D&D 5E (2014) in search of a holiday adventure

[pukunui]

Maybe I should write one up like I did for Halloween. I'm really pressed for time of late though. I'll give it a shot.

That would be awesome!

 

[Sloblock]

That would be awesome!

+1 to that

 

[pukunui]

Found some good ideas in this reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/3tti7t/do_you_wanna_kill_a_snowman_help_me_plan_a/

I particularly like the snowglobe idea (I've been wanting to do something with a magic snowglobe ever since I played NWN). I also like the one where they find "Santa" in a house and he asks them to defeat Krampus and then gives them each a little gift. Nice and simple.

Sigh. Now I've gone from having not enough ideas to having too many!

 

[UnlimitedPowers]

[MENTION=6788660]UnlimitedPowers[/MENTION]: I'm actually kind of liking the idea of evil fey. Maybe the PCs end up having to chase them back into the Feywild. But if decorating trees is meant to ward them away, how would I go about using them? Would the PCs come across a village that hasn't decorated any trees for some reason? Care to help me flesh the idea out a bit more?

Good point, I can think of a couple scenarios and I guess it depends on how much time you're looking to spend on it.

a) It could be that the tree ceremony has yet to be performed because they're missing crucial materials (a surprise early winter storm blew through and they were raided by the fey or something, and they stole... uh, the enchanted tree topper?), so your heroes have to brave fey territory ground zero in order to retrieve the items. This ends up being pretty straightforward and fits your 'assault on the Prince of Frost' idea.
b) The ceremony was performed, but the tree was somehow sabotaged or burned down by a mortal agent of the fey. This would be cooler for a slow-burn adventure or campaign, where there's glimpses of lurking figures in the snow beyond and a sense of isolation-- like 30 Days of Night but with fey instead of vampires.
c) The ceremony was performed, but the fey for some reason don't care. Maybe it's not a magical ward, just a truce/agreement. They're offended and engraged by the gifts offered to them, or the Prince of Frost has decided he's no longer interested in whatever agreement was struck. Or it is magical, but they need to retrieve something/someone in town so badly that they power through whatever magical ward effects exist and siege the place.

 

[pukunui]

+1 to that

Knowing [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION], though, it'll undoubtedly be super-cheesy, which isn't really what I'm looking for. I don't mind a bit of humor in my games, but I dislike breaking the fourth wall.

Good point, I can think of a couple scenarios and I guess it depends on how much time you're looking to spend on it.

In terms of prep or in terms of play time? Our host has offered to give us dinner, so we'll be starting earlier than usual. This could theoretically mean that we end earlier than usual, but it could also mean that we play for longer, so I might need something that can cover 5-7 hours of playtime maybe.

To be honest, as they'll only be 5th level, I think the Prince of Frost would probably be a bit too overpowering for them. I might have to leave him till *next* Christmas. I like the idea of digging deep and running something that harks back to the grim and gritty origins of things like Christmas - something a bit more visceral, like Discworld's Hogfather novel, rather than something hokey with Santa and tinker gnomes and red-nosed reindeer and what-have-you. I don't want to do that if I can help it. I wouldn't mind having a Santa-like figure in the adventure, so long as it's not painfully obvious that that's who he is - so like a pre-Coca Cola Santa who wears reds, browns and greens rather than red, white and black. That being said, having "Santa" give the PCs some presents at the end of the adventure would no doubt go down well with my players.

And yet I could also see myself doing something along the lines of Discworld's Wintersmith novel - focusing more on winter and that sort of thing than on the Christmas holiday itself. Sigh ...

 

[iserith]

Knowing [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION], though, it'll undoubtedly be super-cheesy, which isn't really what I'm looking for. I don't mind a bit of humor in my games, but I dislike breaking the fourth wall.

Yeesh - I guess I won't rush to get it done!

 

[pukunui]

Sorry. That was a bit harsh. I'm just starting to panic a little, and I figured you'd do something with Santa and reindeer and such, which won't be of much use to me. If you had something else in mind, I'm all ears, as it were.

 

[iserith]

Sorry. That was a bit harsh. I'm just starting to panic a little, and I figured you'd do something with Santa and reindeer and such, which won't be of much use to me.

Of course I wouldn't do something like that - don't be ridiculous.

*hastily tears up paper with frost giant Santa and dire reindeer stat blocks*

 

[jayoungr]

There is this adventure, for Pathfinder or Savage Worlds:

Throwdown at the North Pole

(Probably too cheesy for Pukunui, but someone else reading this thread might enjoy it.)

 

[Rya.Reisender]

I'm a dungeon addict so I'd probably make some toy factory dungeon myself. With fairy, kobolds, pixies and whoever else worked there going mad and toys coming to life to kill everyone.