New Year Stress

Adventure Hook

The New Year’s Market is too perfect today: lanterns glow like fireflies, sugared nuts pop in warm pans, and a band of bards is attempting a song called “Auld Lang Sine?” (no one is sure what that means). Then the crowd parts for a figure in a patchwork cloak. She sets up a little velvet booth labeled:

“THE YEARSTRESS — NEW YEAR, NEW YOU (NO REFUNDS)”

She smiles like she knows your middle name and invites shoppers to step through her shimmering doorway to a Land of Plenty, where “nobody is hungry, nobody is lonely, and every day ends with fireworks.” A few curious townsfolk step through… and don’t come back. The portal flickers, hiccups, and leaves behind a faint smell of sparklers.

The mayor (or festival organizer) begs you to investigate before the market empties itself one brave idiot at a time. You’ll need to:

learn who this Yearstress is…
enter the portal..
bring people back, preferably without getting trapped in whatever bizarre place lies on the other side.

The Yearstress (BBEG)

Real Name: Ysabet “Ysa” of the Lost Minute
Title: The Yearstress, Weaver of Resolutions, Lady of the Last Second
Role: Wronged survivor turned revenge. She is a villain with a flair for drama.

Goals

Punish the kingdom whose ancestors trapped her in a magical labyrinth centuries ago.
Prove she “earned” her escape by trapping others in her version of the maze.
Force the townsfolk to finally admit: “Wow. We were the baddies back then.”

Motivations (Kid-Friendly but Emotionally Real)

She’s not trying to kill people—she’s trying to make them feel stuck, like she did.
Secretly, she wants an apology… and maybe a friend… but she’s terrible at asking.

Powers & Theme

Time-flavored magic: speed-ups, slow-downs, rewinds, and “oops that didn’t count” moments—plus lots of confetti theatrics.

Signature Magic Item

The Hourglass Locket (worn like a big pendant):

Lets her “borrow seconds” to dodge hits, swap places, and power her portal.

The Yearstress — Stat Block (Homebrew, Levels 3–6 Boss)

Medium humanoid (fey-touched), chaotic neutral (mostly petty)
Armor Class 16 (sparkle ward)
Hit Points 105 (14d8 + 42)
Speed 30 ft.

STR 8 (-1) | DEX 16 (+3) | CON 16 (+3) | INT 12 (+1) | WIS 14 (+2) | CHA 18 (+4)

Saving Throws Dex +6, Con +6, Wis +5, Cha +7
Skills Deception +7, Insight +5, Performance +7, Arcana +4
Damage Resistances psychic; bludgeoning/piercing/slashing from nonmagical attacks (only while her Hourglass Locket is intact)
Senses Passive Perception 12
Languages Common, Sylvan
Challenge ~6 (tune as needed)

Traits

Dramatic Monologue (1/Combat). At the start of her first turn, she delivers a 6-second monologue. Each creature of her choice within 30 ft. must succeed on a DC 15 Wis save or have disadvantage on its first attack roll against her (they’re distracted by how extra she is).

Example Monologue, “I was there when your father was born [PC Name]! And I already attended you funeral [2nd PC’s Name]! None of you will ever see home again!” It’s a good bluff ;-).

Hourglass Locket (homebrew magic item). While the locket is intact, the Yearstress can use Borrowed Second (below) up to 3 times per day. The locket has AC 15, HP 25, immunity to poison/psychic, and can be targeted separately from the wearer (ranged attacks are at disadvantage against the locket).

Spellcasting

Spellcasting Ability: Charisma (save DC 15, +7 to hit)
At will: minor illusion, prestidigitation, mage hand
3/day each: mirror image, misty step, hold person
2/day each: slow, hypnotic pattern
1/day: dispel magic

Actions

Confetti Cutter (Melee Weapon Attack): +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+4) slashing damage. (Looks like scissors made of glittering clock-hands.)

Lair Actions

Tick-Tock Burst (Recharge 5–6): The Yearstress sprays shimmering hourglass sand in a 15-ft cone. Creatures in the area make a DC 15 Constitution save. On a failure: 10 (3d6) force damage and the creature’s speed is halved until the end of its next turn. On success: no damage and the creatures’ speed is halved until the end of its next turn.

Bonus Actions

Borrowed Second (3 times per day): The Yearstress gains +2 AC until the end of her next turn or teleports up to 30 ft. to an unoccupied space she can see.

Reaction

“That Didn’t Count!” (once per day): When hit by an attack, she rolls a d6. On a 5–6, the hit becomes a miss (she “rewinds” half a second). If the locket is broken, she can’t use this.

