Hunted on the Snow Barrens is a 12-page, 5E module for 5th level characters written by Shane Collins for Headless Hydra Press’ Sandbox Adventures line.

A remote village in the desolate north has been plagued by animal attacks, driven to madness by an ancient god that lies dormant – but stirring - beneath the ice. The PCs are asked to put an end to the ruthless assault, inadvertently placing themselves into the middle of a personal animus between a paranoid, schizophrenic druid (who happens to be trying to revive the ancient god, Zovlidar) and a village headman with secrets of her own.

While the core of the adventure will ultimately take place within an ice cavern complex, Hunted on the Snow Barrens is far from a simple straight forward cave-delve, nor is it a linear in design. The first portion sees the party travel through the wilderness (brought to life with a fantastic, full colour hexplotation map) made dangerous by raging beasts and the ever-present threat of blizzards. Excellent blizzard progress mechanics make winter storms a genuine threat, rather than a mere nuisance. Glimpses of monsters through the driving snow, menacing footprints and fresh kills, and bone-jarring cold that’s as much a predatory as any Arctic wolf – if run aptly, the journey comes across as grim and deadly.

The ice cave, where the balance of the adventure takes place, is a well-designed eight room complex with an engaging mix of terrain challenges combats. It’s thoughtful and has excellent internal consistency. The climax of the adventure brings the simmering hatred between the druid and the village headman to boil, opening up the opportunity for interesting roleplaying as the PCs are forced to make a difficult choice that may test their morals.

In addition to the five pages of actual adventure, Hunted on the Snow Barrens includes two new magic items (frost fang and cloak of eternal summer); the northern owl bear, a new monster that blends owl bear with polar bear (and which will likely splatter the white snow with PCs’ blood if their not cautious); and stats for all monsters found within the adventure, so there’s no need to flip through other books.

Production values are top-notch. Its beautifully illustrated, layout is professional and user-friendly, and maps - including three high resolution battlemaps of the ice cavern (day, night, labeled) – are stunning.

Hunted on the Snow Barrens hits all the beats of a great D&D dungeon crawl —a fight atop a rickety rope bridge spanning a steam-filled crevasse, pulling a magic blade from the ice, a chanting ritual to a fell deity – but also has an interest in characterization and atmosphere that separates it from the pack. It’s obvious Shane Collins was having terrific fun with Arctic genre staples.

Easy to plug into any northern campaign, Hunted on the Snow Barrens is as refreshing as a flicker of warmth in a cold, cold world.