A Christmas Advent-ure!

The 2003 Christmas Dungeon, by AR Holmes

For many years now I have continued in the silly tradition of writing a Christmas 'Fungeon', in which any characters may play, regardless of level, strengths, shape or size, and have a good festive time! This year is no exception, so here is the 2003 Christmas Dungeon. Print it off, get the beers in, collect a goodly supply of festive sweeties, mince pies and all that sort of thing, pop the good old Christmas CD on the stereo, and away you go. There are some rules that Christmas Dungeons simply must follow:

1) No-one can die in a Christmas Dungeon. If the character meets with an untimely end, then he/she wakes up in bed on Christmas morning, with a mince pie and a glass of sweet sherry next to the bed, and some memories of an interesting 'dream'. 2) The dungeon has to be silly. Forget your long-running campaigns and dungeons deep and deadly this is just a bit of fun, where the T&T world your players are familiar with goes 'out of the window'! 'Fungeons' are not to be taken seriously, and anything goes! 3) As GM, you really must provide treats for the players throughout the game. Get hold of some cheap seasonal sweets, choccies, biscuits etc. and dish them out for saving rolls, defeating foes, finding treasure etc. 4) Play Christmas music throughout the game (or until it really gets annoying...) 5) The dungeon follows a silly Christmas plot. Really, whatever the players do (much like the Halloween dungeons also on this site) they still follow the lines of the plot, and the story unfolds as the GM has designed it. It's all contrived rubbish, but fun! 6) Write a fun introduction and have an ending, or epilogue, written out and ready to read to the players at the end of the game. 7) The dungeon must have a 'Christmas feel' all the way through. and finally.... 8) The players always win!

A CHRISTMAS ADVENT-URE

Christmas Dungeon 2003 - by AR Holmes

Player Introduction

A howling north wind chills your bones, and freezes your soul. Despite many layers of clothing and thick outer cloaks of heavy fur, the icy gales of the most northern ridge of the Khargish Mountains bite through to raw your flesh, numb your face and freeze your heart. It is nearing the end of the month of December, and the last two weeks have brought pain, suffering and desperation, as your journey across the mountains has taken its toll. It is rumoured that the fabled Ice Castle of Krynn lies in ruins atop these mountains, and although many years have passed since its destruction, its treasures still lie unguarded in the ice of the castle's foundations. Wealth beyond the wildest dreams of men! According to the maps and scrolls which you carry with you, this final ridge, aptly named The Slog, marks the final leg of the journey, with the castle ruins less than two days journey from the far end of the ridge, where dangerous icy slopes lead down to a large tarn, and from there, the path to the castle should hold few surprises. So with hope in your hearts, you continue up the trail, soon reaching a suitable place to encamp. A fire is lit and the almost empty provisions sack is plundered, and a hearty meal cooked for all. The winds have died down a little, yet the icy chill remains, but around the warmth of the fire, the camp feels secure and relatively comfortable. The winter sun has set early, and you have around 14 hours to sit out the cold, dark and isolation, until at dawn you can begin the last leg of the trek across the ridge.

The still of the night is broken by a frightening crash, like that of lightening, and you are all roused from sleep in an instant! Peering into the inky blackness of the freezing night, you are all astonished to see that a glowing doorway has appeared, about 100 yards from your camp! Shrouded in a red and green swirling mist, the portal is 10' high and 6' wide, with a silver vortex appearing through it. Magical energy crackles in the air around it, sparks flying this way and that, lighting up the gloom of the mountaintop. You can smell sulphur in the frigid air, as the doorway pulsates with bewildering luminosity upon this desolate, hyperborean cliff.

A quick glance at the stars tells you that it is not long after midnight, and if your calculations have remained true over throughout the journey of the past few weeks, it is now the 25th day of the month. If you had stayed home, you would now be celebrating the Season of Yule in the Blue Frog Tavern, a jug of Hobgoblin at your fist and a huge roast boar to look forward to the next day! But you didn't stay home, you came along on this god-forsaken trip, to climb the hardest mountains this side of Hell, in the depth of winter, to join a search for a ruined ice castle, which may, or may not, contain booty. Pah! Who's idea was this anyway? Ah yes, it was that strange troll-like traveller you met in the tavern a few months ago; he had suggested it would be a good idea! What was his name again? Ah yes, Peotor of the Moors. Strange how he decided

not to come along at the eleventh hour, and now you and your friends are here and he is probably in a drunken stupor somewhere! Perhaps you'll have a word or six with that character should your paths cross again...

Still, the fact remains, that over 3000' up this mountain you and your party are faced with a magical portal. Well, you presume it's magical! Swirling, coloured mist, flashing lights, silver vortexes? Yeah, it's magic all right! Just then, the winds begin to howl once more, and a hailstorm begins! Great! Then, suddenly, one of your party howls in horror! "Elemental! Run!"

From the unrelenting darkness of this frostbitten sky cometh a horrific creature. The outline of a devil, all of 30' tall, is approaching, its lines of form sparkling silver against the night sky, outlining a humanoid body with a cruel face, eyes burning blue, gaping mouth roaring like the north wind. A very rare, wonderful to behold, and dangerous monster, a Wind Elemental! But this is no ordinary one, it is a hybrid, native only to these mountains, created by evil magic, and with only one aim, that of slaughter, to fuel its own power. It is said that mortals who are slain by these monsters lose their very souls! Running seems like a fine plan, but to where? The terrible gale force unleashed by the beast has blown away most of the camp, and the fire is but a glow of burnt-out embers. As panic begins to take over, your party fumbling for weapons, preparing magic and buckling on armour, a voice rises above the confusion: "Into the portal! Now! It's our only hope!"

Madly, quickly gathering weapons, armour and provisions as the wrath of the Elemental approaches, you and your party charge for the magical door, and dive through the silver, tinsel-like vortex...

