I wrote this home brew for Christmas 1shot for my friends. Could any experience GM's read, review, and point out any pitfalls and plot holes? Im having a hard time balancing combat with the level and magical items. I have GMed for Adventure League a few weeks now and wrote one other o1shot before. The mistakes I made before, I have improved upon in this campaign.
The magical items, monsters and NPCs have all been modified from other online Christmas 1shots. I couldn't find the originals so if any one knows who wrote them, can you help me give credit.
There are 5 player 6 level; 2 rouges, 1 barbarian, 1 monk, and 1 undisided. One of the rouges has a dog sled team of 5 Dire Wolves, so I'm giving each of the players one to derect on there turn and control in the BBEG.
All comments are welcome. Maps will be uploaded once completed.
If you’re writing this solely for yourself, I’m sure this is fine. There was a lot of time spent in the text on flavor interactions, which other GMs running it might feel just bogs down the essentials needed to move the plot along in their own style. (Not to mention all the edits needed for spelling and stuff. It doesn’t matter unless you want to publish.)
I’ve grown accustomed to the “area information” section of adventure modules, and not having a quick summary of the surroundings leaves me feeling a bit unsure of where they stand.
I don’t feel like I really understand the first fight. The one that determines where part two takes place. What is the party fighting, and where, and with what or who? It sounds like a large army battle in the story. Finding an alternative to a multi-front battle would be something worth considering. Unless you have a mechanic designed that you know really well and can explain really fast to your players, say “there are 100 goblins charging over that ridge. Each has 1 hp. This is now a tower defense scenario. If more than 10 make it in the gates, you are overrun and we consider this location lost. You also command a small unit of archers. They roll attacks as one unit, and deal a longbow's standard d8 damage +2. So, you tell them to fire. You roll them a 12 (+2, +2 prof) =16. Hits a goblin. You roll a d8 (5) +2 =7. That means they just knocked 7 goblins out of the charge.”
What happens if they lose, and have to fight back in town and save Mrs Claus? Do they then still go take on Krampus? Does he show up in person after 1d6 rounds of combat? Do we just narrate the the evacuation of the North Pole, and have an adventure seed for next year’s one shot?
Balancing the encounter will be hard since you homebrewed the monsters instead of reskinning existing ones. If you do use reskinned ones, you can use an encounter builder, either here on DnDB, or on apps, to balance for challenge. But I’d advise start weaker and leave yourself ways to have more enemies show up mid fight. Maybe leave the present mimics in present form unless someone actively touches it, or gets in striking range when you need to add to the challenge. Have one elf initially, and have others burst in the door as needed. You’ll need to monitor the fights closely. I don’t think you want any character deaths on your hands for a Christmas one-shot, unless these characters are only for this story.
The plot itself is solid enough, and taking on Krampus at his HQ/ice palace/whatever sounds fun. Might even give him lair actions.
Having lots of interactions with the setting is good fun. Like the mistletoe and the cookies. I’d invent a third variety of cookie, have an elf offer them one each, then letting them discover the effects of the one they chose when they eat it. Might not need a cookie that restores HP before they’ve seen combat, though. Maybe pick effects from the Wild Magic Surge table and pair them with cookies.
Maybe have patches of slick ice. Random Dex saves outdoors, or get knocked in the head by the hooves of low flying reindeer. Maybe have magic consequences for naughty behavior at the north pole. I’m looking at your two rogues. If anyone steals anything or makes fun of people, or whatever seems like naughty behavior, they roll on the naughty table. Which might have anything from your skin turns green, or you become a size smaller, or getting sick and taking a level of exhaustion. Or taking a snowball to the back of the head. Whatever. Combat is combat in every game, but environment and exploration will be what makes this feel like a different experience.
I love themed one-shots, and it may have been my thread last year you got some item ideas from. I don’t want any credit. They were always meant to be seeds to be personalized or inspire you for your own fun. While anything I tossed out in that thread was original to me, I can’t imagine I was the only one to ever think to make an Ugly Christmas Sweater for D&D or Lego Caltrops, or whatever. So you may not have even seen those things in my thread.
