This compilation offers the main Icewind Dale game, its commercial expansion pack Heart of Winter, and the free downloadable expansion pack for the expansion pack, Trials of the Luremaster, all in one package.
In the Northern parts of Faerûn the winter never ends. In this harsh realm of ice only a few tough survivors live, and nowadays even those hardy few find the conditions a tad tougher. A party of adventurers has just arrived at the small fishing town of Easthaven. Its leader Hrothgar organizes an expedition to help a troubled nearby tree-village, Kuldahar. The party joins the expedition, but an ambush by frost giants causes an avalanche, killing everyone but the heroes themselves. Now they must continue Hrothgar’s quest and discover the source of the evil that threatens the land.
Icewind Dale is a party-based role-playing game with real-time combat, very similar in visual style and basic gameplay mechanics to Baldur’s Gate. The game utilizes the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. As opposed to Baldur’s Gate (and similarly to older AD&D RPGs), the player is free to create a party of up to six characters belonging to various races and classes; no characters inhabiting the game world are able to join the party afterwards. Compared to Baldur’s Gate and Planescape: Torment by the same developers, Icewind Dale is more combat-oriented; it has a linear plot advancement and focuses on extensive exploration of hostile areas rather than conversations with characters and quests.
Picking up after the conclusion of Icewind Dale, peace has returned to Icewind Dale… or so it seems. A plot by the northern Barbarians to attack the Ten Towns is underway, and it is up to the party of adventurers to investigate and stop this plot.
This expansion on the original game is more of the same. The game focuses on epic battles and powerful magics, relying on the plot only to provide a background for the fighting and spell-casting. Included are new weapons, armors, and enemies. Battles are now more like Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn than in the original, relying heavily on strategy and spell-casting to combat very powerful enemies.
While the heroes of Heart of Winter seek a way to prevent the hostilities between the Ten Towns and the barbarian tribes from escalating, a mysterious guest has settled in the Whistling Gallows Inn of Lonelywood. The halfling Hobart Stubbletoes offers the promise of riches and fame to all real heroes willing to join him in a faraway adventure. If accepted, he will teleport the adventurers to the middle of Anauroch desert, to a derelict stronghold called Castle Maluradek. Many secrets await to be uncovered within, but for that, one must first challenge the trials of the Luremaster.
Trials of the Luremaster is a free expansion for the role-playing game Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter. It adds a new a set of dungeons in and below Castle Maluradek, tied together by a unique storyline. Other additions include monsters that were not seen in the previous two campaigns (such as beholders and jackalweres), new portraits, items and bug fixes. The expansion also removes the level cap for dual-classed characters. Unlike the previous campaigns, this expansion puts more emphasis on solving puzzles, often accompanied by cryptic clues. Once teleported, the adventurers cannot leave the castle before finishing the entire quest.
Cover Art:
Screenshots:
