Faustus Festivus
It is a little-known fact that Santa Claus isn't one person. In reality, a new Santa is chosen every year from the strongest of the North Pole Elves. The Xmas Decathlon features such events as speed-wrapping, chimney spelunking, and sumo-style belly wrestling. But the crowning event, the final showdown, is a 4-way sleigh race among the top finishers.
The idea started when I found Permes"Santa Claus and Reindeer Chariot" free paper-model download at DriveThruRPG.Com. free paper model Being a larger scale than we usually play, it required a larger course. So we had to get creative with the obstacles. Yes, the Christmas tree farm is lighted for the holidays.
The rules: Faustus Furius, of course. The Rules What else could it be? See below to the minor changes to the rules:
Crowd Pleaser: To designate who has the loyalty of the crowd, the player wears a Santa Hat instead of a laurel.
Dirty Deeds: As a gift, each player starts with one of:
Icy Patch: Your elf pours a large jug of water on the snow behind them at the start of any bound, before rolling to activate. Any sleigh that drives over the icy patch will have to stop their movement immediately and roll on the out of control table. The icy patch will remain on the track until it is driven through by a sleigh.
Australian Carrot Patch: Your elf has purchased Australian carrots which can be dropped from behind their sleigh at the start of any bound, before rolling to activate. Since everything is upside-down in Australia, the carrot patch sticks out of the snow. As magic reindeer love carrots, any sleigh that drives over the patch will immediately spin out as described in the collision table. The carrot patch will remain on the track until it is driven through by a sleigh.
And of course, the crowd. They may be pleased, they may be irked, but in this game they will always be caroling snowmen.
The four players: Mrs. MommyElf, Mr. DaddyElf, Miss GoodyElf, and Brother NastyPantsElf. (Guess which one of us named the players?). After drawing for position and which dirty deed to load up, the race started.
Right off the bat, Brother NastyPants lived up to his name. Rolling a triple activation at the start, he gained Crowd Favorite by pelting Miss GoodyElf with snowballs (close range attack, we had no archer chariots). As he sped off practicing his "Ho Ho Ho", she collided with Mr. DaddyElf and they both rolled flips.
It was game on from that point, and the camera was hardly ever picked back up. Here is Mrs. MommyElf halfway through her second lap, ignoring icy patches and random caroling snowmen. She's about to lap Mr. DaddyElf.
And the winner by a mile! Or at least 8 reindeer. Yes, Santa Claus will be transgender next year. Congratulations Mrs. MommyElf!
