The Long-Ass Holiday Review, Episode XI
So here's the deal: I'm doing one more wrap-up holiday article after New Year's, but that leaves me an article or two behind my one-per-week goal. This entry, which took easily 3 times as long to write as any other, makes up for it. Because this series is no longer for school credit, I'm free to geek out on this penultimate entry and offer you a Dungeons & Dragons adventure set in Santa's workshop, an old idea of mine that I've never had an excuse to follow through with until now. It turns out that Wizards of the Coast has already had the idea of converting Santa and his North Pole entourage to D&D (see their write-ups here), so I had to work around their existing stats and map of the workshop. To use this adventure, you should familiarize yourself with the WoTC write-up first.
Without further ado, I give you Little Workshop of Horrors -- it's a two-parter, due to the max length on LJ entries, so see the next entry for the conclusion.
LITTLE WORKSHOP OF HORRORS
An adventure for 5th level characters
Plot Overview
For the DM only
Nicholas the Gift-Giver, a powerful druid and cleric who has become legendary for his generosity and magical might, has been secretly accepted as a new deity by the Good gods of the pantheon. Aptly, they've dispatched news of his acceptance in a magical card mailed to his Northern Palace. When Nicholas reads the card and accepts, he will ascend to the divine ranks of righteousness as a reward for his many years of compassionate work.
There's trouble up north, however. Nicholas' longtime assistant, the Svirfneblin called Zwarte Piet, was working the mail room when the news arrived. Fearful of losing his place as Nicholas's assistant, Piet snuck up on Nicholas and slipped a magical cap on his head, a cap that induces deep sleep. He then hid Nicholas away in a lonely corridor of the palace's coal mine, there to sleep through the holy days of gift-giving that Nick has always faithfully celebrated. By missing the holidays and failing to respond to the missive from the gods, Nicholas will forfeit his chance at godhood, securing a job for Piet for years to come.
Piet's plan is working, but complications have arisen. Unbeknownst to Piet, a powerful artifact called the Globe of Glad Tidings is the source of the Northern Palace's magic. Without Nicholas' hard-learned mastery, the Globe's magic is becoming erratic and the palace is entering defensive mode, a security measure designed to engage if an enemy ever attacked Nicholas in his home. Piet has so far convinced the other inhabitants of the palace that Nicholas is tied up with pressing business and can't see anyone, but if Piet doesn't get the Palace up and running again soon, his charade will fall apart. Thus, he's decided to enlist some adventurers to defeat the Palace's magical defenses and get it working properly again. His plan is to pay some common adventurers for this simple task and then bid them leave, drawing as little attention to his scheme as possible.
Running the Adventure
This adventure is event-based but includes a dungeon component. It should progress through a number of distinct parts, roughly as follows:
1.The PCs are summoned to the Northern Palace.2.
The PCs bypass the Palace's security measures and enter.3. Piet explains the situation to the PCs and sends them down to the lower levels of the palace.4.
The PCs battle through the lower levels, discovering along the way that Nicholas may have been the victim of foul play. They also travel away from the palace briefly to feed the reindeer kept at a nearby pasture.
5. Figuring out through divination, investigation or heavy-handed DM meddling that Piet is responsible for Nicholas' disappearance, the PCs track him to the mine-shaft beneath the palace where he's holding Nicholas.6. After a final confrontation with Piet, the PCs free Nicholas.
The adventure still works just fine if the players decide not to help Nicholas, but evil or exceedingly greedy PCs are to be avoided (or curtailed somehow); a party determined to loot the palace won't have much fun and will end up with way too much wealth if you let them get away with it. Most of the dungeon elements are also skippable. The most important element to keeping the adventure on-track is making sure that the PCs get the hint that Nicholas is in trouble and that they discover that Piet is the culprit. The palace is still inhabited, so it should be easy to convey this to the PCs if they aren't catching on.
ON TREASURE: The Northern Palace is potentially packed with treasure, but most of it won't be touched by a Good character. Instead, the characters will be able to search for some items left behind by a lone adventurer who tried and failed to make his way through the workshop for Piet. These items are few but powerful. There is some other, scattered treasure in the adventure. It's important that PCs not be permitted to simply loot the palace, because anything they take will turn to coal when they leave. It's thus unfair to the players to permit them to spend the whole adventure amassing loot and then take it all away at the end.
Section 1: Hooks
Piet sends out many summons for help after the Palace starts to go crazy. The PCs could hear of his plight from:
1. A single gnome messenger catapulted past the palace's traps and sent to hire adventurers in the outside world;
2. An animal messenger -- perhaps a white owl or a reindeer -- sent to get help from friendly druids (Nicholas and his wife are both druids);
3. A Good-aligned church that received a magical message from within the palace and wants to help Nicholas;
4. Or another adventurer who heard of the job but failed to get past the Palace's outer defenses.
In any case, the PCs should go into the adventure knowing the following:
1. A powerful druid, Nicholas the Gift-Giver, possesses a magical palace in the far north.
2. Its magic has become erratic because he has had his attention drawn to some important business. The inhabitants of the Palace can't leave and fear for their lives.
3. Nicholas' servant, Zwarte Piet, is offering a reward to anyone who can defeat the Palace's threats so that the inhabitants will be safe. However, he himself is stuck inside the Palace and can't shut off its defenses, so anyone seeking the reward will have to break in.
Then, assuming the characters can find transportation to the north, it's off to the Northern Palace.
SECTION 2: ENTERING THE PALACE
Here's some modified boxed text from the WotC write-up. Read this to the PCs so that they're aware of the possible methods of getting inside the Palace (this map might also help).
The Northern Palace rises from a plain of white. Despite its forbidding, desolate surroundings, the building seems strangely cheerful. A warm glow beckons from its many windows, which are frosted deeply with snow and ice. Dark green wreaths adorn the doors, contrasting with the palace's red trim, and evergreen bunting, iced in a thick layer of fresh snow, hangs beneath deep eaves.
The centerpiece of the palace is a thick, round tower, beneath which a wide vaulted passage is obstructed by a snow-flecked portcullis of polished brass. Massive, blocky buildings form wings to either side of the tower. A large door faces the front. No battlements or defenses are in view.
There are a number of possible ways to enter the palace, all of them trapped.
The Vaulted Entrance
The main archway is the primary entance to the palace. Its portcullis is down: The portcullis' bars are 2 inches thick and made of solid iron, though coated with brass: Break DC 30, Hardness 10, HP 60 (but read on; breaking the physical portcullis doesn't disable the trap). It can only be opened and shut from inside the courtyard using a winch; the winch is also coated with brass and has a white emblem in the shape of a Christmas tree. Getting within 11' of either the winch or the portcullis itself activates an Antilife Shell trap. The effect lasts for 2 hours and can be renewed instantly and indefinitely if there are still creatures within 11' when it elapses. The trap on the winch (though not the one on the portcullis itself) can be disabled by saying the secret code word, "Tannenbaum," from 12' away. This flips the white tree emblem over to reveal a green tree emblem and disables the antilife effect on the winch, which permits one to turn it and raise the portcullis, negating the trap altogether (see this map for the winch location).
ANTILIFE SHELL TRAP: Search DC 31, No Save, Disable Device DC 31. The traps on the winch and the portcullis are connected, and one Disable Device check will disable both. They must be Searched for separately, though.
Entrance Over or Through the Courtyard Gate
1. Any attempt to fly over the palace gates or otherwise enter from above is met by a spray of snow and tinsel from the gates as a Wind Wall erupts from atop them. This trap also triggers if something (including gas, but not incorporeal creatures) tries to pass through the gates.
WIND WALL TRAP: Search DC 28, No Save, Disable Device DC 28
2. The activation of the Wind Wall Trap readies a second trap, dual Snares tied to the two trees in the courtyard. Together, the two Snares encompass the whole courtyard. Any creature that lands in a Snare is bound around the middle (including both arms) and snapped up to hang from the branches of one of the trees. The snare cord is a bright white ribbon with a bow, just for flavor. Once one snare is tripped, the other is deactivated.
SNARES: Search DC 23, No Save, Disable Device DC 23. Escape Artist or Strength Escape DC 23. See this map for the Snare locations.
Climbing the Palace Walls
Pressure on hidden plates in the palace walls rings bells concealed on the roof, just too far from the edge to be seen from the ground, but near enough to be heard from the walls. The bells are enchanted with Hideous Laughter (heightened), which will obviously cause the climbers to fall if they don't save. The snow softens the fall, so all falling damage is subdual. This trap protects every palace wall accessible from outside the courtyard, including the walls of the reindeer stables.
JINGLE BELLS TRAP: Search DC 30, Will Save 16, Disable Device DC 30
Climbing the Gates
Any substantial downward pressure on the gates clicks the bars down just slightly, releasing an almost imperceptible glue to slide down the bars (this affects only the bars that are experiencing pressure, or a 15' segment of the gate if the pressure is on the whole gate, as with an attempt to scale the gates with a rope). The glue (made of concentrated cranberry), if not noticed, will cause characters to adhere to the gate. It has a special solvent known only Nick; stuck characters will simply have to be pried off. On the up side, characters touching the gate do not trigger the Wind Wall trap mentioned above, even if they're vaulting over. Characters attempting to leap over the gate without touching it can trigger the Wind Wall trap, though.
GLUE TRAP: Search DC 20 (-2 for gnomes and creatures with the Scent ability; the scent of cranberry gives it away), Reflex Save DC 20 to pull away before being stuck (but must let go of gate), Disable Device DC 25. Characters stuck by the glue must make an 18 DC Strength check to pull away.
Burrowing Underneath
If a character attempts to burrow underneath the gates or one of the buildings, he or she will emerge into a super-soap bubble, will will close around the character as soon as she fully leaves the tunnel. The bubble has Hardness 10 and 30 HP from inside, but can be popped from the outside with as little as a pinprick.
BUBBLE TRAP: Search DC 28, Reflex Save DC 20 (to pull back into the burrow before the bubble closes, but this prevents the character from surfacing inside the courtyard), Disable Device DC 28
No one inside the Palace can exit, and none of them will risk entering the courtyard, so the characters are on their own in bypassing the traps. Once inside the courtyard, they will have easy access to the stairs that lead up to the main foyer on the second floor of the Palace. Piet will wave them up if necessary.
SECTION 3: GETTING BRIEFED, HANGING OUT
Once the PCs are inside, Piet and his tiny monkey familiar, Alfador, will thank them and explain the situation.
PLAYING PIET: Piet's a wily, rational but off-putting sort who seems out of place among the jolly gnomish toymakers. He's kind of like a little Dick Cheney. He really just wants the PCs to do the job and get out, and he'll gloss over discussion of Nicholas by assuring them that he's in touch and that Nicholas can't be bothered to see them directly. See his stats in Section 6 for more detail.
Piet won't tell the players much that they don't already know. Essentially, the problem is twofold: The palace's magical defenses have been activated, creating serious dangers to the Palace's inhabitants, and the erratic magic flow has had some nasty side effects on the equipment on the lower level that Nicholas and his gnomes use to create gifts and treats for the holidays. All of the gnomes have retreated from the lower levels of the Palace and barricaded themselves upstairs, but they can't work and their access to supplies is limited. They need the PCs to go downstairs and at least make the lower level safe, if not fix the whole problem. The PCs are likely to be interested in a few things when they talk to Piet:
1. Where's Nicholas?
Piet says that on Tuesday Nicholas suddenly had some very hush-hush business come up (perhaps a holiday surprise of some sort?) and has retreated to a secret location in the Palace, the same place where he keeps his legendary List. Despite the trouble his absence is causing, Nicholas is unwilling to return; he's been keeping in limited contact with Piet, though, and was the one who directed him to get outside help.
2. What's the reward?
First, Piet offers a 3200 gp reward. Secondly, though Piet warns the PCs against looting the way that they might in a typical dungeon, he tells them that there's some treasure to be found. A lone cleric of Pelor (or a similar deity from your campaign) attempted to clear the workshop yesterday, but gave up. He lost a few of his own items plus a magic bag that he was given by the gnome toymakers. Disgraced by his failure, the cleric donated his lost gear. Piet tells the characters that they can keep those items and the bag if they find them. They include a hat, a shield, a staff, a strange crossbow-like weapon, a book and a bag of gems.
3. What's the specific threat downstairs?
Piet's sketchy about this, but he knows that the toy machine has been turning out nothing but out-of-control nutcracker soldiers and that the Sugar Plum Fairies have more-or-less taken over the kitchen.
Other than the discussion with Piet, the PCs' time upstairs will be pretty well covered by WotC's write-up of the Palace. They will find the gnomes just as jolly as usual, and in sort of a party atmosphere since they're all being crammed together and given lots of time off from their usual jobs downstairs. The PCs can spend as much time hanging around, eating candy canes, etc. as they like. When they're ready to move on to the next section, where you'll find details on the east and west wings of the palace and on the trip to feed the reindeer near the palace. The PCs can tackle these three parts of the job in any order they'd like.
