#i was so bummed out when i found out that the local year-round halloween store had closed a year ago

[0rionz-belt]

well this is interesting. for once, i had thought that a place near me closed a while ago but its apparently still open. wild

[dungeoneering102]

D&D Quest Idea: Nightmare Before Christmas

One of my followers, @chiefswampballs, wanted to find out if there’s a way to run an adventure themed around Nightmare Before Christmas, an animated film by Tim Burton. So I decided to look into it. First: let’s look at the interesting elements of Nightmare Before Christmas.

Interesting Elements

The movie is filled with very cool elements that make the audience excited to watch the movie. To have a game with a similar setting would require one to use these or similar elements, to generate the same feeling. Here are what elements I found that make NBC interesting:

Monster Design. Every monster is very unique and fun to look at.

Settings. NBC hints at multiple worlds, each based on a separate celebration. This very hint gets people’s imaginations going. What does the Easter land look like? Is there a St. Patrick’s land where everyone is drunk? A land dedicated to July 4th? Oktoberfest? Chinese New Year? So many possible setting to explore.

The Music. One thing anyone remembers from this movie are the songs and the tunes. They are just so damn catchy.

The Charming Characters. Jack and Sally are all very fun characters. We root for them all the way through. Even Oogie Boogie, the film’s antagonist, is very fun to watch and listen to.

Some Pitfalls:

When running games BASED on other stories a DM can often fall into pitfalls, namely the non PC Protagonist pitfall. This is when the PCs end up being observers to the main characters of the source material, who are the real heroes of the story. With NBC, a DM might want to show off how great of a character Jack is, but end up having Jack do all the cool stuff (defeating Oogie Boogie, for example) and leave the PCs just wondering around observing. Avoid this mistake. Do not prioritize the NPCs over the PCs. Keep as much of the cool stuff for the PCs as possible.

Game Idea: The Skeleton Who Stole Christmas

Background:

The Party starts in a town of your choice. Simple, medieval town. It’s wintertime and it is the day before Wintercrest. Now I am using Wintercrest as a stand in for Christmas (since my D&D world doesn’t have a Christ). You can have your own name for it. Whatever it is, it has to have these traits:

It is a holiday set during winter.

People get each other gifts during this Holiday.

Santa Claus (or some kind of stand-in for him) travels door to door delivering presents to the Children (ages 16 and below) on the night of this celebration.

The rest of the details you can work out. Now your Party is staying in this town that is celebration their version of Christmas, and they get to witness the preparations for the Christmas Eve. Let your Party participate as well, if they want. Come up with some games (more on that later). Whatever it is, set up the celebration that will happen the next day. Here is where it gets good.

The Party wakes up early morning to the sound of countless screaming children. Their toys are horrific items, small monsters, little quasits, body parts, whatever have you. And there is the hook:

Santa brought demonic gifts to the children. Travel to Santa’s home and make him pay for this mischief.

Now the town Mayor or local King puts up a job posting saying something like

Any brave warrior willing to travel to the frozen wastes of North Pole and punish the mischievous spirit that betrayed our trust on this, most Holy of nights, will be rewarded 20,000 gp. Seek Archmage Duvalt in the court of his majesty.

Keep in mind, all the names, the reward, everything can be tailored to fit your style. Since the Party already has some reputation from being adventurers (start them at level 4-5), the townsfolk quickly go to them asking for them to take up the job. Through peer pressure, the Party agrees to take up the job. Now here’s how the plot will vaguely go:

Party goes to King, accepting the job.

King’s archmage plane shifts them to the Christmas Land.

The Party travels through a sad and gloomy Christmas town, full of unhappy elves, only to come up to Santa’s workshop, and discover that Santa has been kidnapped.

Throw in some clues for the Party here. After investigating the clues the Party figures out that someone from Halloween land was here.

Party goes to Halloween land to find its King, Jack the Skeleton.

Party has to fight through a dungeon of monsters and beasts to get to Jack.

