D&D Christmas Adventures and Ideas
Published on December 18, 2021, Last modified on March 23rd, 2024
We’ve compiled a bunch of resources to help those looking for a festive D&D Christmas session this season!
Kieran Yanner - Wizards of the Coast - Topdeck the Halls
Table of Contents
What is the D&D equivalent of Christmas?
There are infinite worlds, cultures, and customs in the realms of D&D. In 5th Edition’s “primary” realm, the Forgotten Realms, Midwinter is a winter festival that represents a very holy time of year to different cultures across the continent of Faerûn. If you are playing a game in the Forgotten Realms and want to include a “lore accurate” Christmas in your campaign, Midwinter is the thing to use.
Best D&D Christmas One Shots
The Christmas season is a great time for groups to get together for some Christmas-y D&D festivities. Because there are so many folklore stories about Christmas, the holiday perfectly lends itself to some fun festive one-session adventures.
Free D&D Christmas One Shots
Christmas can be an expensive time with all of the extra gifts and groceries. Here are the best D&D Christmas one-shots to play if you’re on a budget! Some of these options are Pay What You Want (PWYW). In the case of PWYW products, it’s always suggested to pay something if you can spare it!
Krampus’ Lair
Levels: 13th Level
Length: 1.5 – 3 hours
Synopsis: The party has become lost in the lair of Krampus. A benevolent Jack Frost provides Christmas-themed clues to help the party escape.
The Night Before Wintermas
Levels: 5th Level
Group Size: 5
Length: 3 – 4.5 hours
Synopsis: A morally-suspect toy and tobacco company is sick of Santa undercutting them with his charitable operation, they want you to infiltrate his workshop and deal with the problem for good.
Claus for Concern: A Holiday One-Shot for Christmas
Levels: Adjustable for 1st – 5th Level
Group Size: 5
Length: 3 – 4 hours
Synopsis: Oh, no! Something’s wrong in the toy factory! Santa has been bamboozled, and his workshop is overrun with frosty foes, wintry wrongdoers, and North Pole ne’er-do-wells. A team of Santa’s elves manages to escape the workshop warzone and recruit a party of adventurers to go take back toyland.
Not a Creature Was Stirring
Levels: 1st Level
Group Size: 2-5
Length: 5 – 6 hours
Synopsis: This introductory adventure leads the party through a Christmas-themed adventure where they fight toy swords, deal with St. Nicholas, and encounter dangerous snow creatures.
The Darkest Night (5E): A Christmas Adventure
Levels: 1st Level
Group Size: 4
Length: 1 – 3 hours
Synopsis: The Darkest Night is a holiday-themed adventure where players battle an ancient evil to save Kringlefest.
Paid D&D Christmas One Shots
It’s always nice to give back to the D&D community. These are some of the more popular paid D&D Christmas adventures.
Candlekeep Murders: The Deadwinter Prophecy
Levels: 5th Level
Group Size: 3–5
Length: 8-12 sessions (of 3-4 hours)
Synopsis: The characters must head an investigation that took place in the famous library of Candlekeep during the dead of winter. At roughly 30hrs of gameplay, this definitely is not a one-shot, but it’s a great adventure to run during the holidays if you’re looking to get into something with a bit more substance.
Solstice Shenanigans: A Wintry One Shot
Levels: 5th – 9th Level
Group Size: 5
Length: 5 hours
Synopsis: The Winter Games are in full swing on the demiplane controlled by the powerful archfey lord of winter, Jack Frost. Games and challenges await the players, along with a baker’s terrible mistake and a bout of mysteriously disappearing trees!
Midwinter Maleficence
Levels: Can be 1st – 4th Level but combat is balanced for 3rd Level
Group Size: 3
Length: 5 – 6 hours
Synopsis: The adventurers are called to the village of Pinecrest where all but one of the children has gone missing. Can they find the lost babes in the wood before the children meet their grisly fate?
Last Christmas
Levels: 3rd Level
Group Size: 5
Length: 2 – 6 hours
Synopsis: This Christmas, Santa Claus must die! Adopt the role of one of the characters based on iconic Christmas villains and raid Santa’s North Pole base in order to destroy Santa’s corrupted form.
How The Lich Stole Christmas
Levels: All Levels
Group Size: 5
Length: 3 – 4 hours
Synopsis: How The Lich Stole Christmas is a short 3-4 hour one-shot holiday adventure for characters of all levels. The encounters include variations for adventuring parties of each tier of play. The story unfolds through melodic rhymes that are certain to get the players into the spirit of the adventure.
In The Black Midwinter
Levels: 2nd – 4th Levels
Group Size: 5
Length: 3 – 4 hours
Synopsis: The PCs battle an ancient evil threatening a remote village in the subarctic north. Very much the same as most D&D adventures, only this time, it’s Christmas-themed!
A D&D Christmas Character Exchange
We’ve come up with a neat little idea if you and your friends love to play DnD and you are planning a Secret Santa gift exchange. For those who don’t know, Secret Santa is a fun way to exchange presents in a group. Names are drawn at random so that each person in the group has someone else’s name. You are then responsible for buying a gift for whoever you got with a predetermined price limit that you’ve all decided on beforehand. Who purchased each gift is not revealed until after the gifts are opened, hence the name Secret Santa!
Anyways, here’s how it works:
In addition to buying gifts (perhaps using some of our ideas in our gift ideas post!) have each person create a one-shot character for their assigned Secret Santa friend. If you are not the DM, be sure to make sure they are on board and have plenty of time to craft a short campaign (or use an adventure from the above list). Then, after opening the gifts, hand over the character sheets and maybe a brief character backstory and immediately get started on your one-shot campaign! Bonus points if it is holiday-themed.
This can be a lot of fun and often leads to hilarious situations. For example, if your one friend only likes to play beefy barbarians and fighters, draft them up a cowardly bard who runs away at the slightest hint of danger.
Playing characters that you normally wouldn’t cook up for yourself is also a great way to get out of your comfort zone and improve your roleplaying capabilities. Prior to playing, just confirm that your friends are ok with poking a little fun, or don’t be too savage with your character creation. On top of that, give everyone some eggnog or mulled wine and you should be in for a great night!
Have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Thanks for reading. Here’s wishing you all the best this holiday season. If you have any Christmas adventures that you’ve had fun running or have any fun and festive ideas to spruce up your D&D sessions, we’d love to hear them in the comments below.
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