Ice Dungeon

[Otacon17]

Hello, playgrounders. For the Pathfinder campaign I'm running, I'm trying to set up a dungeon in the arctic. I'm a rookie when it comes to GMing, so up until now I've been scared to do anything really complex in a dungeon (generally sticking to the traditional setup of "you enter the room. There are monsters!"), but I'd like to change that. I want this dungeon to be focused more on puzzles and obstacles rather than combat.

Story-wise, the dungeon is the lair of an ice-spell-casting wolf-man with a magical eye (based on Free from the manga/anime Soul Eater) who has teamed up with a bunch of evil witches intent on world domination. The wolf-man already knows the party is coming and, via his magical eye, will be able to monitor them somewhat as they progress through his lair.

Anyway, like I said, I'm not really used to doing this kind of thing, so I'd be eternally grateful if anyone had suggestions for ice-based traps/obstacles/other interesting tomfoolery. Some rough ideas I have so far include:
-The traditional giant-icicles-falling-from-the-ceiling thing
-A large frozen lake, which the PCs will have to cross carefully, lest the ice crack and drop them into the icy waters. Alternately, once the ice has cracked, some kind of underwater beast emerges from the water and the PCs must battle it while floating around on small chunks of ice adrift in the lake
-A room consisting of slippery, icy walkways, which the PCs will have to be careful not to slide off of; however, I'd need something to spice up this room, or else it would just be inconvenient rather than interesting...

Thanks in advance :smallsmile:

[RTGoodman]

If you can get a copy, the Frostburn supplement is one of the better sourcebooks from 3.5/d20. It's all about some frosty adventures and has a LOT of stuff that you might need: creatures, feats, spells, traps, and other stuff.

[The Sauceror]

I have an ice-themed dungeon planned for the next time I need one. It focuses on a giant furnace that must be kept running or the PCs take cold damage over time.

[PollyOliver]

I'd second Frostburn.

For the walkway room, maybe put weak-ish enemies or traps on the walkways, firing at them from range? The PCs can either fire back from range, try to close without falling off, or maybe think outside the box and slide some conveniently placed large objects down the walkways to bull rush the enemies off or break the traps.

One thing, though, if you're doing actually puzzly puzzles: if the PCs don't get it, it helps to let them make INT or WIS or knowledge checks, whatever you think is appropriate, for some insight. Otherwise it's not much fun sitting around being confused.

The iceberg battle sounds pretty awesome, but I think making it too hard might be a danger you should keep in mind when choosing the enemy. If a PC gets dragged or knocked into the water, it's going to be awfully hard for them to get back up onto an icy surface while they're freezing.

[manyslayer]

I'd second Frostburn.One thing, though, if you're doing actually puzzly puzzles: if the PCs don't get it, it helps to let them make INT or WIS or knowledge checks, whatever you think is appropriate, for some insight. Otherwise it's not much fun sitting around being confused.

Another option is having it essentially be multiple choice with consequences for the wrong answer. Did this in the last adventure I ran for a couple puzzles. For the last group (multiple groups going through same encounter areas under different DMs) to go through, they ended up choosing every wrong answer before getting to the right one. They took a bunch of damage but it prevented a roadblock of a puzzle they couldn't figure out.

[Cyrion]

If you want the dungeon itself to be interesting, be sure to plan in three dimensions. Forcing the party to worry about getting up and down and around can give the adventure flavor beyond "you walk into the room..." Things like the only way out of the room (besides the way they came in) is a shaft in the ceiling or a continuation of the passage 15 feet up the wall. Some of these will be simple flavor, some may drain resources (a fly spell used to get up the shaft is a fly spell that can't be used in a later combat), and some can be threats themselves- they're dangerous or must be overcome quickly to avoid the thing that's chasing them. Then it's a puzzle how to get out around the thing that's still waiting for them to come back...

[Quietus]

Icy ledge : Definitely add some harrying fire. Inconvenience becomes danger when every bit of damage taken requires a Balance check. Explain to the party the first time one of them takes damage, "Okay, so you need to make a Balance check against DC X. If you fail, you fall down. If you fail by 5 or more, you slip and fall off the edge." Giving them that rundown BEFORE they roll will increase the tension - and whether the damage they take is 1 or 1,001, they will need to make those checks. For bonus points, make it a ledge above a fast-moving river, so that anyone who falls has to deal with water hazards, too.

Icebergs : I'd make this a trap. The PCs walk onto the frozen-over river; If they're still being watched by Ice Wolf Spell Man, then he triggers an earthquake-like effect localized on the lake, which breaks up the icy surface. Jump checks are then needed to make their way from one floating chunk to the next, and balance checks to not cause said floating chunks of ice to overturn and throw them into the water. Optional : Being in the water might do cold damage. Something as little as 1/turn of exposure will whittle away at the players over time. If they're high level, add some aquatic creature to the mix to make it more dangerous, and let it be the thing to break the ice.

[Otacon17]

Thanks for all the great suggestions, guys! I will definitely check out Frostfell.