How to Redeem/Defeat Without “Killing”

If reduced to 0 HP, she collapses and a swirl of purple glitter swirls around her body and disembodied voice sighs, “Fine… maybe I am being a lot.” She can be left in the Midnight’s Edge (location below) with no way home, or talked down with a sincere apology + promise to memorialize what happened to her.

Locations

The New Year’s Market (Act 1)

A bustling plaza of stalls, lanterns, games, and snacks. The Yearstress appears near:

The Resolution Board (people pin goals like “learn to juggle” and “be nicer to my brother”)
The Countdown Bell (rings every hour; now ringing at random)
The Yearstress Booth (smells like cinnamon + sparklers)

The Demi-Plane: The Countdown Wasteland (Act 2)

A cartoonish “maze-world” where the sky looks like a giant clock face. Landmarks include:

The Twelve Gates – When the party arrive there will be 3d6+2 victims here. It is a circle of twelve archways labeled with months; only one can be active at a time. Activating the portals requires a gem found in the Midnight’s Edge location and changing the time on a giant clock in the floor. The hour hand points to the active portal. Traveling through a portal will return you to the place you exited the Prime Material Plane (home) on the first day of that month indicated on the portal, 1d100 years from the date you entered the Countdown Wasteland.
Secondhand Sands – an expanse of sand separating all other locations in the wasteland. Walking forward, characters make no progress. See the Skill Challenge section for more on this area.
Confetti Canyons – paper strips flutter like leaves; echoes sound like party horns. It is impossible to hear anyone or anything other than the party horns. Consider this area to be under the spell Silence.
The Lost & Found Fountain – missing socks, keys, hats and other “lost” objects rain from the sky. Beware, some lost things are not small at all.

The Final Area: Midnight’s Edge (Act 3)

A broken palace made of glass hourglasses and stone calendar slabs, with a glowing gem pulsing at its heart. See the Skill Challenge section for more details on retrieving the gem.

Local NPCs (Use up to 6)

The party will likely want to investigate in the marketplace or surrounding areas of town. Here are a few NPCs they could interact with.

Mayor Hicks (harried halfling organizer)
- Personality: cheerful panic
- Offers: official authority, reward promise, “please don’t let my market become a kidnapping funnel.”
Mika “Tinsel” Tirado (gnome stall-owner, sells party poppers)
- Personality: excited, talkative, slightly singed eyebrows
- Offers: saw the Yearstress draw a maze in the air before opening the portal; has sparkler-sticks (treat as 3 torches that burn bright, even underwater for 10 minutes each).
Sergeant Cozine (dwarf guard with a squeaky whistle)
- Personality: serious… until the whistle squeaks and he pretends it didn’t
- Offers: crowd control, a basic sketch of where people vanished, 1 healing potion to “authorized heroes.”
Miri the Missing (teen victim found early in the demi-plane)
- Personality: brave, annoyed, very hungry
- Offers: explains the wasteland “changes when someone says a countdown out loud.”
Old Auntie Rill (elderly human who remembers legends)
- Personality: gentle, knows exactly what your parents would say
- Offers: the ancient story: “Our ancestors trapped a trickster in a maze. We… didn’t write that down in a flattering way.”
Duodrone “TWO-DO” (a modron that glitches and becomes helpful)
- Personality: robotic hall monitor energy
- Offers: can translate the maze rules; will trade help for being told it’s “doing a great job.”

Exploration (Path + Waypoints + Encounters)

Run this like a brisk 3-act one-shot.

Act 1 — Investigation at the Market

Clues to find (pick 3):

The Yearstress booth leaves behind sand that falls upward (Arcana DC 13).
People vanish in groups that match a number (2, 3, 4…) like a countdown (Investigation DC 13).
Auntie Rill recalls a folktale about a “woman of the lost minute” who fell through a crack in time and was never right in the head after that. (History DC 13).

Optional Social Beat: If the party publicly warns people, the Yearstress sends a “thank you note” that reads:
“SEE YOU SOON. DON’T BE LATE. —Y”

Combat Encounter 1 (Market Mayhem): “Hall Monitors From Nowhere!”

A portal appears in the air above the market square, clockwork constructs drop out like wind-up toys enforcing “maze rules.”

For Level 3–4: 1 Duodrone + 4 Monodrones
For Level 5–6: 2 Duodrones + 6 Monodrones

Twist (Non-lethal fun): When a modron drops to 0 HP, it doesn’t die—its parts pop apart like a toy and it drifts away as harmless confetti.

Fail forward: Whether they win or retreat, the portal remains open long enough to enter.

Act 2 — The Countdown Wasteland Journey

You arrive in a bright, weird desert where abandoned 1d6+2 festival-goers camp beside a giant “3” made of stone. The air tastes like peppermint and bad decisions.

