Below is an archive of live-streaming games from the Icewind Dale campaign GM’d by Ted Burgess and originally streamed on Twitch. It’s also an introduction to the Heroes of Icewind Dale — Alinar, Gaelya, Immeral, Roderick, Reugar, and Veris.

This game is a 5e fan-conversion of the 2e Dungeons and Dragons classic — Icewind Dale. Now managed by Beamdog, Icewind Dale is available for ePRG play on Steam. If you’re a lover of classic-style D&D, we recommend you check out the video game Ted’s epic campaign draws inspiration from.

Ted has a long-running love affair with Icewind Dale as an eRPG and as a Dungeons and Dragons adventure setting. His game takes a deep dive into the old-school Icewind Dale setting and series of adventures — expanding on its original gritty flavor and deadly style of adventuring. Icewind Dale live-streams on Twitch about every three weeks Saturday Nights starting at 9 PM EST. As the player of Gaelya, I’ll be streaming these games so that viewers can have an RPer’s perspective. Archived games will post on YouTube and are featured below.

Adventure Story

Our heroes came, by various means, to the frigid town of Easthaven where they were quickly conscripted by a local warlord named Hrothgar to undertake various quests. After dealing with troubles near Easthaven, the adventurers set out to confront a band of orc raiders hiding in a nearby cave. The party (only level 2 at the time) entered the cave to face a deadly fight as thirty five orcs, five wolves and an ogre swarmed to attack. After a vicious but heroic battle that left only two orcs alive, the party was defeated and killed (yep, a TPK!). This defeat would’ve been the end for our poor heroes had Hrothgar not sent a follow-on group from Easthaven to bring back our corpses and slay the remaining two orcs. Inspired by our heroism, Hrothgar decided to splurge and have the party returned to life.

After resurrection (generous or unfortunate is up for debate), the party was hired as caravan guards on the road to Kuldahar. An avalanche then wiped out the caravan leaving our party as its only survivors (yep, we’re cursed). After ridding the mountain pass and its settlements of goblin attackers in a glorious series of murder-hobo-type skirmishes, the adventurers journeyed to Kuldahar. There they learned of an evil occupying a nearby valley called The Vale of Shadows. They journeyed to the Vale to confront fearsome Yeti and hordes of terrible undead. Within the Vale is Kresslak’s Tomb. Our video archive picks up as the party explores this tomb and faces off against its swarms of evil undead.

Character Profiles

What follows are the character profiles for Alinar, Gaelya, Immeral, Roderick, Ruegar, and Veris. Presently these heroes (we use the term liberally) are all level five. The party is a bit further along than the video archive would indicate — as before starting our livestream, we completed about 8 campaign sessions. For your continuity, I’ve provided a brief synopsis of the campaign’s events above. It’s also worth noting that this group developed a strong sense of PC camaraderie as most of the present party members played through Ted’s Lords of Darkwell campaign prior to Icewind Dale over the course of about five years.

Alinar Caskshaper is an Elf Paladin of the Ancients. Played by J.D., Alinar is well known for running pretty much straight at the enemy with his dwarven maul ‘Punt’ swinging. One of the main front-liners for the party, Alinar has turned many a skeleton to tiny bone fragments with his mighty swings of Punt. Facing other foes, he switches out to the renowned Blade of Aihonen — a magical sword and a family heirloom.

Backstory — Goldrid, Alinar’s foster father and a dwarf, always told Al that Larrel and Delsanra retired from adventuring when Alinar was born. He’d wax on about Alinar’s great lineage — suggesting Alinar was destined to become a famed adventurer like Delsanra, her mother Chalia of the Aerie, and her father Aihonen before her. Goldrid never mentioned just how his parents died, though. All Goldrid would say about them was — “Ah, lad, they were the best. One day, you may be half the hero yer da was and about a quarter the hero yer ma was. That’d make you three times the hero anyone in Icewind Dale has e’er seen!”

Aihonen, it turns out, married a sea elf named Elisia. Apparently, there has also been some business regarding dragons. Though the details are still somewhat unclear.

All this talk of adventuring seemed pretty dangerous to Alinar. Goldrid’s silence over his missing parents didn’t help. Alinar had other, more appealing and less lethal, ideas about life and livelihood. Pushing a boat around Maer Dualdon seemed like a better notion than risking one’s life as an adventurer. The closest Al got to adventuring before the present business was leading wealthy hunters out on expeditions to Kelvin’s Cairn. Of course, ever since becoming involved with that damned Hrothgar in Easthaven, Alinar’s been making good ol’ Goldrid proud.

