Black Christmas the Campaign
It is December 24th. People around the world are doing last minute shopping, traveling, and getting their work done. The world is filled with moments of joy and amusement as the world is desperately getting ready for a joyous holiday (or going to the movies or Chinese food w/ the family… depending on the tradition).
Then, the Gates open and the world changed. Mythics began to appear. However, out of the gates, yes those magical gates, out pours death and mayham into the Malls and Streets. They don’t have a name, nor do they give one. Some call them demons, aliens, or experiments; others just call them Monsters. The Elfs, they call them Grinches.
Continued Below...
It is December 24th. People around the world are doing last minute shopping, traveling, and getting their work done. The world is filled with moments of joy and amusement as the world is desperately getting ready for a joyous holiday (or going to the movies or Chinese food w/ the family… depending on the tradition).
Then, the Gates open and the world changed. Mythics began to appear. However, out of the gates, yes those magical gates, out pours death and mayham into the Malls and Streets. They don’t have a name, nor do they give one. Some call them demons, aliens, or experiments; others just call them Monsters. The Elfs, they call them Grinches.
As the gates open, magic flooded into the world. Dreams and Ideals became manifest, living in motion already. The Elfs and Santa were already getting ready for Christmas to their view, but now they were material. Three seconds later, the Naughty Alarm sounded.
And The Elfs were Pissed.
Nothing was going to stop Christmas, especially if they had something to say about it. So they stopped making and wrapping up good toys. They broke out 'the bad toys' and those things they built in their spare time (you know…just in case). Everyone put on their North Pole Defense Uniforms. The Big Guy snapped on his goggles. He adjusted his uniform. 'It is go time.'
No Grinch was going to destroy Christmas while they could stop it.
And unbeknownst to them, others felt the same way.
The summary pretty much…. sums up the world.
This was inspired by a Make a Christmas RPG game on another site. So I thought, 'Some monsters from somewhere else try to destroy Christmas (actually they are destroying humanity, Christmas was just incidentally the day). So of course the Elves will stop them. And what about some other mythics?'
Thus I came up with Black Christmas
Black Christmas. The Elf Kicking Butt and Taking Numbers with Toys and Candy movie game.
That does set the tone, doesn’t it?
This is not a beer and pretzel game, this is an eggnog and cookies game. (Just make sure the eggnog has lots of nog if you know what I mean.) Play it for fun and laughs, we certainly wrote it that way. Put on some christmas music, even if it is july, and run with it.
Oh and if you need to get in the mood or need source material, just put on some Animated Christmas specials (Rudolf, Frosty, etc), The Santa Clause Movies, or Home Alone (I).
So there are a number of submissions linked to this. While I will also post up version one of the roleplaying game, feel free to adapt this setting to any simple game system that supports super powers or cool eqipment.
Elves
Grinches
Wreathes
Angels
Figments
Black Christmas Plots
Black Christmas Rules v1
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? Responses (11)-11
As you describe it, this is a great eggnog and cookies kinda game, but I would see running this light on combat with a group of children rather than with a hard-bitten group of gamers. I think I am going to get some eggnog and cookies now!
Actually you could just "toon it up" with the monsters mostly just scaring people and them going "poof" when you hit them hard enough. That works just fine. Very close to the genre.
I just like the idea of a hard bitten gamer having to fight with toys and candycanes if they want any magic item bonuses.
I'm giggling too hard to vote. Well, not really, but I am giggling. Especially at the thought of the 'big guy' on late night debate TV.
That is a really strong visual/ story point for me too. The Big Guy should be in the background.. and there should always be a TV around, giving us little media blurbs about the world... much like they did in Robocop.
In fact, One should consider it a "Genre Convention" for this campaign. That way you can interject some silly social commentary or just some bizzare fact of life or just funny/ ironic crap as fantasy slams into reality, into the game painlessly.
Oprah interviewing an Angel and things getting strange.
My Child is a Figment on some trash TV show.
"Grinches are the universes way of telling us that Christmas and Religion are totaly bullshit ...."
The Pope extends an invitation to The Big Guy, hoping that they can come to an understanding about the events occuring since Christmas.
"Tonight on Cooking Live, Toby the Elf Baker shows us how to properly make Gingerbread...."
You can see where this is going.
Fixed a few tiny things.
It's amusing, whimsical, and could easily be tweaked to be either heroic or horrific if you want to take it past eggnog-and-cookies gaming.
I'd like some more detail on the mysterious force behind the Wreaths and the Grinches, though. Even if it's just a 'here are some possibilities/what the world beyond the Wreath might be like.
An intersting assortment of Holiday inspired submissions indeed.
When the weather outside is frightful,
Black Christmas is soooo delightful
So if you're up to your neck in snoooow,
Butt-kicking elves may be the way to goooooo!
Ooooooh, the portals are open wiiiide
Nightmares streaming from insiiiide
Angels, Demons, candy-caaaanes and kniiiives
Grinches in Kevlar is a nice surpriiiise
Hang a wreath, may-as-well-be a nooooooose
Crazy monsters are on the loooooooose
Close your eyes and say g'niiiiiiight
Butt-kicking elves will makes things riiiight
Fear not, Santa will slay the feeeeeeeeey
Butt-kicking elves will save Christmas daaaaaa-aaaaaaay!
I am touched by your composition. (I even clicked it for an EP).
I do like this setting. Should I work on it some more, or has the joke played out?
It has potential i think for further development. Now me personally, I would keep the humour, and yet somehow make it more sinister at the same time.
Kinda like eggnog-n-cookies-n-sanity checks. :) But thats just me.
It is that time of year. After watching The Santa Clause (I,II, and III), I am primed to do some things for this.
