Red Tidings at Yule, How I Finally got the Never-ready Module Out!

I wanted to mention to anyone looking for some weird fun over the Holidays that my Holiday module, Red Tidings at Yule is PWYW!

Spreading some Holiday Cheer

Back in 2020 I wrote a 0-level funnel for DCC RPG. I ran a solo play-test myself and was very happy with my results, but I was having a hell of a time creating a good map for it, and I couldn't get together a group to play it that year, much to my disappointment. I really intended it as a way to keep some friends of mine who were going to be alone for Christmas thanks to the lock-downs close in spirit if not in person.

It's a fun piece that borrows from Christmas & Yule folklore from across Europe:

• The main villains are the Kallikantzaroi, Greek Christmas goblins.
• They are teamed up with Krampus, the well-known Norse Yule demon.
• They are collaborating with Belsnickle, a grumpy Christmas figure who hands out both presents and whippings from Germany.
• They are  able to meet Knecht Ruprecht a Swiss / German figure who rewards the faithful and punishes the faithless.
• They can receive a magic item related to Morozko, a Russian fairy-tale figure often related to Christmas.
• They can rescue the Scandinavian Christmas Gnome.
• They can free Risia a pagan winter goddess from Scandinavian / Slavic myth.
• It also contains some beats from classic DCC adventures like They Serverd Brandolyn Red. 

With no chance to play it, I took my notes and wrote them up as a module, with an eye to share them the next year.

A Stutter

In 2021 I sat down, revised it, redrew the maps, and tried for weeks to get a play-test together. I managed to get a short session scheduled but ended up with a fairly small group, and the session was interrupted by an emergency. It gave me something to work with, at least.

I honed it, adapted it, and drew up some maps that were more concetural diagrams than useful maps, like this one:

When it became clear that there was no way I was going to get this module shared by the Holidays, I decided to redraw them in Dungeon Scrawl.

Playtime Finally!

in 2022, I finally got a group together and played through the entire scenario, although i had to skip a few sections in order to speed up game-play due to tight schedules. It was great to finally share it... and to make sure those same friends had some company over the Holidays.

I can't tell you just how important that kind of feedback was. The module is 20 times better after i got it in front of a few people. I even got it done in time that I could have had it out for Christmas, or so I thought.

It turns out that the process for publishing a DCC RPG module is a lot more involved and I realized that I was not likely to be able to get it out until late January. So instead I decided to put some more spit and polish on it.

First, I converted it to work with a B/X-based clone like Old-School Essentials. I wanted to eliminate the "DCC bottleneck" even though I would have loved to have something for one of my all0time favourite games.

I also had access to Dungeon Alchemist, so I redid the maps in it.

Just Get the Damn Thing Out!

Finally, last year (2023) I decided that if I waited for more playtests or honed it any further, I wouldn't have it out until December 2024. I gave it one last editing pass and got it out. An while I announced it, and have talked about it several times over the years, I am finally in the position - well ahead of Christmas for once - to let people know it is out there and hopefully give someone some seasonal laughs.

So I felt like talking a little bit about its journey and linking you to it one more time.

I hope if will give some of you a merrier Christmas, cooler Yule, or whatever other holiday you celebrate this time of year.