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12 Days of Midwinter, Designed by Emily Smith (@EmilyJeaSmith)
Beautiful and magical cover from the always wonderful Gwen Bassett (@gwendybee)
Professional Layout and Graphic Design by Travis Legge (@TravisLegge)
So many wonderful creators came together to produce a truly spectacular anthology of Midwinter magic. 12 adventures, a new Midwinter Magic Surge Table, as well as new Midwinter Trinkets and Magic Items, make one bumper collection of awesomeness.
I wanted to choose one of the 12 days at random for my first review and asked partner to roll, but instead she just shouted 7 at me, so I’m beginning there. With further reviews being added when I can.
Mayhem at Midwinter by Andy Dempz (@AndyDempz)
Seven Swans to Slaughter
A striking image of a Drow with flowing white hair, black robes and a gleaming sword, stark against the grey of the temple and white of snow captures the deadly beauty of this adventure with its monochrome shades of grey.
“A celebration of peace is threatened both overtly and covertly. The adventurers need to unravel the threads of a sinister plot before blood is spilled.”
“A 4-hour adventure for 5th – 10th level characters.”
Adventure Primer
Advice on the running time of the advice “2-4 hours”, and how this may differ for more roleplay or investigation and combat-focused parties.
Background
This covers an inordinate amount of time and a number of races, Gods and factions, but manages to tell a compelling story and confer the great deal of information effectively. The use of bold and capitalisation of the important figures makes referencing the background much easier.
The Elves and their subterranean cousins, the Drow, are often and understandably a point controversy, as are the labelling of any one ‘race’ to be wholly evil, but it is heartening to see that there are different factions of Drow following different Gods, which promote different alignments.
Episodes
“The adventure’s story is spread over 3 Episodes that take approximately 4 total hours to play.”
• “Episode 1: Snowfall. The characters find themselves in Mornbryn’s Shield as a heavy snow interrupts travel on the roads. The followers of Eilistraee perform a dance to welcome the Midwinter season, but the local members of the church of Shevarash maintain their suspicions of the Drow. The High Revelmistress asks the characters to wait out the storm in Mornbryn’s Shield and to help keep the peace.
This is the Call to Action.”
• “Episode 2: The Night Before Midwinter. V’rizzen uses mind spiders to cause the other Drow to carry out preparatory acts for his murderous Midwinter plans. The church of Shevarash encourages suspicion of the Drow against the wishes of Liira’s followers. The characters have to decide what to do in the middle of these simmering tensions.”
• “Episode 3: Mayhem at Midwinter. All of the fuses have been lit, and whatever plots the characters haven’t stopped threaten to explode. The mind spider-controlled Drow summon demons in the catacombs the Liiran temple grounds and they burst forth as a murderous distraction while V’rizzen tries to kill the High Revelmistress. The church of Shevarash and any new inductees turn on the Drow indiscriminately at the first sight of the demons. V’rizzen sends the mind spiders after the characters to capture some of their minds and turn them against each other.”
Evil Never Sleeps!
A box provides advice on the plotted nature of the adventure and how the actions of PCs may disrupt this flow, with suggestions of how to handle certain changes.
Content Advisement
A helpful box mentions the hedonistic nature of the followers of Liira which is implied in the adventure, rather than being in explicit detail, as well as bringing up the use of Safety Tools. It’s wonderful to see creators taking the time to mention these aspects, pointing DMs towards the X cards and promoting Safety Tools.
Episode 1: Snowfall (Call To Action)
“Estimated Duration: 45 minutes”
Each episode opens with a rousing and evocative quote that sets the scene and tone beautifully.
Scene A. Arriving in Mornbryn’s shield
The party seek shelter from the unseasonably heavy snowfall in Mornbyn’s Shield, while the villagers are preparing for Midwinter celebrations.
Each scene contains an Area Description covering the Dimensions & Terrain, Senses and Lighting, with wonderful, and truly immersive information such as this great line from the Senses of this scene, “The smell of roasting nuts is distinct among the smoke.”
Scene B. The Temple of Liira
The party are introduced to the impressive temple and the equally impressive decorating, singing and dancing of the worshippers. They are welcomed to join in, but the High Revelmistress tells them they may not carry weapons on temple grounds.
The Followers of Liira
A box provides details about the worshippers, including the modifications to the Priest statblock for the High Revelmistress, her personality and the general philosophy and statblock for the worshippers.
Events
Amid the evening’s revelry, a group of hooded figures reveal themselves to be Drow, claiming to be refugees, though one of their number is an assassin. A Sun Elf Ranger throws a tantrum about not relinquishing his weapons and storms out with his two accomplices. PCs can glean information about the Ranger from the congregation. Due to the social aspect of gaining information on the Ranger, the checks are a little different and use Charisma (Investigation), rather than Intelligence. This is covered, referenced and explained in a box.
The High Revelmistress can offer further information and requests the party stay and keep the peace and watch for further confrontations.
The Drow
Amendments for the Assassins’ statblock, the equipment carried and “sociopathic” personality and intentions are laid out in a box. Also, contained in this box are the amendments, equipment and bios of the actual Drow refugees.
The church of Shevarash
The amended statblocks and information for the angry Sun Elf and his two companions are laid out in a box.
I’m in two minds about amendments to existing statblocks or creating new unique statblocks. Sometimes the latter is easier to understand, especially if the former has so many amendments. Regardless, the information for each important character is given their references statblocks, amendments and personality and/ or motives.
Episode 2: The Night Before Midwinter
“Estimated Duration: 90 minutes”
This is a chance for the party to investigate and surveil the two interesting parties, with the first scene pertaining to the Drow and the Second on the Sun Elf and company.
Scene A: Spiders in the Night
Information regarding the basic layout of the temple and the congregations coming and going are noted, with a reference to the full temple and catacombs details on the appendix (more on that later).