Back on the lonely mountaintop, the Elemental, once he is sure you are all safely through the doorway, smiles to himself. "Heh heh heh, that did the trick..."

Game Master's Information

The magic portal is the Doorway to Christmas, and will lead the party into a merry little Christmas adventure, before they continue on their miserable way to the fabled Ice Palace, or whatever adventure lies next for them in your game world. Unlike previous Christmas adventures, this one doesn't have a criminal mastermind who is trying, for some ridiculous reason, to ruin Christmas. This is a quirky game, not to be taken seriously and to be played over the festive season as a break from poor TV shows, endless games of charades or another round of Monopoly! If you like the way that T&T can lend itself to almost any game style, then you'll like this. It's all silly, and a bit ridiculous in places, but should, I hope, give you and your players some role- playing festive fun!

This dungeon is a little different, as it is set-up like an Advent Calendar. If you have time and can be bothered, amend a real advent calendar by placing pictures behind the doors to represent what's in the room, and give it to the players in room B.

So without further ado, here's the game! Read it through, change whatever you want, and prepare for play. I like to buy silly inexpensive presents, candy and trinkets to give out for killing monsters, making saving throws and working out a room etc. Play it with an open mind, and a large helping of festive music! Enjoy!

About the Dungeon

Zap! With a flash and a bang and a wallop and a crash, the magic portal transports the party into a bizarre world of festive fun! Gone are the frosty crags of the mountains. They find themselves standing in a very warm, ornate room (A), with an adventure ahead of them, which they should not forget in a hurry. Here are a few pointers to remember about this dungeon. There is no map, as it's not really needed. It will become obvious why.

All rooms are a 50 x 50 x 50 foot cube. The walls are made of marble, each room having a different shade of stone, with reds, browns, purples, blues and greens making up the majority. The colour of the marble indicates the magical properties of the room. The dungeon text below will explain fully. No wall can be damaged or altered in any way. The floors are all tiled with white tiles, and the ceilings black. Teleportation magic into or out of the dungeon is prohibited. Local teleportation is usually allowed (e.g. Wink Wing).

Secret doors are 6' high by 4' wide, and are made of the same marble as the walls, and are completely invisible without the aid of magic to reveal. Searching for one in a room requires one complete turn per wall (therefore 4 turns to search the entire room) and a saving roll at Level (1D6+2) on LK, with the same SR to open. If magic is used to find the door, the SR to open should be reduced by 2 levels, to a minimum of L1.

There is no going back! Once the party exit a room, that's that, it will never reappear, the room is gone. Forward only folks. (Except rooms 2 & 17)

Corridors, although few given the nature of the dungeon, are 20' high and 20' wide, with normal walls, floor and ceiling. There is always a light covering of snow on the floor however, and the sound of sleigh bells can be heard in the air....

Monster Ratings have been omitted, and instead monsters have been given a number from 1 to 10, indicating their strength and ferocity, with 1 being low and 10 being the hardest thing going in this dungeon! This number appears in brackets immediately after the monster is mentioned in the text. Allocate suitable MRs for the strength of your adventuring party as appropriate.

Adventure Points can be awarded for killing monsters to a value of MR x 10 APs, or whatever the GM decides to award.

The pictures which appear behind the doors of the Advent-ure calendar are in green bold for quick easy reference.

A word about the marble walls...

Each room has walls of coloured marble. The colour indicates certain magical properties to the room and everything, which happens within it. Here is the key to the colours and effects. If you want to add more, change them, or ignore them completely, then go ahead.

GREEN - Standard Room. No restrictions of any kind. RED - Rooms with red-streaked marble will allow NO MAGIC to be cast in them by the party. BLUE - Rooms streaked with blue veins in the marble will allow NO MAGIC ITEMS to function. Magic spells however function normally. BROWN - Brown marbled walls will double the effect of any offensive spell cast within it, including those of the monsters! ST cost is normal. DARK PURPLE - These rooms are dangerous! All monsters score double damage in combat (roll then multiply by two), and MAGIC ARMOUR will not function in them. Give the armour a base value for its type as appropriate. LIGHT PURPLE - Player-characters' armour value is doubled whilst in these rooms. CREAM - Secret. If any player says the word CHRISTMAS whilst in a room of this colour, he/she is awarded 1000 AP. Works once only. Tell them after they have left the room. ORANGE - All AP gained whilst in this room is doubled when they leave it. BLACK - Rooms to be avoided! Saving Rolls are increased by one level whilst in black marble rooms, and failure of a 'min 5' will result in serious consequences for the character. E.G. A SR on DEX to hit a foe would result in the injury of the player or a party member if a min 5 was missed in here, etc.

Some rooms may exhibit mixtures of marble in which case both effects are applied. E.G. A red and blue room will allow no magic weapons or items, etc.

IMPORTANT! Whilst in this dungeon, the delvers may experience changes to attributes, physical appearance, gain extra powers etc. It is vital that all these changes be recorded separately on a sheet of paper.

Some rooms may reverse certain changes, for example room 2.

So now, it's on to the dungeon! (N.B. 'Detect Magic' vibes work at the GM's discretion, or not at all!)

A Christmas Advent-ure

A) The Entrance Room. This is a GREEN room, and there are no exits visible. In the centre of the room is a stone table, upon which is a scroll, tied with tinsel, a bag of chocolate gold coins (enough for at least 3 per player-character, but have as many as you want), and as many small vials of amber liquid as there are delvers. Nothing happens until the delvers investigate the table and its contents.

The scroll contains the following message; written in the language most delvers in the party can understand:

"MY DEAR FRIENDS, WELCOME TO YOUR CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE! WE COULDN'T HAVE YOU OUT THERE ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN IN

THE COLD AT CHRISTMAS TIME NOW COULD WE? THAT JUST WOULDN'T DO AT ALL! I'M TERRIBLY SORRY ABOUT ALL THAT

THEATRICS WITH THE ELEMENTAL. HE IS A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE, AND IS REALLY QUITE A NICE FELLOW.

