Crystalline Ice Sheet

Ice Sheet
Jeremy Harbeck (NASA), CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Crystals grow out of the ground, the rocks and even the plants. They cut, they ring in the wind, and they throw light in every direction, so that noon dazzles and the night glows. An endless field of ice and snow where nothing grows. The cold kills, the light blinds, crevasses hide under the snow, and only those who know the sea ice along its edges live from it.

Over the year it averages -25 °C.

Hear it

For the table

Ground
hard going, about 10 km a day on foot
Seasons
-40 °C in the heart of winter, -8 °C in the heart of summer
Water
scarce
Foraging
nothing

Hazards

  • Bitter cold. Without furs, a fire and shelter at night, the cold numbs, then kills. Frostbite takes fingers and toes first.
  • Blizzard. Wind and snow erase the horizon: no landmark, no up or down. Those caught in the open dig in and wait.
  • Crevasses. Snow bridges hide cracks in the ice deep enough to swallow a sledge. Parties rope together.
  • Strong wind. Steady wind tires walkers, blows out fires and, on sand or snow, blinds and buries the track.
  • Snow blindness. Sun on snow and ice burns the eyes within a day. Arctic peoples carved slit goggles of bone or wood against it.
  • Crystal shards. Crystal edges hide under grass and sand, sharp as glass. Boots last a week; bare feet, an hour.
  • Singing stone. When the wind blows the crystals ring, one long note that never stops. After a day of it, nobody hears anything else, and some stop sleeping.
  • Crystal glare. At midday the light bounces from every face of the crystals. Without a veil or slitted goggles, the eyes burn.

D&D 5e

Plays as
arctic, fast pace at most (with skis or snowshoes)
Checks
forage: Survival DC 20 · find the way: DC 10 · search: DC 10
Creatures are spotted at
6d6 × 10 ft
  • Bitter cold. At −18 °C (0 °F) or colder, anyone exposed makes a DC 10 Constitution save at the end of each hour or gains 1 Exhaustion. Cold resistance passes automatically; sleeping in a bedroll does too, and a blanket gives Advantage.
  • Blizzard. Heavy snow makes the area Lightly Obscured: Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks. With the cold, the extreme cold rule applies.
  • Strong wind. Disadvantage on ranged weapon attacks; open flames go out and fog clears; a flyer must land at the end of its turn or fall. In a desert it can raise a sandstorm: Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks.
  • Crystal shards. (House rule) The ground is Difficult Terrain. A creature that moves at a fast pace makes a DC 12 Dexterity save each hour or takes 1d6 slashing damage and has its speed reduced by 10 feet until healed.
  • Singing stone. (House rule) On windy days, creatures have Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing. A creature that sleeps without stopping its ears makes a DC 12 Constitution save or gains 1 Exhaustion.
  • Crystal glare. (House rule) A creature that travels at midday without eye cover makes a DC 12 Constitution save or has the Blinded condition until it rests an hour in shade.

This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 ("SRD 5.2.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.

Pathfinder Second Edition

Plays as (Pathfinder Second Edition)
arctic, greater difficult terrain, about 11 km a day at Speed 25
Checks
Subsist: Survival DC 40 · Sense Direction: Survival DC 30
Random encounters
flat check DC 17 each day
  • Bitter cold. Temperature bands (GM Core p. 95): at 0 °C to −11 °C (mild cold) travellers tire after 4 hours; at −11 °C to −29 °C (severe cold) they also take minor cold damage (1d6 to 2d6) every hour; at −29 °C to −62 °C (extreme cold), every 10 minutes. Cold-weather gear removes severe-cold damage and turns extreme cold into severe. A soaked traveller counts the band one colder.
  • Blizzard. A blizzard combines cold, heavy snow and strong wind (GM Core p. 96): apply the temperature band, a –1 to –4 penalty to Perception that relies on sight, and travel fatigue after 4 hours.
  • Strong wind. Wind gives a –1 to –4 penalty to Perception that relies on hearing and to physical ranged attacks, and puts out handheld flames; strong wind can call for Athletics to move, a critical failure pushing back and knocking prone (GM Core p. 95).

