For Dungeon Masters and adventurers around the world looking for a new Dungeons & Dragons story to play, there is a new D&D adventure book headed your way this September. Titled Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, the latest story brings players back to the frozen world of Icewind Dale, adds some new mechanics, and focuses on horror.

　　During a press event, the latest book was revealed by Chris Perkins, game designer and editor of Dungeons & Dragons for Wizards of the Coast. "It is a horror story, set in Icewind Dale," Perkins explained. "This story focuses more on modern horror. It's an adventure best served cold."

　　In the world of D&D, the Frostmaiden is a powerful entity, which many would call a god, and she's long been associated with Icewind Dale. In Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, a larger story unfolds--which can be broken down into smaller parts for players who don't want to play the whole campaign--and in addition to the main adventure, there is a new mechanic to help define your character: secrets.

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　　Perkins explained that secrecy is one of the themes for the new adventure, and the goal for the players is to uncover Icewind Dale's greatest secret. Additionally, during character creation, players will get their own secrets to help drive their personal stories. This is something they can choose to share with the group or keep to themselves--creating paranoia within the party. Some secrets are simple while others are terrifying.

　　The campaign starts players at Level 1 and it is scaled to Level 12. The story is set 100 years after the last Icewind Dale campaign. As mentioned, there is a lot of horror in this story, and Perkins mentioned that The Thing, The Shining, In the Mouth of Madness, and Alien are all the inspirations for the book. That's a lot of horror movies revolving around paranoia.

　　Principal rules designer Jeremy Crawford explained that the new book is filled with new monsters. It may be the most monsters introduced in a new book so far. Also, survival will come more into play considering the landscape.

　　There are new rules for avalanches and blizzards, and there are new minigames as well. One that was mentioned was The Goliath Sport, which sees the gigantic mountain folk competing in a variety of games. And speaking of Goliaths, they are--once again--playable in the campaign, but there are a few tweaks. Goliaths will now have resistance to cold damage, which makes perfect sense.

　　Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden will release on September 15 with two different covers--one of which is only available in game stores, featuring the art of Hydro74. There is also a dice set coming out which features a map of Icewind Dale, so you know where your party is located in this vast world.

　　Mat Elfring on Google+