After the PCs move on to the downstairs or leave to feed the reindeer, Piet will go to his hiding place in the coal mines beneath the palace to keep an eye on Nicholas. He'll leave his familiar, Alfador, on the upper level of the Palace to keep an eye on things. Alfador has instructions to go to Piet if there's any trouble brewing; he'll do this if the PCs start trying to track down Piet and seem suspicious of him. Alfador has special instruction to keep an eye on the PCs while they're on the upper floors. After getting the initial briefing from Piet, the PCs shouldn't see him again until they track him down in the coal mines later.
SECTION 4: DOWNSTAIRS
When the PCs are ready to venture downstairs, they'll find matching doors on the west and east interior walls of the archway, both wooden double doors blocked with stacks of cozy furniture. The doors aren't locked, and the furniture is easily moved from the outside.
Just inside both doors are 10'x10' antechambers, each containing a pedestal with many sheets of colored paper and an ink quill. The walls are lined with shelves which hold small gold, silver and copper offerings to various Good gods, wrapped or folded in paper and inscribed with prayers. And inscription on the pedestal reads, in Common, "A Gift to the Poor is a Gift to the Gods." The PCs may leave any offerings they'd like (or steal some, netting 1d8x100 GP from each room if they want to steal all of the offerings). There are many offerings here, and the odds of finding one to a particular well-known Good god is high. Each of the antechambers leads, through an unlocked 5' wooden door, to the Palace wing beyond. The offering room of the east wing contains a top hat with a big white bow, one of the lone cleric's lost items:
Hinkle's Hat
(2000)
This top hat, when placed on a small-sized snowman, animates it for 1 hour or until the hat is removed (use the stats below). The snowman melts at the end of the effect, whether the hat is removed or the duration expires. The hat can be used any number of times per day, but each time it must be placed on a new, fully-formed snowman. The animated snowman has the same memories and personality each time it is summoned, but never gains feats, skills, etc. The snowman knows who summoned it and will obey that character, though it won't violate the tenets of its Neutral Good alignment.
Moderate divination; CL 17; Price 2000 gp
Snowman
Medium Construct (Cold)
Hit Dice: 2d10+20 (31 hp)
Initiative: 0
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (+4 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+2
Attack: Slam +2 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Slam +2 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: --
Special Qualities: Construct traits, immune to piercing damage, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, cold immunity, vulnerability to fire
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 10, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 12
Skills: -
-
-
Feats: -
-
-
Alignment: Neutral Good
Languages: Common, Auran
The West Wing
Map of the West Wing
1. The Toy Testing Room
This room has a pile of wrapped presents in the right rear corner, a small pile of toys in the left rear corner, and the remains of broken toys strewn about randomly. There are two Nutcracker Soldiers here, standing sentry at the door at the rear of the room. The shattered remains of another Nutcracker Soldier are near the same door. As soon as the PCs enter, the Nutcracker soldiers will attack.
See stats for the Nutcracker Soldiers in Room 3 of this wing. If the PCs break the two Nutcrackers in this room, 4 more will be generated in Room 3, as per the rules listed there.
The door to the rear is open. The door on the left wall is closed but unlocked. The stairs in the front left corner lead up to the kitchen pantry; there's no intervening door, just an empty doorframe.
A light shield with a festive silver bow lies near the shattered Nutcracker (point A on the map). It is one of the lone cleric's items:
Shield of the High King
This medium-sized light shield has a silvery sheen and a bright red rampant lion in its center. In addition to acting as a +1 light shield, it grants its wielder a +4 morale bonus against fear effects.
Faint abjuration; CL 7; Price 1500
2. The Gift-Wrapping Room
This room has two long tables and cabinets full of gift-wrapping supplies. It's in disarray, with scraps and paper knives strewn about. Many wrapped gifts are in bins at the end of both tables.
The door at the rear is open. The door to the left is shut and locked.
3. The Toy-Making Machine
A huge machine (point B on the map) reaches to the ceiling and takes up half of the room; it's clunking and whirring away as the PCs enter. The room is inhabited by 4 nutcracker soldiers, which attack the PCs as soon as they enter.
DM Details:
The 30'x10' clockwork mechanism in this room is meant to automatically assemble complex toys in quantity for the gnomes, but it has begun producing animated nutcracker soldiers and won't do anything else. When the nutcrackers are destroyed, the machine works faster, churning out more and more.
The machine has air elementals inside, which giggle when the machine runs. The machine automatically constructs nutcracker soldiers appropriate for the elementals to magically enter. Each time a nutcracker is destroyed, its elemental spirit summons another elemental and they both return to the machine, causing it to run faster and to be able to produce one more soldier. The starting maximum is 4. There is no upper limit, though the machine stops working automatically if no more soldiers will fit in the room. If the exit is clear, the machine will happily pump out nutcracker soldiers forever.
Nutcracker Soldier
Appearance: These look just like common nutcracker soldiers, except that they stand about 2' tall. They wield spears that, though stylized, are just as functional as anything carried by gnomes or halflings in battle.
Small Construct
Hit Dice: 1d10+10 (15 hp)
Initiative: 1
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (+1 size, +1 Dex, +2 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-4
Attack: Spear +1 melee (1d6)
Full Attack: Spear +1 melee (1d6)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: None
Special Qualities: Construct traits, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; see encounter text
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +1, Will -5
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 12, Con -, Int -, Wis 1, Cha 1
Skills: -
Feats: -
Challenge Rating: 1
The machine is connected by a chute to the ceiling, and from there to a woodpile on the third floor. The wood falls into the chute when a hatch opens, is automatically chopped (this step is visible, barely; spot DC 19), and is the assembled by gear-driven steel arms and drills. The machine has many separate output spots (each denoted by a bullseye on the floor) but is using only the one dedicated to nutcracker soldiers. There are ways to disable the machine, ideally without damaging it, but using a few in concert works best:
1. Disable Device can stop the machine component from working, but this requires A) climbing up to the level of the machinery (the part within reach from the ground is just wood paneling and B) a check DC 23. This prevents the machine from constructing new nutcrackers. This is especially tough because any attempt to climb the machine results in a bellows-powered air blast meant to knock off the climber (or flyer). Acts as a Gust of Wind spell, Fort save DC 18 to avoid being knocked off or back.
2. Dispel Magic or a similar effect can disable the magical windvane in the machine, which is where the elementals are stored (DC 18). Without the windvane the machine stops operating and new elementals can't be summoned, so any Nutcrackers destroyed during the suppression don't come back and don't empower the machine to create any extra Nutcrackers. Furthermore, the gust of wind from the machine won't work while the windvane is deactivated.
3. Blocking the wood hatch. Various methods can be used to either close the hatch that drops wood into the machine. The machine has a giant closed hopper that reaches to the next floor and has a small hatch on the roof for loading in more wood. It would be possible to get on the roof, open the hatch and destroy the wood, which would effectively stop the machine from producing any more soldiers. It's quite a bit of wood (about 30 cubic feet).
4. Simply breaking the machine. This isn't too tough, although the Nutcrackers will resist and the aforementioned Gust of Wind will blow. The machine has a hardness of 10 and HP of 50 before enough damage is inflicted to prevent any more Nutcrackers from being produced.
4. The Bakery
The bakery is in shambles -- decadent, wonderful-smelling shambles. At the center of the chaos, a central table has been cleared of utensils, adorned with frosting and cake decorations and made to host a huge pastry and candy feast. Three Sugar Plum Fairies are sitting around the table with a gnome in a chef's outfit, delicately nibbling at the feast. Due to the fairies' Wonder ability, the PCs will have to roll to save against their charm as soon as they see the fairies.
Stairs to the rear of the room lead up to a slightly elevated (3') pantry area (see Room 5, "The Pantry").
DM Details:
Sugar Plum Fairies (which the gnomes see as pests) have taken up residence in the bakery. Normally they just supervise and add special fairy ingredients, but now they're refusing to work and throwing each other extravagant feasts, using up all of the gnomes' ingredients. They're encountered in the midst of one such feast. The gnome chef sitting with them is under their spell (see the Wonder ability below) and will fight to protect the fairies. He's a 1st level Gnome Cook as statted by WotC.
The fairies will dance for and tempt the characters, attempting to convince them to ransack the bakerie's vast pantries and make large desserts for the fairies to luxuriate in. Okay, so the fairies aren't exactly Mind Flayers, but the PCs won't be happy about getting pulled away from their mission to make desserts for bratty fey.
Sugar Plum Fairy
Appearance: Sugar Plum Fairies are lithe, winged and humanoid in shape. They resemble female elves, except that their thin bodies are more athletic. They wear elegant but striking dancing outfits, typically in pinks and lavenders. They have extremely expressive and mercurial mannerisms that can show unbridled enthusiasm at one moment and switch to abject depression at the next.
Tiny Fey
Hit Dice: 1/2 d6 (1 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), fly 40 ft. (poor)
Armor Class: 18 (+2 size, +6 Dex), touch 18, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-11
Attack: Slam +5 (0 damage)
Full Attack: Slam +5 (0 damage)
Space/Reach: 2-1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, Wonder
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/cold iron, low-light vision, spell resistance 17
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +8, Will +3
Abilities: Str 5, Dex 22, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 18
Skills: Escape Artist +8, Hide +18, Listen +3, Move Silently +5, Perform (dance) +9, Profession (Baker) +4, Diplomacy +4, Sense Motive +5
Feats: Dodge, Skill Focus: Perform, Weapon Finesse
Environment: Temperate forests
Organization: Gang (2-4), band (6-11), or tribe (20-80)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: Normal
Alignment: Always neutral good
Advancement: 1-3 HD (Tiny)
Language: Sylvan, Common
Combat:
Sugar Plum Fairies are noncombatants. The threat is that they will lure PCs away from their task through use of powerful magic.
Spell-Like Abilities: Caster level 9th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.
3/day - prestidigitation, color spray (DC 14), reduce person (DC 14), touch of idiocy (DC 15)
1/day - irresistible dance (DC 13)
Wonder (Su): Everyone who sees a Sugar Plum Fairy must make a Will save (DC 16) or by charmed (as the spell Charm Person). Make this roll the first time that a character sees the fairy and only once per encounter per character. Characters charmed by this effect tend to forget their responsibilities and become obsessed with singing, dancing and sweets; they won't engage in combat except to protect themselves or the fairy. The effect lasts for 3 hours.
The Sugar Plum Fairies themselves are vulnerable to helpless rapture, though. Whenever they're witness to a Perform check with a result of 20 or better, or eat a treat made with a Profession (Baker) check with a result of 20 or better, they are entranced. They can do nothing but raptly enjoy the performance or treat for 1d6 rounds. After this time, the fairies grow bored and can't be entranced by the same performance or treat again.
5. The Pantry
The pantry is just row after row and shelf after shelf of supplies; ladders are provided to help reach the items that are higher up. One high up, locked cabinet contains wrapped treats ready to go out as gifts.
A big green sack lies on one countertop (point D on the map). Search DC 18 reveals a smaller bag with a bright red bow in the narrow crack between two countertops, beneath the larger sack. This is one of the lone cleric's lost items, plus the bag he received from the gnomes:
Bag of Gems
40 gp moonstone
1200 gp emerald
120 gp amethyst
90 gp red garnet
600 gp blue sapphire
Gift-Giver's Sack
This cursed sack is the size of a backpack, deep green with tinseled trim, and functions as a Bag of Holding I. However, once every hour the bottom of the sack opens and one of the items contained within drops out, now with an elaborately curled and brightly-colored bow tied around it. A minor magical effect muffles the noise of the items as they drop; Listen DC 22 to notice the item dropping from the sack, DC 15 for loud items like bells and chimes. The sack won't drop anything while it's being observed, even if that means that it can't drop its one item per hour.
Moderate Conjuration; CL 11th; Price N/A
East Wing
Map of the East Wing
1. Fuel Supply Closet
This 5'x5' closet contains shelves of lantern oil and some spare firewood. It's dusty and smells of pine.
2. Mining Supply Closet
This 5'x5' closet contains picks, sledges, rope, some climbing gear, spare wheels for carts, etc. The equipment is well-worn but has a certain whimsical flair; the mining helmets have a fox motif, for instance. The shelves go very high up, and there's a small ladder inside to reach them.
Search DC 18 reveals that a metal pole in this closet has a bright blue ribbon tied around it (point A on the map). This is one of the lone cleric's lost items:
Staff of Festivus
The Staff of Festivus is an unadorned rod of some strange, dull metal with a high strength-to-weight ratio. It was constructed by the inventor of Festivus, a holiday celebrated by airing grievances with friends and family and then participating in feats of strength, including wrestling. It is found with only 25 charges remaining.
