Bay 12 Games Forum

Gifts come in a wide variety. Everyone gets a gift box to start, with another being allowed to be grabbed each time one defeats an enemy. ("Defeat" is generally taken to mean "cause to be unable to fight back". Please try not to kill each other--it's awfully hard to explain the bodies to Mrs. Claus.) The starting gift is in your arms as you enter the arena; further gifts have to be retrieved from a tree. Taking a gift when you aren't allowed to attracts a number of Judges, who don't like people breaking the rules.

Every one of Santa's elves, as part of the application process, has to be able to assemble three toys (one classic, one knock-off electronic, and one "wild card") from random junk and debris, using a combination of nimble fingers, elven magic and cleverness. (Santa's profit margins are pretty slim--he needs to cut costs everywhere he can.) Thus, all elves are skilled at making wonderful toys--literal or figurative--from trash. However, they are not all skilled at making toys from trash over the course of seconds while being attacked.

To craft things, you need materials. These need not be what a mere human would need, but every component must somehow relate to something in the raw materials. Don't worry about tools--elven magic will take care of that. Add your Craftiness modifier and an additional modifier based on the difficulty of the task:
-2: Nigh Impossible (functioning laptop computer from toilet paper, a pen, and a dead battery)
-1: Improbable (book from a pen and a chunk of wood)
0: Difficult (MacGuyvering)
+1: Average (firearm from firecrackers, a BB gun, and lead weights)
+2: Simple (birdhouse from birdhouse-building kit)

1 or less means you make something different--and generally dangerous! Just what you make depends on what you tried and how badly you fuzzed up.
2 means you don't make much of anything.
3 means you manage to scrape together a crude facsimile. It should work, but it won't work well.
4 means you make a crude--but functional!--version of what you intended.
5 means your product looks like one fresh off the factory floor.
6 or more is an accidentally-enchanted mess. Given that Santa's elves are not trained to use enchantments properly, this is generally bad.

Yes, you can craft with loot. Yes, the crafted item retains the loot's enchantments.

A certain amount of magic is required to use most of the gifts, and to craft things. However, elves can also attempt a certain extra amount of magic.
Describe what you want to do, then roll, adding your Magic modifier and a modifier for difficulty:
-3: Dangerous (Good-sized fireballs, Flight)
-2: Scary (Flaming spheres, Curing moderate wounds)
-1: Powerful (Fire bolts, Summoning badgers)
0: Tough (Lighting fires, Detecting magic)
+1: Average (Lighter flame, Summon a bumblebee)
+2: Simple (Little lights, Change colors)

1 or less is magical backlash. You take a negative effect similar to the opposite of what you wanted. For little spells, you might end up purple all day or shrouded in shadows. For big things, you could end up crushed or encased in ice! Careful...
2 means nothing happens. Lucky you, if you got worse you could have died.
3 means a little something came up.
4 means you got close to what you wanted. A minor detail or two might be off, but it's satisfactory.
5 is an impressive spell. It goes A&BtCoD.
6 or above...hoo boy. Familiar with the term "collateral damage"? As with critical failures, though, it varies depending on the spell.

A good or clever magician can use magic to great effect. A poor or unimaginitive one will probably end up exploding himself.

Rule #1: Don't Tell Mrs. Claus!
Seriously, if she found out this whole thing would be shut down. Don't be "that guy".
Rule #2: Don't hurt spectators!
The arena is surrounded by a gaggle of elves, interested to see what happens. Don't hurt them, seriously. Show restraint.
Rule #2b: Don't break the workshop!
This addendum should be obvious, but seriously, don't.
Rule #2c: Defeated elves count as spectators.
Once they're down, they're out. No need to hurt them more.
Rule #3: Don't take unauthorized gifts.
You get one Gift when you enter and can take another when you take down a fellow competitor, but don't steal gifts when you enter. That's just unfair to people playing the game like it's supposed to be played.
Rule #4: Once in the arena, stay in the arena.

The area with blue carpeting and seven Christmas trees is the Arena. It is surrounded by a crowd of elves, watching in wonder. Once you leave the stone and get onto the carpet, you're stuck there. Unless you want to be a cheater, but seriously you don't want to cheat. See below.
You could also surrender, but this has never happened in recorded history.
Rule #5: No Looting
Once an elf is down, his stuff leaves with him. Taking loot before then is acceptable, taking loot they drop is acceptable, but if they are wearing it or holding it when it's time for them to be carted off, it's off limits. This goes double for personal items.
Rule #6: Respect the Judges!
The Judges are Santa's guards, equally well-equipped to deal with polar bears or the new kid's mechano-eldritch abomination. They are dwarves, since they are resistant to magic and quite tough. The guards lucky enough to Judge these battles are armed and armored with gear Santa himself made, heavily trained, and ready to dish out punishment on anyone breaking the rules. Or anyone making fun of them. (Judges have +2 to all rolls and are armed with one of a battleaxe, hammer, cudgel, net, crossbow (firing blunt--but heavy and sometimes magical--bolts), or a wand. Except for the wand-users, they cannot use magic. They also can't craft stuff, but their armor renders them immune to all but the strongest attacks.)
Rule #7: Have fun.
Seriously. That's what we're all here for. Don't take it too seriously.

There are seven stats each elf has. Elves come pretty standard; they can have up to one stat with a magnitude 3 (either +++ or ---), two with magnitude 2 (++ or --), and need at least one stat with magnitude 0 (0). You can, however, take less extreme stats, even 0000000, if you want.

Agility: How quick-witted you are. Affects dodging, initiative, and maybe one or two other things.
Craftiness: How well you do in the workshop. Affects crafting.
Dexterity: How steady thou hand ist. Affects attack rolls
Karma: Were you Naughty or Nice? Affects what gifts you get!
Magic: How strong of mana you have. Affects Magic rolls, as well as rolls to use more complex magical stuff.
Strength: How strong you are. Affects damage rolls with some weapons and attempts to move stuff.
Toughness: How tough you are. Affects damage resistance rolls and attempts to resist other bad things.

Name: What your elf's name is.
Color: What color clothes does he like?
Gender: Are they skirts or kilts?
Appearance: What do you look like?

Stats go here.
[spoiler=Name]
[color=Color]Color: Color[/color]
Gender:
Appearance:

Agility:
Craftiness:
Dexterity:
Karma:
Magic:
Strength:
Toughness:
(/spoiler)
If you use the Code version, remember to fix the /spoiler tag!