My next adventure is set in a location of frozen mountains in a fey plane (reached by portal).  There also some hot springs involved.  The adventure is partially above and partially below the tree line.  They fey part is that everything is exaggerated:  taller mountains, hotter springs, tree line abrupt, etc.

I've got a bit of Norse influence, but not the usual suspects.  Instead, it's a cave giant shaman, his band of ogres, his dwarven slaves, some wind spirits, and various wandering creatures (e.g. undead, arctic sprites, etc.). Think I've got a pretty good handle on the obvious natural hazards: the bitter cold, winds, avalanches, etc.  I'm telegraphing some of the hazards, such as a wandering encounter where the party may find dead dwarves buried under an avalanche.

As far as power levels, it's not especially challenging from the critters only, but the environment is set up to do brutal stuff to the characters.  

What ideas have you got for such a location?  Feel free to stick with the above or bring in other things. I can always use more wandering things.

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;1131677My next adventure is set in a location of frozen mountains in a fey plane (reached by portal).  There also some hot springs involved.  The adventure is partially above and partially below the tree line.  They fey part is that everything is exaggerated:  taller mountains, hotter springs, tree line abrupt, etc.

I've got a bit of Norse influence, but not the usual suspects.  Instead, it's a cave giant shaman, his band of ogres, his dwarven slaves, some wind spirits, and various wandering creatures (e.g. undead, arctic sprites, etc.). Think I've got a pretty good handle on the obvious natural hazards: the bitter cold, winds, avalanches, etc.  I'm telegraphing some of the hazards, such as a wandering encounter where the party may find dead dwarves buried under an avalanche.

As far as power levels, it's not especially challenging from the critters only, but the environment is set up to do brutal stuff to the characters.  

What ideas have you got for such a location?  Feel free to stick with the above or bring in other things. I can always use more wandering things.

deep crevasses in the ice sheet. Not only hazards to cross (they can be concealed by snow cover), but also scope for ice-cut mini dungeons/lairs down there, accessible from the walls of the crevasses if you rappel down.

The James Bond movie Die Another Day featured an entire hotel cut out of ice. The ice hotel scenes are worth a look via YouTube. Definitely a lot you can do with ice sculptures, vast ornate caverns carved for a frozen eternity, etc. Also, check out the cover of Iron Maiden's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album and get a pic you can zoom into because the minute detail on the painting is what's useful. Great images of frozen beings in twisted shapes on a tranquil lake guarded by...something otherworldly.

If you don't mind using WoW for inspiration, my mind immediately jumped to Winterspring https://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screenshots/normal/693092-winterspring.jpg

Big, white-furred, prehistoric cat-beasts would be good zone denizens and wandering encounters. Yaks or proto-yaks would make sense, too. Maybe the local tribes/settlements have a yak milk based tea and/or alcoholic beverage ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter_tea ). With the remoteness, big cats, yaks, and yeti, maybe there's a dragon or two chilling out (har har) in the caves and occasionally going out for a snack? The beauty, the cold, and the mountainous aspects of the region would push me to look at Tibetan culture for inspiration too, maybe some of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_mythology#Creatures

The WoW zone has heavy elven influence, if I remember right, with the harsh beauty of the zone playing into the naturalism of the elves. Depending on how that fits in with your fey, maybe there's something there, too: fey and/or elven extremism driven by the harshness of the climate. I think the territory was originally elf-controlled but goblins run the settlement and are there for exploration/research/mining.

Anyway, sounds like fun to explore in an RPG, enjoy.

Great ideas, all. There are elven ruins, but no living elves.  I will neither confirm nor deny that there are psychotic undead elves.

In a semi-collaborative homebrew setting I included an arctic region that was populated by various ice creatures presumed to be fey, predominantly frost giants (who are basically a type of gigantic fey in that setting), ice sprites and snow elves (elves are also fey in that setting).

The snow elves inhibited an Ice Palace near the north pole, which constantly radiates auroras. They were ruled by an Ice Queen who had been banished there millennia ago by her sister the Elf Queen (ruler of the Light elves) for refusing to take sides in a battle with yet a third sister, the Dark Queen (who ruled the Dark Elves and had been banished into the depths of the earth).

The Elf Queen jointly rules the largest forest in the world, along with the Elf King, who is considered king-commander of the kingdom's military and security. While the Elf Queen focuses on domestic politics and is considered high ruler of all fey (though, only the fey of the forest are loyal to her). The Elf-Rulers in this world are not ordinary elves or fey, but rather semi-divine godlike beings who have lived for millennia and may never die as long as elves exist.

