The Christmas-hating mad scientist Dr. Stephen Nicholas and his faithful assistant Holly have unleashed their latest scheme to destroy the Season of Good Will and Cheer--cursed candy canes!
Using ancient rituals and Atlantean magi-tech, they infused thousands of candy canes with dark magics that places those who consume them under a curse. These candy canes have been mixed in with non-cursed ones and will soon be distributed all across the United States and Canada!
Will the heroes be able to stop this evil, or will Dr. Nick and Holly finally meet their evil goal?!
(The rest of this post is released under the Open Game License, and the text may be reproduced in accordance with its terms.)
CURSED CANDY CANES
The Cursed Candy Canes can be distinguished from normal candy canes, because they emit a faint magical aura of an undeterminable type or school. Characters with a natural ability to detect magic, or those using spells or magic items to do the same, can identify the Cursed Candy Canes.
The magic of the Cursed Candy Canes is only active from the stroke of Midnight at the beginning of December 1 to the final moment of January 5.
The following tables determine the size of a cursed candy cane and what effect it has on the character who consumes it. These rules are suitable for use with all d20 System games, as well as all OSR game systems.
First, roll on "Size of Candy Cane" and then roll to determine what curse it bestows upon those who consume it.
Size of Candy Cane (Roll 1d10)
1-8. Mini Candy Cane (must be completely consumed for curse
to take effect)
7-10. Regular Candy Cane (only half needs to be consumed for curse
to take effect; can be split between two characters)
The Curses (Roll 1d10)
1. The character can only communicate by singing Christmas songs
and carols.
2. The character becomes enraged whenever he or she hears music
and attacks the nearest person for 1d4+2 rounds.
3. The character's teeth begin to rot rapidly and they all fall out within
1d6+2 days.
4. The character can't sleep. Whenever he or she closes her eyes, terrifying
visons gigantic, semi-humanoid sugar plums oozing a strange, sparkling
substance haunts him or her.
5. Whenever the character sees an image of Santa Claus, or someone
dressed in a Santa outfit, he or she is terrified and must flee the area
at maximum movement rate. The character remains terrified for a
a number of rounds equal to 10 less his or her Wisdom bonus.
6. The character must naked whenever he or she stands or passes below
mistletoe.
7. The character becomes semi-insubstantial, appearing ghostly and
translucent. The character does not need to eat or drink, is immune to
all harm, but cannot pass through solid matter.
8. The character becomes a werewolf whose transformation is triggered by
the physical presence of a decorated Christmas Tree. The transformation
lasts until the next sunrise.
9. The character becomes a vampire, but needs to consume 1/2 gallon of
eggnog each day instead of blood. Just like a vampire's need for blood,
the character has an insatiable desire for eggnog. If he or she does not
consume enough eggnog, the character suffers a temporary loss of
1 point of Strength and 1 point of Intelligence until the hunger is cured.
10. The character becomes enraged whenever he or she sees a wrapped
wrapped Christmas present. He or she must destroy the presents.
The rage lasts until the presents are all destroyed. The character attacks
anyone who tries to prevent the destruction.
ENDING THE CURSE
A curse can be ended by a bless or remove curse spell cast upon the sufferer by a 12-level caster (or from an item or scroll with the same power-level), or if the sufferer eats 1 pound of Fruitcake over the space of 30 minutes. The curse also ends automatically at the stroke of Midnight on January 5th, the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas.
(For victims of #3, the curse may feel like it becomes worse: Their teeth grow back over the next 1d6+3 days, with severe pain as the baby teeth grow, fall out, and are replaced by a new set of adult teeth.)