"PLEASE ACCEPT MY INVITATION TO MY LITTLE DUNGEON. IT IS A SPECIAL ONE, JUST FOR YOU! YOU WILL NOTICE THAT EACH ROOM HAS DIFFERENT COLOURED MARBLE WALLS. THIS MEANS THAT

SOME THINGS IN CERTAIN ROOMS WILL NOT BE QUITE AS NORMAL, BUT DON'T WORRY, NOTHING TOO SCARY! TO BEGIN, TAKE SOME

GOLD COINS FOR YOUR ADVENTURE. IF YOU ARE FEELING UNWELL, EAT ONE AND YOU WILL SOON BE FEELING MUCH BETTER! THEN, EACH TAKE ONE OF THE VIALS I HAVE LEFT FOR YOU. DRINK THIS ONLY AS A LAST RESORT! FINALLY, FIND YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS ROOM TO BEGIN, AND I'LL SEE YOU LATER. I'LL BE WATCHING YOU ALL TO SEE HOW YOU FARE! OH, JUST ONE THING, I'D HURRY OUT

OF HERE IF I WERE YOU..."

The chocolate gold coins will restore 1D4 points of lost ST or CON when eaten (player's choice). After eating 3, further coins will have no effect.

The vials will teleport the delver out of the dungeon, whereupon the game ends for him and he should be read Ending Two. If a character is killed during the adventure, also take him aside and read Ending Two.

After 1 full turn has passed, there is a flash of magic and a Yeti (5) appears in the room, wearing a sparkling silver tutu and a Christmas hat. It attacks the party instantly. Accompanying the Yeti are 3 Sabre-Tooth Tigers (4), which add drama to the combat! They are not very festive! There is one secret door in the room, on the north wall. It leads into room 2 via a corridor 40' long.

B) The Advent Wizard Room. This is a BROWN room, and contains a large treasure chest in the centre. When any members of the party enter within 10' of the room, there is a flash of light and a shower of sparks, and an Evil Wizard (6) appears standing behind the chest. He is dressed in long red robes and wears a pointy hat with a star on the top. He looks very angry however, and casts an offensive spell (remember it's a brown room!) at the party/delver each combat round until he is defeated. His ST is 56, DEX 25, LK 18 CON 80 and he knows level 1 - 7 spells. He cannot be harmed by non-magical attacks, and is immune to fire and poison. If defeated, he howls with rage and disappears in a flash of sparkles, leaving behind the star from the top of his hat. The first delver to pick it up (50 GP) will receive 1D6+1 to IQ permanently. The chest contains an Advent Calendar: a flat wooden box with 24 little doors. Doors 12 and 24 are glowing and will not open before they are supposed

to. The device crackles with magical energy. Soon after the delvers pick it up, another flash of light announces a strange creature into the room. Standing there is a Pixie, 2 foot tall wearing green jacket, red trousers and a white fur hat, with a bell on the end. His shoes are black patent leather with pointy turned-up ends (let's hope his feet aren't!). He has a thick beard and piggy eyes, but comes across as friendly enough. He greets the party:

"Hello there! Merry Christmas to you all, and welcome to the dungeon! I have been allowed to help you through it! My name is Boggy. You must survive through 24 rooms to reach the end and your reward! Open the doors on the Advent Calendar you are holding, to visit a room! Open

them in any order you like, as long as you open door 24 last and door 12 in the middle. They won't allow themselves to be opened before time anyway. Even though they are numbered 1 through 24, it really doesn't matter which order you visit the rooms in! You may call on my aid 3

times only. Here! Take this!"

Boggy gives the party his hat - he is bald underneath. He scratches his head and rubs it after removing the hat.

"Ring the bell to summon me, and I'll be right along! Have fun! Ciao for now!"

With that, he is gone, leaving the party to consider which door to open next, for there are no exits from this room and no secrets to be found. Only one door will open at once, and the Advent Calendar cannot be destroyed or damaged. Once a door is opened, the party are teleported directly to the room. Game on! (If you have time and can be bothered, amend a real advent calendar by placing pictures behind the doors to represent what's in the room, and give it to the players)

If Boggy is called upon, he will appear for 1 full turn only. During this turn, he can perform ONE of the following:

1. Fight. His MR is 300. If required, roll 12D6+6 for each attribute. He fights with a pair of daggers, which score 6D6+10 each and wears leather armour.

2. Answer one Yes/No question about the room, truthfully. 3. Cast any Wizard's Guild spell once from levels 1-10 inclusive. 4. Transport up to 10,000 weight units of treasure out of the dungeon. It

will appear in room 24 at the end of the game.

5. Tell the players what lies beneath any 1 of the unopened advent calendar doors (but he cannot tell them anything about the room).

Key to the Advent-ure Calendar

1) Behind this door is Grimtooth. ☺ The walls of the room are coloured DARK PURPLE & RED. In the centre of the room is a wooden table. On the north wall is an archery target, 10' in diameter, with the outer ring being green,

the inner red and the centre white. 20' from the target is a line of tinsel on the floor. On the table is a curved throwing knife and a scroll, reading:

"Dear Guests. Have a go at target practice! Earn powers! Simply stand at the ocky (line of tinsel) and throw the knife provided. Every hit on the target ring wins a prize! Rules are as follows: 1-Use only the knife

provided. 2-Players MUST stand on the tinsel line to throw. 3-NO MAGIC ALLOWED! 4-Only 1 throw per person! Good Luck!"

The knife is a delicately balanced throwing knife of excellent quality. However, it is the 'Turn About is Fair Play' knife (see Grimtooth's Traps page 44). If thrown, it will turn around before hitting the target and strike the player for 30D6 points of damage...