Bull's Strength (Caster Level 8) (1 Charge)
Zone of Truth (Caster Level 8) (1 Charge)
Moderate transmutation; CL 8; Price 5,250 (10,500 fully charged)
3. Notions Closet
This 5'x5' closet contains many ornate but inexpensive bags and boxes full of miscellaneous sewing notions. Most of the items are special-purpose ones that might see use only occasionally, such as patches and emblems of obscure deities or regional holidays.
4. Fabric Closet
This 5'x5' closet seems empty at first glance, but there are many rolls of various fabrics hanging from the ceiling. The fabric pulls down freely. Some rolls are full, others almost empty.
Pushing up two of the rolls at once (the red felt and the white felt) opens a secret door in the rear wall (point B on the map) that leads to Santa's Gift Grotto. Search DC 18 to discover this secret door.
5. Entrance to Coal Mine
This large semi-spherical room features a couple of wall-mounted hanging areas for picks, spades, etc.; the walls are otherwise bare. The whole rear half of the room opens into a giant red velvet spiral staircase (point D on the map) that leads downward out of the room. The floor is black and white checkerboard. Upon entrance, the character will be ambushed by:
Mistletoe (point C on the map)
The Mistletoe is identical to an Assassin Vine, but with an added suggestion effect, Will save DC 16: anyone who walks under the mistletoe and fails his save will grab and kiss the nearest person as long as they both remain underneath. This is when the monster strikes a third target or slowly chokes one of the kissers. The effect only reaches 5' from the Mistletoe. The Mistletoe hangs inside the room over the door; its CR is 5. It is identical to a substantial sprig of mistletoe attached to long garlands that hang on either side of the door.
Just inside the room, wrapped in a large golden ribbon, is a thick book (point E on the map). This is one of the lone cleric's lost items:
Tome of Three Magi
This thick, handsome tome with gold-inscribed leather binding can be used to interpret secret information in the stars, predicting and pinpointing the location of important magical events. Once per day, the user (who must be able to cast spells as a class ability, either arcane or divine) can use the tome to find the location of an upcoming event of great magical significance (a specific event may be specified if desired, or the tome can be used to scan blindly for possible events). Using the tome requires a DC 20 check (25 for a specific event) with the appropriate Knowledge skill, as defined below:
Events involving extraplanar creatures in the material plane Knowledge (The Planes)
Events involving arcane magic Knowledge (Arcana)
Events involving the gods or divine magic Knowledge (Religion)
Events that fit into more than one category may be detected using any of the skills listed.
The check, if successful, will reveal astronomical information that will permit the user to navigate unerringly to the event she specified (or, if no event was specified, to the most significant magical event taking place in the near future); this navigation requires constant reference to the stars, though, so the character must have access to the night sky during her journey. The information that the character gleans may be passed on so that she herself needn't make the journey, but the instructions will still require those doing the traveling to consult the stars each night. The information revealed by the tome permits navigation, but doesn't reveal the destination ahead of time, nor reveal the best path to that destination; travelers following the tome's instructions don't know where they're going, nor what obstacles might stand in their way. Furthermore, the tome may be thwarted by careful use of Mind Blank or Sequester, though such use must conceal the entire "significant event" in question to prevent to tome from finding it. Note that the tome takes distance into account and reveals only events that are predicted to occur far enough in the future for the users to travel there in time, given typical mounted overland speed (or sea travel speed, for locations that are overseas).
Note that the definition of "significant magical event" is completely up to the DM. Essentially, this is a device to get players into the action of whatever plot the DM has planned. Though the item can be used proactively, it is more of a tool for the DM (thus its low price and many restrictions).
Moderate divination; CL 17; Price 2000
6. Mrs. Claus' Craft Room
Behind a locked door, Mrs. Claus sits in her craft room next to a bowl of chestnuts. Her knitting sits unfinished in her lap. Her face is contorted in a frown and she's sighing heavily, her eyes fixed ahead. The fire in front of her has burned out (days ago, upon inspection).
The only way to help Mrs. Claus is with Remove Disease. Her chestnuts were contaminated with Grinch Syndrome, a Charisma-diminishing disease that causes debilitating depression and scorn, along with eventual death from a shrunken heart. Mrs. Claus will be very thankful to the PCs if they help her, and she can provide a lot of useful information, though she'll be suspicious at first:
1. She noticed Piet bolting out of the mail room to talk to Nick right before Nick withdrew. That was very unusual behavior for Nick and she planned to speak to him about it soon. It was only hours later that she ate the bad chestnut. She was out of the craft room for a while in between, so it's possible that someone tampered with the nuts. Normally she gets them from the storeroom herself. It's important to use Mrs. Claus to make the PCs suspicious of Piet; if they seem clueless, have her bring up her own suspicion. Pointing the PCs in the direction of the mail room is also a good idea.
2. General advice about proceeding into any area of the palace. For example:
Kremesicles occasionally surface outside, but a bit of hot water can keep them from sticking to you, making them easier to fight.
There are some carolers in the vicinity who turned out to be no good. They may still be about the edges of the palace. They use their songs to lull people into a trance them rob them.
The nutcracker machine is both magical and mechanical. Bring someone who's good at both to disable it.
The Sugar Plum Fairies are dangerously entrancing unless they're distracted, so bring them some new and pretty food to entice them.
Piet parcels out coal for the bad children down in the coal mine. Getting down there is difficult; there's stringent security. Only a mining gnome, Piet or Nick himself can get past the guardian (Mrs. Claus isn't clear on what the guardian is).
Santa keeps the List hidden, even from her. He's got a secret entrance somewhere. That's also where he keeps the artifact that powers the palace's magic.
3. Anything else that Mrs. Claus would reasonably know, including lots of info about other inhabitants of the palace.
Mrs. Claus is also a Cleric 3 and can offer some healing if the characters need it.
7. Jewelers' Room
Two small tables are equipped with small, neatly organized boxes containing tools for jewelry-making (including magnifying glasses). A locked chest at the back of the room contains about 2000 GP worth of jewels and precious metals for use in making jewely, but none of it is unmarked, and thus the PCs aren't permitted to take it. There are some finished pieces in jewelry boxes in drawers beneath the tables.
8. Mail Room
This large room contains four tables and one larger table near the door. Each table has a single chair, a small booklet, ink and a quill pen, plus a magnifying glass of exaggerated size. The room also contains a well-maintained wooden wagon full of cards and letters. The most interesting feature of the room, though, is a pile of letters and packages along the rear wall (point H on the map).
Search DC 18 (or any thorough search of the mail pile) discovers a small rifle wrapped with orange ribbon (point I on the map). This is one of the lone cleric's lost items:
Ryder's Rifle
This unusual weapon is based on the one used by Red Ryder, a legendary hero from the West. It is a ranged weapon that fires tiny beads (similar to miniscule sling bullets) at high speed. Its damage is low, but it has the advantages of high capacity, rate of fire and crit range. It is a masterwork weapon, and so confers the usual +1 to hit. The Rifle is designed for ease of use and its user incurs no non-proficiency penalty, even if he isn't proficient with simple weapons.
When found, the rifle is loaded to capacity with 650 bullets. Rifle ammunition isn't readily available for sale; it must be crafted (DC 15 and 350 gp for 650 bullets). Reloading the rifle is a full-round action, but it needn't be reloaded until it expends its entire 650 shot capacity.
SPECIAL: Special devices in the stock of the weapon permit the user to tell time as with a sundial and grant a +4 competency bonus to Intuit Direction rolls.
Size: Small
Damage: 1
Crit Range: 17-20/x3
Range Increment: 30 ft.
Weight: 3 lb.
Type: Piercing
Price: Not available for sale; effective market price is 1800
DM Details:
This is the room where Nicholas' mail (mostly requests for gifts and aid) is received. It's wheeled in with the wagon and sorted by four gnomes: Piet, Alvin, Simon and Theodore. All letters received are sorted by language, and more specifically by script type; all messages written in a language with a Dwarven script go to one gnome sorter, all languages written in Elven go to another, and the same applies to Common. A fourth gnome sorts all letters received in languages that use other scripts (such as Celestial and Druidic). The gnomes work different script-types each day according to a schedule. The sorters use the magic magnifying glasses on their tables to examine each letter to determine whether whether its sender is Naughty or Nice (the magnifying glasses simply cause gold flecks to appear in script written by good characters and black flecks to appear in that written by evil characters). The letters are sorted into those two groups and delivered to the toymaker gnomes, who are in charge of fulfilling requests (or punishing presumption, in Piet's case). Many letters can't be sorted for various reasons, and they are set aside for Nicholas' personal attention. That's what the pile at the back of the room is about.
Piet incapacitated Nicholas after the missive from the gods was received, but before it was passed on to Nicholas. Specifically, Piet noticed the letter while scrying it to determine its origins. The letter is now languishing in the pile of unsortable mail. The PCs can rummage through the pile at random if they're looking for the letter that caused Piet to turn on Nicholas, opening letters at random, but this is tedious and dangerous work. With a few Search checks and some intelligence, the PCs can narrow things down considerably. Any Search check with a result of 15 or higher on the Sorters' desks or the room in general will discover the week's schedule written in a booklet on one of sorters' desks in Common. It reads:
MT Common WT Other FS Dwarven S Elven
Alvin: MT Dwarven WT Elven FS Common S Other
Simon: MT Elven WT Common FS Other S Dwarven
Piet: MT Other WT Dwarves FS Elven S Common
The booklet written in Dwarven has a note on one page. Next to a big star, it reads in Dwarven:
Just received unscryable package. Could be connected to the one Piet sorted earlier that Nicholas has run off to deal with. Tell Nicholas about possible connection when he gets back.
There's actually no connection, but this passage tells the characters that Piet was the one who received the letter that resulted in Nicholas' disappearance, which is the final fact they need to find the correct letter in the pile without opening any of the others.
The Letters
Each letter and package is marked with the name of the gnome who sorted it and the reason that it was sorted out for Nicholas' personal perusal. The three reasons are Unscryable, Dangerous and Contains an Object. This information is written in Common, Elven, Dwarven or Draconic, depending upon whether the letter itself is written in a language that uses the Common, Elven or Dwarven alphabet (those that use some other alphabet are all marked with the Draconic language).
There are 102 letters and packages. They are listed below, with the ones that were received on Tuesday and marked as Unscryable called out and described. These are the ones the PCs are most likely to open. The other letters mentioned will be skipped by most players. If the characters decide to open them, use the Random Contents table at the end of this section to generate a letter on the spot.
The 102 letters and package include:
1 in Auran, not received on Tuesday
1 in Celestial marked "Tuesday, Unscryable" (This is the one the PCs are looking for)
This is a simple scroll case that contains a scroll scribed with some sort of golden ink. The scroll reads, in Celestial:
Nicholas, gift-giver and friend to the righteous,
For your purity, your benificence and your long observation of our holy days:
We, the assembled gods of all things holy, choose to grant you the divine spark that you may join us in the halls of divinity and continue your commendable work. Read our undersigned names on the 25th of this month, the anniversary of your mortal life's calling, and you will become a god.
The letter should be signed by every major Good god in your pantheon, as well as any minor and/or non-evil ones that seem especially appropriate (Obad-Hai and St. Cuthbert would certainly sponsor Nicholas, for example).
56 Common, including 7 received on Tuesday. One, marked "Tuesday, Unscryable" contains the following:
As soon as this large, heavy, folded paper card is tampered with, it falls open and reveals a 6'x6' sheet of paper with a portable hole sewn expertly onto it. The creatures inside will immediately begin holding the portal open and then start to leave the hole; they're very cramped inside, so they'll have to leave in waves as follows:
1 Partridge, 2 Turtle Doves, 3 French Hens, 4 Calling Birds, 6 Geese;
7 Swans, 8 Milkmaids, 9 Ladies;
10 Nobles, 11 Pipers, 12 drummers
Until the drummers are released, it takes a full round and a Strength check DC 20 to close the portable hole -- the skeletons are holding it open.