Thank you so much for the feedback. :) I had no idea If they were from you, just googled Christmas reskins. Thank you so much for creating those items. I will totally use the mimic idea, the small group of enemies then add more if needed, and having Krampus show up after 1d8 rounds of combat. These are great ideas from an experience GM and exactly the kind of feedback i was looking for.
Initial read through.....big smile on my face for Buddy and Mac (please tell me you are going to do the same voices as Liam and Travis did).
You have a DC5 perception check to notice some leaves/berries as they enter a building, most passive perceptions will be 9+ so you could just use that as some descriptive fluff rather than a roll., the following DC12 Cha roll I assume is a saving throw? If so all good.
Small typo in the war room that made me smile again..." tall burly human man, well kept white bread, red suit"....just a misplaced R in Beard...
Krampus:
The stat block implies he can cast Darkness but has no reference to being able to see through it, does he have Devil Sight like a fiend? He only has 20ft speed which is a bit slow, if you are going for a gnome/halfling sized elf then 25ft would be on par. His area attack needs a little tweaking, it says it causes depression until the end of his turn but not what this effect is, is it like a frightened effect but you just become apathetic? or a stunning effect where you do not do anything? It might need a Cha saving throw to resist it otherwise every hit looks like it would take a player out of combat. Also need to reword the "until the end of his turn" bit otherwise it technically has no effect at all as Krmapus hits someone then his turn ends and the effect wears off, maybe switch it to "until the start of Krampus' next turn". Also I assume the multi attack is 2x great Sword Attacks? In which case the Area Attack would need a recharge like a dragons breath weapon. (roll d6, on a 6 it recharges).
Sanata:
Joy, Alter Time and Healing Word abilities all read as if they are always active, should these require actions/legendary actions to use?
Other monsters...nice!
Mrs Clause:
I feel she needs something extra, maybe: "Chiding Reproach", As an action Mrs Clause can reprimand one target with a scolding comment about being naughty, this functions as a level 1 Command spell.
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* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
I have tried to update and take your feedback into consideration. It feels like "Ya, I can see it so clearly in my own mind Why cant you?" Thank you for every thing
I wrote this home brew for Christmas 1shot for my friends. Could any experience GM's read, review, and point out any pitfalls and plot holes? Im having a hard time balancing combat with the level and magical items. I have GMed for Adventure League a few weeks now and wrote one other o1shot before. The mistakes I made before, I have improved upon in this campaign.
The magical items, monsters and NPCs have all been modified from other online Christmas 1shots. I couldn't find the originals so if any one knows who wrote them, can you help me give credit.
There are 5 player 6 level; 2 rouges, 1 barbarian, 1 monk, and 1 undisided. One of the rouges has a dog sled team of 5 Dire Wolves, so I'm giving each of the players one to derect on there turn and control in the BBEG.
All comments are welcome. Maps will be uploaded once completed.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jxj1aQmb_8aUrahcS5DygIiT7xsKIqN_8qCCvTZKCKI/edit#
If you’re writing this solely for yourself, I’m sure this is fine. There was a lot of time spent in the text on flavor interactions, which other GMs running it might feel just bogs down the essentials needed to move the plot along in their own style. (Not to mention all the edits needed for spelling and stuff. It doesn’t matter unless you want to publish.)
I’ve grown accustomed to the “area information” section of adventure modules, and not having a quick summary of the surroundings leaves me feeling a bit unsure of where they stand.
I don’t feel like I really understand the first fight. The one that determines where part two takes place. What is the party fighting, and where, and with what or who? It sounds like a large army battle in the story. Finding an alternative to a multi-front battle would be something worth considering. Unless you have a mechanic designed that you know really well and can explain really fast to your players, say “there are 100 goblins charging over that ridge. Each has 1 hp. This is now a tower defense scenario. If more than 10 make it in the gates, you are overrun and we consider this location lost. You also command a small unit of archers. They roll attacks as one unit, and deal a longbow's standard d8 damage +2. So, you tell them to fire. You roll them a 12 (+2, +2 prof) =16. Hits a goblin. You roll a d8 (5) +2 =7. That means they just knocked 7 goblins out of the charge.”