Waypoints (hit at least 2 before the lair):

Lost & Found Fountain: Rescue 1–3 victims who are stuck waist-deep in foam bubbles.
Confetti Canyon: Wind blasts count as difficult terrain; paper cuts are emotionally devastating (and mildly damaging).
The Twelve Gates: A big arch puzzle where saying the wrong month makes you walk in a circle for 60 seconds.

Combat Encounter 2 (Wasteland): “Dust Hooligans & Deadline Drones”

For Level 3–4: 2 Dust Mephits + 1 Tridrone
For Level 5–6: 3 Dust Mephits + 1 Quadrone + 1 Tridrone

Environmental gag: Every time someone says “Happy New Year,” the wind honks like a party horn.

Skill Challenge Details

Skill Challenge: Crossing the Secondhand Sands (3 successes out of 5)

Goal: Reach Midnight’s Edge before the maze “recounts” and shuffles your progress.
DC: 13 (levels 3–4) or 15 (levels 5–6)
Rules: Each round, a different PC attempts a skill. No skill repeats twice in a row.

Suggested Skills (examples):

Survival: you recognize the shifting patterns in the sands and realize there is a pathway of sandstone blocks. You step from stone to stone and reach the other side in just a few steps.
Acrobatics/Athletics: You traverse the sands by performing three backward somersaults.
Arcana: These are the sands of time that run both forward and backward.
Perception: You realize that running forward makes you go backward.
Performance/Persuasion: You keep frightened NPCs moving with a pep talk (or a silly marching song).
Investigation: You notice that you travel forwards when you walk backwards.

Success (3+ successes before 3 failures)

With 5 Successes, You find 1d4 extra victims that were lost in the sands.
With 4 Successes, You rescue 1 extra victim on the way (they say the were “looking for a snack stand”).

Failure (fail forward)

With 3 failures, you take 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage from sand-blasts.
With 4 failures, you take 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage and one random item is lost (dropped into a time-crack).
With 5 failures, you take 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage, lost 1d4 victims and have 1 level of exhaustion.

Final Boss Lair

Midnight’s Edge: The Hourglass Keep

A jagged courtyard of glass sand-towers. Every footstep makes a “tick.” The portal home is visible behind the Yearstress like a shining doorframe—but it flickers as if it might shut.

Lair Features

Hourglass Pillars: Provide half cover. If shattered (AC 12, HP 15), they spill slippery sand (10-ft square becomes difficult terrain).
The Countdown Gong: If struck (action), it disrupts time-magic—The Yearstress loses Borrowed Second until the start of her next turn.

Lair Actions (Initiative Count 20)

Choose one each round:

Shift the Walls: Each creature of the Yearstress’s choice on the ground makes a DC 14 Dex save or is slid 10 ft. and knocked prone (like the floor “rotates”).
Confetti Storm: 20-ft-radius becomes lightly obscured; ranged attacks through it are at disadvantage until next round.
Summon Hall Monitors: 1d4 Monodrones appear from trapdoors, yelling “RULE VIOLATION: FUN DETECTED.”

Minions

Level 3–4: 1 Tridrone + 2 Monodrones
Level 5–6: 1 Pentadrone + 2 Tridrones

The Yearstress’s Strategy (Simple + Kid-Friendly)

Opens with Hypnotic Pattern or Slow to create chaos (then monologues).
Uses Borrowed Second to stay mobile and dramatic.
If the locket breaks, she becomes more desperate and tries to bargain:
“Wait! I can send most of you home right now… we can negotiate the ‘most’ part!”

Winning the Fight

The portal stabilizes if:

The Yearstress is defeated/driven through, or
The party offers a meaningful peace: apology + promise to publicly acknowledge what happened + invite her to a real New Year’s feast (yes, seriously).

Monsters

Below are official monster pages (Roll20/D&D Beyond) plus the homebrew Yearstress stat block above.

Rewards (Based on Rescues)

Count how many victims the party escorts back through the portal.

1–3 rescued: 150 gp total + 2 healing potions + Mayor’s Medal of Being Pretty Great
4–7 rescued: 300 gp total + 3 healing potions + Sparkler Wand (wand of prestidigitation, 10 charges; harmless fireworks only)
8+ rescued: 500 gp total + 50 gp per victim over 8 + Hourglass Locket (Repaired local wizard if broken).
Hourglass Locket (Repaired) Attunement required
Once attuned, you gain one of the following. You may only attune to the locket once.
– You gain or impose advantage or disadvantage on a single d20 roll of any type. You can use this ability only once per day. The activation phrase for this ability is, “oops that didn’t count.”
– You can use a reaction to teleport up to 30 feet to any unoccupied space you can see up to 3 times per day.
– You can cast Mage Armor once per day as a bonus action.