Tis the season… to crit against Ebenezer Scrooge! On Kickstarter, you can back a Dungeons & Dragons 5e or Pathfinder 2e adventure that recreates Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol for your tabletop. Best of all, the campaign promises PDF delivery before Christmas. With this adventure, you’ll assist the Spirits of Christmas as they redeem Scrooge. But redeem him from what? Greed? That’s a curse of many PCs. No, this is something darker as the adventure builds around a D&D twist that feels right matched to this classic.
***SPOILERS BEGIN***
Do you need to know the twist to decide if you should back this? It’s simple, in a world of fantasy greed and Jacob Marley’s warnings about what the next life might be for greedy men such as they, Ebenezer Scrooge is in the final stages of his quest to become a Lich. While this turn is hinted at, it is not revealed until the final battle so there’s a bit of playing with expectation in this adventure.
***SPOILERS END***
NOTE: My review is based on a draft of A Christmas Carol Adventure by Josiah Martindale, so I’m making allowances as would only be in keeping with the spirit of the season.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL?
I think you’ll be forgiven if the first adaptation of a prose tale to Dungeons & Dragons 5e is not a Dicken’s classic. When you think of combat-centric D&D, I doubt the action-less redemption of a miserable miser is the first chronicle that you consider for your gaming group. However, there is a great deal of supernatural and atmospheric backdrop to this story that makes this narrative work as a one-shot adventure. NPCs for this adventure include Ebenezer, Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and more building from meeting the Cratchits and racing against the clock as Jacob arrives at 11 while the other ghosts run on specific timetables that will impact Scrooge’s life.
MARLEY WAS DEAD, TO BEGIN WITH
But how does this work for a party of PCs that know the story? The characters will encounter Jacob Marley who conveys the warning that Ebenezer must hear his warning and change his ways. Informed, he charges the party with protecting the town and reaching Scrooge, who, in this story, is not just a rich businessperson, but the Lord of the town.
BAH! HUMBUG!
Christmas in a fantasy RPG? How do you put Christmas into your fantasy campaign? This one-shot (with an option to play it over several sessions) asserts the importance of the holiday setting being Christmas since it’s the linchpin of Dickens’ effort. However, that puts pressure on a world that is fantasy but not a fantasy setting that includes Christianity. In the adventure, the suggestion is it’s either a local holiday or this adventure is a dream sequence. Something for the GM to mull over when choosing this product.
Among the DM tips contained within the book is a remainder, this story is best not spoiled, even to your players. Don’t tell them that they’re headed into A Christmas Carol; instead let them learn through the character’s names and famous bits of dialogue (should you work them in). It will add something extra to the gaming.
Because this story requires the players to follow a well-known narrative, there’s the valid concern that the story will descend into railroading. Or, just as bad, players that are determined to break free of the known narrative. The suggestion to overcome the feel of railroading is to pick up the pace of the story. Keep it moving so it never feels like the players are locked into Scrooge’s footsteps.
DECREASE THE SURPLUS POPULATION
This game is available for D&D 5e as well as (thanks to a stretch goal that will create a supplemental PDF) Pathfinder 2e. As such, your party of murder hobos will need to take on the task of championing an old man who needs to change for the better.
But who will you be fighting? The game introduces some interesting monsters. Two of these enemies have literal names that designate what they are doing within the story. Lie and Remorse have specific moments in the tale where they have to be defeated to unlock more of Scrooge’s story. While they feature in the tale at points you might expect, defeating them is the trigger to progress the familiar story beats of A Christmas Carol.
How will your murder hobos resist killing Scrooge and taking his money for yourselves? Because, let’s be honest, some table will try. To head that off, the module makes the heroes invisible as they clash with invisible monsters for much of the adventure. It is not until the final act that they are brought (back) corporeally into the tale for the final fight. Fully engaged in the story, the heroes are required to do battle in the third act but also to think outside of combat and roleplay a solution to save Ebenezer and Christmas.
THE RPG CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN
This project offers a range of products including an adventure book in PDF and print, six maps, and eleven printable miniatures. The finished book is expected to be 40 pages, full color as a PDF, black-and-white as a print book. Getting the PDF out before Christmas is the best idea to promote this campaign. That deadline is a win.
If Verge Games’ Kickstarter interests you, try it here, or check out their website.
LINDA WHITSON’S A CHRISTMAS GENESYS
This is not related to Josiah Martindale’s A Christmas Carol Adventure for 5e, but last year d20 Radio’s Linda Whitson stat’ed the ghosts of Dicken’s tale for the Genesys system. You can read their stats here. [Thanks for making these, Linda!]
A Christmas Carol Adventure by Verge Games
End Date: Fri, December 6 2019 12:00 AM EST.
“A 5e one-shot adventure for 5th to 7th level following Charles Dickens’s classic tale: A Christmas Carol.”
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