EVENT 01 RUNDOWN: A HOLLY JOLLY HOLIDAY

[robbies]

CHAPTER ONE, PART 1: A HOLLY JOLLY HOLIDAY

Event rundown and OOC plotting

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Hello, neighbors! Tomorrow is the day our happy little town opens its doors to the public, which means it'll be December 1st, which also means— Obviously, celebration is in order. As mentioned in our first OOC mingle post, December will be a plot month with an event that's split into two parts, the first of which begins tomorrow and runs until the 15th. This will be the more plot-heavy portion of the event, with the one following being lighter on plot and heavier on action. This can be a busy time of year and we want to ensure players don’t miss plot-important events. We’ll discuss this more when the time comes, but for now, here’s what to expect for the first half of the month. Our first event will go up at 6 pm EST on December 1st. That is when We're Still Here officially opens, and when players can start playing in the communities. After 6 pm EST, you can get out of the (fictional) house and be (fictionally) social! On the evening of December 5th, Santa Rosita will hold its annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in the center of North Santa Rosita. There, Mayor Philip Clarke (Phil to his friends) will be present to give a small speech to the town and officially announce the start of the holidays, as is tradition. Also present will be Chief of Police Dale Harding and a representative of the HHA, who will be selling Christmas trees to the hardworking people of Santa Rosita. If you’d like to get to know your new town’s government and get your very own tree to round out your holiday decorations, stop by! Then, on December 6th, a strange new location will open up in Santa Rosita. As characters go about their day, they will run the risk of opening a door that will take them out of Santa Rosita and into a magic Christmas village. This village will be packed with holiday-themed activities open to all characters, from ice skating to wreath crafting and other fun and festive things. Characters can leave the village at any time, but the portal to the village will bounce around Santa Rosita, meaning that any door characters enter in any building in town has a chance of transporting them to the village. The village will be open to exploration from December 6th until December 15th. Finally, on the evening of December 15th, Mayor Clarke will be hosting his yearly Christmas gala at Town Hall. Everyone in town knows that the Mayor’s parties are the highlight of the year, and the one he has prepared for everyone tonight is no laughing matter. Food, song, and drink will be available in large quantities, and fancy dress is mandatory. If you don’t have anything appropriate to wear to the party, don’t fret! Your friends at the HHA will have a few extra outfits on loan available for your characters to deck themselves out in. While the event will have NPC presence in the sense that it will establish some of the major NPCs of the game, these NPCs will not be available for personalized interaction for the duration of the event. They will simply be there to set the stage and introduce themselves so that you may have some names and faces for the heads of the town — and, with any luck, give you all something to think about on these cold December nights. This OOC post will also function as a catch-all plotting post! Please feel free to use the space below to connect with other players for potential meetings and CR. We will be following this format for the second part of the event, which will go up on December 15th. If you have any questions, please direct them to the FAQ top-level below or reach out to us on the Mod Contact page! QUICK NOTE: We see some players with the assumption the Christmas Village is in a pocket dimension. This is unclear wording on our part, so we want to clarify: the village is outside of Santa Rosita but still very much on the same plane of existence! It is located on the outskirts of town and characters can return to Santa Rosita's main streets on foot. It is magical in the sense that you can be teleported there. More information will be in tomorrow's event post, but we wanted to clarify our vague wording!

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Comments

FAQ

[robbies]

Here's where you can ask questions about this part of the event. This top-level will be active throughout the entire first half, so don't worry about commenting "too late."

[demonicmiracle]

Just to clarify is "fancy dress" used here to mean costumes, or nice clothes?

[robbies]

Fancy dress is used to refer to nice clothes--some examples can be found here! The clothes don't have to be gender conforming, so long as the clothes themselves fit the requirements the HHA sets out.

[demonicmiracle]

Thank you!! I figured that was the case but I grew up with fancy dress referring to costume parties so wanted to be sure!

[ribticklers]

What happens if you don't wear fancy dress to the party? Are you kicked out/not allowed in to begin with?

[robbies]

If you don't match the dress code and still try to come to the party, the HHA will have some loaner outfits you could borrow for the evening!

But if you still refuse, well then. You're going to have a Bad Time.