If the trap is sprung, there is a maniacal laugh from the air, and the players may continue. They may now use their own projectiles if they wish. The SRs for the target are not normal ones, and are Level 2 for the outer ring, Level 3 for the inner ring and Level 5 for the bulls eye. Again, the rules must be abided to (or the player receives a nasty surprise at the GM's discretion...) whilst playing. The prizes for hitting the target are as follows (again, one go per delver only): Outer Ring earns 500 AP. Inner Ring earns 1D4 to any attribute permanently. Bulls eye earns a minor power at the discretion of the GM. E.G. limited flight, extra spells, increased combat adds etc.) The players must play the game correctly. To earn a prize, they must use a standard non-magic projectile weapon and use no tricks. There are no exits. Any weapons used which the GM rules as non-allowable will be teleported instantly to room 24.

2) Behind this door is a Red Star. The room has walls of RED, and contains a 30' diameter pool of bubbling blue water, illuminated by a red light coming from deep below the surface. There are no exits. On the wall are a set of clothing hooks and a message reading:

"Enter the pool of Starlight to soothe aching bones, heal wounds and restore your old self again. Please remove all clothing, armour and equipment before entering the pool. The effects of the magic water

cannot be reversed. Thank You."

Delvers must enter the pool naked. If anything else is taken in which is not part of the delver's physical body, it is teleported to room 24 instantly. Once in the pool, the delver completely relaxes and falls into a hypnotic trance. He remains in this state for 1D6 turns, and in this time will regain 1D6 points of ST & CON per turn. The delver emerges feeling totally relaxed, BUT, any changes they may have had to their body, extra powers gained, etc., whilst in this dungeon, will be lost. The delver is exactly as he was at the start. This is why it is important to mark all changes down separately. The party will get the chance to visit this room again at the end of the dungeon, at cost! The delvers need not enter the pool to progress to the next room.

3) Behind this door is a Snowman. Treat this room as if it had CREAM walls. The room is an illusion of a snowy scene, with snow-covered hills stretching into the distance, a thin watery winter sun low in the sky. There are snowmen everywhere. After 1 turn of exploring (nothing to be found), the Snowmen animate and attack (6). Each delver is attacked by 1D4 Snowmen. Every combat round, the delver must make a L2SR on CON or suffer the effects of freezing, which reduces CON by the amount the roll was missed by. However, the Snowmen get very warm after 3 combat rounds, and melt. After everyone has fought the Snowmen, it begins to snow. The party notice some golden flakes falling. If they catch one (L4SR on LK), they have their ST (if a warrior) or IQ (if a wizard) increased by 4D6 permanently. It snows for 5 minutes, giving each delver 5 chances at the SR. After the snowfall, there is nothing else to do so they must open another door on the calendar.

4) Behind this door is a Teddy Bear, and the room is DARK PURPLE. The room is littered with toy teddy bears, all different kinds. On the wall is a sign reading "THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THERE BEARS...". And indeed there is! If the toys are ripped apart, some contain gold trinkets, each worth 100 GP. However, there are hundreds of bears in here, so it will take a long time. A L3SR on LK is required each combat round of searching to find 1 gold token. The bad news is however, that after 3 combat rounds have passed, Daddy Bear gets very angry.... A huge Teddy Bear (8) crashes through the south wall and attacks the party for what they did to his collection of toy bears. The hidden room it came from is empty. There are a total of 50 bears containing treasure. If the GM is feeling low on 'Christmas Spirit', he may decide that some of the bears are trapped... (Evil grin!)

5) Behind this door is a 4-armed Demon. If you have a copy of Deathtrap Equaliser Dungeon (Solo 2, by Ken St Andre), have each character work through one scenario from the book. If not, this room is GREEN and contains three drinking fountains on the west wall. All pour clear water into stone basins. Basin one will swap the character's ST & CON permanently if the liquid is drunk. Basin two will swap the character's IQ & DEX. Basin three will swap the character's LK & CHR. If divining magic is cast in here, the only word the wizard will receive in return is "OMNIFLEX". No more clues will be given.

6) Behind this door is a Reindeer. The room is RED, and contains many Reindeers, eating from golden bowls (50 GP each) full of tasty reindeer food. A sign on the wall reads "DO NOT HARM THE REINDEERS". They are unphased by the arrival of the party and continue to eat. There are two exits, one on the east and west walls. Both lead to 20 x 20 x 20' rooms via corridors 30' long. The east room contains a chest containing 500 GP and 1 CON restoration liquid, and the west room contains 6 chests, all filled with reindeer food. Once one is opened, the other vanishes. Above each door a sign reads "OPEN ME AT THE EXPENSE OF THE OTHER".

If the delvers investigate the animals, they realise that although they all wear leather collars around their necks, some wear silver ones. If the delvers try to remove any, they must make a L3SR on CHR to do so. Failure means the animal shunned away and ran to another part of the room. If any of the reindeer are attacked or harmed in any way, the offending delver has some or all of their clothes, weapons, items etc. teleported to room 24 at the GM's discretion. The silver collars will allow the holder (who must wear it around their neck for the magic to work!) to automatically make a saving roll without having to roll dice. Each collar can be used twice only, then be sold for 30 GP, or worn obviously.

7) Behind this door is a Pile of Christmas Presents. The room is DARK PURPLE. The chamber appears to be an ancient storeroom, with countless boxes; chests, sacks, containers, urns etc. stacked everywhere. The floor is covered in dust and the roof in cobwebs. It will take 12 turns to explore fully. Each turn of searching requires each delver to make a L2SR on LK. Success uncovers something from the following list, hidden well and wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper. Failure means something found the delver...

