Abominable Snowman Competition

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Encounter Conditions

Christmas (2009, onwards)
Non-Etheric

Initial Text

A thick layer of snow has blanketed the Quad and the students are taking the opportunity to build snowmen… deranged, monstrous snowmen with clawed arms, gaping maws, and staring coal eyes.

A passing student helpfully informs you it's all part of the yearly "Abominable Snowman" competition and that you're welcome to join in.

Summary of Choices

1. Roll some snow - Unlocks "Stack your snow", 4 XP Strength
2. Look for branches - Gain 2-3 gnarled branches
3. Look for coal - Unlocks Coal Shipment choice encounter on the Waterfront
4. Stack your snow - Unlocks "Finish your snowman", 3 XP each Reflexes and Strength
5. Finish your snowman - Makes a snowman if you have 2 lumps of coal and 2 gnarled branches, unlocks "Add more claws", "Add more eyes", "Add some fangs"
6. Add more claws - Adds 1 to Abomonometer rating, 4 XP Will, uses 2 gnarled branches
7. Add more eyes - Adds 1 to Abomonometer rating, 4 XP Perception, uses 2 lumps of coal
8. Add some fangs - Adds 3 to Abomonometer rating, 5 XP Reflexes, uses 2 icicle fangs
9. Add a horn - Adds 3 to Abomonometer rating, 6 XP Will, uses 1 sharp stick
10. Add a head - Adds 4 to Abomonometer rating, 6 XP Will, uses 1 snowman head
11. Add dry ice - Adds 2 to Abomonometer rating, 4 XP Will, uses 1 dry ice
12. Add a plastic branch - Adds 3 to Abomonometer rating, 4 XP Will, uses 1 plastic branch
13. Throw a Molotov - unlocks ???, uses 1 molotov cocktail
14. Check things out - Gain XP depending on progress of competition
15. Leave them alone - Walk away

Choice Text and Results

Roll some snow

With the help of a few students, you roll up a some massive balls of snow. Wow, kids always make that look so easy.

Eventually, everyone scatters to take a break. It's just as well really… it's not as thought it's about to melt.

You've earned 4 XP in Strength

Look for branches

After a bit of a search, you turn up a few branches from the Quad's sparse trees. They're pretty creepy looking, but that's a definite benefit in this case.

You found: 2-3 gnarled branches

Look for coal

You spend a while combing the Quad for coal, but to no avail. It'd have to be pretty easy to notice, what with the snow and all.

Come to think of it, you're not even sure where anybody uses coal anymore. You think power plants might have once, but couldn't even say where Metroplex's power comes from.

Hmmmmm…

You've earned 4 XP in Perception

Stack your snow

Nobody else has come back yet, so you're apparently on your own. You heft up the giant balls of snow on top of one another.

Now all you need are some gnarled branches for arms and lumps of coal for eyes.

You've earned 3 XP in Reflexes

You've earned 3 XP in Strength

Finish your snowman

With 2 gnarled branches but no lumps of coal inventory:

Well, you've got a nice blank snowman here. There's something to be said for the "man without a face, trying to scream" brand of horror.

Unfortunately, you just can't make it work for a snowman. You're going to need some eyes… lumps of coal, probably.

With 2 lumps of coal but no gnarled branches:

Without vicious, clawed arms, you're not sure how far you'll be able to get with this snowman. He looks more likely to injure someone by toppling over by accident than any intentional attack.

With everything you need:

You add your work to the growing snowman collective. One of the students swings by and punches your name into his PDA. You hear a distant beep as the monitor someone's rigged on the quad updates.

"I like it! And real coal eyes too, that's just fantastic. Keep up the good work."

(You lose: 2 gnarled branches)

(You lose: 2 lumps of coal)

Add more claws

You add another pair of branches, giving your snowman another set of clawed arms. It's a nice touch… sets you apart from the mob of pretender snowmen out there.

It also reminds you of the word… "Hecatonchires" whatever that's supposed to mean.

You've earned 4 XP in Will

(You lose: 2 gnarled branches, adds 1 to your snowman's scariness rating)

Add more eyes

You give your snowman another set of eyes, reminding you faintly of a spider. It's a pretty creepy effect… should set you apart from the crowd.

You stand back to admire it for a bit. Yeah, it's really creepy.

You've earned 4 XP in Perception

(You lose: 2 lumps of coal, adds 1 to your snowman's scariness rating)

Add some fangs

You add a pair of menacing icicle fangs to your snowman. It looks great! The judges will have to love this!
You've earned 5 XP in Reflexes

(You lose: 2 icicle fangs, adds 3 to your snowman's scariness rating)

Add a horn

You add a twisted branch horn to your snowman. There's something about the asymmetry that really makes it.

It also doesn't hurt that it makes your snowman look a little like an evil mutant reindeer.

You've earned 6 XP in Will

(You lose: sharp stick, adds 3 to your snowman's scariness rating)

Add a head

You add another head to your snowman. There's just no way for extra heads to not be scary, especially when they're attached to the side like this.

It's like a one-way ticket to Creepytown.

You've earned 6 XP in Will

(You lose: snowman head, adds 4 to your snowman's scariness rating)

Add dry ice

You bury some dry ice in the snowman, chilling it further even as wisps of smoke rise out of its body.

You've earned 4 XP in Will

(You lose: dry ice, adds 2 to your snowman's scariness rating)

Add a plastic branch

You add a spooky plastic limb to the snowman. It does a good job of blending in. After all, who'll expect a fake branch on a snow man… and isn't it just a fake limb to begin with?

You've earned 4 XP in Will

(You lose: plastic branch, adds 3 to your snowman's scariness rating)

Throw a Molotov

You lob a molotov into the middle of the contest, scattering snowmen and contest-goers alike.

(You lose: molotov cocktail, counts as destroying 1 snowman)

Check things out

The Abominable Snowman contest hasn't really gotten rolling yet. Which is to say, people are rolling up giant balls of snow, but the snowmen aren't particularly Abominable yet.

You still have a pretty good time wandering through the contest area.

You've earned 4 XP in Perception

Or, once maximum scariness is above ??:

There's a pretty serious field of Abominable Snowmen now. Most of them are just normal snowmen with particularly wicked looking branches, but a few have started to move into scarier territory.

You've earned 4 XP in Perception

You've earned 2 XP in Will

Or, if you don't have a silk top hat in inventory:

Deep in the throng of snowmen, you find a rather nice top hat. It's fallen to the ground and powdered with snow, but it's hard to say which snowman it came from.

You found: silk top hat

Leave them alone

Yeah, who needs snowmen, right?

It's not as though they're not going to just get knocked over and melted anyway.

(Walk Away)