A Very GURPS Hellboy Christmas

[dgswensen]

Last weekend, I opened my big mouth and agreed to run a Christmas-themed Hellboy game for my play group. My only problem is, I have very little in the way of ideas. As Jack Nicholson said, "lots of ideas... no good ones."

Do any of the old hands here have any brainstorming for a Christmas-themed game? I'm going for something fairly lighthearted in nature, yet with an element of the macabre -- nothing much more horrific than anything that might appear in The Nightmare Before Christmas, for example.

(For those of you unfamiliar with the Hellboy universe, it's basically a modern horror / supers with a pulp noir bent.)

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

[sir_pudding]

There's this guy.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by dgswensen

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Well, in the spirit of Hellboy, you can go into older beliefs tied to the Solstice, which is on the 21st, and is the new year in many solar calendars. In Greece, the winter solstice rites were called Lenaea, in which Dionysos was torn apart by the cyclpos and then reborn. The festival in honor of this event eventually became a dramatic festival, but had its roots in the more ancient forms of Dionysian worship from which we get stories about the Maenads.

Of course, anything involving half naked greek women tearing men to pieces in an ancient religious rite, and involving Hellboy, will probably eventually involve Hecate...

[Bruno]

Or something else to play with, more whimsical than bloody:

from http://www.candlegrove.com/sacaea.html
The ancient fear engendered by the failing of the light shaped a striking legend that continued into Greek culture when the Greeks became Christian. It's the story of the Kallikantzaroi--ugly monsters of chaos who, during most of the year, are forced underground. During the 12 days of Christmas, the demons are said to roam freely on the earth's surface. They are known more for malicious practical joking than any real harm--braiding horse's tails, souring milk, putting out the home fire in a particularly indelicate manner.

To scare them away, the Greeks kept their Christmas log burning. They also burned old shoes, believing the smell would repel the creatures.

Any child born during the twelve days was in danger of becoming a Kallikantzaroi. The antidote? Binding the baby in tresses of garlic or straw, or singeing the child's toenails!

[sir_pudding]

There is a folk belief (referenced in Hamlet) that on Christmas Eve at midnight animals gain the power of speech.

[dgswensen]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

There is a folk belief (referenced in Hamlet) that on Christmas Eve at midnight animals gain the power of speech.

Oh wow, I didn't know that.

These are all really good suggestions, thank you.

[Moncubus]

You could mix up various Christmas legends and Winter Solstice myths, and have a game focused around trying to catch or track (something reputed to be) Santa Claus (who could be St. Nicholas/Boarman/Sun God).

There's also Knecht Ruprecht, the dark and sinister figure who followed around Saint Nicholas and stuffed all the naughty children in a big sack. In Bavaria Saint Nick's instead followed around by Klaubauf, a shaggy horned monster (with other variations on the theme varying from locale to locale).

And if you haven't yet, there's also the Hellboy Special itself: http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=97-666

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Moncubus

There's also Knecht Ruprecht, the dark and sinister figure who followed around Saint Nicholas and stuffed all the naughty children in a big sack. In Bavaria Saint Nick's instead followed around by Klaubauf, a shaggy horned monster (with other variations on the theme varying from locale to locale).

Yep, like the Krampus that I linked above.

[Moncubus]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Yep, like the Krampus that I linked above.

Which just goes to show I really need to stop and read the text of things instead of just getting distracted by the pretty pictures.

[sir_pudding]

D20 stats for the Krampus.