Meta: Benefits of Developing Holidays for RPG Campaign Settings

We all tend to think of holidays as fun, family and food. Great as flavor for our campaign setting, but of little consequence to the actual game. Well, my friends, if your world has magic or active dieties, I argue your players should be actively tracking, planning for, and experiencing the consequences of Holydays.

Social Encounters and Reputation.

Give that the PCs are inhabitants of your world, they have obligations created by tradition and relationships. Family members or guilds expect them to show up at holiday gatherings if at all possible.

Last month Bucky didn't consider family important enough to stop by for sabbath dinner. But even worse, this month he brought a whole bunch of holligans with his without notice! It's no wonder Dad cut off his allowance.

A cleric might be surprised to find the whole settlement she entered just yesterday, show up on her doorstep expecting her to celebrate the ritual of her deity's holiday.

Holidays can temporarily alter social boundries. Sometimes this alteration is as simple as including outsiders in the local community. This carries benefits - obvious - and pitfalls - not so obvious. Locals might take offense at a group of PCs failing to show proper respect on the anniverary of a god's suffering (an expectation of local behavior), refusing them help or trade. Venetian Carnival is an example of a more significant alteration of social boundries. High and low can freely mix and interact. PC's might find a patron or a significanly helpful NPC that otherwise would not be available to them. If the holidays are known and documented in your world, the players can plan for these situations in order to maximize the benefits and minimize the pitfalls.

Quest lines and Campaign objectives

Since holidays are usually celebrated in conjunction with annual events in the natural world, for example Beltain, they are easily made logical deadines for related tasks. In terms of flavor, you can use holiday preparations to give your players a sense of urgency.

Tick Tock, only 24 more shopping days till Christmas!

Consider the end of summer holiday... A side quest may be a search for a divine McGuffin, that has to be returned to the temple before Samhein, or the city will be overrun by undead. Now the holiday has provided us with a deadline AND a consequence. Not bad, hey?

As implied in changes to social mobility, a holiday could change PC access to normally sequestered people, places or items. Perhaps instead of telling them, let the players "discover" this through the lore at a random time, and encourage them to plan for their window of opportunity. Of course, it might also be an "illtimed" obsticle to their goals that they either have to wait out, or come up with a work-around. If you've done your worldbuilding in advance, here's a jucy bit of your world that makes life more interesting for the PCs, all you have to do is sit back and watch.

Game Mechanics

If you have any inclination to homebrew (since you're here at WA, I kinda take that as a given), Holidays can have a significant, logical, and predictable impact on both divine and arcane magic. It's pretty easy to justify impact on divine magic: the deity is paying more attention/ or is distracted, so spells are more/less effective; Clerics or Palidins have access to associated ritual magic; related divine artifacts have specific buffs. In terms of Arcane magic, necromancy has the most obvious connection. If a holiday marks an association with the dead, perhaps necromantic spells are more powerful than normal. Lycanthropy is also a no-brainer. Holidays marking seasons of growth or harvest might have effects on druidic or nature-effecting spells.

Give your PCs a reason to CARE about the world in which you've put so much time.

If players understand that specific holidays will aid their efforts (or put obsicles in their path) they will be more motivated to pay attention to the cultural rituals and calandars you have developed for your world. With enough "showing" through NPC activity, you can teach them to pay attention.

Why no, the shopkeeper apologizes, but admits that he is all out of salt and garlic. Hadn't taken into account all the new residents and ran out, because, you know, Day of the Dead is tomorrow. Sadie Greengrower probably has enough to salt the entrances to her hayloft though, if you ask nicely she might let you stay there and throw in some garlic for the windows.