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I loved the serious survival mechanics here!  I also enjoyed the little homage to Jack London's "To Build a Fire" per your comments in the Discord thread.  Never try building your lifesaving fire under overhanging snowy branches,  nothing good can come of it.

Thank you very much!  I had a great time  with it.  Once the jam concludes, I will upload a tweaked version; I was able to squeeze in a little extra space to give some numbers for the GM to roll for the pirate encounters.  While that is something that could be improvised of course, I like that the adventure is more complete with it.  I will also include a brief crew description for the smaller pirate vessel, along with another characterful pirate captain.    :)

Best,

Dennis

Thanks so much!   And THANK YOU for making this fun event possible!!!    :D

After the jam concludes I'm going to tweak the frostbite mechanic to rolling once every ten minutes for greater clarity, and will upload the updated version.

Best,

Dennis

Thanks Philip!  The idea of a were-moose sounded humorous and a little ominous at the same time, so I had to go for it.

Yes, on the DR14 tests I went back and forth a couple times on what number to assign.  Probably I should have stuck with 12 and maybe I'll revise that after the jam concludes. I would have loved to play test it out first but didn't have the opportunity.  Eventually I'll run it as a "dream sequence" in the MB campaign I'm gm'ing.  That way if it's too deadly and kills off the PCs in an hour's time they can just wake up. 

I would certainly have loved an extra page to work with!  A backstory would have been great.  I would have also liked a few days of wilderness travel and perils as the players follow the track of the deadly were-moose.  I considered smaller font to squeeze in more content but wasn't sure exactly where a printed A5 page would lose legibility (fairly quickly for those of us with reading glasses, LOL).

Thanks again!

Dennis

Thank you Philip!  I'm glad you enjoyed it.  I was going for the "Northern" theme and in the Upper Midwest, wooden iceboats were in use say a hundred or so years ago.  Once I considered iceboats, that instantly led to the idea of ice pirates! 

I wanted to provide a table to roll on for the number and frequency of encounters with the pirates, but with the space constraints I decided I would leave it up the GM, much as you surmised.  The page was starting to look pretty full to me, so I provided the suggested content with the hopes that the GM would improvise.  Ingrid can certainly jump to your ship (and she would definitely do this!) however the encounter plays out.  I like to imagine one ship or the other hopelessly broken after a ramming attempt, with the skimmer impaling the pirate vessel.  That would be an ideal time for a fierce boarding action, from one side or the other!

I do love the idea of a disposable NPC whose fate would provide a sense of dread and tension!  And you can never go wrong with undead pirates from hidden grottos.   :D

After the jam is over I would like to eventually post a longer "director's cut" version of this adventure with a map of the shorelines, towns and trading posts.  It would also include a few pages with encounter tables, additional NPCs and subplots, and maybe a zombified lake perch accidentally included in the pickled fish.    :D

Thanks again! 

Dennis

Thank you, sushiundmulch!  I felt a simple approach for the ice ships was needed and afterwards realized that I had arrived at a creature-based rule.    :D

I'm glad you liked the lake wyrm!  If there had been room for another paragraph, I might have had there be a zombie fish inside the stash of pickled fish the characters receive as part of their reward, requiring a Toughness role to avoid infection.  But I was out of space and I figured if the characters survived the surprise encounter with the wyrm, they deserved a successful conclusion to the adventure.

After the jam concludes I will consider producing a longer "director's cut" version with a map of the towns and trading posts, shorelines and frozen marshy islands, plus some encounter tables to roll against and additional NPCs.      :D

Thanks again!     :D

Dennis

Thanks very much!  I'm glad you liked it!     :D

The term "beastcrawl" is pure genius.  I love the artwork and the concepts, and the progression from each peril-filled "room" to the next!  Fun to look at and I think it will be a blast to p[lay.

Wow, I will think twice before entering an icy, mist-filled crater! I love the atmospheric descriptions.  The appearance of the Cold Star is wondrous and a little chilling at the same time.

Sure will!  I'm amazed this is your first jam entry, Where the Cold Star Lies is awesome!    :)

Thanks Wayward!  I appreciate your feedback, and I think that it would be very reasonable for the GM to give the PCs some advance knowledge of the crafty nature of their quarry.

Also a good point on the turns.  You are correct that my vision for the frostbite mechanics would be a check on something like a dungeon turn, as opposed to a frostbite check every round during a combat session that lasts five rounds (otherwise the PCs could freeze to death before the combat was over).  I struggled a little bit with how best to convey that.  I think that once the jam and voting have concluded, I will refine the language to indicate the frostbite check should be every ten minutes.

The ingenious salvation of the party from the orcs sounds very cool, I'm glad the player got such a killer sword as their reward!  Sounds well-earned.   :D

Best,

Dennis

Hey thank you very much Wayward!  I'm glad you picked up on the "Northern" vibe, that is definitely what this one is all about.   :D

Given a second page, I would have loved to throw in some cold-based mechanics (and the ice-shelf entrapment idea is brilliant and chilling at the same time).  A map of little towns, shorelines and marshy islands would have been fun.  I was also wanting a set of numbers to roll against that would show the players' chances of encountering any pirate ship on a given night's patrol, or the big ship.  I decided I would let the GMs decide on a approach for that.  The one page format made me become very miserly with every word!

This episode and "For Whom the Were-Moose Cometh" are my first jam entries ever, and I've been very grateful for the inclusive and welcoming nature of the community.  I appreciate the kind words and compliments!

Best,

Dennis

This is fabulous and a great submission!  It really captures the essence of the Mörk Borg world, with a sense of wonder and strangeness intertwined.

Hello, I wanted to post my comments in this thread as well! 

I was very impressed by Coldying.  I love the premise that we never learn exactly what The Package is, and that it is up to the reader to imagine what it might be-- obviously something small, precious, fragile and warm.  I'm guessing an infant, and perhaps one that can somehow bring light to a dark and dying world.  The directive to protect it with one's life makes me feel that I would indeed spend my character's life to do so.  And the knowledge that the mission could end in tragedy makes the storyline very compelling.

You also did a great job with artwork, graphics, etc.  Very professional!  I've only just begun  to use publishing software, specifically for this jam, and would love to get my abilities to that level.  I've got to learn about rasterizing, vector graphics and thinks like that.     :)

And there are even frozen tree ents!  I love their entry, where there is no wind but the trees are moving.  That sends a little chill down my spine, and it's not from the cold...     :)

Thank you very much, Heltung!  I had a great time coming up with the concept, it seemed comical and scary at the same time.  It became a bit scarier once I found the picture of the moose skull.      :)

Thank you very much, Heltung!  For the "Northern" theme of the jam, that made me think of the frozen lakes of the Upper Midwest in the U.S.  and Canada.  A hundred or more years ago, there were wooden sailboats on runners for use in those locales, and they probably provided some enjoyment and recreation during the harsh winters.  And where there are boats, there must be pirates!    :)

I was very impressed by your Coldying adventure!  I love the premise that we never learn exactly what The Package is, and that it is up to the reader to imagine what it might be-- obviously something small, precious, fragile and warm.  I'm guessing an infant, and perhaps one that can somehow bring light to a dark and dying world.  The directive to protect it with one's life makes me feel that I would indeed spend my character's life to do so.  And the knowledge that the mission could end in tragedy makes the storyline very compelling.

You also did a great job with artwork, graphics, etc.  Very professional!  I've only just begun  to use publishing software, specifically for this jam, and would love to get my abilities to that level.  I've got to learn about rasterizing, vector graphics and thinks like that.     :)