The Christmas Morning That Almost Wasn't and other Xmas presents



The Christmas Morning That Almost Wasn't.


I wrote a Savage Worlds Christmas adventure for kids: The Christmas Morning That Almost Wasn't.

I feel like I barely know myself right now; I don’t even like kids and yet I wrote a deliberately child-friendly module. It’s not 100% free of snark, but the adventure is shockingly earnest and maybe even wholesome. Weirder, though, is that I think it might actually be a good adventure.

Typical of several adventures I’ve written, it’s accordion-shaped: it can be very short or very long depending on whether you stretch it out. The basic mission is pretty simple, but there are a lot of diversions and encounters that a GM can use to a single-session game into an epic, multipart quest.

(Well, as epic a quest as a bunch of talking baby animals can go on…)

On Christmas Eve, a foolish living snowman named Harald takes the magical Hourglass of Eons and sneaks away from Santa’s Castle to deliver it to Imp of Winter, Jack Frost. Now several young animals must track Harald through the snow and forests of the Land Beyond the North Wind before Harald hands over the hourglass – and Jack Frost makes it winter forever.


The Christmas Morning That Almost Wasn’t is a holiday-themed scenario for younger players inspired by L. Frank Baum’s The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Rankin/Bass Productions’ animated specials, Rene Cardona’s Santa Claus, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Father Christmas Letters and (ever so slightly) Grant Morrison and Dan Mora’s Klaus.

The adventure tones down Savage Worlds’ pulp action atmosphere to emphasize nonviolence (even on the part of the villains) and diplomacy. The pre-generated character sheets in the back are formatted in a non-standard way to improve comprehension for younger readers.


The Christmas Morning That Almost Wasn't is pay-what-you-want, with profits split between me and Eric Simon (who graciously agreed to format it for publication and publish it through Four-in-Hand games). If you buy it through the links on this page, then I’ll get a little bit extra as an affiliate, too.



Season of the Witch

If you're in the mood for something a little less sweet (though sweeter than you might think), my good buddy Ross Watson has written a new Christmas-themed 1-Sheet for Melior Via's Accursed: Season of the Witch.

An idealistic young girl sets out to prove that the celebration of Evergreen Night is for everyone, even the reclusive and infamous Frau Pechta. The Penitents are asked to bring the girl back to her family before Frau Pechta’s inhuman hunger brings a grisly end to the holiday! Can the Accursed handle a sugar-spun stronghold, candy-frosted banes, and the spirit of the season?

Season of the Witch is a tongue-in-cheek, holiday themed 1-Sheet style scenario that focuses on the adventures of a band of Witchmarked heroes in the Accursed game setting. The adventure may be played as a standalone, or it may be used with the Plot Point Campaign included in Accursed. The adventure features brief scene descriptionss, with necessary game mechanics and opportunity for tasks that can be resolved in a variety of ways. 

Season of the Witch is also PWYW (though feel free to give Melior Via your money, and some for me by means of affiliate links). While the adventure is deliberately campy, it could also seriously inspire hope in a band of Accursed.


Olympus Inc

Finally, Olympus Inc. is out! I won't pretend to be an uninterested party; Charles White has asked me repeatedly to contribute an adventure to the setting and beyond that – I've just always thought it sounded like a fun setting. I haven't finished reading my copy yet, but I'm digging the shades of gray morality. The Olympians might be your patrons, but they're still the shifty buggers they've always been. (At least, I hope they're meant to be shifty.)

So…been through a lot have you? Motor vehicle accident, total humiliation, family murdered? No? Ah…a bunch of guys tried to kill you. I figured it was something like that or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Was there a moment where every cell in your body cried out and you felt every emotion at the same time? Did you feel like you could do anything and were one with the universe for a split second? That is what we call the Awakening. Congratulations, today is your birthday. Today you are no longer asleep. Instead, you have Awakened. You are a demigod.

For the most part, things are exactly as you knew before you experienced the Awakening. Let’s start with the basics. This is stuff you probably already knew or at least suspected. Twelve massive corporations control most of the world’s commercial, medical, scientific, and industrial production via a plethora of subsidiaries. To some extent, governments still hold megacorporations in check and the media is a mixed bag.

What you don’t know is that you’re now knee deep in a war for the survival of our world. Good Luck!

Welcome to the world of
Olympus, Inc where demigods and mythical creatures battle in the shadows for the future of our world.Olympus, Inc combines the vibe of the cyberpunk genre with modern espionage and urban fantasy.

 

In the book you will find
  • Several New Edges and Hindrances
  • Details On Six Of The Olympians Gods And Their Corporations
  • Three Types Of Demigods
  • List of Powers For Each Demigod Bloodline
  • Amazing Adventure Generator
  • So much more!!
 
 

Comments

Popular Posts