Written by: JKW
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, released in September 2020, is one of Dungeons & Dragons’ most celebrated campaign modules of the Fifth Edition era. Icewind Dale itself has been a crucial part of Forgotten Realms lore for over thirty years, having served as the primary setting of Drizzt Do’Urden’s adventure novels and two beloved video games.
Rime of the Frostmaiden gives dungeon masters and players alike the freedom to explore the frozen wilderness of Icewind Dale through new and improved survival mechanics, tundra exploration, and unique encounters. If you’re looking for battlemaps to use with Rime of the Frostmaiden, look no further—Czepuku has you covered.
10. Megalith Gate
The Deep Winter variant of this map pack is perfect for a combat encounter set along the Spine of the World or the foothills leading up to the Reghed Glacier. Alternatively, if you’re looking to foreshadow the necropolis of the fallen city of Ythryn, you can have your characters come across the Original Day variant. When the Netherese flying cities fell, their flaming wreckage was scattered all over the Forgotten Realms, and Czepuku’s “megalith gate” could easily serve as a fallen piece of Ythryn!
9. Open Ocean
Before the players can confront Auril on her island abode, they must first discover its location somewhere across the Sea of Moving Ice. If you need to run a combat encounter on the frozen sea, the Icebergs variants of this map pack make for excellent set dressing.
8. Archaeological Dig
Rime of the Frostmaiden dedicates a small section to “places of interest” in Icewind Dale: locations that can occupy a single session but not an entire adventure arc. While these places of interest have a map, some (such as the “Dark Duchess”) benefit from a lead-in context. For example, the Dark Duchess could be frozen in the Archaeological Dig map—alternatively, you could have the frozen dragon remains constitute a place of interest of your own making!
7. Burial Barrow
The barbarian tribes of Icewind Dale are hugely important to the setting, but while Rime of the Frostmaiden details a few major adventure locations, there aren’t many human-centric battlemaps included. This frozen Burial Barrow can be used to showcase Icewind Dale’s barbarian cultures; imagine your players taking shelter during a nasty blizzard, only to discover mummified remains and ancient imagery.
6. Ancient Battlefield
Before Auril decided to plunge Icewind Dale into an everlasting winter, the Shaengarne River flowed freely, carrying life into Bremen and Targos. But since Auril’s winter began, minor settlements and homesteads along the river have been abandoned and left to the elements. The Ancient Battlefield map is an effective setting for one such place, with a frozen river front and center. Who used to live here? What did they do for a living, and how was it decimated by Auril’s cruel winter?
5. Serene Lakeside
Lac Dinneshere is a significant feature of Icewind Dale, with three major towns—Caer Konig, Caer Dineval, and Easthaven—situated on its shores. The Frozen Lake variant of Serene Lakeside can serve as a battlemap for encounters set along Lac Dinneshere and the outskirts of its settlements.
4. Motte and Bailey Castle
Icewind Dale is a bleak, unforgiving setting, especially in the context of Rime of the Frostmaiden. The Fishing Hole variant of Motte and Bailey Castle can really communicate that snowy bleakness to your players, especially as a campground or ambush location.
3. Remote Ice Village
In terms of pure variety, Remote Ice Village is the best bang for your buck. This single map pack contains battlemaps for barbarian tribes, individual travelers, abandoned structures, frozen lakes, the Shaengarne River, and mysterious standing stones. Travel is an essential part of Rime of the Frostmaiden, and these maps can easily be adapted for road encounters.
2. Arctic Expedition
Of all the setting details you should communicate to your players in Rime of the Frostmaiden, the aurora of Icewind Dale is its most unique, naturally occurring feature. It’s difficult to find aurora effects for battlemaps, which makes its inclusion in this map pack extra valuable. Aside from the Aurora Reflection variant, the Arctic Expedition pack includes several open terrain maps you can adapt to your liking.
1. Warforged City Centre
Shifting our attention back to the fallen city of Ythryn, Rime of the Frostmaiden gives us a massive point-to-point map of the Necropolis. However, it leaves individual city sections to the gamemaster’s discretion. The Winter Day variant of Warforged City Centre combines eerie technological motifs with a frozen landscape, making it the best battlemap possible for an encounter set in Ythryn. The specificity and uniqueness of this aesthetic place this map pack at the top of the list.