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Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > New 5E D&D Monsters from Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
5E D&D Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden magic items

New 5E D&D Monsters from Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

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A frozen land of isolation and terror awaits adventurers in the latest fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign adventure. Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden challenges 1st level characters plunge into danger to save the frozen North from everlasting night as they advance to 12th level. There’s new magic items and spells included with the adventure for adventurers to discover out there in the lands north of the Spine of the World. But those rewards aren’t just sitting out in the open unprotected! New monsters inhabit the landscape to guard those treasures and pursue their own ambitions alongside many creatures from several other sources. Here’s the 5E D&D monsters included in Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden.

5E D&D Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden monsters

Auril the Frostmaiden is a neutral evil lesser god of cold indifference who embodies winter’s cruelty as seen in her three forms in the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. [Images courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

5E D&D monsters of the frozen North

  • Arcane Brotherhood. A cabal of powerful wizards including…
    • Avarice, tiefling evoker with gargoyle companions
    • Dzaan, human illiusionist who lives on through their rimulacrum
    • Nass Lantomir, human diviner and spellcasting ghost
    • Vellynna Haprell, human necromancer from a famous family
  • Auril the Frostmaiden. A lesser god embodying winter’s cruelty and the catalyst for the campaign. She appears in three different forms in the adventure.
  • Brain in a Jar. Different than the version from Lost Laboratory of Kwalish this too is nevertheless a brain inside a jar capable of impressive magical feats.
  • Chardalyn Berserker. Nomads whose demonically infused weapons transform them into fiends.
  • Chardalyn Dragon. A construct created with demonic magic and metal.
  • Chwinga. Tiny elemental spirits first seen in the jungles of Chult, these ones are arctic themed and really fun in the same way as a killmoulis.
  • Coldlight Walker. Hateful spirits embodying winter’s wrath with very cool art. (The thematic undead in Winter Lord’s Throne are way cooler though.)
  • Crag Cat. Essentially a big mountain cat except it’s got some magical traits to bump it into monstrosity territory.
  • Duergar Hammerer, Duergar Mind Master. Popping in from Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes these two specialists add to the ranks of the superior dwarf species!
  • Xardorok Sunblight. A duergar quasi-warlock with a tidy chunk of lore and character information to make him a great NPC.
  • Fox, Hare, Knucklehead Trout, Mountain Goat, Reindeer, Seal, Walrus, Giant Walrus. A variety of mundane beasts to populate the wilderness and expand the choices for familiars, Wild Shape, Beast Companions and the like.
  • Frost Druid. New NPC stat blocks are always great.
  • Frost Giant Skeleton. What would an arctic adventure be without giant skeletons?
  • Gnoll Vampire. Yikes. Gnolls already possess insane bloodlust. A vampire feels like a natural extension but also freaking terrifying AF.
  • Goliath Warrior, Goliath Werebear. Not only do goliaths get a nice revisit for player character versions but two great creature stat blocks including a new wrinkle to goliath lore with Oyaminartok the Winter Walker and the polar bear hybrids associated with her.
  • Ice Troll. Step aside, Rise of Tiamat variant troll, this version jumps ahead in the challenge rating and gains a Cold Aura.
  • Icewind Kobold, Icewind Kobold Zombie, Kobold Vampire Spawn. New kobolds! Some people love kobolds, some hate them. I’m indifferent. The vampire ones are a neat idea with great art. The zombie ones are…zombies. Icewind Dale Kobolds I believe are just regular kobolds with hide armor.
  • Living Bigby’s Hand, Living Blade of Disaster, Living Demiplane. Living spells are a nifty idea in general and these are some creatively clever versions.
  • Demos Magen, Galvan Magen, Hypnos Magen. Magical people created through wizard spells these ideal servants from editions past are a great addition to 5E D&D and wizards get exclusive access to their creation.
  • Spitting Mimic. Netherese modified these shapeshifters to create this large variety that spits acid. Believe it or not I only recently used mimic for the first time — an arcane mimic from our soon to hit the store Dark Paths: Pool of Bliss. Mimics are awesome.
  • Gnome Ceremorph, Gnome Squidling. Gnomes react strangely to ceremorphosis and can result in these two weirdos when things go awry. The former carries a homemade laser pistol while the latter does a Mind Tickle.
  • Reghed Tribesfolk. Basically different cultural groups of folks who live in the wilds of the region, they’re represented with stat blocks from the Monster Manual like tribal warrior and druid. There are stat blocks from a handful of tribal leaders — Gunvald Halraggson, Jarund Elkhardt, Bjornhild Solvigsdottir and Isarr Kronenstrom.
  • Snow Golem. Golems are often quite tough and challenging but this one’s a big softie, which is a nice addition to the roster of magical animated substances.
  • Snowy Owlbear. People love them some owlbears so a new arctic themed one proved very popular. Heck, the adventure’s primary antagonist looks very much like a snowy owlbear in one of her forms. I’m not sure why the book says they’re just owlbears with a swimming speed of 30 feet but reprinted the kobold stat block with hide armor but there it is.
  • Sperm Whale. A mundane beast but unlike foxes and hares this gargantuan creature is not a little critter to make a familiar.
  • Tomb Tapper. Another Netherese creation these bizarre constructs hate nonhuman spellcasters, burrow through rock and exterminate everything in their path.
  • Verbeeg Longstrider, Verbeeg Marauder. A new variety of giant with a weird trait and a touch of natural magic.
  • Yeti, Abominable Yeti, Yeti Tyke. Monster Manual reprints except for the Yeti Tyke, a super cute chaotic evil monstrosity. When you wanna play as a miniature yeti character check out the yaska in Treasures of the Tundra.

The 5E D&D monsters in Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden include quite a few reprints for convenience’s sake and quite a few fun new ones too. I loved chwingas in Tomb of Annihilation and I love ’em here too. The snow golem seems really neat for filling a niche in the golem family. The magen and living spells expand on an aspect of wizardly life that appeals to me. A lot of the arctic themed creatures I prefer the ones we’ve done ourselves because of course. At the top of the list though is the gnoll vampire for being a perfect pairing. That’s just crazy frightening!

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Doug Vehovec

Nerditor-in-Chief Doug Vehovec is a proud native of Cleveland, Ohio, with D&D in his blood since the early 80s. Fast forward to today and he’s still rolling those polyhedral dice. When he’s not DMing, worldbuilding or working on endeavors for Nerdarchy he enjoys cryptozoology trips and eating awesome food.