Random Finds Table (for SR success)

i. Minor Treasure Item. 1-60 GP worth.

ii. Medium Treasure Item. 1-400 GP worth. iii. Excellent Treasure Item. 4D6 x 100 value.

iv. Minor Magic Item at discretion of GM. v. Major Magic Item at discretion of GM. vi. Other at discretion of GM (maybe Christmas related magic item or

treasure etc.)

Monster/Trap Table (for SR missed)

i. Christmas Pudding Monster (7).

ii. Trapped box. Explodes doing 6D6 + 6 damage in a 10' diameter. iii. Poison trap. Glass of poison gas is smashed and all within 10' diameter

range take 2D6 CON damage.

iv. Christmas Imp (6) knows level 1 - 8 spells and can cast any spell for three combat rounds before vanishing. CON 100. IQ 40

v. Pit Trap. Delver falls into a pit 10-60' deep taking 1D6 damage per 10' of fall!!!! Pit may be filled with spikes/acid... ;-)

vi. Vampire Teddy Bear (7). L2SR on LK per combat round not to be bitten. Consequences up to individual GM. (Vampire only at Xmas perhaps?)

8) Behind this door is Santa Claus. The room is CREAM, and sitting in a grotto is Santa. The door to get in is marked "ONE AT A TIME ONLY". Chairs are arranged for waiting guests. However, guarding the grotto are two huge Stone Golems (9), which attack anyone who tries to open the door to the grotto. They are harmed ONLY by magic spells. ALL weapons simply bounce off them.

If the delvers kill the Golems, they may enter the grotto. If more than one delver tries to enter at once, both have all their weapons and armour teleported to room 24. Shame...

Once inside, horrors! Santa is chained to his chair, unable to move! He begs for help, promising a present to anyone who frees him! The chains are held tight by a huge padlock, requiring a L4SR on DEX or magic to unlock. Once free, the keeps his promise and gives the delver who freed him a present. Award an actual present to the player or give the character a magic item at your discretion. Then, every delver may visit him and have a minor wish granted. This is again at the GM's discretion. In addition, freeing Santa is worth 1000 AP, and a visit to him is worth 300 AP.

9) Behind this door is a Sleigh. There is no room here, but the party stand at the head of a thrilling bobsleigh course. Treat as a RED room as magic will not function here. A bobsleigh with as many seats as there are delvers waits. Not all need to ride. An archway reading "GENTLE WALK TO THE END OF THE RIDE" is nearby. It is as it says with no surprises. Delvers choosing to ride do so at their own risk! Once everyone who wants to ride is seated, the ride begins. It is a speeding, exhilarating ride of twists, turns, loops and breath-taking bends, and the ride is worth 1500 AP per delver. However, it is not without risk. 6 L1SRs on LK AND DEX must be made throughout the ride. Any LK SR missed result in damage taken (armour will not help here) as the sleigh shoots down the icy course. Deduct the amount each SR was missed by from CON directly. For each DEX roll missed, the sleigh is mishandled and this causes it to bump and grind along the wrong parts of the icy track. This results in damage to the sleigh. Roll 1D6 per roll missed. If the total reaches 30, the sleigh crashes and the ride ends, resulting in 2D6 CON damage for all.

At the end of the course, there is a hut where a busty waitress serves mulled wine (restoring 1D6x2 lost CON if necessary) and mince pies.

10) Behind this door is a Gold Coin. The room is BLUE. The room contains a HUGE mound of gold, about 30,000,000 GP in total!!!!! Sitting atop this is a Golden Dragon. It is of course fast asleep. There are 4 exits, one in each wall, in the centre at ground level. Each is a large archway, with wide steps through them leading upwards. Each leads to a small room containing a minor magic item (or a Christmas Item) at the GM's discretion. Above each archway is a sign reading "EXIT". If anyone passes through any of these arches, they may not return to this room. A heavy magical iron portcullis falls as they reach the treasure room at the top to ensure they cannot return, and teleportation will not work. Characters stuck in any of these rooms will be teleported out only with the rest of the party when the next advent-ure calendar door is opened. Delvers may steal as much treasure as they wish. Each combat turn of stealing the dragon's treasure requires the most basic of saving rolls, a L1SR on LK. Success means they have stolen up to 500 GP (Can they carry it all?

If so, in what? Do they need Boggy's help here?). Failure awakens the dragon and it breathes fire, filling the room, and ending the adventure for everyone! (If you would rather this didn't happen, just destroy the character who failed the roll. The dragon in this case is satisfied and returns to sleep. Once out of the room, 50% of the gold stolen turns to chocolate coins...

11) Behind this door is an Angel. The room is BLUE. The chamber is empty, but the walls have paintings of Angels on them. 6 hang on each wall, making 24 in all. Behind one of them (GM's choice) is a Silver Key. This is required for the final room to access the chest of Christmas Presents! If they do not think to look behind the paintings, do not prompt them! The same picture is magical, and touching it will summon an Angel into the room. It arrives in a flash of brilliant light, and hovers above the party. The Angel says he will bestow upon them gifts if they are deemed worthy. Each must either:

i. Answer a riddle (could be Christmas related). Gift awarded = 1D6+1 to IQ permanently.

ii. Make a SR at their own level on CHR. Gift awarded = Delver grows angel wings. CHR x 2 permanently + limited flight.

iii. Fight a summoned monster alone (GM's choice, but must be a challenge and no one else from the party can help). Gift awarded = 2D6 added to ST, LK or DEX permanently.

iv. Sing a Christmas Song (The actual PLAYER must stand-up and sing a Christmas song for at least 2 minutes to qualify!!!!) Gift awarded = Any Prime Attribute is doubled permanently and character given a perfect singing voice permanently, adding 2 to CHR.

12) HALF-WAY POINT! THIS DOOR MUST BE OPENED AS THE 12TH DOOR! IT WILL NOT OPEN UP UNTIL THIS POINT, AND OPENS AUTOMATICALLY AFTER 11 DOORS HAVE BEEN OPENED!

