The Last Christmas of Nicholas Redhand | Pirate Borg

THE LAST CHRISTMAS OF NICHOLAS REDHAND

Somewhere in the harbor, a bell is ringing.

A dead captain is handing out Christmas presents, and every one of them is real. Take one and he writes your name in his ledger.

The Last Christmas of Nicholas Redhand is a six-panel one-shot for PIRATE BORG. Three to five players, one session, two to three hours. Run it as a Christmas special or drop it into your campaign.

No stretch goals, no add-ons, no deluxe edition. The adventure is finished and playtested. What you see is what ships. PDFs go out in time for Christmas Eve.

“The atmospherics of this one are amazing, I love that so many of them are just flavour or tension building. So easy to slip that into a description.” – Jason Hunt

Captain Nicholas Redhand, of the ship the Saint Nicholas, ran food, medicine, and mail to islands too poor or too cursed for regular trade. He took no payment and turned back for no weather. Off the reef at Cabo Roto, in a squall he’d sailed through a hundred times before, his ship went down with all hands.

It is said that every Christmas Eve since, the Saint Nicholas anchors somewhere new, and Captain Redhand goes ashore to make sure nobody nearby stays hungry, cold, or lonely against their will. He keeps every promise he makes, even the ones nobody asked him to keep.

This year, Marta Vane, the baker, takes something from a stranger on the beach. Her ovens are still warm. Her footprints end on the pier. Your crew goes aboard to get her back.

“Once your name is writ, the ledger holds you close.”

There's no mustache-twirling villain and no elder god under the waves. Nicholas is a good man who refused to break his word, and the people he helped are still paying for it. He never says “or else,” and he doesn't bargain. He offers.

Your players decide whether that makes him a monster or a miracle.

• An unnamed harbor town, so it fits any port in your campaign. A d6 table of omens, a husband who needs help, and a bell that keeps ringing whether the party is ready or not.
• The Bell Escalation Track. Each toll costs the town something new, and Marta's fate runs on the same bell.
• Six numbered stops on three deck maps, from the main deck to the chapel. The maps are printable PDFs.
• Four stat blocks: Nicholas (as the Saint and as the Captain), the Frozen Sailor, the Red Deer, and Marta.
• Tables for hooks, omens, random events, the Offer, and Loot, all on the same six panels.
• More than one way out. Steal the ledger and Nicholas hunts the party. Destroy it and he vanishes with his ship. Or find the gift that ends him.

It's built like a control panel for the GM. No read-aloud text. Bold marks everything the players can touch. Each room gets a few lines, not a page.

CABIN BOY | PDF ONLY | $6

A young sailor who runs errands and learns the trade.

• Full adventure PDF
• Printable ship maps (PDF)
• Delivered through DriveThruRPG

QUARTERMASTER | EARLY BIRD PHYSICAL + PDF | $8

The officer who makes sure every sailor gets what they're owed. First 20 backers only.

• A5 trifold pamphlet, double-sided, six panels
• Full-color cover
• The full adventure on six panels
• PDF included, with printable ship maps
• Ships flat in a standard envelope

FIRST MATE | PHYSICAL + PDF | $10

Second in command, and the captain's trusted advisor.

• A5 trifold pamphlet, double-sided, six panels
• Full-color cover
• The full adventure on six panels
• PDF included, with printable ship maps
• Ships flat in a standard envelope

HARBOR MASTER | RETAILER TIER

• Minimum order of 5 copies for $25, plus shipping. Suggested retail price: $10.
• Printed A5 trifold pamphlets for retail sale at wholesale pricing
• Pamphlets only. No PDF is included.

• Format: A5 trifold pamphlet, double-sided, six panels
• System: Pirate Borg
• Players: 3 to 5
• Play time: one session, 2 to 3 hours
• Theme: Christmas horror
• Folded size: A5 (148mm × 210mm)
• Weight: under 1 oz
• Published under the PIRATE BORG Third Party License. PIRATE BORG is ©2022 Limithron LLC. All rights reserved.

What Happened at the Table

The first table to run it ended the finale in one move. The GM had put a free bottle of mulled wine on a tavern bar. When the party met Nicholas, a player offered him a drink. He can't refuse a sincere gift, and the adventure was over. One player called it hysterical.

A drink still works. He can't refuse a sincere gift, and it calms him for the scene. It frees no one. 

Thanks to the CONington A-Team for breaking it properly.

Addons

The addons are all my adventures I have created so far. Fullfillment for these will be through DriveThru RPG as PDFs. If you would like hardcopies of the adventures you can purchase them through DriveThru RPG or Limithron. 

Timeline

• November 2026: Kickstarter campaign
• December 2026: PDF delivery and print production
• January 2027: physical orders ship