Taking a little time off for the (Homebrew) holidays

[alsih2o]

Let's talk homebrew holidays.

In my homebrew one of the moons disappears beneath the horizon for 6 weeks every year. It is a celestial rememberance of the moon (who is a god) fighting off a star (who is a god) who was jealous of her position in the night sky.

For this 6 week period it is considered bad luck to take game with a bow.

Also, they have a "Founders Celebration" where they spend a week witout work in honor of the founders of the country.

What holidays or celebrations do your PC's celebrate?

 

[Shallown]

For my last campaign I went through the real world calender and looked at the holidays and picked a few that would fit into my world and then modified them. I took the idea that many holidays come from some religious ceremony or important date. I then defined what the holidays mean in the present day and what they started out as in the campaign. I based almost all of them on the history of the world and the return of civilization.

In the campaign.
The recent history was that 2 thousand years ago the world was ruled by Demons and devils and the slaves managed to revolt against them and set themselves free. I based a lot of the holidays on this rebellion though a lot of the significance is lost in the present day world. I also made notes on the differences the races saw in these holidays since elves may celebrate the same holiday as humans but do so in a different manner.

I also chose a trait from each of the races and built a holiday around it that was celebrated by the races themselves and not the predominate humans.

I also built holidays around the Gods and the seasons. Seasonal changes have a much greater impact on Medieval level society/technology.

Her are examples
Wreath Day - this is the dwarven holiday of family and clan. It is also the day of dwarven marriages and divorces. Dwarves being pragmatic and long lived consider marriage and divorce to be temporary and somewhat unemotional events. You can and very often do have love in a marriage but love like many things can wane. Dwarves take little offense to divorce. To indicate one wants to marry someone you make a wreath (since plants are more rare and therefore more valuable to dwarves they have extra value and meaning) and hang it on their door. If it stays up by noon then you marry them that day. The wreath remains on the door as long as the couple is together. This event is usually not a surprise and may be planned years ahead but on occasion their is an impulsive wreath hanging. If you wake the morning of Wreath day and your Wreath has been pulled off your door, well your divorced and spend the day moving out.
It was a running joke with the dwarf fighter in the group if he would have a wreath on his door when he went home since he was a wandering adventurer so every time he went home he would send the rogue to check and see if his wreath was up or not.

Rolling hills competition - More or less a gnomish Olympics though involving more than just sports also included magic and pranks. No Gnomes in the party so it was never played up very much. Whenever they were near a gnomish community it was the wrong time of year.

The long night - Basically a Halloween type night with masked balls and trick or treating... a little heavier on the Tricking then now days. It originated as the holiday for the Gods of an evil nature after the Gods helped free the slaves. they were being given their due and when it started was a night of much more evil acts but over the years that became a much more behind the scenes event.

Night of sacrifice - A night to mourn those who have sacrificed themselves for others, sort of a veteran's/memorial day just not military only. It originated to honor all those who gave their lives to block the devils and demons from this world. 1/2 the slaves died during the rebellion from actual fighting or the magic used to banish the demons and devils. The actual reason the holiday started is lost but not its intent.

Quiet Hollow Night - A 2 day holiday observed by the Elves, or at least that is what they want you to think. It is actually the two days elves lose their souls to fight a war with the demons and devils. the travel to another plane and hold them in check occasionally losing people in this dream state or bringing back scars from the war. It is the sacrifice elves made during the rebellion since they couldn't afford to lose half their population. It is the reason elves don't sleep in my game.


Just a few ideas on giving holidays a history and reason for being.

Later

 

[alsih2o]

good stuff Shallown, anyone else?

 

[Maldur]

I dont have my notes here at work, so this is the one I remember

Wyrms flight, during the divine wars, Eidolon the dragon (a god) left the prime. He took most of the dragon kin with him. These dragons and other dragonish creatures spend a day flying to the "departing point". The massive flight of dragons is celebrated by flying dragonshaped kites and feasting . The beasts are gone! Huzzah!

 

[alsih2o]

Bazz, that is SO cool.

Yoinked!

 

[RBM]

The massive flight of dragons is celebrated by flying dragonshaped kites and feasting . The beasts are gone! Huzzah!

I have something almost identical in my homebrew. Millienia ago, dragons ravaged the land but were eventually driven away. On the feast day every year there are competetions between the children of neighboring villages to down the huge dragon kites with bows and spears in memory of their defeat.

 

[Gilladian]

There's a pdf product about fairs and tournaments; the name escapes me at this moment - It has a really neat game played between people wearing a dragon puppet (think a chinese dragon parade costume) and children or adults.

The puppeteers guard a huge mound of hay with treasures placed all over it. The people try to run in and grab things off the pile. It was quite well done.

I used this event at a "founders day" type celebration in a town the PCs traveled through; legend was that a dragon attacked during the town's early years, and nearly destroyed it. Adventurers slew the dragon and gave the treasure to poor townsfolk.

So the people who are permitted to be the "treasure seekers" are poor folk and orphans/children in the town. The adventurers were the dragon, but the PC monk chose to be a treasure seeker (he seemed poor to the townsfolk) and he ended up grabbing treasures and tossing them to nearby children who were not succeeding.

In my other campaign, I have a calendar with holy days for each deity, and for many of the saints who are worshipped as well. Each holy day relates to a significant season for the god, or to a historical incident in the saint's life. Some are so old tht the meanings are forgotten.

 

[the Jester]

There's a pdf product about fairs and tournaments; the name escapes me at this moment - It has a really neat game played between people wearing a dragon puppet (think a chinese dragon parade costume) and children or adults.

The puppeteers guard a huge mound of hay with treasures placed all over it. The people try to run in and grab things off the pile. It was quite well done.

I used this event at a "founders day" type celebration in a town the PCs traveled through; legend was that a dragon attacked during the town's early years, and nearly destroyed it. Adventurers slew the dragon and gave the treasure to poor townsfolk.

So the people who are permitted to be the "treasure seekers" are poor folk and orphans/children in the town. The adventurers were the dragon, but the PC monk chose to be a treasure seeker (he seemed poor to the townsfolk) and he ended up grabbing treasures and tossing them to nearby children who were not succeeding.

That sounds really, really cool- I wanna steal that scene for my game! Though I'm not sure who would toss the failing kids the goodies in my group... :\