Santa-Based One-Shot

[Darkxarth]

You read that correctly, it DOES say "Santa-Based One-Shot."

I have been invited to host a one-shot RPG at a library lock-in in December and I thought a Christmas themed game would be nice.  And then I decided that peace, love, and understanding made for poor action gameplay, and decided to make the theme "Santa is a crazy dictator, we must kill him."

So, this will take some serious work, and I'm looking for all the help I can get.  Weaponry, magic, classes, monsters, items, and even story-ideas.

I figure I'll use a very basic, generic d20 system, since I'm expecting a number of people with little or no experience in this type of game.

As far as time/technology, I think that hosting it in a semi-modern setting seems appropriate, but I don't want to include real weapons.  So, the technology should all be themed, like a cheesy Spiderman villain.

I have only a few ideas I'm batting around right now, so if anyone has any ideas or questions, post here.  Even if it's just a few derogatory words about Santa's elves from Raelifin, anything is appreciated.

- DX

[the_taken]

Inspiration: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/355335

[Darkxarth]

Inspiration: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/355335

My brother was slightly obsessed with that song for a few weeks.  I hadn't even thought about it though.  But I think it's a little too gorey (even the low-gore version) for my plans.

[Darkxarth]

Ahg!  WTF?!?

[Seraph]

I picture oppressed and enslaved elfin toymakers and evil toys that attack the PCs (animated objects).  Golems seem appropriate.  Perhaps he has his toymaking fortress guarded by a Remorhaz, or a white dragon . . .
Ooh, you could do something weird with a giant jack-in-the-box kind of thing.  Armies of toy soldiers . . .

[Stargate525]

I can't see the link that Rocket posted (damn school banning random websites...), but 'the night santa went crazy' seems like a good start.

I imagine the weapons to be powerful toymaking machines. Paintguns, automatic teddy-bear stuffers, ping-pong ball shooters, etc.

[LordVreeg]

http://www.thexaxis.com/misc/radiskull.htm
This is the best santa story EVER!
http://www.atomfilms.com/search.jsp?search_text=candy+samples

[the_taken]

Another idea: "X-mas at Ground Zero" another Weird Al song.

X-mas PA Deliver presents to good little children, but watch out for the naughty mutants. They bite.

[Darkxarth]

I picture oppressed and enslaved elfin toymakers and evil toys that attack the PCs (animated objects).  Golems seem appropriate.  Perhaps he has his toymaking fortress guarded by a Remorhaz, or a white dragon . . .
Ooh, you could do something weird with a giant jack-in-the-box kind of thing.  Armies of toy soldiers . . .

This seems the closest to what I imagined.  Small golems and animated objects... and I like the idea of Santa having a White Dragon as a secret guardian pet.

Since this will be a one-shot, I think I'm going to create the characters ahead of time as well.  Maybe a Were-Polar Bear, a rogue (not the class) Rambo-stlye Elf, and... erm... I don't know... this is why I need help.  x.

[beejazz]

I would suggest not trying to run it in anything like D20 or GURPS or such. Consider FUDGE.

Uh.. beyond that...

"He sees you when you're sleeping.
He knows when you're awake.
He knows if you've been bad or good.
Be good, for goodness' sake."

Consider (as opposed to an oppressed north pole) a sort of "Christmas Town" setup, where the elves are sinister little rats policing the streets, "keeping the peace", and hiding in your cupboards at inopportune moments "leaky pipe, miss... but I couldn't help overhearing..." That was probably a bit of a run on sentence.

[Seraph]

I would suggest not trying to run it in anything like D20 or GURPS or such. Consider FUDGE.

Uh.. beyond that...

"He sees you when you're sleeping.
He knows when you're awake.
He knows if you've been bad or good.
Be good, for goodness' sake."

Consider (as opposed to an oppressed north pole) a sort of "Christmas Town" setup, where the elves are sinister little rats policing the streets, "keeping the peace", and hiding in your cupboards at inopportune moments "leaky pipe, miss... but I couldn't help overhearing..." That was probably a bit of a run on sentence.

Oh my God!  It's brilliance!  It's like 1984!  Santa could be Big Brother!  Have signs with Santa's picture on them saying that!

[Eclipse]

...This is awesome.

My first thought were the reindeer actually being a humanoid race, to actual reindeer what fauns are to goats or minotaurs are to bulls, forced into slavery as a means of transportation. Some serve Santa willingly as enforcers, including Rudolph the Red, who is said to constantly have his nose coated in the blood of his enemies...

[Darkxarth]

Hmm... I'm liking a combination of the ideas here.

Santa, with his trusty Elves as henchmen, has Christmas Town in his iron mitten.  However, a few select creatures of Christmas Town have decided to overthrow "Godfather Christmas" and hvae formed a small resistance.  These creatures are the PCs, along with a few NPCs.  They could include a rogue Elf, an animated Toy Soldier, and others I can't think of at 2 in the morning.

But, Santa is clever, and heavily protected.  His toughest enforcers and henchmen are always on the lookout for enemies, but several are looking for ways to move up.

Key Players
Rudolph the Red - Leader of "The Reindeer Gang."  He and his gang are taken along every Christmas as bodyguards to ensure that the "packages" get delivered without a problem.  On one famous eve, Rudolph created a "path" of bodies for Santa to follow, "lighting the way with his nose so bright."  In reality, his nose (as well as most of his body) was covered in the blood of his victims.

Frosty - Frosty is a living Snowman, the only one of his kind, created by Santa to be the ultimate bodyguard.  However, he once attempted to overthrow Santa, but was thwarted by a powerful magical hat.  Since his "meltdown," Santa has kept him in cold storage, loathe to destroy one of his greatest creation.  However, the only thing keeping him sentient now is a cursed hat, and if it is removed, he reverts to his natural state, a normal snowman.


That's about all I've got right now.  There are a couple other good ideas floating around, particularly the "Big Brother" one, but I'm too tired to make use of it right now.

[beejazz]

Look up the Krampus and Pere Foutard on wikipedia or something for some already sinister xmas mythology.

Also, this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibAWqDfClVE&NR=1

And this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EA7cawy7s4&NR=1

And this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9ooZYjF0mI

[Darkxarth]

Other usable characters from Christmas-y things:

Hermey the Dentist: An Elf bruiser who uses brass knuckles to punch his opponent's teeth out.  He and Rudolph used to run in the same street gang, until Santa recruited Rudolph for special operations, now Hermey seeks the same level of recognition and fame.

Yukon Cornelius: The prospecting mountaineer from the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special.  I'm thinking he could be an allied NPC, along with...

Bumble: Also known as the Yeti and the Abominable Snowman, Bumble is a giant ice-troll who has been opposing Santa for years.  He lives in a cave near Christmas Town and makes guerrilla raids against the village to try and stop Santa's operations.  The oppressed Elves often think of him as a hero, thus he has the popular support of the people, much to Santa's dangerous annoyance.

Also looking for Christmas-themed weaponry.  So far all I could think of were Gumdrop Grenades.  Of course, alliteration isn't necessary, but it helps keep with the corny super-villain theme.