How to Run an Amazing Yuletacular

Introduction

Winter has come to Maine. Where I live, in the southern part of the state, a deep chill has begun to settle over the land. In the north, snows have started to flicker down like fireflies, melting upon contact but on the brink of sticking. My windows are frosted each morning, and the walk outside to my barn, where I built my office, is starting to require a jacket. I find I cannot resist the lure of a cozy fire and hot chocolate. The signs are clear: the Holiday Season is upon us.

Christians have Christmas (Dec. 25), Jews have Hanukkah (Dec. 18-26), Buddhists have Bodhi Day (Dec. 8), and Wiccans have Yule (Dec. 21-Jan. 1). The list goes on, including many special religious and cultural observances during the month. How is one to keep them all straight? How is one to give each of their friends, whatever their religion or culture, the proper gift? Well, if you’re a forever DM, then I have a little thing for you called “forcing your friends to compete against each other, irrevocably damaging their friendships for years to come.” It is the way.

The History of the Yuletacular

The Yuletacular was born out of a need to counter the intensely spooky vibes of the Spooktacular, which I run every year in late October. These sessions are always Very Scary™, delve into deep personal horrors in the PCs past, and often leave lasting physical and emotional scars on whoever survives.

After such an event, I like to start swinging the pendulum back towards lighthearted fun. The following sessions are often a way for the PCs to recuperate and slowly crawl back up from the valley of misery I pushed them into. This slog back from the darkness of the Spooktacular can be arduous, but each session is a bit lighter than the one before.

Originally the Yuletacular was simply another session, albeit with holiday themes. Santa in a mech suit, marshmallow peep abominations, Kris Kringle cyborgs…the usual. I did this for a decade across multiple systems and campaigns. When covid hit, I did it digitally, and crafted elaborate wintry maps for the group to explore.

Then covid eased. We could finally game in person again, as life allowed, and I found myself toying with the idea of an in-person Yuletacular once again. What would that look like? How could I make this return to in-person feel special? For me, there was only one answer: trick my friends into thinking they would be playing in a normal game, but instead force them to compete for my amusement.

Running the First Yuletacular

*Good friends, good food, and a secret Goblin waiting to spring out!*

The night started with the eight players from both of my games arriving with their potluck dishes. Since many had not been to my home before, I gave a grand tour, taking care to specifically point out several random spots and objects (more on that later). After a few cocktails, we sat down and ate. We’re all old friends, so it was a real blast to sit around the table, some of us for the first time in five years, and share time together.

As the meal wound down, people started to dig into their bags for their characters, dice, and books. I asked the person sitting in the “special seat” (unbeknownst to them) to flip over their placemat. Imagine their surprise when they found, carefully taped underneath, a riddle on aged parchment! And so began the treasure hunt. The answer to the riddle was a part of the house or object I had specifically called out earlier on the tour, where they would find yet another riddle. At the end of the chain of 4 riddles the group found a massive scroll! Bringing it back to the table, they unfurled it with a sense of wonder that surprised me. They were so taken by the treasure hunt that they were already fully in the Holiday Spirit. In trying to mix things up, I had inadvertently stumbled upon an idea that would become one of the most fun holiday parties I have ever thrown.

The larger scroll was a huge map of winding paths through a forest, drawn in the style of games such as Inscryption and Slay the Spire. Each node of the map was a different symbol, which represented a different party game. Putting on my best goblin voice, I explained that the PCs had fallen for my trap, and by following my clues, and opening the enchanted map of Yule, they were now captives in my perverse games. The only way to escape was to compete against each other for survival. Eagerly, the players split into two groups (based on which game of mine they played in) and prepared for the worst.

I grabbed a polar bear game piece I had handy, and slammed it onto the first node: charades. Time to play.

How the Game Works

The map nodes each represent a different game. Some are “major” games and some are “minor” games. Major games are unavoidable, and lie at the junction points of the map. Minor games are the other nodes and generally are lower stakes. In each game the two teams compete to win, either to receive a boon, avoid a curse, or gain a race marker.