What happens if they lose, and have to fight back in town and save Mrs Claus? Do they then still go take on Krampus? Does he show up in person after 1d6 rounds of combat? Do we just narrate the the evacuation of the North Pole, and have an adventure seed for next year’s one shot?
Balancing the encounter will be hard since you homebrewed the monsters instead of reskinning existing ones. If you do use reskinned ones, you can use an encounter builder, either here on DnDB, or on apps, to balance for challenge. But I’d advise start weaker and leave yourself ways to have more enemies show up mid fight. Maybe leave the present mimics in present form unless someone actively touches it, or gets in striking range when you need to add to the challenge. Have one elf initially, and have others burst in the door as needed. You’ll need to monitor the fights closely. I don’t think you want any character deaths on your hands for a Christmas one-shot, unless these characters are only for this story.
The plot itself is solid enough, and taking on Krampus at his HQ/ice palace/whatever sounds fun. Might even give him lair actions.
Having lots of interactions with the setting is good fun. Like the mistletoe and the cookies. I’d invent a third variety of cookie, have an elf offer them one each, then letting them discover the effects of the one they chose when they eat it. Might not need a cookie that restores HP before they’ve seen combat, though. Maybe pick effects from the Wild Magic Surge table and pair them with cookies.
Maybe have patches of slick ice. Random Dex saves outdoors, or get knocked in the head by the hooves of low flying reindeer. Maybe have magic consequences for naughty behavior at the north pole. I’m looking at your two rogues. If anyone steals anything or makes fun of people, or whatever seems like naughty behavior, they roll on the naughty table. Which might have anything from your skin turns green, or you become a size smaller, or getting sick and taking a level of exhaustion. Or taking a snowball to the back of the head. Whatever. Combat is combat in every game, but environment and exploration will be what makes this feel like a different experience.
I love themed one-shots, and it may have been my thread last year you got some item ideas from. I don’t want any credit. They were always meant to be seeds to be personalized or inspire you for your own fun. While anything I tossed out in that thread was original to me, I can’t imagine I was the only one to ever think to make an Ugly Christmas Sweater for D&D or Lego Caltrops, or whatever. So you may not have even seen those things in my thread.
Have fun!
Thank you so much for the feedback. :) I had no idea If they were from you, just googled Christmas reskins. Thank you so much for creating those items. I will totally use the mimic idea, the small group of enemies then add more if needed, and having Krampus show up after 1d8 rounds of combat. These are great ideas from an experience GM and exactly the kind of feedback i was looking for.
Initial read through.....big smile on my face for Buddy and Mac (please tell me you are going to do the same voices as Liam and Travis did).
You have a DC5 perception check to notice some leaves/berries as they enter a building, most passive perceptions will be 9+ so you could just use that as some descriptive fluff rather than a roll., the following DC12 Cha roll I assume is a saving throw? If so all good.
Small typo in the war room that made me smile again..." tall burly human man, well kept white bread, red suit"....just a misplaced R in Beard...
Krampus:
The stat block implies he can cast Darkness but has no reference to being able to see through it, does he have Devil Sight like a fiend? He only has 20ft speed which is a bit slow, if you are going for a gnome/halfling sized elf then 25ft would be on par. His area attack needs a little tweaking, it says it causes depression until the end of his turn but not what this effect is, is it like a frightened effect but you just become apathetic? or a stunning effect where you do not do anything? It might need a Cha saving throw to resist it otherwise every hit looks like it would take a player out of combat. Also need to reword the "until the end of his turn" bit otherwise it technically has no effect at all as Krmapus hits someone then his turn ends and the effect wears off, maybe switch it to "until the start of Krampus' next turn". Also I assume the multi attack is 2x great Sword Attacks? In which case the Area Attack would need a recharge like a dragons breath weapon. (roll d6, on a 6 it recharges).
Sanata:
Joy, Alter Time and Healing Word abilities all read as if they are always active, should these require actions/legendary actions to use?
Other monsters...nice!
Mrs Clause:
I feel she needs something extra, maybe: "Chiding Reproach", As an action Mrs Clause can reprimand one target with a scolding comment about being naughty, this functions as a level 1 Command spell.
I have tried to update and take your feedback into consideration. It feels like "Ya, I can see it so clearly in my own mind Why cant you?" Thank you for every thing