Break-In at the Yuletide Citadel

In a city where magic fuels forbidden technology, a rogue needs your crew's help to stop a villainous Santa in his tracks.

In the city of Yuletide Citadel, where forbidden magic fuels primitive steam tech, a rogue Elf seeks help from a band of adventurers to infiltrate a fortified tower before it’s too late. This tower, a miracle of engineering ruled by the tyrant Baron Noël, annually releases chaotic magical energy that he claims fuels winter's cheer — a sham that inadvertently saps resources and magic from the city, keeping the populace under his icy thumb. Your mission: prevent this year’s release, exposing Noël’s deception and stopping his schemes in their tracks, without alerting his mechanical elves or tipping off his enforcer Kring-lok, the Centuries-Old Golem.

Campaign Image

The World

Context

Yuletide Citadel is a vibrant, teeming metropolis where rare magical currents are harnessed for rudimentary technologies, fostering a tense equilibrium between power and superstition. Humans embrace steam adaptations hungrily, while Elves protect arcane secrets. This tension simmers beneath the city's surface, igniting plots and schemes in dark corners and crowded markets alike.

Concept

Rare, powerful magic channels drive primitive steam technologies in Yuletide Citadel.

Impact

The city thrives on magical steam tech but risks collapse under tyrant Noël, who profits through chaos.

The Plot

Summary

The adventurers are contacted by a rogue Elf who unveils an urgent need: infiltrate the Yuletide Citadel's central tower controlled by Baron Noël. The tyrant perpetuates a myth that his annual magical release ensures prosperity, while in reality, it drains the city's resources, especially affecting the elves' dwindling magical reserves. The adventurers must neutralize Noël's power source—a misaligned magical core—that if disrupted will prevent future releases and provide time for the city to correct its course. Tasked with entering unnoticed, the party must navigate the gauntlet of mechanical elves and outsmart Kring-lok, the Golem enforcer. Halfway through, they discover the core isn't just magic, but houses a sentient spirit who could become an ally or a threat. As time closes with the stroke of midnight when Noël plans his deceptive release, success or failure will determine the course of Yuletide Citadel's future. Victory dethrones a tyrant and safeguards a city; failure spells long-term subjugation under Noël's misguided reign.

Complication

A sentient spirit within Noël's power core offers unexpected aid—or potential betrayal.

Hook

Stop Noel's annual magic release, save the city.

World stakes

Yuletide Citadel remains under Baron Noël’s tyrannical rule.

Personal stakes

Become targets of Noël's mechanical enforcers.

The Acts

Act 1

Summary:

The adventurers meet their Elven contact, a charismatic rogue named Faelan, in the bustling Yuletide marketplace. Faelan explains Baron Noël's plot and the critical mission details. Timing is essential, as they must reach the citadel tower before midnight. They navigate crowded streets filled with distracted celebrants, avoid Noël's watchful mechanical elves, and find an entry point to the tower. As they climb the city's icy heights, a patrol nearly discovers their presence, forcing a daring escape through an old vent network, setting them back just as they approach the fortified tower.

Location:

Yuletide marketplace, vibrant with festive chaos.

Challenge:

Navigating the dense crowd while evading Noël’s patrols.

Objective:

Infiltrate Yuletide Citadel's tower unnoticed.

Set Back:

Vent collapse forces emergency exit and reroute.

Revelation:

Noël plans to activate the magic release by midnight.

GM's Guide:

Maintain pacing by emphasizing how crowded festivities obscure the adventurers as they move. Offer dynamic choices, like evading playful festival-goers versus quick routes guarded by mechanical elves. Use descriptions of bustling market stalls, festive lights, and street performances to obscure threats and opportunity together.

GM's Move:

Encounter with mechanical elves complicates infiltration.

Act 2

Summary:

Inside the towering structure, filled with humming steam pipes and glowing magical circuits, the party moves quietly through labyrinthine hallways. They encounter puzzles requiring steam manipulation and uncover Noël’s research lab filled with schematics of the mechanical elves, revealing a potential blueprint for reprogramming them. Kring-lok, the massive Golem, patrols the next passage and must be outsmarted or diverted. As they reach the core of Noël's operation, they discover it is linked to an ancient sentient spirit, Solstice, trapped and manipulated for its power—opening an unexpected choice: work with or against it.

Location:

Inside the intricate steam-filled tower.

Challenge:

Solving tech-magic puzzles under threat of discovery.

Objective:

Locate Noël's central magical core.

Set Back:

Kring-lok unexpectedly complicates progress.

Revelation:

Core holds sentient spirit, Solstice.

GM's Guide:

Use the tower's machinery to create confusion and a sense of urgency. Introduce elements of stealth and technology in puzzles, encouraging creative problem-solving. Kring-lok should be intimidating yet offer room for roleplay if the players try to interact. Highlight moral choices when facing Solstice.

GM's Move:

Discover sentient core linked to city’s magic.

Act 3

Summary:

Confronted by Solstice's presence, players must decide whether to collaborate with the elemental spirit or disrupt its power to thwart Noël. Each choice offers new consequences—allying with Solstice might bring unforeseen aid, while disrupting its power risks catastrophic results. As Kring-lok closes in, debates must swiftly resolve. When they face Noël, either with Solstice’s newfound support or a sabotage-induced chaos, tension spikes. As midnight approaches, the players engage in a desperate last-minute gambit to prevent the magical energy from releasing, concluding with the tower’s toppling or redemption, depending on their actions.

Location:

Core chamber filled with exposed magical circuitry.

Challenge:

Neutralizing Noël or his defenses to prevent energy release.

Objective:

Prevent Noël’s magical release by any means necessary.

Set Back:

Solstice’s ambiguity leaves uncertainty, splits party opinion.

Revelation:

Noël’s motivations are rooted in manipulative control.

GM's Guide:

Keep tension high: use countdowns to midnight as a constant reminder. Allow players’ actions with Solstice to directly influence the confrontation with Noël. Encourage creativity in stopping the magical release, using the environment and any alliances or disruptions made.

GM's Move:

Midnight deadline looms closer with decisions.

Climax:

Party's decisions lead to either saving or transforming Yuletide Citadel.