Behind this door is a Toy Shop. This is a GREEN room. The 'room' is actually a shop. The windows look out onto a snowy street, where people can be seen hurrying around with presents and shopping. Everyone is happy. The shop sells all manner of sweets and toys, and the shopkeeper is a kindly old man, wearing a worn cardigan and finger-less gloves. He welcomes them into his shop, and will sell any of the following items. The cost is left up to the GM. This is a break from traps, monsters and the like and there are no surprises. The delvers cannot exit the shop. If they attack the shopkeeper of steal anything, ALL their items are teleported to room 24 and the GM opens the next Advent-ure door for them and they are instantly taken to the appropriate room for their trouble.

Magic Doll, one use only. Can be animated at command to triple in size and fight with MR 500. Vanishes when used or killed. Enchanted Toy Drum. Beating this will cause all creatures with MR less than 500 to flee in terror. 3 uses. Colouring Book. The book has 10 pages; each page when coloured-in (takes 2 minutes) casts a TTYF of 100 onto any one foe. 10 uses. Teddy Bear. Cute, cuddly teddy bear. Transforms into a Giant Grizzly Bear,

MR 500 upon command. One use. Vanishes when used/killed. Toy Robot. Akin to robots in Gamesmen of Kazar. Have powers and attributes to be decided by the GM Toy Soldiers. Each sold separately (batteries not included....). A wizard must activate each one (the special spell is included in the instructions!) which uses 10 ST (cannot be reduced) after which it grows to 6' in height and can be commanded to fight for up to 6 combat rounds with an MR of 1000! Candy Canes. Restores 1D6 CON. Humbugs. Not of the 'Hellbomb Bursts' variety this time! Restores 1D6 ST. Chocolates. Each one eaten will add 1 (temporary) point to ST but deduct 1 (temporary) from CON. Christmas Pudding. Once eaten, delver will be protected by a 'Protective Pentagram' for 3 full turns! Iced Doughnut. Once eaten, will protect delver from extreme cold/spells for 1 full day. Peanut Butter Sandwich. Delicious! Adds 2D6 to LK for the remainder of this dungeon!

The GM is free to make more items for sale, and run this shop in any way he likes, selling anything he wishes to include. If you need to take a break during play, this shop is a good place to stop for a bite to eat etc. The items should not be given away cheaply though, make them pay for the powerful magic!

13) Behind this door is a Lute. The room has walls of ORANGE, and is a busy tavern room! The bar is along the east wall, and the remaining space is filled with tables of all sizes; long beer keller tables, small and large round ones, rectangular and square ones, all with seating for all. Christmas festivities are in full swing, and a huge fireplace burns logs in the south wall. All manner of creatures and personalities are here, drinking, cavorting, cheering, singing and eating. Is that Grand Duke Karl Bronzo, the Tyrant of Kasar, drinking ale at the bar with Umslopagaas? Could that be Marionarsis casting festive magic tricks for a gathering of busty young maidens? Surely that's not Uncle Ugly himself, trying to juggle with the plates of mince pies constantly being brought out from a door, which obviously leads to a huge and well-stocked kitchen? You are free to eat, drink and be merry in here, and of course mix with the rich and infamous!

Soon, after you have had chance to sample the ale, wine or fine port or mead served at the bar, a competition is announced. People are invited to take the floor to tell tales, sing songs or play for the happy crowd.

Should the delvers wish to try, call for an appropriate saving roll: Stories and poetry - CHR SR at the delver's own level. Songs and instrument playing - Average of IQ & DEX SR at the delver's own level. Juggling or magic tricks (not just ordinary spells, there's no fun in that!) - Average of LK & DEX SR at delver's own level. Anything else - GM to improvise and allow suitable and appropriate saving throws.

OR, the GM can ask the players themselves to get up and entertain the others? Double the AP awarded should they do this! For all successful saving rolls, 4D6 x 50 AP is awarded (this is for the number of people who clap and cheer!). Have Fun!

14) Behind this door is a Christmas Cracker, and the room is GREEN. On a table in the centre of the room are as many Christmas Crackers as there are delvers. For my game, I prepared real crackers and put miniatures inside for the players to keep if they fulfilled the task in the cracker, which I wrote on scraps of paper, along with the paper hat and joke! You can do what you like in this room. You don't have to have real crackers, just improvise the contents and allow SRs, solving riddles etc. to obtain a trinket from the cracker. If the task is not fulfilled, the treasure vanishes!

15) Behind this door are some Christmas Baubles. The room is RED, and contains as many treasure chests as there are delvers, spaced out around the huge room. Contents are random - see below:

i. TRAPPED! Explosion covers delvers (10' radius) in tinsel, which curses delver to automatically fail his next SR, but he won't know it until it happens.

ii. TREASURE! Chest is full of Xmas baubles. There are about 300 in all, each weighing 1wu and worth 10 GP!

iii. TRAPPED! Explosion covers the delvers (10' radius) in Christmas pudding and custard, reducing CON by 2D6.

iv. MONSTER! Tinsel Demon (8) leaps out and attacks! v. TREASURE! Wrapped up in Christmas paper is a gift of a minor magic

item at the GM's discretion. vi. MONSTER! Bauble Beast (8) leaps out and attacks!

16) Behind this door are some Fairy Lights, and the room is GREEN. The room contains a gathering of Ogres (5-8), eating a feast. The room was decorated for Christmas but the trimmings have all been ripped down. The tree lies on its side undecorated. They are unhappy about the interruption and attack. There are two Ogres per delver, with varying MRs. If the Ogres are defeated, the room may be searched. Their foul lair contains the following. A L2SR on LK is required to find each item, and the party can search once each before they must leave.

a. Large sack of discarded Christmas decorations; tinsel, lights, baubles etc. Weight = 100 wu. (Required for room 17)

b. Small sack of chocolate gold coins (each becomes real when they leave the room!), 500 in total.

c. Box of festive candles. Each will cast an 'Oh There It Is!' spell when lit. d. One minor magic item at the GM's discretion.

