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Sunday, December 25, 2016

Resources For Every GM: Christmas 2016

For this years holiday special I wanted to list some inspiration for winter adventures. While the holidays are beginning to draw to a close, it doesn't mean you have gotten to them in your game. Many of you are on hiatus for the holiday, but you can bring the holiday back to the table with these Yule-time horrors.


Jolakotturinn, the Christmas Cat: I only recently learned about this guy, and i want to know who has been keeping him a secret. While we all know Santa encourages you to be nice throughout the year or else you get coal instead of toys, the Christmas Cat is a lot more dangerous and wants you to make sure you work hard. It is a tradition, Icelandic I have read, that you get new clothes for Christmas, but only if you finished your work on time. Those who are lazy are punished by becoming a sacrifice to the Yule Cat and, well, eaten. The needy might not have jobs, so children are also encourage to do enough to gift clothes to the needy so they do not become sacrificed unnecessarily. Imagine the one-shot you could do with this terror!


Gryla and the Yule Lads: These are another Icelandic monster come to threaten you if you have been bad. Gryla, who has in more recent times become the mother of the Lads, is an ogress whom will kidnap, cook, and eat children who are bad. There are 13 (maybe more) Lads and all of them are terrible in their own ways, but they have habits of stealing things from you. Ketrokur, for example, uses a hook to steal meat from you. Sounds like the perfect group for an extended Yule adventure! Oh, and if that's not enough for you, rumor has it the Yule Cat lives with old Gryla.


Frau Perchta: Another witch to terrorize you for the holiday. In Germany and Austria, you better be good if you want gifts. Hells, you better be good if you don't want a horrible torture. Those who are sinful are punished by Pertcha and will probably wish they were actually dead. You see, the Frau rips out your intestines and replaces it with trash. That's right, who needs internal organs when you have trash? Honestly, I like this one because there is a mystery layer that could be added to an adventure. A little magic could allow the afflicted to survive a bit and then when discovered, you get a who dunnit. And witches? A classic that is underused these days if you ask me.

1 comment:

  1. Randy Milholland has been incorporating these into his comic this holiday season as horrific Christmas legends lawn ornaments... http://somethingpositive.net/

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