Town and Down for a Tier 3 Party:
The Frosted Prince isn't an ambitious module - but what it does, it does well. I ran this as the middle entry in a casual level 10-15 mini-campaign, and it met all my needs as a solid Tier 3 adventure that could be easily slotted into an ongoing game.
There are two things the module does particularly well. The first is to provide a traditional town-and-down dungeon expedition for Tier 3 players. Providing an appropriate challenge to characters in this tier can be tricky, but The Frosted Prince delivers enjoyable, scalable encounters that use interesting and iconic enemies in memorable ways.
The second is its use of Shadowdale. It's rare to get a glimpse of the Dales in the 5E era, but JVC Parry goes above and beyond as a continuity nerd to deliver what feels like an authoritative view of Shadowdale in the early 1490s DR. For those who care about these things, you'll find a Shadowdale that retains the feel of the classic Forgotten Realms location, while incorporating the (relatively obscure) events of the late 3E and 4E eras, plus input from Ed Greenwood himself on current events in the Dales. For those who don't care, you'll be glad to know that none of that continuity is required reading - it adds realism and detail to the backdrop, rather than driving the story.
The only complaint I have is that the parts of the adventure that aren't the dungeon are largely irrelevant. A significant part of the module is devoted to finding out where the dungeon is, through roleplaying encounters in Shadowdale - but it's blindingly obvious where the players need to go from the moment they reach the town, and, as written, you'll either need to jettison most of the roleplaying elements, or force the players into them in a way they're unlikely to appreciate. Nor are any of those roleplaying encounters particularly memorable or enjoyable on their own merits.
Nevertheless, The Frosted Prince is a worthy Tier 3 one-shot, and I recommend it.
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