Some of you might have seen this article and thought,”hey, wait…didn’t I read a review of Icewind Dale on GeekDad just a couple of months ago?” Don’t worry, your memory isn’t failing you: you can still read Simon Yule’s excellent review of the latest D&D module right here on GeekDad.
This is not another review of that Dungeons & Dragons adventure.
Beadle & Grimm’s recently sent me out one of their latest creations, the Silver Edition of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. For those of you unfamiliar with Beadle & Grimm’s, the company is a co-creation of actor and gamer Matthew Lillard. What he and his friends set out to do was to make the ultimate gameplay experience for Dungeons & Dragons players. In short, they take a published adventure module, and then provide printed maps, player handouts, a custom DM screen, and much, much, more, to make an immersive experience for the both the players and the dungeon master. Oh yes, and they also include the module!
What I’m going to do is go over what comes in the Silver Edition of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden and let you see all the tasty rpg goodness that comes in that 6+ pound box.
While I’m not at all going to get into the story of the campaign, I will be showing off a lot of maps, monsters, and more. If you are intending to be a player in this particular campaign, you may want to skip ahead to my final thoughts, or give the most cursory viewing of the photos.
WARNING: Spoilers for Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden Ahead!
What’s In Beadle & Grimm’s Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden Silver Edition?
Let me just preface this by saying that when you open the box, what you’re first greeted by is bubble wrap, and shrinkwrapped components. Everything is packed very securely, to ensure that all the goodies show up in perfect shape. However, pictures of bubble wrap are pretty boring, so let’s get to the important stuff.
The first thing you’ll pull out of the box is a folded sheet that has an introduction from the Beadle & Grimm’s gang, as well as a list of all the contents in this edition.
Underneath that are a couple of shrinkwrapped packets. The first has 40 encounter cards. These cards are folded, and meant to hang over the DM screen. On one side of each card is the artwork for the encounter, for the players’ benefit, while the other side has the stat block for the encounter for the Dungeon Master’s reference.
Next up there’s a ton of artwork from the module, reprinted onto 48 cards that can be shown to the players at key points during the campaign.
There’s also a piece of custom jewelry, the Chardalyn Amulet worn by the Black Swords and followers of Levistus:
And a Chardalyn Dragon Token, used to track the Chardalyn Dragon’s progress on the Map of Ten-Towns:
Next up is a big bundle that includes campaign and battle maps printed on canvas paper, in-world handouts, bonus encounters, pre-generated characters, and other game aids. Take a look:
After all of that, you’re probably thinking, there’s more? You bet! A D&D adventure wouldn’t be complete without the adventure itself. In this case, Beadle & Grimm’s have taken the original module, and broken it down into 6 individual books (including the index) to make the 319 pages more manageable during the game.
Finally, at the bottom of the box is a Dungeon Master’s screen, customized for the Icewind Dale campaign.
Why You’re Going to Want Beadle & Grimm’s Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden Silver Edition
When I started unearthing the vast contents of Beadle & Grimm’s Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden Silver Edition, I got sad. Sad that we’re in the middle of a pandemic, so I can’t meet up with my regular group of D&D players right now and play this adventure with them.
If you’ve ever DM’d, you know there’s a lot of work that goes into prepping not just the campaign but each individual session. Not only does all the content included in this Silver Edition remove some of that work, it provides amazing content that really brings the adventure to life. Beadle & Grimm’s even use different types of paper for different handouts, giving each a distinctive feel in the world. The “Help Me” note is cut out and textured in a way that it even looks and feels like a piece of leather hide.
This level of attention to detail in bringing the world of Icewind Dale runs throughout the Beadle & Grimm’s Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden Silver Edition. And while there will undoubtedly be dungeon masters that prefer to make their own content to hand out to their players, that’s something that takes a lot of time…arguably, more time than most of us have in our adult lives.
Now, this premium content does come at a premium price. While a copy of Wizard of the Coast’s Icewind Dale retails for $49.95 (and can often be found much cheaper at other stores such as Amazon), the Beadle & Grimm’s Silver Edition will set you back $175. But as you can see, you’re getting so much more than just the module with Beadle & Grimm’s. A Dungeon & Dragons campaign can run months or even years, depending on how often the players can meet to play. The Silver Edition of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden may be a bit of an investment, but one that will pay off for the players over the course of the campaign.
And that’s just the Silver Edition! There was a Platinum Edition of Icewind Dale with even more content, but that’s sold out. Beadle & Grimm’s make their adventure editions in Silver, Gold, and Platinum versions…and very shortly, they’re going to release their first Legendary Edition with Curse of Strahd. That’s one of my favorite 5e modules, so I’m really hoping that I’ll get a chance to try out that one out for our readers at GeekDad.
If you’d like to check out the Silver Edition of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden or any of their other products, then head on over to Beadle & Grimm’s website.
Adventure awaits!
Disclaimer: GeekDad received a copy of Beadle & Grimm’s Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden Silver Edition for review purposes.