17) A Christmas Tree is behind door 17, and the room has walls of GREEN. The room is full of Christmas fir trees, but all are alive! They walk and talk, muttering about all manner of subjects, and ignoring the party unless they talk to them, in which case the trees will engage in parley about anything! They all

do seem to be moaning and complaining about something though, but the delvers are not sure quite what. If the room is searched, the trees object, but that is all. There are no secret doors to be found however! Just when the delvers are wondering what to do in this room, the largest tree comes forward and speaks in any language, saying

"NOW LOOK HERE, WE NEED SOME DECORATIONS! ITS CHRISTMAS TIME BUT WE HAVE NO TINSEL, BAUBLES OR FAIRY LIGHTS! DO YOU

HAVE ANY I WONDER?"

If the party have already visited room 16, they may have some. If they do, the trees will be over the moon, granting one minor wish for each delver at the GM's discretion, which will be granted at the end of this dungeon. If the party have not done the doors in order and have not opened door 16 yet, the trees ask them to return should they find any. They give the delvers a magic bauble, which will transport them back to this room instantly, but once only. If the party have visited room 16 but did not take the decorations, the trees will be sad, and vanish. This will have a miserable effect on the delvers, all of who will lose 1 point of permanent IQ for the experience.

18) Behind this door is the Moon. The room is BLUE, but the roof is open to the sky. The sky is dark but the moon is full and the stars are twinkling. The room is empty, but after one full turn, in which presumably the party search the walls (see below), a Were-Snowman (9) appears in the room and attacks! Its attack is frenzied and it is immune to non-magical attacks. Hidden in the walls are 3 secret doors. Each leads to a small room (10 x 10 x10) via a corridor 50' long. Within each is a gift:

Room 1 - Large Santa Sack containing lots of presents for girls and boys, and 2000 GP for the delvers! Room 2 - A table is set with buffet food. Eating from this for a full turn will restore up to 10 lost CON points. Room 3 - Beneath a Christmas Tree are as many wrapped presents as there are delvers. Each contains a minor magic weapon/armour piece.

19) Beneath the door is a Wise Man. The room is ORANGE, and contains an alchemist's laboratory. The alchemist is a bizarre character, dressed as Santa Claus, though he is clearly not the real article, as he is a green-skinned Troll. When he notices the delvers, he is overjoyed, and says he needs some willing volunteers to try out some new potions he has been working on for the Festive Season. Would anyone care to try? If so, the list is below. The delver may choose anything from the list. The effects are given for the GM in italics. If the delvers are aggressive, any items they use against the alchemist are teleported to room 24. Each delver may choose to drink as many as they wish. Once they have all decided, tell them all what the effects of each are and act accordingly. The GM is welcome to add more delightful potions if required! 100 AP may be taken by each delver for each drink he tries (remember it is an orange room, so 200 are actually awarded).

i. Santa's Ale - Restores up to 20 lost CON, but the hangover reduces IQ by half until the end of the game!

ii. Potion of Festivity - Fills drinker with the Christmas Spirit, so LK is increased by IQ, rating but DEX is reduced to half until end of game!

iii. Fluid of Yuletide Cool-hide - Delver becomes invisible until the end of the dungeon!

iv. Medicine of Merrymaking - Delver's attack score doubled for the duration of the next combat he is involved in.

v. Salve of Sleighing - Delver's lowest scoring weapon is tripled in dice and adds permanently (magic weapons cannot be changed - sorry!)

vi. Boxing Day: Poxing Day -This potion will cure any illness, wound (up to max CON) or remove any curse when drunk.

20) Beneath the door is a Roaring Fireplace. The room is LIGHT PURPLE & BLACK. Upon entering, the ground shakes and a huge Demon (9) erupts from the floor, shrouded in fiery tinsel and wearing a red robe with white fur trim. It bellows at the party:

"DARE YE ENTER THE CHAMBER OF SANTASIS THE DEMON KING OF YULE? YOU MUST DIE, MORTALS, FOR YOUR SOULS WILL JOIN ME IN

MY CHRISTMAS GROTTO OF ETERNITY! HAAARRRGGGHHHH!"

The Demon looks strangely like Ken St Andre, but it must be a trick of the light... (Grin) Once the party have fought the Demon, they may search the room. There are 3 secret doors, each leading to a corridor 60' long. In each corridor stands a Golem (8), which will not let anyone pass unless it is defeated. Each room contains a chest of treasure/magic/special items at the discretion of the GM.

21) Behind door 21 is a sprig of Mistletoe. The room is BLACK, and is a many-pillared hall. On the floor lie broken stone statues of delvers with looks of horror on their faces. Between the pillars, coloured garlands and fairy lights have been placed. This is the Lair of The Christmas Crone. She is a hideous Gorgon, who loves nothing better than to kiss the unwary at Christmas time! She wanders around the hall trying to capture the delvers. Each combat round the delvers wander around the spooky hall, they must make a L2SR on LK. Failure means the Gorgon finds them and plants a great big sloppy kiss on them, reducing CON by half and cursing them to automatically fail their next 3 saving rolls in the next room! If the roll is made, the delver is safe. If more than one delver fails, the Gorgon will get them both if they are together. If delvers far apart fail, the delver with the highest CHR will meet the Gorgon! After 2 full turns of searching the pillared hall, the delvers find a large treasure chest. It contains as many Magic Baubles as there are delvers. Each can be used as an Omniflex spell, which must be used as soon as this dungeon is over. If the GM allows the delvers to attack the Gorgon, he should make it difficult for them. E.G. she can turn invisible and run off at will, etc.

