Came the Monsters of Midwinter

The Shudder Mountains is my favorite DCC setting. It’s more familiar but fresh, and it’s downright wholesome. In my eyes, it’s all the best parts of living out in the country, but drops the bad aspects of it. It’s multi-ethnic, but mono-cultural. I was able to be in a playtest of Came the Monsters of Midwinter and felt blessed for it. I’ve gotten to experience every published Shudder Mountains adventure and am always eager for more. Anywho, here’s the premise of this adventure. You decide whether you’re sticking around for more than that! Cause afterwards there will be spoilers! So send this to your judges and try to convince them to start up a Shudder Mountains campaign.

Premise: Star North, a town that loves the Sovereignight more than any other in all the Shudder Mountains, is beset by a host of evils so horrible as to try the faith of honest folk. When a group of fiendish creatures strike at the town’s heart, it’s up to our mountain heroes to vanquish an ancient evil and restore the light of the Sovereign to the hills. Heroes who embody the true meaning of the holiday season will be reward with gifts given by a special Shudder Mountain scratch-off adventure calendar include inside.

The folks in the Shudder Mountains worship the Sovereign, but see all other gods as aspects of the Sovereign. So if the PCs or outsiders don’t actually worship the Sovereign, it’s no issue with the Shudfolk. If the PCs aren’t local or don’t have a cousin who can lend a guest room, they can rent out one. In the Shudder Mountains that ranges from 1 to 5 silver pieces a day, depending on how fancy the lodgings are. There’s a handy 1d7 rumor table so that the PCs can get some extra flavor.

The adventure begins on Sovereignight, which is essentially Christmas. The Star Notch Chapel is on fire! Town bells sound off around midnight (going into the morning of Sovereignight) and the PCs should be curious, if not helpful. However, they’ll find bootleggers, now transformed by witch liquor into beastmen, have set fire to the chapel. After a bit of combat, there’s opportunity for joining hands with the townsfolk and singing a song in carol in praise of the Sovereign. If they do so, each PC gets a blessing for taking part in the reason for the season. There’s a few different ways to get the PCs to figure out why this happened, but the favorite option seems to be Wilbur.

Wilbur, and his oh so recognizable bandana, is from the Rudd farm. He might wander into town or be encountered on the road. Wilbur has a bit of his own backstory, but imagine him somewhat like The Little Hobo. He’s here to help and is questing to find a missing boy named Myng! Wilbur will lead the PCs to the Hendershot farm. This family has been absent from church for years now.

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There a couple encounters that might happen along the way to the Hendershot farm, such as a mountain lion along the road or devil-crows in a corn field. Both these encounters are really well written. They both can push the narrative along and tax the PCs’ resources. But the PCs soon come to narrow land bridge that separates the Hendershot farm. While not dangerous at the moment, it can be vary hazardous to pass if combat breaks out. But how could that ever happen? The Hendershots are sure to be a friendly bunch, right?

Well, Hank Hendershot is drunk, the house is a mess, and Lottie and all the kids are trying to stay warm inside. They’ll try to introduce the thirteen identical children and get them to say “hello” but this scene is going to probably feel real uncomfortable. If any of your players had a real, troubled upbringing then this might be triggering to them. However, these kids aren’t kids. They’re changelings. Their double-rows of sharp teeth make that obvious soon enough. The information surrounding the awful progeny is covered in the Background section of the adventure. I’ll try to be succinct in saying that Hank and Lottie Hendershot, while not really good people, are victims in this situation as well. However, the “children” are not human but their “parents” will be surprised by this realization. In most games, there is likely to be a heart wrenching scene after any combat. For less bloody outcomes, I’d suggest making some morale checks, charm/sleep spells, grappling, and have the cleric use turn unholy.

Up about the Hendershot farmstead, there’s a few other possible threats. In DCC fashion, the water well is a bad place to go. But the path to progress lays in the corn crib (a storage building where you store harvested corn so it doesn’t rot). There’s a ladder going down below. I hope none of your PCs have taken a sip of that witch liquor. That’s the devil’s hooch!

Down below, there’s a whole mess of horrors. The PCs will find an undeed Hsaal (the ancient extra-terrestrial masters of the Shudder Mountains before the other moon exploded), an invisible gremlin, and a Moon Dragon. That’s one nasty combat. If your wizard hasn’t done some spellburning by this point, it’s time to bust out the big guns. Down below are also 23 captured Shudfolk, including the boy that Wilbur’s here to save. There being forced to brew the witch liquor, which is heated with spoilfire. So besides doing all that’s been done already, the PCs will want to figure out a way to permanently destroy this spoil. However, that’s darned hard to do. Suggested methods boil down to high results for turn unholy or divine aid, but the text suggests that judges should adjudicate other methods that the PCs might come up with.

By the end of this, the PCs are likely either dead or big heroes! They’ll get some Luck, a blessing from the Sovereign, and even a special magic rite. There’s not really money to be made in this adventure. Not unless you’re gonna start selling that witch liquor that you found…

Summary

This is a fantastic holiday adventure. The beginning really brings the Christmas feel. And the scratch off advent calendar is an awesome touch. It also comes as a d30 table for those who aren’t playing in person. I think I’ve talked at length about this one already and that my enjoyment of it really shines through. Do yourself a favor and experience this one next time you get a chance.

Have you run this adventure? What’s your favorite holiday adventure (DCC or otherwise)? I want to hear about it!

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