Order of Events
The creepy crawly control the Assassin wields over one of the other Drow and the nefarious deeds he has the do are listed in ordered bullet points. These are the events that will play out without party interference, though they may well make things more complicated. It’s handy to have every laid out like this, including the outcome of the PCs getting involved.
Scene B: Back at the Camp
The party follow the Sun Elf and company to their rustic camp. There they can debate with the trio, with the Sun Elf trying to recruit the party to their cause against the Drow.
Information about the camp, opinions, details and checks are all provided for this largely roleplay scenario.
Scene C: Snowblind in the Sun
The sun shines bright on the snow keeping the Drow inside, but that doesn’t stop the Assassins scheming. He will attempt to control a worshipper to pick up disconcerting supplies from town. Again, all the information and checks are provided.
Scene D: Twas the Night Before...
The Assassin steps up his game, attempting to control one of the other Drow and one of the party or a member of the Sun Elf’s group. If things go according to plan the Assassin will be armed and the ritual, he has put in motion will be nearly complete.
Crowd Combat
Rules regarding cover, hiding and firing into a crowd. I’m picturing some kind of shootout with all the worshippers are dancing, throwing shapes and doing their thing in the middle, oblivious.
An astoundingly beautiful portrait of the Assassin is included here. He’s all cheekbones and angst, and I love it!
Episode 3: Mayhem at Midwinter
“Estimated Duration: 90 minutes”
If the Assassin’s “hasn’t been stopped yet, his plans bear bloody fruit.”
Scene A: Revels
The worshippers dance, feast and indulge in every manner, with the Drow joining in as much as they can. The Sun Elf’s party will act depending on the PCs’ previous interactions with them, likely stashing weapons.
Scene B: Swords Cast Down
The beautiful and symbolic ritual of throwing weapons down and having magical grow over them is taking place, while elsewhere the Sun Elf inducts on of his party into the church of his God of Vengeance whose dour order have a rather amusing tenant: “Vows will be made to not laugh until vengeance is delivered upon Lolth and all her followers.” No laughing until you’ve completed genocide and deicide is a gloriously ridiculous rule and I love it. Definitely not an order I could join.
If the Assassin’s plans come to fruition, he succeeds in summoning Demons and gloopy servants of Lolth who attempt to summon more, filling the catacombs with abominations. Finally, attempting to slay the High Revelmistress and “sow as much senseless death as he can before his soul is sent to Lolth in the Abyss.”
Concluding the Adventure
There are many threads and factions to resolve dependent on their success and the party’s actions over the course of the adventure, which could lead to all manner of further forays. Some particularly interesting ideas for continuing the adventure are provided, including the suggestion the summoning circle could lead to the Underdark for further subterranean adventures and vengeance on the followers of Loth, as well as whether the Assassin was a puppet for a new BBEG for the party to track down. I do so love the optimism in the last line: “Perhaps everything wrapped up as nicely as a Midwinter present!”
Adventure Rewards
Experience
Specific XP rewards for vanquishing the Assassin and demons are provided, as well as a couple of non-combat rewards, including calming the Sun Elf’s party.
Magic Item
The new Mind Spider Ring worn by the Assassin is detailed here, and is decidedly creepy cool.
Author’s Note
“The inspiration for this adventure was a simple collision of some of Faerun’s Midwinter rituals.
The mixture of one ritual dedicated to pacifism and another to vengeance seemed obviously explosive. From a design standpoint, I wanted to make a scenario that would respond to the players’ choices and unfold unpredictably. On a more personal note, Faerthurin was my first 5e character, and he took a dark turn after nearly being killed in the streets of Phandalin by the Redbrands.”
I absolutely love it when creators include their own PCs and NPCs in their adventures!
Author Bio
“Andy Dempz was gifted the D&D Red Box by a winter Eladrin as a child, and though he took an extended sojourn in these human lands to play guitar in hardcore punk bands (though he would never claim to be a bard), study martial arts on multiple trips to Japan (nor a monk), and work as a master automotive mechanic (nor a... tinker gnome?), he has returned to the magical lands of ice and snow that he explored in his youth. The seeds for his written adventures are often sown in the multiple overlapping campaigns he DMs in his home of Ann Arbor, MI.”
Appendix
While the map of the ground floor and courtyard are included in the body of the adventure, the full dungeon layout and room descriptions, using the same format of details and aspects as in the adventure, are detailed in the appendix along with the map of the catacombs and the Brazier Trap defending the Fane of Lolth. Player Maps are also included.
The appendix also contains the statblock for the Mind Spider and the details for the Mind Spider Ring.
This is an epic and unfolding drama of merriment mystery and murder!
I love the concept of bringing these different factions together for this festival, all with very different intentions, and the way the characters, plans and events are laid out works perfectly with the mystery. Everything is laid out for the DM to work with, so when the party interacts with it in all different manner of weird and wonderful ways, they have the information they need to react and build on.
This is one of those adventures that can go so very many different ways and take very different amounts of time depending on the type of group you have. There is potential for all sorts of roleplaying, including political persuasion, festivities to partake in, the mystery and investigation, and the inevitable epic combat, however or whenever it goes down. This has so much potential for replayability, with no two groups likely to have the same combination of proclivities and results. I thoroughly look forward to seeing and hearing about people’s experiences and the carnage that ensued.
Also, this adventure is so good that is certainly not constrained to Holiday fun, which it does work for, but this could be worked for any time of year and related festival or ritual.
This is something a bit different, well thought out, fascinating to wonder the many different ways it could play out, and a lot of fun, despite the dark twist and Demons. There is real heart, excitement and more than enough ideas and intrigue to fuel further adventures or to serve as a campaign starter.
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