This product is licensed under the ORC License located at the Library of Congress at TX 9-307-067 and available online at various locations including paizo.com/orclicense, azoralaw.com/orclicense, and others. All warranties are disclaimed as set forth therein. Attribution: this rules layer is based on the following Licensed Material: Pathfinder Player Core © 2023 Paizo Inc., Designed by Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, and Mark Seifter. Authors: Alexander Augunas, Kate Baker, Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Carlos Cabrera, Calder CaDavid, James Case, Eleanor Ferron, Steven Hammond, Joan Hong, Vanessa Hoskins, James Jacobs, Jenny Jarzabski, Erik Keith, Dustin Knight, Lyz Liddell, Luis Loza, Patchen Mortimer, Dennis Muldoon, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Mikhail Rekun, David N. Ross, Michael Sayre, Mark Seifter, Kendra Leigh Speedling, Mark Thompson, Clark Valentine, Andrew White, Landon Winkler, and Linda Zayas-Palmer; Pathfinder GM Core © 2023 Paizo Inc., Designed by Logan Bonner and Mark Seifter. Authors: Amirali Attar Olyaee, Logan Bonner, Creighton Broadhurst, Jason Bulmahn, James Case, Jesse Decker, Eleanor Ferron, Fabby Garza Marroquín, Jaym Gates, Matthew Goetz, James Jacobs, Brian R. James, Jenny Jarzabski, Dustin Knight, Jason LeMaitre, Lyz Liddell, Luis Loza, Ron Lundeen, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, David N. Ross, Michael Sayre, Mark Seifter, Owen K.C. Stephens, Amber Stewart, Clark Valentine, Landon Winkler, and Linda Zayas-Palmer; Pathfinder Monster Core © 2024 Paizo Inc., Authors: Alexander Augunas, Dennis Baker, Kate Baker, Joshua Birdsong, Joseph Blomquist, Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, James Case, John Compton, Paris Crenshaw, Adam Daigle, Darrin Drader, Brian Duckwitz, Robert N. Emerson, Scott Fernandez, Eleanor Ferron, Leo Glass, Matthew Goodall, BJ Hensley, Thurston Hillman, Vanessa Hoskins, James Jacobs, Jenny Jarzabski, Miko Kallio, Jason Keeley, Jeff Lee, Lyz Liddell, Luis Loza, Ron Lundeen, Robert G. McCreary, Philippe-Antoine Menard, Jacob W. Michaels, Dave Nelson, Jason Nelson, Tim Nightengale, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Mikhail Rekun, Patrick Renie, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Michael Sayre, Mark Seifter, Chris S. Sims, Amber Stewart, Jeffrey Swank, William Thompson, Jason Tondro, Clark Valentine, Landon Winkler, Tonya Woldridge, and Linda Zayas-Palmer. If you use our Licensed Material in your own published work, please credit us as follows: Biomes, Pathfinder Second Edition rules layer © 2026 Michael Ghelfi. Reserved Material: the names of Biomes and its catalogues, its descriptions, sounds, art and code. Pathfinder is a registered trademark of Paizo Inc.; this site is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Inc.

Adventure hooks

  1. A jeweller pays well for crystals cut from living plants, which hold a little green inside. The plants scream when they are cut, a thin ringing scream, and the jeweller has stopped coming himself.
  2. The crystals ring in the wind, and someone has noticed that, played together, they make a song the oldest grandmother in the region knows. She will not sing the end of it.
  3. The crystals are spreading a little further each year, onto farmland, roofs and once onto a sleeping drunk. The village wants it stopped, and the drunk would like his arm back.
  4. A thief has stolen a sack of the crystals and hidden in the land, and every crystal he carries shines a light that can be seen for miles. He is the worst hidden man alive, and the most heavily armed.
  5. A sealer swears he saw a ship frozen into the ice far inland, where no sea has been in living memory. He says its hold is full, and that its crew are still standing on deck.
  6. Hunters on the sea ice at the edge of the sheet have been cut off when a lead of black water opened behind them. Their families offer their best dogs to whoever brings them back before the floe drifts out.
  7. An expedition leader wants to cross the ice to a mountain seen once from the coast, and has hired guides for the outward journey. The party discovers, three days out, that he has hired nobody for the way back.
  8. A scholar wants to know whether a certain crevasse is truly bottomless and needs strong arms to lower him into it. He has brought a rope of exactly the length he guessed.

Animals

  • Polar Bear (man-killer, alone, by day)
  • Arctic Fox (dangerous if cornered, in families, day and night)
  • Walrus (dangerous if cornered, in herds, day and night)
  • Bearded Seal (harmless, alone, by day)
  • Killer Whale (harmless, in families, day and night)
  • Narwhal (harmless, in families, day and night)

Creatures

Also met here

This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 ("SRD 5.2.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.

To gather

Arctic Fox Pelt, Bearded Seal Blubber, Bearded Seal Hide, Bearded Seal Meat, Killer Whale Blubber, Killer Whale Meat, Narwhal Blubber, Narwhal Sinew, Narwhal Skin, Walrus Blubber, Walrus Hide, Polar Bear Fat, Walrus Ivory, Killer Whale Tympani, Narwhal Tusk, Polar Bear Hide, Meteorite Fragment, Adult Dragon Tonsils, Dragon Tongue, Solar Flare Fragment

Beneath

Near the surface the rock keeps the year's mean warmth, without seasons; it warms as one goes down.

At the surface
-25 °C
100 m
-22 °C
500 m
-11 °C
1 km
3 °C
3 km
58 °C

A town here

How large a town this land can feed, what it makes and what it must buy. Build it in Hearth

The same milieu, otherwise

Ice Sheet

Open it in Biomes — MGS Toolbox