Help me find a holiday-appropriate D&D one-shot. Pathfinder or 5e both welcome. Specifics inside. Family Christmas this year will include a group of 20-30 somethings, some of whom have recently started playing D&D. I'd like to show up with a one-shot adventure that's holiday-appropriate, but not necessarily holiday themed.

For example, if I had time to put together a one-shot the basic premise would be:

A farming village in a forested valley has a yearly ritual of cutting a specific type of tree from deep within the forest and erecting it in the town square on the first day of winter.

Last year a father/son pair volunteered for the honor of the cutting. They walked into the forest with an axe in the early morning; that night the son stumbled back alone, incoherent, and empty-handed. The village failed to erect the tree, and [the normally mild winter snows stormed through the valley like never before / unearthly howls were heard from the forest nearly every day, and all winter the villagers woke to find livestock dead and mangled in the fields / old stories about creatures stalking the town on the longest night of winter came true / etc.].

Since spring, the village has made repairs and [raised funds / petitioned a distant lord / etc.] to hire the PCs to enter the forest and bring back a tree. The PCs have arrived today, after the first -- and unusually heavy -- snowfall. Night comes soon to the valley, and the villagers are anxious to have the task complete.

I like this one because it's an obvious Christmas ritual with pagan roots in a quest format, it isn't specifically xmas themed, and I can use an antagonist that's not just an evil race: e.g. angry druids instead of orcs or goblins.

Sadly, I don't have the time to homebrew something. Instead, I'm looking for a one-shot that meets the following criteria:

• 2-4 characters, levels 1-5.


• Obvious holiday resonance, but not holiday themed. I'd rather not have "Santas Workshop: The Dungeon Crawl". An adventure based on an old Testament story or winter folktale would be fine.


• Not grimdark, parodic, or expressly comic. Comic undertones are fine and welcome: e.g., the local duke will winter with his patron lord and needs gifts to present the lord's family. He hires PCs to plunder a tomb and find personality-appropriate treasures for tribute.


• Premise/setting that doesn't lean on an evil race schtick. E.g. no Dark Santa and the Drow.


• Either "official" or not. I'm happy to buy an official module, and I'm happy to grab a PDF off someone's blog and kick in on their Patreon.


• 5e or Pathfinder preferred. But if you have a great Starfinder one, lay it on me.


• Pregen player characters a bonus.

Thanks!