The Night the Reindeer Died (Reprise)
A free seasonal RPG one shot using the Feng Shui RPG System
This is a republication of an adventure I posted last year. This particular adventure uses the Feng Shui 2nd edition rules set, but you can adapt it to any rules set you choose. Why am I reposting this? Because I have a sequel that I’ll be posting tomorrow or Saturday.
Introduction
Every year I like to run a Christmas themed adventure for my gaming group. I’ve run sessions using a number of game systems ranging from a Necessary Evil game where the "heroes" had to fight off murderous V'sori gingerbread men to a Shadow of the Demon Lord adventure where the PCs aid one of Santa’s “helpers” (No Spoiler).
In addition to running role playing game sessions, I sometimes run sessions of Gingerbread Kaiju by Stan! because it’s cute and adds eating cookies to the mix. I really love using cookies or candy as miniatures this time of year.
If I wanted to be completely honest about my typical Christmas themed adventure, I’d have to admit that I almost always mean "based on the opening sequence of Scrooged." What can I say? I love the movie and it makes perfect fodder for role playing action. I cannot tell you how many adventures I’ve written over the years based on this few minutes of cinematic action.
Last year my gaming group was introduced to the joy that is Feng Shui 2nd edition with The Night the Reindeer Died! (Link to the adventure below.) I played a ton of Feng Shui in the late 90s and early 00s, but most of my new group are young whippersnappers who blink unknowingly when I mention films like Killer, Hard Boiled, The Bride with White Hair, or Fist of Legend. Thankfully, they’ve all seen The Matrix and in the case of my daughters the oversight of these other films will eventually be corrected.
When playing in our 5e campaign, the players have demonstrated an enjoyment of a cinematic/narrative style of play. The Feng Shui system fosters exactly this kind of play, so I think they’ll have a lot of fun. I don’t think they are ready to dive into a full Feng Shui campaign, or any non-D&D campaign yet, but they did very well with this one shot adventure. One of the great things about Feng Shui is that you can describe the basic mechanics in mere moments. The game is focused on providing as much fun as possible.
Since I’m like a lot of you, I don’t have a ton of time to prep between work, teaching as an adjunct, and finishing my dissertation, so I adapted my old standby The Night the Reindeer Died to Feng Shui.
I’ve run game sessions of this in the past and they were very fun. None of the sessions got as far as I'd have liked. If I had my druthers, this adventure would be a launching pad for a full length campaign that begins with the group travelling to 2056 where they facilitate a Jingle All the Way-esque riot that begins to undermine the Buro's control due to people actually caring about a hot Christmas item. Most of the time, players are satisfied with "shutting down the Star Gate."
For those of you interested in playing a session, here is the outline and a couple of special characters as well. We've got Skipper from Madagascar, Lee Majors, and Krampus available for groups who don't have existing characters. Now...onto the show...dim the lights...pull back the curtain...and...
(If you are looking for a twist, you can have Krampus fight for the Buro.)
The Night The Reindeer Died (Adventure Download)
In a world...
The player characters are resting at their hideout/attuned Feng Shui site in between forays into the Netherworld, shadow runs against the Ascended, and secret battles against the Hand. All seems calm. Let the players role play some of their background subplots and ask them where they'd like the narrative direction of their character's lives to go. Take notes. Just as the players’ conversations gets rolling and some strong roleplaying is going on, have there be a "knock on the door." It will be an insistent knock that will not go away. It even sounds excited...if it is possible for a knock to sound excited.
Important Characters
Krampus
Krampus is one of Santa’s companions and he will play a vital role in saving/destroying the North Pole.
Lee Majors
If you’ve seen Scrooged, you know why Lee Majors is here. He’s been a very good boy.
Skipper
I don’t know what to tell you except that our family loves the penguins from Madagascar and Skipper is freakin’ awesome.
The Bad Guys
Last, but certainly not least, is the cast of foes for the heroes to battle as they attempt to save the North Pole. Battle Chimp Yamato and crew plan on taking no prisoners.