Claus for Concern D&D one-shot creator on festive fun and game design

“Claus for Concern” is a tight adventure in the North Pole

A sleigh led by a team of reindeer tears through the sky, buffeted by turbulence, and crashes near a party of Dungeons & Dragons adventurers. A small group of Kringle Elves has escaped from a horrible invasion of “frosty foes, wintry wrongdoers, and North Pole ne’er-do-wells,” hijacked Santa’s sleigh, and fled to seek help, eventually crashing…wherever’s convenient for the Dungeon Master.

This is the festive plot hook for BJ Keeton’s “Claus for Concern,” a holiday-themed one-shot adventure originally released in 2020 that, over the last five years, has climbed into one of Dungeon Masters Guild’s highest bestseller brackets and quietly crossed 30,000 total downloads recently. Most holiday adventures flare up and fade out, but “Claus for Concern” continues to see renewed annual sales and support. In a phone call with Polygon, Keeton spoke about what keeps the holiday magic going strong year after year — and confirmed a full-on sequel is in the works which is due out before next year’s holiday season.

The module’s enduring charm has everything to do with approachability and flexibility. On DMs Guild, “Claus for Concern” remains "Pay What You Want" (technically free, if that’s what you want). From the DM’s perspective, the adventure is straightforward and flavorful without any overly complicated mechanics. It’s geared towards parties between level one and five, and there are easy options to scale difficulty up or down depending on what suits the group. It can serve as a somewhat silly introduction to D&D for kids or even a more serious, potentially grim but festive diversion for mature players. The official DMs Guild page notes that "Claus for Concern" fits nicely in with any arctic adventure, particularly 2020's Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Keeton didn’t set out to design a definitive Christmas adventure or a clever parody of D&D tropes. He was trying to make something that felt good to play at a moment when very little did.

Keeton began work on "Claus for Concern" in late 2020, after returning to tabletop role-playing games following a break. That return coincided with a difficult period for his family: his father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer in December and passed away later that month. “Everything was really terrible, and it had been for a long time,” Keeton said. “I needed something good in my life.” Writing the adventure became a form of escape — not just for future players, but for Keeton himself, his wife, and their 10-year-old-nephew. Keeton designed it, first and foremost, as “the thing that I would want to play.”

This intention shaped the module’s tone. While “Claus for Concern” opens with that broad, festive absurdity, the whole thing isn’t written or designed as a pure joke. Keeton wanted the adventure to be light and silly, but not disposable. As he worked through the outline, he realized that even a holiday one-shot needed a reason for its conflict to exist. “My initial idea was just, ‘Somebody kidnapped Santa Claus,’” he said. “Then I really thought about it — why would somebody do that?”

That simplicity was both philosophical and practical. “Claus for Concern” was the first adventure Keeton ever released publicly, and he learned in real time what Dungeon Masters actually needed at the table. (Hint: It’s not to “reference a stat block from the Monster Manual.”) Over the years, he’s revised the module based on feedback, adding clearer stat blocks, appendices, and encounter guidance, so DMs don’t have to flip through multiple books mid-session. “I don’t like referencing things if I don’t have to,” he said. “If there’s no word-count limitation, I want the stat blocks right there.”

The adventure’s flexibility has also helped it endure. Parties can be swept up into the story wherever the DM needs them to be, making it easy to slot into an existing campaign or run as a standalone session. The party can even play as Kringle Elves living in the village when the conflict begins. The tone can skew goofy or sincere depending on the group, and the challenge level can be adjusted for a wide range of players. That adaptability has made “Claus for Concern” especially popular with families, libraries, and educators — a trend Keeton didn’t anticipate when he first uploaded it as a pay-what-you-want title.

While many free downloads on DMs Guild are never played, Keeton has heard repeatedly from parents and DMs who ran “Claus for Concern” for kids, sometimes as their first-ever D&D session. One story in particular stuck with him: a group of children who couldn’t stop talking about the moment Santa transforms into “Santa Claws,” sprouting talons as the final battle begins. “They were talking about it for weeks afterward,” he said. “That’s the kind of impact I like.”

That impact has translated into confidence. Keeton credits “Claus for Concern” with convincing him that tabletop design could be more than a side project. “This was the thing that made me confident I could do this as a job eventually,” he said. Today, he freelances as a TTRPG designer and editor, and he’s returned to the module repeatedly in his mind — sometimes literally. Keeton has several drafts of a sequel in progress, which would expand on Eldara and the strange, pun-heavy mythology of the North Pole. “It was the OG,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to revisit this one.”

The sequel didn’t make it out in time for this holiday season, sidelined by other contracted work, but Keeton says he’s aiming for release before the end of next year. Crossing 30,000 downloads has only reinforced the idea that “Claus for Concern” resonates because it meets players where they are — stressed, short on time, and looking for a reason to gather around a table and laugh.

“I needed something good in the world,” Keeton said. “Apparently, other people did too.”