22) Behind door 22 is a Christmas Stocking. The room is RED, and contains a Sphinx. It cannot be harmed, but asks each delver a riddle. If they get it right, the Sphinx awards a Christmas Stocking to them, containing a magic trinket at the discretion of the GM. If the riddle is guessed incorrectly, the Sphinx eats him - game over! It is too powerful for the party to fight, whatever their powers and abilities.

23) Behind this door is a Candle. The room is RED & BLUE. Sitting in a large throne is a huge red robed figure. Beneath the hood nothing can be seen, only two red points of light shine out evilly. In front of the figure is a table upon which are as many candles as there are delvers. The figure, that cannot be harmed, speaks in tones like the tolling of a large bell:

"SOOOOO, IT HAS COME TO THIS! MORTALS ARE BROUGHT TO ME. TSK. I TIRE OF THESE TRIALS, ESPECIALLY AT CHRISTMAS. I HAVE PRESENTS TO WRAP, SHOPPING TO DO, ETC. ETC. ANYWAY, SHALL

WE GET THIS OVER WITH?"

The figure goes on to explain that the candles contain the souls of the delvers. If he were to blow them out, the delver would die instantly, and their souls lost forever. The figure will do a deal with the delvers if they wish. If not, they need do nothing in here. He will play them at dice. If they roll higher, he will empower their souls with great magic. If the figure rolls higher, the candle is blown out and the delver is lost forever. If the roll is a draw the figure will allow the delver to win, but only because it is Christmas. Both player and GM roll 2D6 each for the contest. Player-characters will not be able to blow out any of the candles by the way...

If the delver wins, they are allowed to increase each attribute permanently by the roll of 4D6 (roll for each attribute). In addition, Wizards can have the next 3 levels of spells and Warriors can have an extra 20 points to ST. Other character types can choose, or request something else if the GM is agreeable. Finally, the delver progresses 2 levels of experience, and may take the level bonuses.

Mighty rewards, but at the ultimate risk!

24) The last door reveals a pair of Bells & Holly. This door cannot be opened until last! The room is GREEN, and contains all the items, which may have been teleported here during the game, heaped up in a corner, guarded by a large Troll (10). The troll is happy to give the players their stuff, but requires that they sing a Christmas song to him in return. Each player must actually sing at least 2 verses of any Christmas song they know to claim their wares. On the north wall is a huge door, decorated with holly wreaths, tinsel and baubles. Above the door is a sign reading "FAREWELL, UNTIL NEXT YEAR!"

It is unlocked, and passing through it exits the delvers from this peculiar dungeon. Ending 1 is read aloud and the game ends. Award as many AP as you see fit to give (around 2-3000 should be about right).

On the south wall is another door, with a sign above it reading "TO THE PRESENTS!!!" This door is highly magical, and can only be opened by means of the silver key, to be found behind one of the paintings in room 11. If the delvers did not find the key, they get no presents this year I'm afraid! If they did find the key, the door will open, leading into a festive room containing as many carefully wrapped presents as there are delvers. If you have bought actual presents for your players, give them to them now. If not, award them a magic item of your choosing, a level bonus, attribute increase or whatever you deem suitable, for each character who made it to the end.

On the east wall is a glowing archway, with swirling red and green mist beyond it. Standing next to this arch is an Elf dressed in Christmas 'uniform'. He announces that this room will return the delver to room 2 (the pool) and they may return to the room to rid themselves of any unwanted changes, which they may have experienced during the adventure. The cost to return is total forfeit of treasure from the dungeon. If the other players give them any once they are outside, the treasure, gold etc. will turn to chocolate. If anyone takes up the elf's offer, they may travel to room 2 through the arch, and following the bath they will return here automatically.

Also in this room is a large table of festive fare: wine, ale, turkey & trimmings, vegetables, Christmas pudding etc., all piping hot and ready to eat. There are as many Christmas crackers as there are delvers, and they may contain magic or treasure at the discretion of the GM.

N.B. Any treasure transported here by Boggy will be unguarded and lying against the west wall. Boggy will be there to give it to them, and to wish them all the best for the festive season!

When the delvers have finished in here, they must leave, and the game ends. Read Ending 1. Hopefully, the players will have enjoyed the game and be in the mood for Christmas! Happy Christmas to everyone! ☺

ENDING ONE So that's it for another year. The Christmas 'fungeon' is over, and it’s back to more serious adventures. Hopefully you will have enjoyed this break from the norm, and have earned a few treasures and magic to help you through future adventures. The portal returns you to your mountaintop campsite, where everything has been returned to normal. The campfire has been rebuilt, and fresh provisions have been placed in each tent. A roast is cooking on the spit above the roaring fire, and as dawn approaches, you all feel refreshed and re-vigorated as you wonder where you spent the night. What was that dungeon all about! The Magic of Christmas has touched you, even on top of the world on this lonely ridge. Back in your hometown, people are celebrating Christmas morning. Perhaps next year, you will stay home, and join them...

ENDING TWO Oh dear, you failed to make it to the end of the dungeon. Whether it was the last-resort potion or the traps and terrors of the adventure, which got you in the end, no matter. What matters is that you played the game, and entered into the spirit of the season. You are surprised to find yourself in your hometown. It is Christmas morning. Didn't you arrange to be up some cold mountain this year? Ah yes, you remember now, you decided not to bother at the last minute, remembering your first rule of life - never go up a mountain in the cold! Especially at Christmas! Good job you did your Christmas shopping! The presents you have bought are piled high, ready to be handed out on this magical day. You spare a thought for your friends, who by now will probably be camping high on some god-forsaken ridge, with little food, no warmth and having a miserable time of things! Ha ha! You are where you should be this Christmas, at home! What will your friends have seen of Christmas this year? Probably nothing...

A Very Merry Christmas to you all and Best Wishes for 2004, from the Hobgoblin's Tavern! Thanks for your support!