The premise to the adventure is simple. The characters are hired by a local baron to deliver supplies to a rural village. Unfortunately that village has been ransacked by the violently cheery Orcus Claws and his Crueltide Elves.
The adventure is designed for 4-6 characters between levels 3-5. You might ask how these characters are supposed to take on Orcus. Well Orcus Claws is a powerful foe (challenge 10), but isn't the Demon Prince himself, but is being created from a sliver from a claw of Orcus. He has some Grinch/holiday themed powers (such as Cruel Tidings and Lump of Coal) and even has a healing item (a sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce). Other foes in the adventure include his minions, the Crueltide elves (which are magically corrupted goblins), demonic reindeer, frosted snowman, a snowbeast, and a few specific Crueltide elves based on Yukon Cornelius and Hermey.
The adventure is relatively short, but entertaining. It's filled with a variety of Christmas themed in-jokes. The encounters vary as well. There are some that require words, not swords. The adventure also includes a few Christmas themed magic items that are fun.
I'm glad I helped fund this adventure. It's got a great sense of humor and despite it's holiday nature could easily be dropped into an ongoing campaign. I'll definitely use it in my next 5e game and even if the party is too high level for it during the holidays, I don't think I'll have any problems adjusting this one.
If you didn't support this on Indigogo, you should go to the link above and pick up the pdf for your favorite rules system.
I actually just got this adventure as part of a Humble Bundle. Do you think a larger party could plow through it in a single session? My group only gets to meet twice a month, and I don't want to take them away from their main adventure for more than a session. There's 8 of them and they're all level 5, so I was just going to leave the combat encounters as is for them to go through it quicker.
ReplyDeleteI think you could get through it in a single session with a larger group. I’d love to hear how it goes.
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