Once they get there they see King Jack, his queen Sally, and his advisor, Oogie Boogie.

Party demands for Santa to be freed, but Jack, thinking they’re just there to ruin his fun has none of it.

Fight with Jack commences. Some 4-5 rounds in, Jack gets stabbed in the back by Oogie Boogie.

Boogie reveals that this was a plan he hatched, tricking jack to give the wrong kind of presents, to get the humans to dethrone Jack so he can get the throne of Halloween Land.

Boogie Man then offers monetary reward to the Party if they finish off Jack and give him the throne.

The Party then decides who to side with, fights the appropriate character. Whoever wins, they agree to hand over Santa, who returns to his home.

If Party sides with Jack, Santa blesses them for their kindness and gives them gifts (magic items). Otherwise, he gets upset with them and leaves them gift-less.

QUESTIONS

What if the Players Don’t Accept the Job?

If you’re not sure weather your PCs will accept the job or not, here are some options:

Tell them, before the game, to accept the job when its given. Most of your players (unless they’re horrible people), will go with it.

Just narrate the intro. Don’t give them the choice of declining. Players like this less, but it speeds up the process.

Have the local king/lord/mayor hear that there’s a band of adventurers in town, and physically come down offering the job. If your Party did something shady in the past, the king can blackmail them with that. Or he can be super nice, and double the reward money.

What Clues should I leave the Party?

When the Party is investigating Christmas Land, only to discover that Santa is missing, they need to find some clues as to where he was taken. These ought to be Halloween decorations. Stuff like: a broken pumpkin, torn paper bat, torn scary mask, a box of candy, whatever.

I also suggest you MAKE these clues (since they’re just decoration you can find anywhere) and give it to your Party. This will make it easier for them to figure out whats going on.

Be sure to have the archmage that teleported them explain that there are other realms, each dedicated to a Holiday. If you don’t explain this, they might not understand what the Halloween trinkets mean. By telling them this, they understand that there is a Halloween land somewhere. If they still don’t understand, have them return to the Archmage and show him the clues. He will then figure out who the culprit is, and send them on their merry way.

Setting

Christmas Land

This place only needs a single town. Have some generic locations for the Party to explore and interact with, such as:

Temple/shrine dedicated to the goddess of winter.

A general goods store

A magical item store

A toys store

Some kind of playground

Be sure to populate this place with elves. It’s up to you if you wanna throw in any elf, or high elves only. I recommend NOT putting drow (dark elves) into this land, and you’ll see why in a bit (even though toys made by the drow would be very fun to see). Make sure the elves are sad and unhappy. Not too gloom and doom, but really bummed and worried. If you want, you can have your Party try to cheer them up, and if they succeed to make the elves hopeful, the elves will gift them equipment to save Santa with

In the end of the town is a mansion. Its empty, ransacked, and that’s where Santa lived. Make it a puzzle for the Party to get into the house. Have some weird locked door. This increases the build up to the reveal.

Halloween Land. Halloween Land consists of two parts: a town and a dungeon.

The town is the same as before, except this time it’s all horror themed. All the items sold are horrific or in some way creepy. For a list of interesting, horror themed trinkets, look into Curse of Strahd, Find the “Gothic Trinkets” table and use that to generate creepy items. There is some information that the Party ought to learn in the town. Namely the Party should learn that...

The town is ruled by Skeleton Jack, King of Halloween, his queen Sally, and his advisor, Oogie Boogie.

King Jack has announced an upcoming “makeover” of the town, to a more “cheery” theme. The residents don’t really like this idea however.

The dungeon is Jack the Skeleton’s castle. It’s filled with ghosts, ghouls, and monsters that have been ordered by Boogie Man to hunt down all intruders. The good news is, since they’re all dead they don’t really die. The Party won’t have to feel bad about “killing” them in the end, when it’s revealed that the Party was being manipulated by Oogie Boogie.

Of course, the final stage of the Dungeon should be the boss fight with Jack/Oogie Boogie.