1 Skeleton Partridge, 2 Skeleton Turtle Doves, 3 Skeleton French Hens and 4 Skeleton Calling Birds
(Use the stats below for all 10)
Size/Type: Tiny Undead
Hit Dice: ¼ d12 (3 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares) (As skeletons, the birds can't fly)
Armor Class: 15 (+2 size, +3 Dex), touch 15, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-12
Attack: Peck +4 melee (1d2-4)
Full Attack: Peck +4 melee (1d2-4)
Space/Reach: 2½ ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Immunity to Cold, Damage Reduction 5/Bludgeoning
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +3, Will +2
Abilities: Str 2, Dex 17, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills: Hide +8
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Improved Initiative
6 Skeleton Geese and 7 Skeleton Swans
(Use the following stats for all 13)
Size/Type: Small Undead
Hit Dice: ¼ d12 (3 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares) (As skeletons, the birds can't fly)
Armor Class: 15 (+1 size, +1 natural, +3 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-12
Attack: Peck +3 melee (1d2-4)
Full Attack: Peck +3 melee (1d2-4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Immunity to Cold, Damage Reduction 5/Bludgeoning
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +3, Will +2
Abilities: Str 2, Dex 17, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills: Hide +4
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Improved Initiative
12 skeleton halfling drummers, 11 skeleton halfling pipers, 10 halfling nobles, 9 halfling ladies, 8 halfling milkmaids
(Use the following stats for all 50; these skeletons differ only in dress, though the lords prefer "leaping" charge attacks)
Size/Type: Small Undead (Halfling)
Hit Dice: 1d12 (6 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (+1 size, +1 natural, +2 Dex), touch 13, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-4
Attack: Claw +1 (1d3)
Full Attack: 2 Claws +1 (1d3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: ---
Special Qualities: Halfling traits, Immunity to Cold, Damage Reduction 5/Bludgeoning
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +3
Abilities: Str 11, Dex 15, Con --, Int --, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills: Hide +4, Jump +2, Listen +2, Move Silently +4
Feats: ---
Within the Portable Hole are 5 golden rings: 2 of Protection +1, 1 of Feather falling, 1 of Sustenance and 1 of Jumping. These rings won't fall out; the characters will have to reach inside to find them.
DM's Note: You should SKIP THIS ENCOUNTER if the party has no cleric or if she is, for some reason, poor at turning. Not only could the encounter become very deadly without the ability to turn effectively, but it will be very tedious at the least.
2 Draconic, neither received on Tuesday
1 Druidic, not received on Tuesday
8 Dwarven, 2 of them received on Tuesday. One, marked "Tuesday, Unscryable" is from a mighty Dwarven king asking for peace with the lizardfolk and an Axe of Thundering like his grandpa used to have. You can replace this letter with one from a powerful dwarf from your own campaign; it's just a little bit of flavor and a good chance to tie Nicholas into your own campaign world.
7 Elven, 1 of them received on Tuesday.
8 Gnome, 1 of them marked "Tuesday, Unscryable". Its contents are as follows:
A fancy red box with a green bow on top contains a card and a green ribbon. The card reads, in elaborate gnome script:
Dear Nicholas, or whomever it may concern:
I must admit that I have not been particularly nice this year, and this letter is no exception. Nonetheless, I must cordially ask you to quickly and silently wrap the enclosed ribbon around the most valuable magic item that you have on hand and pull the ribbon's ends tight.
Thank you in advance, and a jolly holiday season to you and yours,
Anonymous Clever Gnome
The card contains a special Symbol of Persuasion that is activated only when someone who can speak Gnome reads it; Will save DC 20 to avoid being Charmed into following the card's instructions. The Charm effect applies to everyone in a 60 ft. radius, up to a total of 150 hit points of characters. The Charm will have little effect on those who don't read the card, of course, because the caster isn't present.
The ribbon is a special magical device that will teleport to the gnomish wizard's castle when its ends are pulled, along with any small item set within it.
1 Goblin, not received on Tuesday
2 Giant, not received on Tuesday
1 Gnoll, not received on Tuesday
7 Halfling, none of them received on Tuesday
1 Ignan, not received on Tuesday
1 Infernal, not received on Tuesday
2 Orc, including one received on Tuesday.
2 Sylvan, neither received on Tuesday
1 Terran, not received on Tuesday
Random Letter Contents Table:
Reason for being unsortable:
01-33 Unscryable
34-66 Dangerous
67-00 Contains an Object
Contents of Unscryable Letter:
1 From strange plane
This letter is from some weird plane with odd physics. The letter is probably written in an obscure language and may display unusual behavior; it may float in the air, it may be made of coherent liquid, it may radiate darkness, etc. Nothing harmful, just strange.
2 From outer plane
This letter is from an angel, demon, etc. It's probably just the standard holiday request, unscryable only because it comes from an outer plane and its sender is thus beyond the reach of the scrying gadgets that the gnome sorters use.
3 Poisoned hate mail
This letter is either blank or has a vengeful, obscenity-filled message included. It is dusted with the poison Nitharit (Fort save DC 13, intitial damage 0, secondary damage 3d6 Con).
4 From powerful NPC
This letter is from some powerful NPC you'd like to name-drop. There's nothing else special about.
5 Magic Trap
This letter is nothing but arcane runes and triggers a magical trap. Roll for the specific spell as though rolling for a 3rd level spell on an arcane scroll, rerolling until you roll an attack spell of some kind. The caster level is 5.
6 Appeal for help in sensitive situation
This letter is an appeal to Nicholas for help. It is anonymous and comes from someone who is in a sensitive situation and has taken pains not to be identifiable through divination. You can use this as just a bit of flavor, or use it to foreshadow an upcoming plot.
Dangerous:
1 Explosive Runes
Just Explosive Runes, caster level 5. 6d6 force damage to the reader with no save, any other character within 10' can Reflex save DC 16 for half damage.
2 Mimic
This "package," perhaps a wrapped gift box or a hobby-horse-shaped item wrapped in brown paper, is actually a Mimic. Run the combat just as usual.
3 From elemental plane
This is a wish list from an elemental plane. Opening the letter inflicts 1d6 damage of the appropriate type (Reflex save DC 14 for half), and each turn handling the letter inflicts same (no save). Roll randomly for element: 1-2 Fire, 3-4 Ice, 5-6 Wind.
4 Mechanical trap
This package contains a mechanical trap as described in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Roll randomly for the trap:
1 Basic Arrow Trap
2 Box of Brown Mold
3 Hail of Needles Trap
4 Acid Arrow Trap
5 Lightning Bolt Trap
6 Ungol Dust Vapor Trap
5 Disease-infected
This letter is slightly nasty looking from the outside and is infected with The Shakes, as described in the DMG. The letter is perfectly nice, and the infection is unintentional.
6 Threat to blackmail into getting a gift
This is just a threatening letter from some character of about the PC's level threatening Nicholas or his wife to try to blackmail a gift out of him. You may use a rival of the party if you wish.
Contains an object:
1 Mechanical Trap
This package contains a mechanical trap as described in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Roll randomly for the trap:
1 Basic Arrow Trap
2 Box of Brown Mold
3 Hail of Needles Trap
4 Acid Arrow Trap
5 Lightning Bolt Trap
6 Ungol Dust Vapor Trap
2 Broken Toy
This package contains a broken mundane toy, either for repair or with a complaint that it arrived broken from Nicholas.
3 Body part for resurrection
This small package contains an ear, finger or other body part and a request for Nicholas to resurrect the deceased person to whom it belonged.
4 Small gift for Nicholas
A small homemade toy, drawing or other gift for Nicholas is enclosed.
5 Food for Nicholas
A bit of non-perishable food for Nicholas is enclosed; a tin of cookies, preserved fruit, a fruitcake, etc.
6 Minor Magic Item
Roll randomly for the item, just as though it were treasure, then roll on the following table:
1-50% The item is broken. It's being sent for repair.
51-90% The item is being returned. The sender received it as a gift (not necessarily from Nicholas) and is returning it because he doesn't want it.
91-00% The item is a gift for Nicholas.
Santa's Gift Grotto
If they find the secret passage in the felt closet, the PCs can take a hidden staircase down to Santa's Gift Grotto, a large circular chamber full of snow and cavorting penguins with a pool of icy water in the center. The room is encircled by a 10' high balcony holding piles of presents, many of them for the gnomes of the Palace. A wooden bridge with a polished brass bannister leads to the center, where a woodstove warms the hardwood-floored island. A giant scroll (point A on the map) sits on a table next to an overstuffed red chair. The scroll won't open without a channeling of positive energy (costs 1 turn attempt) and a hearty laugh. When it is activated, it only opens partway to show the name of the character held in mind when the scroll was opened. The name is color coded to reflect alignment and has hearts, stars, checks or minuses next to it to reflect recent deeds that tend to pull away from the alignment listed; white for good, black for evil, yellow for lawful, blue for chaotic, hearts for good acts, minuses for bad acts, checks for lawful acts, stars for chaotic acts . For example, a Lawful Good character who had recently told some lies to a friend for the greater good would have a white name with yellow trim, but with some stars next to it (to reflect chaotic acts by a lawful character). Once activated by a turning attempt, the scroll will function until the characters are through with it. They will probably check on Piet: his name is deep blue, with many minuses next to it.
Santa keeps a powerful artifact here, the one that powers the ambient magic of the palace. It is a gleaming snowglobe, the Globe of Glad Tidings, that he keeps in the waters of the grotto (point B on the map). One of the penguins in the grotto is actually Tim, an orphaned silver dragon wyrmling who Santa keeps around to protect the globe. Many of the presents piled high in the grotto are actually the dragon's treasure. The dragon, disguised as a penguin, will make every effort to keep the globe away from the PCs. It has a special feat that permits it to use its flight speed while in certain alternate forms (including penguin). Thus, the penguin can both fly and swim. Tim won't make himself known unless the players spot the Globe, in which case he'll grab it and begin running with it. If the PCs attempt to talk to him and seem reasonable, or if they catch him, he'll be willing to talk. He won't hand over the Globe willingly unless he's thoroughly convinced of their intentions, though. He's more likely to provide information or assistance. Tim will turn to dragon form and do battle to save his life or to keep the globe out of the hands of clearly evil characters, but not for any other reason.
The room is under the effect of a powerful magic effect that transforms any magic cast within the grotto into a harmless equivalent. Potentially detrimental effects (like Slow or Web) still work, but any effect that inflicts damage, disease, disability, etc. either fails outright or does something whimsical and innocuous (a Blindness/Deafness spell produces a fluffy pair of earmuffs on the head of the target, for example -- earmuffs that do not interfere with his or her hearing).
Globe of Glad Tidings: This is a DM artifact, pure and simple. It powers the otherwise impossible magical effects of the palace. A Spellcraft or Use Magic Device check, DC 25, will permit someone holding the Globe to return the Palace to normal (shutting down its outer defenses) or to reactivate those defenses. Other uses of the Globe would take long weeks to learn and are beyond the scope of the adventure.
Tim (Dragon Form)
Appearance: In dragon form, Tim is a callow wyrmling; his slate-toned scales show only the barest hint of metallic sheen. He has a guileless, inquisitive face and moves with a spotaneous fluidity that isn't found in older dragons.
Small Dragon (Cold)
Hit Dice: 7d12+7 (52)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 40 ft., fly 100 ft. (average)
Armor Class: 17 (+1 size, +6 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+4
Attack: Bite +8 (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Bite +6 (1d6+1), 2 Claws +1 (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Breath Weapons
Special Qualities: Alternate Form, Cloudwalking, Dragon traits, Immunity to acid and cold, Vulnerability to fire
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +7
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 14
Skills: Concentration +4, Disguise +13, Escape Artist +11, Jump +12, Listen +13, Search +13, Tumble +11, Spot +13
Feats: Fly as Penguin (special), Run, Dodge
Challenge Rating: 4
Alignment: Lawful Good
Breath Weapon (Su): Tim has two types of breath weapon, a cone of cold and a cone of paralyzing gas. Creatures within a cone of paralyzing gas must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 14) or be paralyzed for 1d6+1 rounds. The cone of cold inflicts 2d8 damage (Reflex save DC 14 for half damage).
Dragon Traits: Immune to sleep and paralysis. Able to pinpoint creatures out to 60 ft. without vision. Sees four times as well as a human in shadowy illumination and twice as well in normal light. Darkvision out to 120'.
Fly as Penguin (Special Feat): This feat permits Tim to retain his fly speed in certain weak alternate forms (including penguin).
Tim (In Penguin Form)
Appearance: In penguin form, Tim is pretty much indistinguishable from any other penguin.
Tiny Dragon (Cold)
Hit Dice: 7d12+7 (52)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares), Fly 100 ft. (average), Swim 50 ft.
Armor Class: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+0
Attack: Peck +11 melee (1d4-4)
Full Attack: Bite +11 melee (1d4-4)
Space/Reach: 2-1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Alternate Form, Cloudwalking, Dragon traits, Immunity to acid and cold, Vulnerability to fire
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +7
Abilities: Str 3, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 14
Skills: Concentration +4, Disguise +13, Escape Artist +11, Hide +6, Jump +12, Listen +13, Search +13, Tumble +11, Spot +13
Feats: Fly as Penguin (special), Run, Dodge
Camouflage: Penguin coloration gives Tim a bonus to Hide in snowy or aquatic environments. This bonus is included in the Skill section above (since it's unlikely that you'll use Tim outside of the grotto). If he leaves, reduce his Hide total to +2.
