Okay. I've been quiet on this for a bit because of reasons, but I'm gonna give my thoughts and opinions on the Cold-Hearted Killer quest in Rime of the Frostmaiden real quick.

It's not designed for level 1. It's not meant to one-hit KO the party at level 1. Here's why:

The two starting quests in Rime are designed to kick off in the starting town of the adventure, whichever one the DM may choose, but they are NOT designed to be completed there. They are there as motivation for the party to explore Icewind Dale and the rest of Ten Towns.

Example for Cold-Hearted Killer, page 24: "You randomly determine the location of the merchant company by rolling a d10 and consulting the Starting Town table. Roll again if the result is the adventure's starting town."

Cold-Hearted Killer, as written, can NOT be completed in...

... the starting town. The party has to go to another town to do so. If they choose to complete the location based quest in the starting town, they'll be 2nd level if they go to the Cold-Hearted Killer quest next. 3rd or 4th if they complete more.

See character advancement p. 18

Only if the party decides to rush for the killer immediately and without planning will they find themselves facing a deadly++ foe. In which case they can, guess what, run away.

Expecting players to think for a moment before rushing into a rampage is not a hot take.

The encounter wasn't made to satiate bloodlusty players. It was made to invite exploration of Icewind Dale by acting as motivation to investigate the rest of Ten Towns.

Now... I didn't write this quest so my desire to defend it doesn't come from me wanting to validate my own writing. I hate everything I've ever put to paper. I just read the quest and the surrounding rules that framed it.

If you want to criticize the way the quest was presented and the rules surrounding it that's a valid perspective to take. But when people say it's bad because it's too hard for level 1, it really makes no sense to me because, per the book, it's meant for level 2 at the earliest.

You can of course run the quest however you like. It's your game after all, change as much or as little as you want.

But damn... Look at the context of what you're critiquing before you start dunking on the writing team.

Anne's Sunday afternoon hot takes, I guess.