Gaelya the Ghost is an Elf Bladesinger Wizard. Played by yours truly, Gaelya is a cheese-obsessive who provides much of the party’s explosive magical support. The recent acquisition of Fireball has kicked Gaelya’s blasts up a notch (yes, flaming cheese blob can substitute for bat guano as a material component). A Bladesinger who’s run a lot like the old-school fighter-mage, Gaelya’s also not afraid to mix it up in melee combat with the front liners. Though she’s small and physically fragile, her magical defenses are quite formidable (over-consumption of cheese can result in delusions of invulnerability). Her magically-enabled toughness is aided by her Belt of Beatification and Wand of Armory. In melee, she either wields her magical rapier or casts a spell to summon a Shadow Blade.

Backstory — “Blasted magistrate’s house to the ground with primeval thunder because he exiled me sister. Got exiled meself real quick. Was forced onto ship sent from Evermeet. Big swan-like thing. It was beauteous and pretentious-like. Came to Waterdeep. Fell in love with cheese. Quickly ate self into a bellyache full of debt. Worked as cheese guard and got paid next to nothing. Never could afford cheese again. Now I’m a beggar — errrr — adventurer! Why is it so cold here? Icewind… Ya think that has somethin to do with it?”

Immeral Galanodel is an Elven Long Death Monk. Played by Mike, Immeral is a mobile front liner with surprising resilience. Assaulting the enemy with devastating flurries of blows, Immeral draws life energy from defeated foes to further buffer him from harm. Equipped with Glimglam’s Cloak, a magical longsword, magical bow, growing stocks of fire arrows, Bracers of Defense and a Robe of Cold Resistance, Immeral posesses a diverse array of offensive and defensive enablement beyond what even his considerable skills and ki provide.

Backstory — pending…

Reugar is a Goliath Rune Knight Fighter. Played by Wade, Reugar redefines the concept of rushing toward the enemy. A main front liner like Alinar, Reugar manages to draw a lot of aggro in combat while laying waste to his foes. Reugar’s penchant for attracting enemy fire is due to his huge presence and tendency to get in the enemy’s face. His ability to channel the might of his giant ancestors by triggering runes that increase his size to that of the frigging hulk fills out his role as an enemy magnet even further. Reugar possesses the Black Wolf Talisman, The Ring of the Warrior, and a magical warhammer.

Backstory — pending…

Roderick Visport is a Human Trickery Domain Cleric/Rogue. Played by Lauren, Roderick puts a pretty face on a party of misfits, scoundrels and ruffians. Not to say that Roderick isn’t without his own rough edges. It’s just that he’s too much of a pretty boy for one to suspect much drama, at first. Or perhaps it’s just Tymora smiling on one of her main devotees. In combat, Roderick exploits openings for his deadly sneak attacks, uses healing to help his allies, and lays waste to his foes with powerful divine magic. Roderick is armed with a Static Dagger, a magic sling, and wears The Ring of Shadows. Lauren, Roderick’s player, is armed with a magical paint brush.

Backstory — pending…

Veris Bremein is a Custom Lineage Circle of the Shepherd Druid. Played by Dave, Veris packs a potent combination of summoning, shapechanging, attack, and healing magic. Veris can be counted on to lay down powerful heals while summoning a variety of creatures. In addition, his Circle of the Shepherd feature allows him call forth a Hawk, Bear, or Unicorn Spirit to aid himself and his allies. Veris often becomes the turning point on which a battle pivots — ensuring his allies stay standing, calling potent reinforments, or shifting into his ape form and throwing himself into the fray. Veris is equipped with a Wand of Magic Missiles capable of expelling a devastating barrage of magical projectiles, stunning Hammer Darts, a magic sling and a magic scimitar.

Backstory — pending…

Campaign Art by Lady Blue Wolf

Our Icewind Dale campaign is blessed with the most beauteous artwork of Roderick’s player — Lauren. As each campaign episode progresses, Lauren creates her own storyboard of key events — vividly portraying our various follies and victories in colorful and humorous form. Examples are sprinkled throughout this campaign archive. I’ll be posting more of these amazing, fun, and colorful bits of campaign art to each episode log’s cover page.

You can find more of Lauren’s fantastic artwork here.

Episodes

Episode 8 — Narrowed down to only four members, the party continues to delve into the dangerous tomb.

Episode 9 — Alinar and Reugar reinforce the beleaguered party in an epic battle against hordes of undead.

Episode 10 — Alinar and Gaelya suffer second death as the party confronts hordes of skeletons, specters, phantoms and a skeletal mage.

Episode 11 — After death (again), the party returns to The Vale of Shadows to hunt down a priestess of Auril.

Episode 12 — The party ventures to The Temple of the Forgotten God in search of the fabled Heart Stone.

Last Notes

For now, we conclude our gaming archive and related character profiles for Icewind Dale. Return for updates and new video archives occurring about 1-2 times a month. Also, I’ll be updating our character profiles when the situation warrants.

Thank you for joining us!