Dragon Traits: Immune to sleep and paralysis. Able to pinpoint creatures out to 60 ft. without vision. Sees four times as well as a human in shadowy illumination and twice as well in normal light. Darkvision out to 120'.
Fly as Penguin (Special Feat): This feat permits Tim to retain his fly speed in Alternate Forms that have 3 or fewer hit dice.
Without further ado, I give you Little Workshop of Horrors -- it's a two-parter, due to the max length on LJ entries, so see the next entry for the conclusion.
LITTLE WORKSHOP OF HORRORS
An adventure for 5th level characters
Plot Overview
For the DM only
Nicholas the Gift-Giver, a powerful druid and cleric who has become legendary for his generosity and magical might, has been secretly accepted as a new deity by the Good gods of the pantheon. Aptly, they've dispatched news of his acceptance in a magical card mailed to his Northern Palace. When Nicholas reads the card and accepts, he will ascend to the divine ranks of righteousness as a reward for his many years of compassionate work.
There's trouble up north, however. Nicholas' longtime assistant, the Svirfneblin called Zwarte Piet, was working the mail room when the news arrived. Fearful of losing his place as Nicholas's assistant, Piet snuck up on Nicholas and slipped a magical cap on his head, a cap that induces deep sleep. He then hid Nicholas away in a lonely corridor of the palace's coal mine, there to sleep through the holy days of gift-giving that Nick has always faithfully celebrated. By missing the holidays and failing to respond to the missive from the gods, Nicholas will forfeit his chance at godhood, securing a job for Piet for years to come.
Piet's plan is working, but complications have arisen. Unbeknownst to Piet, a powerful artifact called the Globe of Glad Tidings is the source of the Northern Palace's magic. Without Nicholas' hard-learned mastery, the Globe's magic is becoming erratic and the palace is entering defensive mode, a security measure designed to engage if an enemy ever attacked Nicholas in his home. Piet has so far convinced the other inhabitants of the palace that Nicholas is tied up with pressing business and can't see anyone, but if Piet doesn't get the Palace up and running again soon, his charade will fall apart. Thus, he's decided to enlist some adventurers to defeat the Palace's magical defenses and get it working properly again. His plan is to pay some common adventurers for this simple task and then bid them leave, drawing as little attention to his scheme as possible.
Running the Adventure
This adventure is event-based but includes a dungeon component. It should progress through a number of distinct parts, roughly as follows:
1.The PCs are summoned to the Northern Palace.2.
The PCs bypass the Palace's security measures and enter.3. Piet explains the situation to the PCs and sends them down to the lower levels of the palace.4.
The PCs battle through the lower levels, discovering along the way that Nicholas may have been the victim of foul play. They also travel away from the palace briefly to feed the reindeer kept at a nearby pasture.
5. Figuring out through divination, investigation or heavy-handed DM meddling that Piet is responsible for Nicholas' disappearance, the PCs track him to the mine-shaft beneath the palace where he's holding Nicholas.6. After a final confrontation with Piet, the PCs free Nicholas.
The adventure still works just fine if the players decide not to help Nicholas, but evil or exceedingly greedy PCs are to be avoided (or curtailed somehow); a party determined to loot the palace won't have much fun and will end up with way too much wealth if you let them get away with it. Most of the dungeon elements are also skippable. The most important element to keeping the adventure on-track is making sure that the PCs get the hint that Nicholas is in trouble and that they discover that Piet is the culprit. The palace is still inhabited, so it should be easy to convey this to the PCs if they aren't catching on.
ON TREASURE: The Northern Palace is potentially packed with treasure, but most of it won't be touched by a Good character. Instead, the characters will be able to search for some items left behind by a lone adventurer who tried and failed to make his way through the workshop for Piet. These items are few but powerful. There is some other, scattered treasure in the adventure. It's important that PCs not be permitted to simply loot the palace, because anything they take will turn to coal when they leave. It's thus unfair to the players to permit them to spend the whole adventure amassing loot and then take it all away at the end.
Section 1: Hooks
Piet sends out many summons for help after the Palace starts to go crazy. The PCs could hear of his plight from:
1. A single gnome messenger catapulted past the palace's traps and sent to hire adventurers in the outside world;
2. An animal messenger -- perhaps a white owl or a reindeer -- sent to get help from friendly druids (Nicholas and his wife are both druids);
3. A Good-aligned church that received a magical message from within the palace and wants to help Nicholas;
4. Or another adventurer who heard of the job but failed to get past the Palace's outer defenses.
In any case, the PCs should go into the adventure knowing the following:
1. A powerful druid, Nicholas the Gift-Giver, possesses a magical palace in the far north.
2. Its magic has become erratic because he has had his attention drawn to some important business. The inhabitants of the Palace can't leave and fear for their lives.
3. Nicholas' servant, Zwarte Piet, is offering a reward to anyone who can defeat the Palace's threats so that the inhabitants will be safe. However, he himself is stuck inside the Palace and can't shut off its defenses, so anyone seeking the reward will have to break in.
Then, assuming the characters can find transportation to the north, it's off to the Northern Palace.
SECTION 2: ENTERING THE PALACE
Here's some modified boxed text from the WotC write-up. Read this to the PCs so that they're aware of the possible methods of getting inside the Palace (this map might also help).
The Northern Palace rises from a plain of white. Despite its forbidding, desolate surroundings, the building seems strangely cheerful. A warm glow beckons from its many windows, which are frosted deeply with snow and ice. Dark green wreaths adorn the doors, contrasting with the palace's red trim, and evergreen bunting, iced in a thick layer of fresh snow, hangs beneath deep eaves.
The centerpiece of the palace is a thick, round tower, beneath which a wide vaulted passage is obstructed by a snow-flecked portcullis of polished brass. Massive, blocky buildings form wings to either side of the tower. A large door faces the front. No battlements or defenses are in view.
There are a number of possible ways to enter the palace, all of them trapped.
The Vaulted Entrance
The main archway is the primary entance to the palace. Its portcullis is down: The portcullis' bars are 2 inches thick and made of solid iron, though coated with brass: Break DC 30, Hardness 10, HP 60 (but read on; breaking the physical portcullis doesn't disable the trap). It can only be opened and shut from inside the courtyard using a winch; the winch is also coated with brass and has a white emblem in the shape of a Christmas tree. Getting within 11' of either the winch or the portcullis itself activates an Antilife Shell trap. The effect lasts for 2 hours and can be renewed instantly and indefinitely if there are still creatures within 11' when it elapses. The trap on the winch (though not the one on the portcullis itself) can be disabled by saying the secret code word, "Tannenbaum," from 12' away. This flips the white tree emblem over to reveal a green tree emblem and disables the antilife effect on the winch, which permits one to turn it and raise the portcullis, negating the trap altogether (see this map for the winch location).
ANTILIFE SHELL TRAP: Search DC 31, No Save, Disable Device DC 31. The traps on the winch and the portcullis are connected, and one Disable Device check will disable both. They must be Searched for separately, though.
Entrance Over or Through the Courtyard Gate
1. Any attempt to fly over the palace gates or otherwise enter from above is met by a spray of snow and tinsel from the gates as a Wind Wall erupts from atop them. This trap also triggers if something (including gas, but not incorporeal creatures) tries to pass through the gates.
WIND WALL TRAP: Search DC 28, No Save, Disable Device DC 28
2. The activation of the Wind Wall Trap readies a second trap, dual Snares tied to the two trees in the courtyard. Together, the two Snares encompass the whole courtyard. Any creature that lands in a Snare is bound around the middle (including both arms) and snapped up to hang from the branches of one of the trees. The snare cord is a bright white ribbon with a bow, just for flavor. Once one snare is tripped, the other is deactivated.
SNARES: Search DC 23, No Save, Disable Device DC 23. Escape Artist or Strength Escape DC 23. See this map for the Snare locations.
Climbing the Palace Walls
Pressure on hidden plates in the palace walls rings bells concealed on the roof, just too far from the edge to be seen from the ground, but near enough to be heard from the walls. The bells are enchanted with Hideous Laughter (heightened), which will obviously cause the climbers to fall if they don't save. The snow softens the fall, so all falling damage is subdual. This trap protects every palace wall accessible from outside the courtyard, including the walls of the reindeer stables.
JINGLE BELLS TRAP: Search DC 30, Will Save 16, Disable Device DC 30
Climbing the Gates
Any substantial downward pressure on the gates clicks the bars down just slightly, releasing an almost imperceptible glue to slide down the bars (this affects only the bars that are experiencing pressure, or a 15' segment of the gate if the pressure is on the whole gate, as with an attempt to scale the gates with a rope). The glue (made of concentrated cranberry), if not noticed, will cause characters to adhere to the gate. It has a special solvent known only Nick; stuck characters will simply have to be pried off. On the up side, characters touching the gate do not trigger the Wind Wall trap mentioned above, even if they're vaulting over. Characters attempting to leap over the gate without touching it can trigger the Wind Wall trap, though.
GLUE TRAP: Search DC 20 (-2 for gnomes and creatures with the Scent ability; the scent of cranberry gives it away), Reflex Save DC 20 to pull away before being stuck (but must let go of gate), Disable Device DC 25. Characters stuck by the glue must make an 18 DC Strength check to pull away.
Burrowing Underneath
If a character attempts to burrow underneath the gates or one of the buildings, he or she will emerge into a super-soap bubble, will will close around the character as soon as she fully leaves the tunnel. The bubble has Hardness 10 and 30 HP from inside, but can be popped from the outside with as little as a pinprick.
BUBBLE TRAP: Search DC 28, Reflex Save DC 20 (to pull back into the burrow before the bubble closes, but this prevents the character from surfacing inside the courtyard), Disable Device DC 28
No one inside the Palace can exit, and none of them will risk entering the courtyard, so the characters are on their own in bypassing the traps. Once inside the courtyard, they will have easy access to the stairs that lead up to the main foyer on the second floor of the Palace. Piet will wave them up if necessary.
SECTION 3: GETTING BRIEFED, HANGING OUT
Once the PCs are inside, Piet and his tiny monkey familiar, Alfador, will thank them and explain the situation.
PLAYING PIET: Piet's a wily, rational but off-putting sort who seems out of place among the jolly gnomish toymakers. He's kind of like a little Dick Cheney. He really just wants the PCs to do the job and get out, and he'll gloss over discussion of Nicholas by assuring them that he's in touch and that Nicholas can't be bothered to see them directly. See his stats in Section 6 for more detail.
Piet won't tell the players much that they don't already know. Essentially, the problem is twofold: The palace's magical defenses have been activated, creating serious dangers to the Palace's inhabitants, and the erratic magic flow has had some nasty side effects on the equipment on the lower level that Nicholas and his gnomes use to create gifts and treats for the holidays. All of the gnomes have retreated from the lower levels of the Palace and barricaded themselves upstairs, but they can't work and their access to supplies is limited. They need the PCs to go downstairs and at least make the lower level safe, if not fix the whole problem. The PCs are likely to be interested in a few things when they talk to Piet:
1. Where's Nicholas?
Piet says that on Tuesday Nicholas suddenly had some very hush-hush business come up (perhaps a holiday surprise of some sort?) and has retreated to a secret location in the Palace, the same place where he keeps his legendary List. Despite the trouble his absence is causing, Nicholas is unwilling to return; he's been keeping in limited contact with Piet, though, and was the one who directed him to get outside help.
2. What's the reward?
First, Piet offers a 3200 gp reward. Secondly, though Piet warns the PCs against looting the way that they might in a typical dungeon, he tells them that there's some treasure to be found. A lone cleric of Pelor (or a similar deity from your campaign) attempted to clear the workshop yesterday, but gave up. He lost a few of his own items plus a magic bag that he was given by the gnome toymakers. Disgraced by his failure, the cleric donated his lost gear. Piet tells the characters that they can keep those items and the bag if they find them. They include a hat, a shield, a staff, a strange crossbow-like weapon, a book and a bag of gems.
3. What's the specific threat downstairs?
Piet's sketchy about this, but he knows that the toy machine has been turning out nothing but out-of-control nutcracker soldiers and that the Sugar Plum Fairies have more-or-less taken over the kitchen.
Other than the discussion with Piet, the PCs' time upstairs will be pretty well covered by WotC's write-up of the Palace. They will find the gnomes just as jolly as usual, and in sort of a party atmosphere since they're all being crammed together and given lots of time off from their usual jobs downstairs. The PCs can spend as much time hanging around, eating candy canes, etc. as they like. When they're ready to move on to the next section, where you'll find details on the east and west wings of the palace and on the trip to feed the reindeer near the palace. The PCs can tackle these three parts of the job in any order they'd like.
