D&D: Five Amazing Holiday Adventures
Get your holiday gaming planned early this year. Check out some of our favorite D&D holiday adventures for your yuletide gaming sessions.
It’s that time of year again! The weather is that of falling snow, cascading merry feelings all over the globe. It’s the season of gift-giving and sleigh bells ringing. After all, December’s holiday season only comes once a year! How will you spend it?
Well, I know how! You’re going to set a table, sit down with your friends, and roll dice all night, of course!
Now, running an annual holiday-themed adventure is the TTRPG fan equivalent of sitting down and watching “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown” during December. Who wouldn’t want to spend some time in a Winter-flavored wonderland for a few hours??? Your character could be the one to save the holidays! Or ruin them, we don’t judge.
Now, get ready to spread some Christmas cheer! Here are some of our favorite holiday-themed one-shots for you and your party to dash through on a silent night!
Danger in a Midwinter Wonderland: A Christmas One-Shot
Written by Asa Wheatly, Danger in a Midwinter Wonderland is a thrilling adventure for 3-5 players at 4th or 5th level. Midwinter is celebrated by everyone throughout the land. And there is no place better to spend the holiday than the Noel Isles! Where the players can see Winter’s Father in person, along with his myriad of Toy Makers!
Wait- what’s that? Winter’s Father has been kidnapped? And the only way to save him is by fighting Krampus and his army of festive footsoldiers? Oh no.
For a fun “vacation holiday ” adventure, I highly recommend you look at this one-shot booklet! It has plenty of Christmas-themed magic items and encounters to stuff your stockings to the brim!
A Christmas Carol Adventure
If you want to bring the old familiar face of Ebeneezer Scrooge to your tabletop, Verge Games’ A Christmas Carol Adventure is a spooky twist on the classic holiday tale. Designed for two-to-six 7th-level adventurers, the party relives the classic story through a beautiful new fantasy lens.
Adventure through the snow-littered town of Grace with your friends and defeat evil on Christmas Eve night! March through beautifully designed maps to save the soul of the holiday’s most beloved villain, Ebenezer Scrooge!
The Darkest Night (5E)
The Darkest Night is a holiday-themed adventure where players battle an ancient evil to save Kringlefest. This adventure can be used as an outline for any game system, but the specific details are for four 1st-level adventurers using 5E’s rules.
This adventure is designed to provide a short one-shot adventure for inexperienced players or anyone who wants to get into the holiday spirit. You’ll find a holiday poem. Snow people, toy soldiers, and of course, a showdown against Krampus.
The Nutcracker, A Retelling
We all know the Nutcracker. Or at least the first twenty minutes or so, before you fall asleep to the gentle sounds of ballet shoes gliding across the stage to soothing strings. Made for five-to-seven 5th level players, the party will be dancing on sugar plums by the end of this imaginative redesign of the classic story.
In The Nutcracker, A Retelling, the Nutcracker story transforms into a D&D adventure as the evil Mouse King kidnaps the Queen during a Royal Christmas Eve party. Into the mouse-hole your adventurers will go, where it leads, no one knows.
The Night Before Wintermas
Hypothetically, you didn’t want to play the good guys on Christmas. Let’s say, for the sake of the argument, you wanted to be a bit… naughty? Maybe even work for a TOBACCO COMPANY WANTING TO TAKE DOWN SANTA CLAUSE?
If so, then The Night Before Wintermas by Reddit user /u/jmanc is the perfect evil one-shot campaign for you! Designed for five level 5 adventurers, the “HappyJoy Toy and Tobacco Company” hires the party to go and RUIN Santa’s gift-giving escapades.
Why? Capitalism, of course! Business is business! Shut down Santa’s workshop and get paid for your work! If you’re a DM with a party that wants to be the bad guys, why not help out the 1%? Tis the season and all that.
Happy adventuring!