Final Thoughts

Feel free to modify the info I provide here as you wish. Remember that you can change the names of key characters, so as to not make the source material quite so obvious (call him the Pumpkin King instead of Jack the Skeleton). But here is my take on the whole Nightmare Before Christmas in D&D. I hope you enjoyed the read.

If you guys liked or disliked this post, please be sure to send me your thoughts. I’d love to hear them. Tell me, is there any way you’d change this? What holiday themed D&D games would you run?

The Unfair DM

[porthavenhq]

Welcome to Porthaven, Ashe! We can’t wait to meet Jack Skellington!

Please look over the acceptance checklist and submit your blog within the next 24 hours. If there is a problem or a prior obligation and you need more time than provided, just message the main and we will gladly extend!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　OUT OF CHARACTER　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Name: Ashe Pronouns: they/them or he/him Age: 22 Timezone: mst but like im always awake Activity Level: 7/10 i’ll probably always be available on discord, but this quarantine has been all over the place for me and my mental health. so i’m around a lot but like sometimes i can feel a lil too bummed to get on the dash but i’ll always be around to plot and talk and such Triggers: n/a Anything Else: nope! just happy to be here

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　CHARACTER INFORMATION　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Name: Jackson “Jack” Skellington Age: born October 31, 1918 however he appears about 35 Gender: cis male FC: Matthew Gray Gubler

Character Biography

As a child, Jack was always very hard for his servants to deal with. Slipping in and out of the manor with ease, leaving his various tutors and nannies in disbelief. The clever little boy always finding unique ways to pop out and scare them, almost as if appearing out of nowhere. Even with all his mischief, everyone around him found him charming. This likability also made its way into Moroi court. The court is dignified and serious, so the delightful addition that Jack would bring created ease and peace in the court. While many Moroi expect him to take the throne, some for rather nefarious reasons that he would be easy to control, Jack has never believed it his destiny. Jack would much rather view the world. Make new people laugh and discover new things about the world. In secret he would teach himself about unique stories and histories of the mundane world. Because he only ever read about mundane life, never lived it before, while in Porthaven he will misunderstand and stumble through basic conversations. Even when he’s wrong, however, he’s always happy to learn and correct himself. Long ago, Jack knew he was never meant for royal life. It’s because of this that he’s trying to make it impossible for the court to expect him back. He can no longer continue pretending to be something he’s not. It’s probably the most mature aspect of his personality. Despite being alive for one hundred years, never holding real responsibilities hindered his ability to take anything seriously. It’s both his greatest strength but greatest weakness as well. His heart is in the right place however. Jack believes in good, and wants to be the good in the world. Of course, he’s not going to stop having fun along the way, because without joy how else can good be brought.

Headcanons

is currently in the process of trying to find a space to open his own store. jack’s dream for this store is to hire young people and get in the spirit of halloween, all year round. although he has no idea how to run a business at all, its still his one desire for his life.

jack doesn’t tell many people he can talk to the dead. he finds people don’t understand that death isn’t scary, it’s something of peace. and those who haven’t been able to rest, he believes that he’s responsible to these people, that it is up to him to help them. often he will walk through the local cemeteries, putting a single flower on each grave marker. specifically spending time with any anonymous grave.

jack has never experienced any mundane holiday himself. he’s only ever read about them, but it’s all he’s talked about since arriving in port haven. he’s started collecting store bought halloween costumes, and various strange christmas decorations. his small apartment is decked out in the extremes of both of these holidays.

jack is a growing theater nerd. since he always liked the fantastical growing up, theater was an obvious choice for an interest for him. most of the time he just likes comedy theater, and obviously musicals. his current favorite is heathers.

he’s always humming a little tune to himself.

usually away in his own little world, often ignoring people around him. he never means to, but his attention span just isn’t long enough.

like his name implies, he’s quite the jack of all trades. while he’s getting into theater, he’s also started working on a stand up routine.

favorite colors are black, orange, and red.

failure of a cook, so he’s always ordering and eating out. he’s very fortunate to have his parent’s money.

always the romantic type, easily falling for anyone after just one conversation. however this infatuation never lasts, his attention span just too short.