After the PCs move on to the downstairs or leave to feed the reindeer, Piet will go to his hiding place in the coal mines beneath the palace to keep an eye on Nicholas. He'll leave his familiar, Alfador, on the upper level of the Palace to keep an eye on things. Alfador has instructions to go to Piet if there's any trouble brewing; he'll do this if the PCs start trying to track down Piet and seem suspicious of him. Alfador has special instruction to keep an eye on the PCs while they're on the upper floors. After getting the initial briefing from Piet, the PCs shouldn't see him again until they track him down in the coal mines later.
SECTION 4: DOWNSTAIRS
When the PCs are ready to venture downstairs, they'll find matching doors on the west and east interior walls of the archway, both wooden double doors blocked with stacks of cozy furniture. The doors aren't locked, and the furniture is easily moved from the outside.
Just inside both doors are 10'x10' antechambers, each containing a pedestal with many sheets of colored paper and an ink quill. The walls are lined with shelves which hold small gold, silver and copper offerings to various Good gods, wrapped or folded in paper and inscribed with prayers. And inscription on the pedestal reads, in Common, "A Gift to the Poor is a Gift to the Gods." The PCs may leave any offerings they'd like (or steal some, netting 1d8x100 GP from each room if they want to steal all of the offerings). There are many offerings here, and the odds of finding one to a particular well-known Good god is high. Each of the antechambers leads, through an unlocked 5' wooden door, to the Palace wing beyond. The offering room of the east wing contains a top hat with a big white bow, one of the lone cleric's lost items:
Hinkle's Hat
(2000)
This top hat, when placed on a small-sized snowman, animates it for 1 hour or until the hat is removed (use the stats below). The snowman melts at the end of the effect, whether the hat is removed or the duration expires. The hat can be used any number of times per day, but each time it must be placed on a new, fully-formed snowman. The animated snowman has the same memories and personality each time it is summoned, but never gains feats, skills, etc. The snowman knows who summoned it and will obey that character, though it won't violate the tenets of its Neutral Good alignment.
Moderate divination; CL 17; Price 2000 gp
Snowman
Medium Construct (Cold)
Hit Dice: 2d10+20 (31 hp)
Initiative: 0
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (+4 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+2
Attack: Slam +2 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Slam +2 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: --
Special Qualities: Construct traits, immune to piercing damage, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, cold immunity, vulnerability to fire
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 10, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 12
Skills: -
-
-
Feats: -
-
-
Alignment: Neutral Good
Languages: Common, Auran
The West Wing
Map of the West Wing
1. The Toy Testing Room
This room has a pile of wrapped presents in the right rear corner, a small pile of toys in the left rear corner, and the remains of broken toys strewn about randomly. There are two Nutcracker Soldiers here, standing sentry at the door at the rear of the room. The shattered remains of another Nutcracker Soldier are near the same door. As soon as the PCs enter, the Nutcracker soldiers will attack.
See stats for the Nutcracker Soldiers in Room 3 of this wing. If the PCs break the two Nutcrackers in this room, 4 more will be generated in Room 3, as per the rules listed there.
The door to the rear is open. The door on the left wall is closed but unlocked. The stairs in the front left corner lead up to the kitchen pantry; there's no intervening door, just an empty doorframe.
A light shield with a festive silver bow lies near the shattered Nutcracker (point A on the map). It is one of the lone cleric's items:
Shield of the High King
This medium-sized light shield has a silvery sheen and a bright red rampant lion in its center. In addition to acting as a +1 light shield, it grants its wielder a +4 morale bonus against fear effects.
Faint abjuration; CL 7; Price 1500
2. The Gift-Wrapping Room
This room has two long tables and cabinets full of gift-wrapping supplies. It's in disarray, with scraps and paper knives strewn about. Many wrapped gifts are in bins at the end of both tables.
The door at the rear is open. The door to the left is shut and locked.
3. The Toy-Making Machine
A huge machine (point B on the map) reaches to the ceiling and takes up half of the room; it's clunking and whirring away as the PCs enter. The room is inhabited by 4 nutcracker soldiers, which attack the PCs as soon as they enter.
DM Details:
The 30'x10' clockwork mechanism in this room is meant to automatically assemble complex toys in quantity for the gnomes, but it has begun producing animated nutcracker soldiers and won't do anything else. When the nutcrackers are destroyed, the machine works faster, churning out more and more.
The machine has air elementals inside, which giggle when the machine runs. The machine automatically constructs nutcracker soldiers appropriate for the elementals to magically enter. Each time a nutcracker is destroyed, its elemental spirit summons another elemental and they both return to the machine, causing it to run faster and to be able to produce one more soldier. The starting maximum is 4. There is no upper limit, though the machine stops working automatically if no more soldiers will fit in the room. If the exit is clear, the machine will happily pump out nutcracker soldiers forever.
Nutcracker Soldier
Appearance: These look just like common nutcracker soldiers, except that they stand about 2' tall. They wield spears that, though stylized, are just as functional as anything carried by gnomes or halflings in battle.
Small Construct
Hit Dice: 1d10+10 (15 hp)
Initiative: 1
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (+1 size, +1 Dex, +2 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-4
Attack: Spear +1 melee (1d6)
Full Attack: Spear +1 melee (1d6)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: None
Special Qualities: Construct traits, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; see encounter text
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +1, Will -5
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 12, Con -, Int -, Wis 1, Cha 1
Skills: -
Feats: -
Challenge Rating: 1
The machine is connected by a chute to the ceiling, and from there to a woodpile on the third floor. The wood falls into the chute when a hatch opens, is automatically chopped (this step is visible, barely; spot DC 19), and is the assembled by gear-driven steel arms and drills. The machine has many separate output spots (each denoted by a bullseye on the floor) but is using only the one dedicated to nutcracker soldiers. There are ways to disable the machine, ideally without damaging it, but using a few in concert works best:
1. Disable Device can stop the machine component from working, but this requires A) climbing up to the level of the machinery (the part within reach from the ground is just wood paneling and B) a check DC 23. This prevents the machine from constructing new nutcrackers. This is especially tough because any attempt to climb the machine results in a bellows-powered air blast meant to knock off the climber (or flyer). Acts as a Gust of Wind spell, Fort save DC 18 to avoid being knocked off or back.
2. Dispel Magic or a similar effect can disable the magical windvane in the machine, which is where the elementals are stored (DC 18). Without the windvane the machine stops operating and new elementals can't be summoned, so any Nutcrackers destroyed during the suppression don't come back and don't empower the machine to create any extra Nutcrackers. Furthermore, the gust of wind from the machine won't work while the windvane is deactivated.
3. Blocking the wood hatch. Various methods can be used to either close the hatch that drops wood into the machine. The machine has a giant closed hopper that reaches to the next floor and has a small hatch on the roof for loading in more wood. It would be possible to get on the roof, open the hatch and destroy the wood, which would effectively stop the machine from producing any more soldiers. It's quite a bit of wood (about 30 cubic feet).
4. Simply breaking the machine. This isn't too tough, although the Nutcrackers will resist and the aforementioned Gust of Wind will blow. The machine has a hardness of 10 and HP of 50 before enough damage is inflicted to prevent any more Nutcrackers from being produced.
4. The Bakery
The bakery is in shambles -- decadent, wonderful-smelling shambles. At the center of the chaos, a central table has been cleared of utensils, adorned with frosting and cake decorations and made to host a huge pastry and candy feast. Three Sugar Plum Fairies are sitting around the table with a gnome in a chef's outfit, delicately nibbling at the feast. Due to the fairies' Wonder ability, the PCs will have to roll to save against their charm as soon as they see the fairies.
Stairs to the rear of the room lead up to a slightly elevated (3') pantry area (see Room 5, "The Pantry").
DM Details:
Sugar Plum Fairies (which the gnomes see as pests) have taken up residence in the bakery. Normally they just supervise and add special fairy ingredients, but now they're refusing to work and throwing each other extravagant feasts, using up all of the gnomes' ingredients. They're encountered in the midst of one such feast. The gnome chef sitting with them is under their spell (see the Wonder ability below) and will fight to protect the fairies. He's a 1st level Gnome Cook as statted by WotC.
The fairies will dance for and tempt the characters, attempting to convince them to ransack the bakerie's vast pantries and make large desserts for the fairies to luxuriate in. Okay, so the fairies aren't exactly Mind Flayers, but the PCs won't be happy about getting pulled away from their mission to make desserts for bratty fey.
Sugar Plum Fairy
Appearance: Sugar Plum Fairies are lithe, winged and humanoid in shape. They resemble female elves, except that their thin bodies are more athletic. They wear elegant but striking dancing outfits, typically in pinks and lavenders. They have extremely expressive and mercurial mannerisms that can show unbridled enthusiasm at one moment and switch to abject depression at the next.
Tiny Fey
Hit Dice: 1/2 d6 (1 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), fly 40 ft. (poor)
Armor Class: 18 (+2 size, +6 Dex), touch 18, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-11
Attack: Slam +5 (0 damage)
Full Attack: Slam +5 (0 damage)
Space/Reach: 2-1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, Wonder
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/cold iron, low-light vision, spell resistance 17
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +8, Will +3
Abilities: Str 5, Dex 22, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 18
Skills: Escape Artist +8, Hide +18, Listen +3, Move Silently +5, Perform (dance) +9, Profession (Baker) +4, Diplomacy +4, Sense Motive +5
Feats: Dodge, Skill Focus: Perform, Weapon Finesse
Environment: Temperate forests
Organization: Gang (2-4), band (6-11), or tribe (20-80)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: Normal
Alignment: Always neutral good
Advancement: 1-3 HD (Tiny)
Language: Sylvan, Common
Combat:
Sugar Plum Fairies are noncombatants. The threat is that they will lure PCs away from their task through use of powerful magic.
Spell-Like Abilities: Caster level 9th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.
3/day - prestidigitation, color spray (DC 14), reduce person (DC 14), touch of idiocy (DC 15)
1/day - irresistible dance (DC 13)
Wonder (Su): Everyone who sees a Sugar Plum Fairy must make a Will save (DC 16) or by charmed (as the spell Charm Person). Make this roll the first time that a character sees the fairy and only once per encounter per character. Characters charmed by this effect tend to forget their responsibilities and become obsessed with singing, dancing and sweets; they won't engage in combat except to protect themselves or the fairy. The effect lasts for 3 hours.
The Sugar Plum Fairies themselves are vulnerable to helpless rapture, though. Whenever they're witness to a Perform check with a result of 20 or better, or eat a treat made with a Profession (Baker) check with a result of 20 or better, they are entranced. They can do nothing but raptly enjoy the performance or treat for 1d6 rounds. After this time, the fairies grow bored and can't be entranced by the same performance or treat again.
5. The Pantry
The pantry is just row after row and shelf after shelf of supplies; ladders are provided to help reach the items that are higher up. One high up, locked cabinet contains wrapped treats ready to go out as gifts.
A big green sack lies on one countertop (point D on the map). Search DC 18 reveals a smaller bag with a bright red bow in the narrow crack between two countertops, beneath the larger sack. This is one of the lone cleric's lost items, plus the bag he received from the gnomes:
Bag of Gems
40 gp moonstone
1200 gp emerald
120 gp amethyst
90 gp red garnet
600 gp blue sapphire
Gift-Giver's Sack
This cursed sack is the size of a backpack, deep green with tinseled trim, and functions as a Bag of Holding I. However, once every hour the bottom of the sack opens and one of the items contained within drops out, now with an elaborately curled and brightly-colored bow tied around it. A minor magical effect muffles the noise of the items as they drop; Listen DC 22 to notice the item dropping from the sack, DC 15 for loud items like bells and chimes. The sack won't drop anything while it's being observed, even if that means that it can't drop its one item per hour.
Moderate Conjuration; CL 11th; Price N/A
East Wing
Map of the East Wing
1. Fuel Supply Closet
This 5'x5' closet contains shelves of lantern oil and some spare firewood. It's dusty and smells of pine.
2. Mining Supply Closet
This 5'x5' closet contains picks, sledges, rope, some climbing gear, spare wheels for carts, etc. The equipment is well-worn but has a certain whimsical flair; the mining helmets have a fox motif, for instance. The shelves go very high up, and there's a small ladder inside to reach them.
Search DC 18 reveals that a metal pole in this closet has a bright blue ribbon tied around it (point A on the map). This is one of the lone cleric's lost items:
Staff of Festivus
The Staff of Festivus is an unadorned rod of some strange, dull metal with a high strength-to-weight ratio. It was constructed by the inventor of Festivus, a holiday celebrated by airing grievances with friends and family and then participating in feats of strength, including wrestling. It is found with only 25 charges remaining.
Bull's Strength (Caster Level 8) (1 Charge)
Zone of Truth (Caster Level 8) (1 Charge)
Moderate transmutation; CL 8; Price 5,250 (10,500 fully charged)
3. Notions Closet
This 5'x5' closet contains many ornate but inexpensive bags and boxes full of miscellaneous sewing notions. Most of the items are special-purpose ones that might see use only occasionally, such as patches and emblems of obscure deities or regional holidays.
