Dungeons and Dragons players are still a few months away from the release of the next major adventure book launch, but the authors of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden have already started dropping tidbits of art and other teasers about the cold-weather, modern-horror inspired setting and story. One recent teaser from Chris Perkins reveals an incredibly powerful legendary spell scroll that has the potential to destroy all of Icewind Dale if it falls into the wrong hands.
The new book contains an adventure that is designed to take players from level 1 up through around level 12 if they complete many of the side quests along with the main story, but this particular magic item feels potentially too powerful for even that level range. The item in question is a Scroll of Tarrasque Summoning that does exactly what it sounds like it should do and summons one of the deadliest Dungeons and Dragons creatures into the game right into the middle of Icewind Dale to cause chaos and destruction around the world.
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden will likely contain a ton of new magic items, weapons, and other potential loot for DMs to scatter throughout their campaign to aid the heroes along their journey through the frosty north. Some of the most powerful items in D&D have always come with some danger and risk alongside the benefits and the Scroll of Tarrasque Summoning is definitely no exception. This magic item has the potential to easily wipe the map of any enemies or monsters who could be standing in the way of the party's objective, but it also leaves a massive monster in the world that needs to drop to 0 hit points before it will disappear. And for player's who know about the Tarrasque, they should be aware that killing one is a pretty tall order...
Scroll of Tarrasque Summoning
First off, it's good to take note that this is a Legendary item. According to the Dungeon Master's Guide, Legendary items are are some of the rarest in the game and throughout an average campaign, the party may only ever come in contact with a small handful of them. Depending on the particular dungeon master, it's possible that a party may only ever come across one during their entire journey. The frequency with which magic items are sprinkled into a campaign varies a lot from setting to setting and from DM to DM. This particular scroll seems unique and powerful enough that hopefully players are well-equipped to handle the consequences if they decide to call on its power.
Dungeons Masters who are familiar with the Monster Manual should know right away how out of control this particular spell can get. For those who may not be familiar with this particular brand of nightmare, let's take a look at the stat block for the tarrasque to see exactly what kind of chaos this legendary spell scroll can cause in your campaigns...
The Tarrasque
"The legendary tarrasque is possibly the most dreaded monster of the Material Plane. It is widely believed that only one of these creatures exists, though no one can predict where and when it will strike.
A scaly biped, the tarrasque is fifty feet tall and seventy feet long, weighing hundreds of tons. It carries itself like a bird of prey, leaning forward and using its powerful lashing tail for balance. Its cavernous maw yawns wide enough to swallow all but the largest creatures, and so great is its hunger that it can devour the populations of whole towns."
A quick glance at just the top of this stat block should reveal just how crazy the spell is. The Tarrasque is a challenge level 30, has an AC of 25, and isn't going to quickly with those 676 recommended hit points. And that's all before getting into its immunities, attacks, or Legendary abilities. The creature is a devastating force of destruction and has the ability to wipe out all of Ten Towns and the surrounding area if players aren't careful with this gross amount of power.
Most dangerous still is the chance that the Tarrasque turns its attention to the party and causes an instant TPK. Obviously this isn't a magical item that any lower level players would be able to get their hands on (hopefully), so in theory players who have advanced enough to acquire it should know how to use the spell responsibly and maybe be prepared to put the beast down once it wipes out the intended target.
Considering the power level of this scroll, it should be very interesting to see what other magic items Rime of the Frostmaiden is going to introduce when it releases this fall. The book will likely contain a whole section of new items and if some of the others are as powerful and devastating as this one, then players are going to have some crazy additions to their tool box for handling any problems they run into in the far north of the Forgotten Realms. The adventure isn't being advertised as being quite as deadly as some of the other challenging 5e adventures, but with spells like this floating around it sounds like TPKs are not going to be all that rare this fall as players start running through the adventure.
There are going to be a lot of other details about Icewind Dale and other upcoming D&D products dropping throughout the rest of the summer and early fall, so be sure to stay tuned and check back for additional news. Be sure to check back in the near future for more Dungeons and Dragons news, updates, and strategy guides. Until then, roll well, adventurers!
Dungeons and Dragons: Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden releases everywhere on September 15, 2020. Existing Dungeons and Dragons products are available now at game stores or digitally through DnD Beyond.