The Minor Games

After each minor game, there is a 50% chance that the Goblin will “pop in” to check on the party. Once a minor game is complete, yell out “Goblin Check!” and continue to chant it as you lead the group back to the table with the map. Players are encouraged to chant as well, and as the night wears on, you may find them starting the chant themselves.

At the table, flip a coin, having the winning team from the last minor game call it in the air. If they lose, the Goblin visits and curses a subset of all the players. Using the chart below, first roll a 1d12 to see which players are affected, and then another 1d12 to see what their curse is. All curses last until the end of the next major game.

A couple of clarifications:

Nose Goes: Just say “Nose Goes”. The last person to touch their nose is affected. If multiple people don’t touch their nose, or don’t understand the game, they are affected. This will be a tough learning lesson for them!

Heads down/Eye contact: Everyone puts their heads down on the table. On the count of three, they all lift their heads and look directly at someone else at the table (not the Goblin). Whoever finds themselves looking at someone who is looking right back at them is affected.
Categories: The Goblin chooses a category. Each player takes a turn listing an item in the category. If they cannot answer immediately, they will be affected.

*The First Map - A walk through the woods (of doom)*

Possible minor games are:

Rock, Paper, Scissors: The two teams line up, with one person at the front of the line for each team. These two people play Rock, Paper, Scissors, best two out of three. The loser steps out of the line, and the winner stays to play the next person in the losing line. This continues until one team has run out of players.
Beer Pong: An abridged version of beer pong with only 6 cups on each side. Each team has two throws per turn. Each turn, the players should rotate so everyone can throw.
Jenga: Each team takes a turn removing a piece, with the players on each team rotating so everyone gets a turn. Turns must be completed in under 30 seconds.
Bean Game: Players are given 5 beans and are then randomly matched up with a player from the opposing team. The goal is to win all the other player's beans. Each player takes a turn secretly hiding a number of beans in their hand. The other player then guesses “odd” or “even”, pertaining to the number of beans in their opponent's hand. If the guesser was correct, they take all the beans from that player’s hand. If they guessed wrong, they must give up that number of beans to the other player. Once a player is out of beans, they lose. The team with the most players that win their bean game wins the minor game.
Player’s choice (Crystal Ball icon). The winner of the previous game gets to choose any minor game they wish.
Random Game (Question Mark icon). Randomly choose a minigame for the group to play.

The Major Games

After each major game the winning team receives a “race marker”, which for us was a simple blue token. The race markers will be used at the end of the night for the final rush back down the mountain. The winners also get to choose which branch to take on the map after the major game. The losers of the major game receives a “Secret Santa” gift. Each Secret Santa gift either bestows a boon on the losing team or a curse on the winning team. This can be done in many ways. I created six scrolls and placed them into wrapped boxes so that the losing team would get to “open” their gift. The losing team chooses which unopened gift they wish to open. Some possible gifts could be:

Possible major games are:

Charades: Two teams compete in a classic game of charades. I wrote index cards out beforehand, but there are many apps and boardgames that have a wealth of charades ideas.
Pictionary: For this I used a whiteboard on an easel with dry erase markers.
The NewlyQuest Game: A game I invented based on the “Newlywed Game”. The game is played in a number of rounds equal to the team size. In our case that was four (four players on each team). Each round I directed a question to both teams about a PC on that team. The player targeted on each team secretly writes their answer, and then 30 seconds is given to the other team members to discuss and write their answer. If the answers between the player and the other members of their team match, the team gets one point. The game continues until each player has been targeted once. The team with the most points wins.
- Questions may include: “What is the character’s favorite drink?” and “Who is the character’s worst enemy?” Keep it lighthearted and fun!

The First Map

The first map is an introduction to the game and how it will be played. Here the players learn of the Goblin, get comfortable with the games, and receive their first race makers. Encourage rivalries, and settle any disputes with goblin-like authority! Let the food and booze flow and people make merry! You are here to celebrate (insert holiday season name here) and be damn sure that people have a great time!

Intermission

Once the first map is complete, the game piece will be moved to the “x” at the top of the map. This is a call for the players to adjourn to “the tavern” for a drink, snacks, and a rest. Give them a good breather to chat, hang out, and mend friendships shattered by the night thus far.