Meanwhile the Ice Queen must rule from her Ice Palace almost like a crystalline prison--ever to remain there facing southward, longing for what could have been. She is accompanied only by the elves who remained loyal to her and followed her into the north pole, becoming bluish pale skinned snow elves, as well as ice sprites and similar fey who already dwelled there and were friendly with elves.

The Frost Giants are hostile to the elves, however (and pretty much anyone who enters their territory), and resent their presence there, as well as the intrusion of the Elf Queen for declaring the Ice Queen ruler of the north when the Frost Giants had always ruled their since millennia before the arrival of the elves. The Frost Giants do not recognize the authority of the Ice Queen and have rejected the Elf Queen as high ruler of all fey. They have been at war with the snow elves ever since, frequently getting into small periodic engagements with them.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1131683Great images of frozen beings in twisted shapes on a tranquil lake guarded by...something otherworldly.

Huh. somehow that reminds me of an element in Barker's Tekumel (in this case the Jakalla underworld), the "Garden of the Weeping Snows," where a phenomenally bored undying wizard freezes interlopers into artful tableaux of torment for his amusement. Unless said interlopers can somehow bargain their way out. And since the wizard is incredibly bored, there's always scope for negotiating a more entertaining and less dismal alternative.

Some suggestions for modules:

There is an ancient module by Mayfair Games:  Ice Elves.  I found the adventure itself mediocre, but they introduce two items that may interest you.  The first is "Ice-Riggers",  ships that sail the flat frozen ocean on skates. Second are polar bear centaurs.  I don't think there was much said about the beartaurs, just that a clan lived with the ice elves in their frozen cave city.

Another place to look is MERP.  Somewhere in that massive collection of sourcebooks are two arctic Elven nations.  One IIRC is around a small hotspring where the elves took refuge when Morgoth's horde passed by (they've been there a long time).  The other is somewhat larger, and beyond that I recall nothing.

The White Dragon module of "Dragonlance" is set on Krynn's antarctic coast.  I remember nothing of it except the introduction of walrus men.  I wasn't pleased by their one dimensional nature - think sea ogres with tusks.

Oddly, there is a Call of Cthulhu scenario (Goodman Games, Horrors From Yuggoth) with similar beasties.  I've only glanced at it, but the walrus men there are even more one dimensional.  They have no real function, they just pester and weird-out the investigators.  This scenario isn't much use for this thread, but here it is, for completeness: It is set in the Norwegian arctic, with the hook being a rescue mission for a lost (and then a second lost) expedition.

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;1131687Great ideas, all. There are elven ruins, but no living elves.  I will neither confirm nor deny that there are psychotic undead elves.

Well that fits in with the Ice Elves module.  The scenario proper begins with ice pirates (no, they don't steal ice, silly) who have bigger ice riggers than the elves do.  They stage a surprise raid and take the Great McGuffin.  In this case it is the power source that keeps the ice frozen at room temperature.  So the elves have a choice:  Put out all their fires and freeze to death, or watch their city melt around them.  Fortunately, there is a third choice:  There's this band of round-ear castaways lolling around the place...

So there you have it; a great partially melted ice city.

The classic Dragonlance 6 (DL6) "Dragons of Ice" adventure features an immense glacer bordered by mountains and populated by whole cultures.

You could also consider to watch "Frozen" and "Frozen 2". The movies are set in fable lands, but you can find some interesting concepts/landscapes.

The most recent Echoes From Fomalhaut (issue #7) has an interesting idea implemented in an adventure where a receding glacier provides access to and exit from "a treacherous environment of melting ice, freezing water pools, and subterranean menaces."

Quote from: Crawford Tillinghast;1131864The scenario proper begins with ice pirates (no, they don't steal ice, silly)...

Ice pirates??  Ice pirates?!!?!  God, I hate space herpes.

And yes, they do steal ice.  I saw the movie!

Just posted a page on my Thule game blog for the Pale Hand, might find it useful:

 https://simonsprimevalthule.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-pale-hand.html

Most of the info is from the Primeval Thule GM's companion, which has some more stuff too, more the stuff I didn't want players seeing.

Card games have oodles of ideas generated out there for pillaging. Check out the Gatherer for Magic the Gathering cards. And as a MtG start, focus on sets: Ice Age, Alliances, and Coldsnap. Lots of ideas to pillage.

Seems like a perfect setting for some Panserbjørn action.