Hi! :-)
I'd like to run a small Christmas themed adventure in 1 1/2 weeks and have some basic ideas but I'd could use some help and some more ideas to put it all together. And as I know that you guys have great ideas, I thought I'd give it a try and just throw my ideas out there!
Ok, so here is what I've got so far (as I just started thinking about it yesterday):
I plan to insert this into my recently started Rise of the Runelords campaign. I'm in the middle of chapter 1 and I'd like to make the players feel like their characters are well respected. So I'm planning on making a small jump in time, just a few month into December (can't remember how that month was called in Golarion right now ^^) for the "ritual of the stardust", a Desna holiday. But I don't want the characters to get into danger, I don't even want them to be necessary present: I want to pull this off as a play in the Sandpoint theater which is about an adventure the party supposedly went on a few years before the start of the campaign... though of course it's all just fiction. So I basically want the players to play idealized versions of their characters and play through this fictional adventure. This fits especially as one of the characters, a gnome bard, already talked to the owner of the theater and there was talk of him starring in a play some day. So as the bard probably helped writing this play, it ought to be overly heroic and stuff :D
So what is this play about you ask? The Ritual of the Stardust of course! The ritual is all about making a big fire and having a big feast and making wishes after the fire burned down (so it fits Christmas quite well). But there was a problem that one time a few years ago: The messenger of Desna did not come to town to bring those wishes to Desna. In fact the messenger was caught by a frost giant who is a follower of zon-kuthon and now tortures the messenger (a Lyrakien) out of fun (as I lack a better reason for now). Now it comes to the heroes to rescue the messenger.
Some additional ideas which I'd like to integrate:
- The Frost Giant is oviously supposed to be some kind of "bad santa" with a long white beard, maybe the players will find a way to make him believe in christm... uhm... Desna? I'd like to give him a red outfit, which probably is just a white tunic that is soaked in the blood of the many creatures he tortured and murdered!
- I'd like him to have some sort of elves... probably Goblins? That would add some extra fun, would fit the Rise of the Runelords theme, and would make sense as minions in such a play (as the people of Sandpoint had their fair share of Goblins and probably like every story where some of them die).
- I don't really know where to put "bad santa". I'd love to have some sort of factory, maybe he produces some sort of potions? Maybe he needs the blood of the Lyrakien?
- I'd like to have some sort of evil raindeers, I even thought about having "bad santa" ride on the back of the Sandpoint devil...
So, that's the idea for the play/adventure. It will play out as a normal adventure mostly, but I'd like to add some specialties to add some extra fun and to highlight the fact that it's actually just a play. Some ideas are:
- Have everyone play a overly heroic or exaggerated version of their characters, as their roles in the play will be played by actors
- Have everyone talk in rhymes when talking in character (that would be fun, but I'd have to check that with my players first ;-))
- I'm thinking about making a small set of printed stage directions that will add some randomness and fun ("more DRAMA!" or "Start crying" or something along those lines).
- I'd like to give characters some bonus or something if they describe the actions of their characters in a "cinematic" way.
- I'll probably give the characters some extra hero points, as they should be just that: Heroes!
Ok, that's about all I've got right now. I still need some parts, like some way for the characters to actually investigate what happened to the messenger and maybe some more and different minions. The whole adventure should fit a 2nd level party, but I have no problems making some enemies easier or exchanging them with some other stats.
So, any ideas for this? What do you think of my idea? :-)
Hi Master of the Dark Triad,
thanks for your answer :) Yeah, I think I'll go with some kind of reindeers, but I'm not quite sold on the bloodmage...
Any other ideas?
Make the bad santa an alchemist with his workshop being his lab...
The "elves" help him add poisons/potions to common goods "gifts" as he once participated in the stardust ritual and did NOT get his wish...he has captured the wishbringer and now tortures them out of vengence.
but will his heart grow three sizes this day? Who can say? Will the heroes pave the way, save the day, and make him pay, rescue the fey, or will the world sink into gray?
Tune in next week
@ClarkKent: I really like the name wishbringer and the motivation! And I like the idea of him beeing an alchemist and maybe poisoning the food, maybe by one of his goblin/elf minions, and thus there is a way for the characters to find out who is responsible.
I thought about adding some old witch in the forrest as a way to give some informations to the characters. "You need to find the old hag, she is the only one who might know what happend to the wishbringer!" "Bring me the heart of a white dragon and I will tell you where Frostbeart has taken your messenger of the goddess."
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If it could help: Santa Claus 3.5 sheet (pdf).
Enjoy :)
This is something I suggested for someone else's campaign, but feel free to use it:
Hmm you could include a "March of the Wooden Soldiers" element. Have an army of android gunslingers (armed with muskets) or an NPC in the tradition of the Nutcracker prince, a character who was turned into a toy soldier and wants to become human again