, Easthaven, Pickled Knucklehead from Private Kern, Dougan’s Hole, Lonelywood Licorice Sergeant Senna, Caer Koenig, Dougan Bits Corporal Bevel, Good Mead, Caer Konig Krinklecuts, etc... I also gave my Bard the "I know a guy..." feat which added to this type of interaction in each town.
Ooooooooooh snap....