Inspiration

i’m currently revamping my pinterest but as soon as it’s back up and running you’ll be the first to know

[talkingsquidphd]

Review: Boston Comic Con

Cosplaying at a fan convention has been on my bucket list since I was about 12 and binging Bleach under the covers way past lights out. While such an endeavor once seemed as far-fetched as other big-ticket bucket items like stepping foot in Venice, living in Boston – a bastion of East-coast fan culture which boasts not one, not two, but three major cons – made it not only possible but as easy as a T ride to tick that box at Boston Comic Con this weekend.

The cosplay itself was years in the making – specifically, assembled fully for an all-in Halloween costume three years ago and then stuffed in a box in my closet for the intervening period. I played Levi Ackerman, humanity’s deadliest (and shortest) soldier from postapocalyptic anime Attack on Titan. While I have not an iota of Levi’s athleticism and coordination, we’re both neat freaks and my hair looks a bit like his, and that was enough for me. Compared to my costume of several years ago, I scaled down somewhat and went for a lighter “Summer Corps” version of Levi’s outfit, figuring if I wore full-length white skinny jeans, full military harness, and knee-high leather boots, I’d keel over from heat stroke the minute I walked out my front door.

[LTR: Full harness, Levi himself, and my most recent summerfied cosplay.]

Like a tourist craning their neck to take in their first real eyeful of New York skyscrapers, I took a simple, naïve pleasure in quiet spectacles of the con that more veteran attendees have no doubt long outgrown. I couldn’t help but crack a grin at the old-hat dissonance between the guests’ fantastical exteriors and the inescapable mundane – Link withdrawing cash from an ATM, Batman reading a monograph on Russian farming techniques in line for a panel, a fully armored Master Chief munching on a tray of nachos in the food court. I reveled in the unapologetic oddity of the wares – demonic contact lenses, Invisalign-esque vampire fangs, elf ears – and the seriousness with which folks debated their investments. An overheard retort from a husband to a wife clutching a replica Anduril: “yes, but how often are you going to use it?” Let naïve first experiences like this never be undervalued – it brought me such unique joy to see this con through a newbie’s eyes.

Thrilling and nervewracking in equal parts was the perpetual anticipation of fan interactions as I walked the halls and aisles. Characters in Attack on Titan, the show I was cosplaying from, often exchange a simple, iconic salute:

Like a freemason itching to share a secret handshake, I at first looked to other Attack on Titan-clad cosplayers to initiate it, but it came most often from the unlikeliest of places. As I passed the metal detectors on Saturday, an ultrafemme Princess Peach suddenly snapped to attention and did it; on Sunday, a bouncer on the main floor saluted as I showed him my wristband. Though I mildly botched these left-field salutations, I always felt a small rush of confidence and pride at having allies all around me, hidden in plain sight via another fandom’s cosplay.

Judging by the crowds – or lack thereof – my panel choices were a bit unconventional (no pun intended). While I peeked my head in an exit to the Main Theater to hear Charlie Cox answering questions in his disarming British accent and John Barrowman strutting up and down the stage in a fetching Tardis dress, I elected to skip many of the ‘big’ names in favor of smaller panels I wasn’t so confident would be back next year – mostly voice actors responsible for some of my favorite genre performances in recent years.