[ribticklers]

excuse me that's sans's job

Will their "suggestion" that Sans take a loaner outfit have that "this is not actually a suggestion" vibe to it?

[robbies]

Characters are not explicitly required to attend the Christmas gala, but the Mayor may remember that you have refused his hospitality.

If they fail to meet the HHA's dress code, then the loaner option will be their last choice before more dire measures are taken. The HHA has worked very hard to ensure the party stays on theme. And they have ways of making people cooperate with Christmas.

[spaghettimonster]

Sans.

Sans remember the zombies.

Sans please.

[ribticklers]

okay fine if papyrus reminds him of how disobedience brings zombies he guesses he can wear the least formal formalwear he can get away with

if he HAS TO

this is THE WORST

[undiagnosed]

so what would happen in the christmas village if a character started breaking stuff because they weren't happy about being transported so suddenly? or because they hate christmas? or just because they're a dick?

[robbies]

You would make Santa and his elves very sad.

It wouldn’t stop him from being teleported back into the village by opening another door, and any damage would be be undone by the time they next appear. Blink and you’ll miss that smashed-up candy cane being mysteriously and instantly fixed.

[undiagnosed]

IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE...

okay follow up: are they ACTUAL christmas elves or just people in costume? how magical is this magical land...

[robbies]

It's the magic of the season!

They are the type of elves with rubber ears and velour costumes, who look like they'd work at the hardware store eleven months out of the year. Think of them as limited Christmas edition Robbies who stay very in character!

[undiagnosed]

gotta get that bread somehow, even if its in a 60s hell dimension, right? thanks for the answers!

[fanoperator]

Could I get some info about the boundaries or 'backstage' areas of the winter village? Huaisang is going to repeatedly get 'lost' looking for the bathroom, so he'll be opening doors and trying to figure out how this place works as much as possible.

[robbies]

Thanks for the question! We added a quick note of clarification to the post above which hopefully helps answer your question. As far as 'backstage' areas, many of the buildings will appear to be perfectly normal, non-magical, and uninterestingly administrative. This includes the bathrooms, of course.

[blackscales]

There's ice skating, but on the whole in Santa Rosita how cold is it actually? Asking for a friend who's previously been a dragon inside and thus always been warm.

[robbies]

Average December temperatures for this part of northern California for 1961 are around 51°F for the day, 40°F overnight!

The Christmas village may be colder because you need snowy scenery for the holidays.

[sunborne]

If Daylight offered to help the HHA representative with the Christmas tree sale - like helping get them in the houses, clean up the needles, try to pitch it to neighbours - will it be taken? He's curious to see how much help will be taken and how they'll react to it as he tries to feel things out on a personal level.

[robbies]

Why, they would be delighted for the help! A gentleman stepping up to assist with a busy task? You’ll have the Robbie ladies swooning. The event post will give more detail as to what may or may not be needed for assistance.

As a reminder, no mod-controlled NPCs will be available for this event. As indicated on the NPCs page, the HHA are some of the NPCs that can be written by PCs for flavor. Any plot-related information will be communicated by mods and we’re happy to give further clarification!

[handycapable]

I know it was mentioned in the TDM FAQ that characters can acquire guns/ammo at the department store, would it be safe to assume that is still the case? Ray would definitely want to purchase a pistol and shotgun/rifle not necessarily assuming he'll need them but just to have something at hand if need be, because that's just one of his defensive instincts in general and especially in unfamiliar situations (not just because he's a spy but also has a very rural Southern upbringing).

[robbies]

Honeybee’s has a nice selection of firearms and ammunition available for sale, including this time of year. Maybe you want to wait and see if things go on sale for Christmastime! That $71 pistol may be on discount!

(Fun fact: inflation means that $71 in 1961 is $618 today! Wow that’s expensive. Maybe BB guns are a better option?)

[petsthedog]

Can the doors to the Christmas Village show up even inside a character's own home? In case I wanted to drag a brooding brat out into the snow lol.

[robbies]

Yes, doors to the Christmas village can show up anywhere a door can be opened, including bathrooms, closets, and pantries. Hope you didn't need that can of Spam too much!