At some point, ask a friend to “grab something” for you. For example, I asked a tall friend to grab solo cups from above the stove. What they find instead though, is a scroll! The second treasure hunt has begun, and it operates exactly as the first: leading them through a string of riddles before they find the second map. Surprise, we’re not done yet! The map, when spread out, shows that the winding path from the forest continues, and leads them into the mountains.

The Second Map

The games here are all the same, with one exception: Charades is now Reverse Charades, meaning one person guesses while the rest of the team works together to act out the card.

The game continues as normal on map two until the very end, where there is an exclamation mark. Here, the Goblin appears and ushers them into a cave at the top of mountain. Giddy with excitement, the Goblin challenges the group to one last game: Werewolf. If you don’t have a deck of werewolf cards, you can instead use slips of paper. This is a really fun game to end the night on, since it gives the players a chance to sit and do a bit of roleplaying. The Goblin narrates the game, and all the players play. Try to focus the story around a village during Yuletide festivals for added flair!

If the werewolves win, the Goblin will be quite pleased, claiming that he’s “won” the day and corrupted the characters. His laughter reverberates off the mountainsides, shaking the very ground beneath their feet. If the werewolves lose, the Goblin will be furious, and his shouts of rage will shake the ground. In either event, the characters flee the cave to find an avalanche forming on the peak above them. Nearby are two sleds. Splitting back into their groups, they jump onto the sleds and attempt to outrun the avalanche!

The Sled Race

Place a token on the first circle at the top of each of the snowy tracks that run alongside the second map. We used small sled tokens. Now it’s time to count up race tokens! For every race token a team has collected, place their sled one spot further along on the track. This is to represent the momentum they gained by winning minor games.

The race is on! The first to reach the bottom circle wins. We played with 12 circles, but this could be reduced down as few as 8 to shorten this part of the night. At most, a team that won every major game would start on the 6th spot, but most likely each team will be near the 3rd spot. It is now time for round robin minor games, where the teams cycle through every minor game, with teams progressing one spot along the track with each win. The minor games have been altered so they play much faster. There are no Goblin Checks after these games.

Rock, Paper, Scissors: Played as before, but only one round per match only, not 2 out of 3.
Beer Pong: Still six cups, but a team wins when they sink a shot in a round that the other team sinks none. Continue to remove cups as play proceeds.
Jenga: Each turn must be completed in under 10 seconds.
Bean Game: Each team chooses a “champion” who plays 2 rounds (each champion hiding and guessing twice). Winner has the most beans at the end of round 2.

Finishing Up

The cycle of minigames ends when a team reaches the final circle on their track. They are awarded the title of “Yuletacular Champions” for the year, which they will undoubtedly love to rub in their friends’ faces until next year! A trophy or small ornamentation could be acquired to symbolize their victory. At the time I ran this, one of my groups were playing D&D 3.5, and I awarded the winning team one hero point each. If playing DCC, a luck point may be more appropriate. Tailor the in-game award to the system!

After the games are done, we like to unwind with karaoke, a nightcap, and partying. It's Yule after all, so kick back and have some fun!

*Here I am singing Lion King, most likely*

A Final Note

This is a night of FUN, and preparation is going to be your best friend. Think about your specific group and what they would like to play and, especially, their tolerance for a whole night of games. Any of the minor or major games could easily be swapped out to better suit your party, and the night as a whole could be condensed by shortening the map length or even completely cutting out the sled race. The important parts that I would not skip are:

The surprise treasure hunt awakens something in the players that quickly and fully invests them in the night’s fun. There is a sense of wonder and excitement that comes out of nowhere when you give a group of adults a riddle and treasure map.
The Goblin Checks have become a running joke in my group, and are now a necessary part of the yearly Yuletacular. Forming a messy conga line and chanting “Goblin Check!” all the way back to the table after a minor game is a blast, and provides a reset for any of the frustration that may have come out of the game itself.
Providing Secret Santa presents to the losers of each game soothes the sting of loss. Don’t worry about the winners, they’ll be fine. Throw the losers a bone, they need it!

If you try running your own Yuletacular, let me know in the comments below, and follow my blog and socials for more posts like this!