4. Fabric Closet
This 5'x5' closet seems empty at first glance, but there are many rolls of various fabrics hanging from the ceiling. The fabric pulls down freely. Some rolls are full, others almost empty.
Pushing up two of the rolls at once (the red felt and the white felt) opens a secret door in the rear wall (point B on the map) that leads to Santa's Gift Grotto. Search DC 18 to discover this secret door.
5. Entrance to Coal Mine
This large semi-spherical room features a couple of wall-mounted hanging areas for picks, spades, etc.; the walls are otherwise bare. The whole rear half of the room opens into a giant red velvet spiral staircase (point D on the map) that leads downward out of the room. The floor is black and white checkerboard. Upon entrance, the character will be ambushed by:
Mistletoe (point C on the map)
The Mistletoe is identical to an Assassin Vine, but with an added suggestion effect, Will save DC 16: anyone who walks under the mistletoe and fails his save will grab and kiss the nearest person as long as they both remain underneath. This is when the monster strikes a third target or slowly chokes one of the kissers. The effect only reaches 5' from the Mistletoe. The Mistletoe hangs inside the room over the door; its CR is 5. It is identical to a substantial sprig of mistletoe attached to long garlands that hang on either side of the door.
Just inside the room, wrapped in a large golden ribbon, is a thick book (point E on the map). This is one of the lone cleric's lost items:
Tome of Three Magi
This thick, handsome tome with gold-inscribed leather binding can be used to interpret secret information in the stars, predicting and pinpointing the location of important magical events. Once per day, the user (who must be able to cast spells as a class ability, either arcane or divine) can use the tome to find the location of an upcoming event of great magical significance (a specific event may be specified if desired, or the tome can be used to scan blindly for possible events). Using the tome requires a DC 20 check (25 for a specific event) with the appropriate Knowledge skill, as defined below:
Events involving extraplanar creatures in the material plane Knowledge (The Planes)
Events involving arcane magic Knowledge (Arcana)
Events involving the gods or divine magic Knowledge (Religion)
Events that fit into more than one category may be detected using any of the skills listed.
The check, if successful, will reveal astronomical information that will permit the user to navigate unerringly to the event she specified (or, if no event was specified, to the most significant magical event taking place in the near future); this navigation requires constant reference to the stars, though, so the character must have access to the night sky during her journey. The information that the character gleans may be passed on so that she herself needn't make the journey, but the instructions will still require those doing the traveling to consult the stars each night. The information revealed by the tome permits navigation, but doesn't reveal the destination ahead of time, nor reveal the best path to that destination; travelers following the tome's instructions don't know where they're going, nor what obstacles might stand in their way. Furthermore, the tome may be thwarted by careful use of Mind Blank or Sequester, though such use must conceal the entire "significant event" in question to prevent to tome from finding it. Note that the tome takes distance into account and reveals only events that are predicted to occur far enough in the future for the users to travel there in time, given typical mounted overland speed (or sea travel speed, for locations that are overseas).
Note that the definition of "significant magical event" is completely up to the DM. Essentially, this is a device to get players into the action of whatever plot the DM has planned. Though the item can be used proactively, it is more of a tool for the DM (thus its low price and many restrictions).
Moderate divination; CL 17; Price 2000
6. Mrs. Claus' Craft Room
Behind a locked door, Mrs. Claus sits in her craft room next to a bowl of chestnuts. Her knitting sits unfinished in her lap. Her face is contorted in a frown and she's sighing heavily, her eyes fixed ahead. The fire in front of her has burned out (days ago, upon inspection).
The only way to help Mrs. Claus is with Remove Disease. Her chestnuts were contaminated with Grinch Syndrome, a Charisma-diminishing disease that causes debilitating depression and scorn, along with eventual death from a shrunken heart. Mrs. Claus will be very thankful to the PCs if they help her, and she can provide a lot of useful information, though she'll be suspicious at first:
1. She noticed Piet bolting out of the mail room to talk to Nick right before Nick withdrew. That was very unusual behavior for Nick and she planned to speak to him about it soon. It was only hours later that she ate the bad chestnut. She was out of the craft room for a while in between, so it's possible that someone tampered with the nuts. Normally she gets them from the storeroom herself. It's important to use Mrs. Claus to make the PCs suspicious of Piet; if they seem clueless, have her bring up her own suspicion. Pointing the PCs in the direction of the mail room is also a good idea.
2. General advice about proceeding into any area of the palace. For example:
Kremesicles occasionally surface outside, but a bit of hot water can keep them from sticking to you, making them easier to fight.
There are some carolers in the vicinity who turned out to be no good. They may still be about the edges of the palace. They use their songs to lull people into a trance them rob them.
The nutcracker machine is both magical and mechanical. Bring someone who's good at both to disable it.
The Sugar Plum Fairies are dangerously entrancing unless they're distracted, so bring them some new and pretty food to entice them.
Piet parcels out coal for the bad children down in the coal mine. Getting down there is difficult; there's stringent security. Only a mining gnome, Piet or Nick himself can get past the guardian (Mrs. Claus isn't clear on what the guardian is).
Santa keeps the List hidden, even from her. He's got a secret entrance somewhere. That's also where he keeps the artifact that powers the palace's magic.
3. Anything else that Mrs. Claus would reasonably know, including lots of info about other inhabitants of the palace.
Mrs. Claus is also a Cleric 3 and can offer some healing if the characters need it.
7. Jewelers' Room
Two small tables are equipped with small, neatly organized boxes containing tools for jewelry-making (including magnifying glasses). A locked chest at the back of the room contains about 2000 GP worth of jewels and precious metals for use in making jewely, but none of it is unmarked, and thus the PCs aren't permitted to take it. There are some finished pieces in jewelry boxes in drawers beneath the tables.
8. Mail Room
This large room contains four tables and one larger table near the door. Each table has a single chair, a small booklet, ink and a quill pen, plus a magnifying glass of exaggerated size. The room also contains a well-maintained wooden wagon full of cards and letters. The most interesting feature of the room, though, is a pile of letters and packages along the rear wall (point H on the map).
Search DC 18 (or any thorough search of the mail pile) discovers a small rifle wrapped with orange ribbon (point I on the map). This is one of the lone cleric's lost items:
Ryder's Rifle
This unusual weapon is based on the one used by Red Ryder, a legendary hero from the West. It is a ranged weapon that fires tiny beads (similar to miniscule sling bullets) at high speed. Its damage is low, but it has the advantages of high capacity, rate of fire and crit range. It is a masterwork weapon, and so confers the usual +1 to hit. The Rifle is designed for ease of use and its user incurs no non-proficiency penalty, even if he isn't proficient with simple weapons.
When found, the rifle is loaded to capacity with 650 bullets. Rifle ammunition isn't readily available for sale; it must be crafted (DC 15 and 350 gp for 650 bullets). Reloading the rifle is a full-round action, but it needn't be reloaded until it expends its entire 650 shot capacity.
SPECIAL: Special devices in the stock of the weapon permit the user to tell time as with a sundial and grant a +4 competency bonus to Intuit Direction rolls.
Size: Small
Damage: 1
Crit Range: 17-20/x3
Range Increment: 30 ft.
Weight: 3 lb.
Type: Piercing
Price: Not available for sale; effective market price is 1800
DM Details:
This is the room where Nicholas' mail (mostly requests for gifts and aid) is received. It's wheeled in with the wagon and sorted by four gnomes: Piet, Alvin, Simon and Theodore. All letters received are sorted by language, and more specifically by script type; all messages written in a language with a Dwarven script go to one gnome sorter, all languages written in Elven go to another, and the same applies to Common. A fourth gnome sorts all letters received in languages that use other scripts (such as Celestial and Druidic). The gnomes work different script-types each day according to a schedule. The sorters use the magic magnifying glasses on their tables to examine each letter to determine whether whether its sender is Naughty or Nice (the magnifying glasses simply cause gold flecks to appear in script written by good characters and black flecks to appear in that written by evil characters). The letters are sorted into those two groups and delivered to the toymaker gnomes, who are in charge of fulfilling requests (or punishing presumption, in Piet's case). Many letters can't be sorted for various reasons, and they are set aside for Nicholas' personal attention. That's what the pile at the back of the room is about.
Piet incapacitated Nicholas after the missive from the gods was received, but before it was passed on to Nicholas. Specifically, Piet noticed the letter while scrying it to determine its origins. The letter is now languishing in the pile of unsortable mail. The PCs can rummage through the pile at random if they're looking for the letter that caused Piet to turn on Nicholas, opening letters at random, but this is tedious and dangerous work. With a few Search checks and some intelligence, the PCs can narrow things down considerably. Any Search check with a result of 15 or higher on the Sorters' desks or the room in general will discover the week's schedule written in a booklet on one of sorters' desks in Common. It reads:
MT Common WT Other FS Dwarven S Elven
Alvin: MT Dwarven WT Elven FS Common S Other
Simon: MT Elven WT Common FS Other S Dwarven
Piet: MT Other WT Dwarves FS Elven S Common
The booklet written in Dwarven has a note on one page. Next to a big star, it reads in Dwarven:
Just received unscryable package. Could be connected to the one Piet sorted earlier that Nicholas has run off to deal with. Tell Nicholas about possible connection when he gets back.
There's actually no connection, but this passage tells the characters that Piet was the one who received the letter that resulted in Nicholas' disappearance, which is the final fact they need to find the correct letter in the pile without opening any of the others.
The Letters
Each letter and package is marked with the name of the gnome who sorted it and the reason that it was sorted out for Nicholas' personal perusal. The three reasons are Unscryable, Dangerous and Contains an Object. This information is written in Common, Elven, Dwarven or Draconic, depending upon whether the letter itself is written in a language that uses the Common, Elven or Dwarven alphabet (those that use some other alphabet are all marked with the Draconic language).
There are 102 letters and packages. They are listed below, with the ones that were received on Tuesday and marked as Unscryable called out and described. These are the ones the PCs are most likely to open. The other letters mentioned will be skipped by most players. If the characters decide to open them, use the Random Contents table at the end of this section to generate a letter on the spot.
The 102 letters and package include:
1 in Auran, not received on Tuesday
1 in Celestial marked "Tuesday, Unscryable" (This is the one the PCs are looking for)
This is a simple scroll case that contains a scroll scribed with some sort of golden ink. The scroll reads, in Celestial:
Nicholas, gift-giver and friend to the righteous,
For your purity, your benificence and your long observation of our holy days:
We, the assembled gods of all things holy, choose to grant you the divine spark that you may join us in the halls of divinity and continue your commendable work. Read our undersigned names on the 25th of this month, the anniversary of your mortal life's calling, and you will become a god.
The letter should be signed by every major Good god in your pantheon, as well as any minor and/or non-evil ones that seem especially appropriate (Obad-Hai and St. Cuthbert would certainly sponsor Nicholas, for example).
56 Common, including 7 received on Tuesday. One, marked "Tuesday, Unscryable" contains the following:
As soon as this large, heavy, folded paper card is tampered with, it falls open and reveals a 6'x6' sheet of paper with a portable hole sewn expertly onto it. The creatures inside will immediately begin holding the portal open and then start to leave the hole; they're very cramped inside, so they'll have to leave in waves as follows:
1 Partridge, 2 Turtle Doves, 3 French Hens, 4 Calling Birds, 6 Geese;
7 Swans, 8 Milkmaids, 9 Ladies;
10 Nobles, 11 Pipers, 12 drummers
Until the drummers are released, it takes a full round and a Strength check DC 20 to close the portable hole -- the skeletons are holding it open.