First up was Jennifer Hale, the iconic voice actress who brought to life the female version of Mass Effect protagonist Commander Shepard. While Shepard was far from the first strong female protagonist to grace video games, let alone the genre of sf, getting to roleplay a female RPG protagonist for whom (just like her male counterpart) saving the galaxy is just another Tuesday contributed hugely to making Mass Effect my favorite video game series of all time. Hale was a relentlessly positive guest, and even the most mundane questions afforded cute answers. Hale’s dream role? “Something where I get to sing, ride a horse, and be Commander Adama at the same time.” Hale’s opinion on the somewhat controversial term ‘FemShep’? “With female characters in gaming, we’re cutting through a lot of stuff, making the trail as we go. If ‘FemShep’ is an axe to cut through that, then I think we need it – I’m all for it.” It was particularly cool to hear Hale talk about the process of recording for voice acting – how she managed the performance she gave line-by-line, with little context and almost no retakes, is beyond me. True or not, it helped me recoup some of my dignity to hear Hale claim she had just as hard a time keeping dry eyes while recording some of the final scenes between Shepard and Garrus as I did watching them. And of course, as with any voice acting panel, Hale graciously obliged requests to say famous lines as Shepard.

[”I should go.”]

Sunday brought a double whammy of panels. I scooted into line just in time to catch Attack on Titan’s English voice actors Bryce Papenbrook (Eren Jaeger) and Trina Nishimura (Mikasa) doodling AoT-themed pictures on an overhead projector and taking questions from a gratifyingly packed room. The two had easy, goofy chemistry that made the panel a real pleasure. I was particularly tickled when, after admitting they’d almost never cosplayed their characters, they gave a kudos to the dedicated cosplayers in the audience who’d spent (on average!) an hour or two struggling their way into the show’s complex but inescapably characteristic military harnesses.

[Color coded for your convenience.]

I will say that for a brutal, anyone-can-die show which more than earns its TV-MA rating with frequent depictions of people being eaten alive in graphic slow motion, there were a disturbing number of relatively young kids in the audience. Still, they somehow consistently asked the best questions and never seemed hampered by starstruckness. A boy no older than seven or eight got up and asked what their favorite part being voice actors was, which the two ran with for some time. When asked to choose a favorite – a show, a ship, a scene – all the celebrity guests were predictably and diplomatically deferential, often turning the question back on its asker, but my favorite such response came from Papenbrook when asked to choose a favorite role. “Don’t make me choose!” he pleaded. “My roles are like my children, and my children are all screamy and angsty and live inside my head – I don’t want to make them mad.”

[I can’t blame him.]

Finally, I queued up for the Main Theater to sit in on a Q&A with Eliza Dushku, a Whedonverse actress primarily of Buffy and Dollhouse fame. While most of the questions referenced Dushku’s tenure as Faith, a pointed question about female representation in Dollhouse led her to acknowledge the show is in part “about human trafficking,” which both affirms and complicates the thrust of my research on the subject up to now. More than anything, Dushku played on being native to Boston, throwing out restaurant recommendations and referencing local stores where she’d assembled her audition costumes for characters like Faith. And, as always, you learn a new thing every day: Dushku’s family hails from Albania, where she is considered somewhat of a national hero for bringing attention to the small nation via her acting.

Having never attended a con before and therefore having few frames of reference for how most things were handled, the only real criticism I can level against the con this year was that the merch seemed strangely disconnected from the guest lineup which drew me to the con in the first place. No doubt taking cues from a spring and summer lineup of Marvel and DC blockbusters, vendors were stocked to the gills with superheroic souvenirs… despite the fact that the con’s biggest panels and most popular fan experiences drew more often from live-action TV, anime, and cosplay. Despite three midsize events organized around Attack on Titan, merch for the show was thin on the ground; though Jennifer Hale was billed first and foremost as the voice actress for FemShep, Mass Effect merch was nowhere to be found. I might chalk this up to an attempt by the con to differentiate itself from Anime Boston and Pax East (Boston’s video gaming convention), but nonetheless it left this fan a little bummed and almost emptyhanded after three or four full circuits of the vendor floor.

Still, Boston Comic Con was on the whole a great introduction to the world of fan gatherings for an enthusiastic first-timer. I’m already scheming a new cosplay for round two next year – or, at the very least, a visit to one of Boston’s other bustling cons in the intervening months.