So with a new game coming up just after the big holiday, I have begun planning the first big intro run for a group of new players. And as I sat thinking about the run doing my typical, "What would I do?" checklist as I went over the rough outline I was constantly distracted by the cheery christmas music floating into my room from the apartment below.

So now, with Christmas in mind, I've scrapped "Ye' Old First Run" in hopes of giving these new players something special for the Holiday. A Christmas Themed Shadowrun. With a million of my own ideas floating around in my head, I'm always happy to here more.

So what of it Dumpshock? What kind of extra spice can you add to this holiday ham?

I see a van, a toy factory, and an organised crime Johnson wishing for several tons of presents for the poor street kids. Wait a minute, you have a million ideas and you don`t share. O tempora...

Well, a million misformed and floating ideas in the abyssmal depths of my brain, where few dare to tread.

Such as...
Sanata Claus being spotted in Astral.
A Nefarious Aztechnology CEO who wants to ruin the Ares Christmas!
A Troll runner named Santa who is known for giving away toys to the houses/building he does a run on.

A Santa free spirit appearing in the North Pole, where, with the help of many lesser free spirits, he makes toys to give children for christmas. The problem is that it would crash the toy market which would be disastrous for the people working in the toy industry. The Corporate Court doesn't want to nuke the North Pole for obvious PR reason, so they send deniable assets to get rid of the problem and blame it on Winternight.

Don't get me started on the Santa Gang...

Oh this I've got to hear. But craziness does CanRay have up his sleeve?

Does it have something to do with Santa's Little Ancients, perhaps?

It's an idea that Ryu (The guy that writes the ShadowSkool stuff when Shiny Things don't distract him) had... A gang of Santa's of various Metatypes that are kidnapping SINless Elves.

Just. Elves.

something to do with this years must have toy being hacked by tech savvy riggers to steal all the presents under the tree while everyone sleeps on Christmas Eve.

Who do you think gets the jobs at the mall? Dwarves for height or Elves for name and ears?

Cool, but I have no claim whatsoever on it. The search function is not with me right now, so I can´t provide the correct author either.

Runners get hired by a Mr. Nautaclass to raid a toy warehouse, steal a rig full of this year's MCT (Most Coveted Toy) "Sid the Streetmage" and deliver it to a creepy barrens spot. Crank up the tension when he's a no-show, until all of a sudden there is a jingling of bells, a sleek VTOL touches down and the man in the red suit gets out to collect the toys.

So, what's with that bag of Santa's? The one that holds a whole planet's worth of presents. Is it an astral gateway or something? And what happens if it is turned inside out?

Great Form Free Spirit with the Wealth Power. Please give me time to run before you try that "inside out" stuff.

Ryu is the short form of his name that's insane to write. Especially at the crack of way too damned late, or early. Got me.

Guess you guys want the rest. OK, fine. The gang is run by a young dragon (Who does, yes, wear a really big Santa hat) who is running a knock-off shop for the Must-Have toys of the year being staffed by Elves. He thought it'd be funny going from place-to-place for the desperate people and selling them at a huge mark-up after shapechanging into the very image of Santa Claus.

The Elves refuse to leave, however. They're getting three square meals of nutrisoy and a warm place to sleep. Better than a lot of SINless in the Sprawl.

We usually have a holiday themed game so it could take a while to list but not counting the free spirit in a reindeer drawn sled, a lot is just gonig on around parties and malls full of extra shippments and people in odd clothes and such. imagine what you can hide under the Santa suit. Imagine the protests from humorless groups of metahumans over some of the traditional images.

Isn't there supposed to be some tradition with a fruitcake?

Running a one-off mini campaign. The team returns to their fixer to find the place filled with gore. On the wall is a note pinned to the wall with a candy cane:

"Well the weather in Seattle is frightful,
But killing your friends was so Delightful.
Now you've really no place to go,
To the Pole you should go,you should go, you should go;

-Kringle"

Seems like they've made the naughty list.

"Chuck, Billy, Zack! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" "What about Wendy, your Girlfriend?" "Screw her, she never brought beer." "Oh, right."

English fruit cake - plum pudding is supposed to have money or silver charms hidden in it. That could be a real prize.

No, something about Dragons and a fruitcake...

You are what you eat?
Oh wait that was in D's will, he and someone kept exchanging the same fruit cake for years.

That's right, him and another Dragon, one that was in hiding, so there needed to be Shadowruns to find him and deliver it!

Ourt Xmas games have included red suited beings of great power- free spirit? don't know, this years was a weird steam punk setting The GM wouldn't say if it was astral or a time shift or what, we just had to adapt to being in Victorian London in 1888, with dead bodies around everyone else is thinking Jolly Jack, but the GM was counting, successfully it turned out, on my personal knowlewdge of British paranormal expeirence in the time and if any of you know the legends of "Spring Heeled Jack' you'll know how that went. Ended up at a country house party-odd since the houses were shut up for the winter season so that at once put me on guard and a mad corp scientist trying to improve on the 1803 work of the Italian scientist Giovani Aldini. He didn't count on me knowing that name. but it just provided the 'oh drek' momment a little earlier than he expected.

Oh, I bet it was more than a little electrifying to know that bit of evidence!

Oh yes , very good.