1 Skeleton Partridge, 2 Skeleton Turtle Doves, 3 Skeleton French Hens and 4 Skeleton Calling Birds
(Use the stats below for all 10)
Size/Type: Tiny Undead
Hit Dice: ¼ d12 (3 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares) (As skeletons, the birds can't fly)
Armor Class: 15 (+2 size, +3 Dex), touch 15, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-12
Attack: Peck +4 melee (1d2-4)
Full Attack: Peck +4 melee (1d2-4)
Space/Reach: 2½ ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Immunity to Cold, Damage Reduction 5/Bludgeoning
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +3, Will +2
Abilities: Str 2, Dex 17, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills: Hide +8
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Improved Initiative
6 Skeleton Geese and 7 Skeleton Swans
(Use the following stats for all 13)
Size/Type: Small Undead
Hit Dice: ¼ d12 (3 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares) (As skeletons, the birds can't fly)
Armor Class: 15 (+1 size, +1 natural, +3 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-12
Attack: Peck +3 melee (1d2-4)
Full Attack: Peck +3 melee (1d2-4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Immunity to Cold, Damage Reduction 5/Bludgeoning
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +3, Will +2
Abilities: Str 2, Dex 17, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills: Hide +4
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Improved Initiative
12 skeleton halfling drummers, 11 skeleton halfling pipers, 10 halfling nobles, 9 halfling ladies, 8 halfling milkmaids
(Use the following stats for all 50; these skeletons differ only in dress, though the lords prefer "leaping" charge attacks)
Size/Type: Small Undead (Halfling)
Hit Dice: 1d12 (6 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (+1 size, +1 natural, +2 Dex), touch 13, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-4
Attack: Claw +1 (1d3)
Full Attack: 2 Claws +1 (1d3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: ---
Special Qualities: Halfling traits, Immunity to Cold, Damage Reduction 5/Bludgeoning
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +3
Abilities: Str 11, Dex 15, Con --, Int --, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills: Hide +4, Jump +2, Listen +2, Move Silently +4
Feats: ---
Within the Portable Hole are 5 golden rings: 2 of Protection +1, 1 of Feather falling, 1 of Sustenance and 1 of Jumping. These rings won't fall out; the characters will have to reach inside to find them.
DM's Note: You should SKIP THIS ENCOUNTER if the party has no cleric or if she is, for some reason, poor at turning. Not only could the encounter become very deadly without the ability to turn effectively, but it will be very tedious at the least.
2 Draconic, neither received on Tuesday
1 Druidic, not received on Tuesday
8 Dwarven, 2 of them received on Tuesday. One, marked "Tuesday, Unscryable" is from a mighty Dwarven king asking for peace with the lizardfolk and an Axe of Thundering like his grandpa used to have. You can replace this letter with one from a powerful dwarf from your own campaign; it's just a little bit of flavor and a good chance to tie Nicholas into your own campaign world.
7 Elven, 1 of them received on Tuesday.
8 Gnome, 1 of them marked "Tuesday, Unscryable". Its contents are as follows:
A fancy red box with a green bow on top contains a card and a green ribbon. The card reads, in elaborate gnome script:
Dear Nicholas, or whomever it may concern:
I must admit that I have not been particularly nice this year, and this letter is no exception. Nonetheless, I must cordially ask you to quickly and silently wrap the enclosed ribbon around the most valuable magic item that you have on hand and pull the ribbon's ends tight.
Thank you in advance, and a jolly holiday season to you and yours,
Anonymous Clever Gnome
The card contains a special Symbol of Persuasion that is activated only when someone who can speak Gnome reads it; Will save DC 20 to avoid being Charmed into following the card's instructions. The Charm effect applies to everyone in a 60 ft. radius, up to a total of 150 hit points of characters. The Charm will have little effect on those who don't read the card, of course, because the caster isn't present.
The ribbon is a special magical device that will teleport to the gnomish wizard's castle when its ends are pulled, along with any small item set within it.
1 Goblin, not received on Tuesday
2 Giant, not received on Tuesday
1 Gnoll, not received on Tuesday
7 Halfling, none of them received on Tuesday
1 Ignan, not received on Tuesday
1 Infernal, not received on Tuesday
2 Orc, including one received on Tuesday.
2 Sylvan, neither received on Tuesday
1 Terran, not received on Tuesday
Random Letter Contents Table:
Reason for being unsortable:
01-33 Unscryable
34-66 Dangerous
67-00 Contains an Object
Contents of Unscryable Letter:
1 From strange plane
This letter is from some weird plane with odd physics. The letter is probably written in an obscure language and may display unusual behavior; it may float in the air, it may be made of coherent liquid, it may radiate darkness, etc. Nothing harmful, just strange.
2 From outer plane
This letter is from an angel, demon, etc. It's probably just the standard holiday request, unscryable only because it comes from an outer plane and its sender is thus beyond the reach of the scrying gadgets that the gnome sorters use.
3 Poisoned hate mail
This letter is either blank or has a vengeful, obscenity-filled message included. It is dusted with the poison Nitharit (Fort save DC 13, intitial damage 0, secondary damage 3d6 Con).
4 From powerful NPC
This letter is from some powerful NPC you'd like to name-drop. There's nothing else special about.
5 Magic Trap
This letter is nothing but arcane runes and triggers a magical trap. Roll for the specific spell as though rolling for a 3rd level spell on an arcane scroll, rerolling until you roll an attack spell of some kind. The caster level is 5.
6 Appeal for help in sensitive situation
This letter is an appeal to Nicholas for help. It is anonymous and comes from someone who is in a sensitive situation and has taken pains not to be identifiable through divination. You can use this as just a bit of flavor, or use it to foreshadow an upcoming plot.
Dangerous:
1 Explosive Runes
Just Explosive Runes, caster level 5. 6d6 force damage to the reader with no save, any other character within 10' can Reflex save DC 16 for half damage.
2 Mimic
This "package," perhaps a wrapped gift box or a hobby-horse-shaped item wrapped in brown paper, is actually a Mimic. Run the combat just as usual.
3 From elemental plane
This is a wish list from an elemental plane. Opening the letter inflicts 1d6 damage of the appropriate type (Reflex save DC 14 for half), and each turn handling the letter inflicts same (no save). Roll randomly for element: 1-2 Fire, 3-4 Ice, 5-6 Wind.
4 Mechanical trap
This package contains a mechanical trap as described in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Roll randomly for the trap:
1 Basic Arrow Trap
2 Box of Brown Mold
3 Hail of Needles Trap
4 Acid Arrow Trap
5 Lightning Bolt Trap
6 Ungol Dust Vapor Trap
5 Disease-infected
This letter is slightly nasty looking from the outside and is infected with The Shakes, as described in the DMG. The letter is perfectly nice, and the infection is unintentional.
6 Threat to blackmail into getting a gift
This is just a threatening letter from some character of about the PC's level threatening Nicholas or his wife to try to blackmail a gift out of him. You may use a rival of the party if you wish.
Contains an object:
1 Mechanical Trap
This package contains a mechanical trap as described in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Roll randomly for the trap:
1 Basic Arrow Trap
2 Box of Brown Mold
3 Hail of Needles Trap
4 Acid Arrow Trap
5 Lightning Bolt Trap
6 Ungol Dust Vapor Trap
2 Broken Toy
This package contains a broken mundane toy, either for repair or with a complaint that it arrived broken from Nicholas.
3 Body part for resurrection
This small package contains an ear, finger or other body part and a request for Nicholas to resurrect the deceased person to whom it belonged.
4 Small gift for Nicholas
A small homemade toy, drawing or other gift for Nicholas is enclosed.
5 Food for Nicholas
A bit of non-perishable food for Nicholas is enclosed; a tin of cookies, preserved fruit, a fruitcake, etc.
6 Minor Magic Item
Roll randomly for the item, just as though it were treasure, then roll on the following table:
1-50% The item is broken. It's being sent for repair.
51-90% The item is being returned. The sender received it as a gift (not necessarily from Nicholas) and is returning it because he doesn't want it.
91-00% The item is a gift for Nicholas.
Santa's Gift Grotto
If they find the secret passage in the felt closet, the PCs can take a hidden staircase down to Santa's Gift Grotto, a large circular chamber full of snow and cavorting penguins with a pool of icy water in the center. The room is encircled by a 10' high balcony holding piles of presents, many of them for the gnomes of the Palace. A wooden bridge with a polished brass bannister leads to the center, where a woodstove warms the hardwood-floored island. A giant scroll (point A on the map) sits on a table next to an overstuffed red chair. The scroll won't open without a channeling of positive energy (costs 1 turn attempt) and a hearty laugh. When it is activated, it only opens partway to show the name of the character held in mind when the scroll was opened. The name is color coded to reflect alignment and has hearts, stars, checks or minuses next to it to reflect recent deeds that tend to pull away from the alignment listed; white for good, black for evil, yellow for lawful, blue for chaotic, hearts for good acts, minuses for bad acts, checks for lawful acts, stars for chaotic acts . For example, a Lawful Good character who had recently told some lies to a friend for the greater good would have a white name with yellow trim, but with some stars next to it (to reflect chaotic acts by a lawful character). Once activated by a turning attempt, the scroll will function until the characters are through with it. They will probably check on Piet: his name is deep blue, with many minuses next to it.
Santa keeps a powerful artifact here, the one that powers the ambient magic of the palace. It is a gleaming snowglobe, the Globe of Glad Tidings, that he keeps in the waters of the grotto (point B on the map). One of the penguins in the grotto is actually Tim, an orphaned silver dragon wyrmling who Santa keeps around to protect the globe. Many of the presents piled high in the grotto are actually the dragon's treasure. The dragon, disguised as a penguin, will make every effort to keep the globe away from the PCs. It has a special feat that permits it to use its flight speed while in certain alternate forms (including penguin). Thus, the penguin can both fly and swim. Tim won't make himself known unless the players spot the Globe, in which case he'll grab it and begin running with it. If the PCs attempt to talk to him and seem reasonable, or if they catch him, he'll be willing to talk. He won't hand over the Globe willingly unless he's thoroughly convinced of their intentions, though. He's more likely to provide information or assistance. Tim will turn to dragon form and do battle to save his life or to keep the globe out of the hands of clearly evil characters, but not for any other reason.
The room is under the effect of a powerful magic effect that transforms any magic cast within the grotto into a harmless equivalent. Potentially detrimental effects (like Slow or Web) still work, but any effect that inflicts damage, disease, disability, etc. either fails outright or does something whimsical and innocuous (a Blindness/Deafness spell produces a fluffy pair of earmuffs on the head of the target, for example -- earmuffs that do not interfere with his or her hearing).
Globe of Glad Tidings: This is a DM artifact, pure and simple. It powers the otherwise impossible magical effects of the palace. A Spellcraft or Use Magic Device check, DC 25, will permit someone holding the Globe to return the Palace to normal (shutting down its outer defenses) or to reactivate those defenses. Other uses of the Globe would take long weeks to learn and are beyond the scope of the adventure.
Tim (Dragon Form)
Appearance: In dragon form, Tim is a callow wyrmling; his slate-toned scales show only the barest hint of metallic sheen. He has a guileless, inquisitive face and moves with a spotaneous fluidity that isn't found in older dragons.
Small Dragon (Cold)
Hit Dice: 7d12+7 (52)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 40 ft., fly 100 ft. (average)
Armor Class: 17 (+1 size, +6 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+4
Attack: Bite +8 (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Bite +6 (1d6+1), 2 Claws +1 (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Breath Weapons
Special Qualities: Alternate Form, Cloudwalking, Dragon traits, Immunity to acid and cold, Vulnerability to fire
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +7
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 14
Skills: Concentration +4, Disguise +13, Escape Artist +11, Jump +12, Listen +13, Search +13, Tumble +11, Spot +13
Feats: Fly as Penguin (special), Run, Dodge
Challenge Rating: 4
Alignment: Lawful Good
Breath Weapon (Su): Tim has two types of breath weapon, a cone of cold and a cone of paralyzing gas. Creatures within a cone of paralyzing gas must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 14) or be paralyzed for 1d6+1 rounds. The cone of cold inflicts 2d8 damage (Reflex save DC 14 for half damage).
Dragon Traits: Immune to sleep and paralysis. Able to pinpoint creatures out to 60 ft. without vision. Sees four times as well as a human in shadowy illumination and twice as well in normal light. Darkvision out to 120'.
Fly as Penguin (Special Feat): This feat permits Tim to retain his fly speed in certain weak alternate forms (including penguin).
Tim (In Penguin Form)
Appearance: In penguin form, Tim is pretty much indistinguishable from any other penguin.
Tiny Dragon (Cold)
Hit Dice: 7d12+7 (52)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares), Fly 100 ft. (average), Swim 50 ft.
Armor Class: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+0
Attack: Peck +11 melee (1d4-4)
Full Attack: Bite +11 melee (1d4-4)
Space/Reach: 2-1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Alternate Form, Cloudwalking, Dragon traits, Immunity to acid and cold, Vulnerability to fire
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +7
Abilities: Str 3, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 14
Skills: Concentration +4, Disguise +13, Escape Artist +11, Hide +6, Jump +12, Listen +13, Search +13, Tumble +11, Spot +13
Feats: Fly as Penguin (special), Run, Dodge
Camouflage: Penguin coloration gives Tim a bonus to Hide in snowy or aquatic environments. This bonus is included in the Skill section above (since it's unlikely that you'll use Tim outside of the grotto). If he leaves, reduce his Hide total to +2.
Dragon Traits: Immune to sleep and paralysis. Able to pinpoint creatures out to 60 ft. without vision. Sees four times as well as a human in shadowy illumination and twice as well in normal light. Darkvision out to 120'.
Fly as Penguin (Special Feat): This feat permits Tim to retain his fly speed in Alternate Forms that have 3 or fewer hit dice.