Notes on adapting Winter’s Daughter

First of all some notes on trying to make the scenario a little more focused for a one shot convention scenario.

The structure of my suggested frame means that the action starts when the characters enter the glade. You can assume all the character’s are Lawful or order-aligned. They have a goal of exploring the tomb and driving out the Drune’s malign influence.

Streamlining the scenario

• Don’t have any chaotic player characters
• The door to the tomb has already been broken down by the Drune
• Ignore the time dilation effects of being in the Faerie world
• Don’t allow characters who enter Frigia to return without having spoken to the Princess
• Have the Princess be proactive in offering the names of the Sir Chyde’s hounds
• Include both hound’s names on the mural in 11 and the book in 10
• Have the names of any non-humans already be on the goblin’s wedding list (Sir Chyde’s guests)
• Allow Wizards and Elves to have an intuitive understanding of the liminal nature of the vaulted chamber in 14 and the rift in 8
• Sir Chyde’s skeleton should only have the ring on it
• Remove the slime and related elements from the dungeon

Adjustments to the scenario

These are more my personal choices and shape the game towards the kind of MiniBX experience I enjoy but I think they do help flow of the game.

Replace the religious instruments with a set of animated plate armour. The armour is of an antique design with blue lacquer and silver filigree but looks like it was made yesterday. Be clear that the armour is empty and magical characters might be able to sense the ethereal force that animates it. The armour should be reflected in the mural in room 11 and any other representations of Sir Chyde.

Replace the wormtongues with centipedes.

In room 7 have some people already frozen by the mirror: a Drune sorceror (with his spellbook already looted) and some vagabonds who, if thawed, could join the party to replace any dead characters. The frozen figures are visible from outside and are looking towards the mirror.

In room 8 if a character joins the skeletons in their dance they float over the rift too but must spend a Save to escape or dance forever (or until the rifts are closed). Characters attempting to attack the dancers result in them falling through the rift and the dancers ignore any looting.

In room 9 any animal companion should show an interesting in the tapestry and what lies beyond it. They should also detect the hidden creatures in room 10 and provide a warning.

In room 12 if the hound’s names are spoken they should animate and appear to fall asleep to make it clear the right words have been spoken.

In room 13 the knight Amor is revealed to be the ghost of Sir Chyde who asks for forgiveness for the deception and requests the characters help him again, explaining his story if necessary and how to enter the realm of Winter.

Add a small hut built into the roots of a huge tree to the barrow mound. Add a guardian of the barrow as an alternative to the underground priest’s quarters in 10. The character can either be an undercover Drune sorceror keeping an eye on the failed ritual and looking for patsies who can get past the armour in room 5. Or simply they may be exactly as they say a friendly guardian who looks after the tomb.

This person can tell the characters that the Drune have left after their failed ritual but that they may still have people trapped in the tomb. They can also outline what the Drune did while they were here. This character works best if the characters are paranoid as it gives them a focus for that paranoia but can also speed up the scenario by allowing a bit of exposition about what has happened before the characters arrived.

If the character is friendly they should have a copy of the poem from 10 as part of a biography of Sir Chyde and should be able to tell the characters the names of the hounds as well as the details of the knight’s love affair and death.