RL 1-off

So, I am doing a real life Halloween one off and I have the basic idea behind it, but wanted some input from you all.

My group will consist of 4 PCs all of which I specifically hand crafted for a player.

Basically, the players will be in a maze, trying to stop a cult fanatic from raising the Great Pumpkin (which happens to be a bright orange beholder). The fanatic is Linus from Peanuts and I wanted other Peanuts-esque things in the story, but I am at a loss as to what. Any ideas?

Charlie Brown could be a beastmaster with his feral sidekick.

Schroeder the bard or bon vivant.
Little-red haired girl femme fatale.

List of Peanuts characters

Maybe the Little red haired girl as a siren or harpie?

I guess what you need to think of are your specific players nterests, and do you want them to be able to guess. The LRHG isn't the first you'd think of.

Charlie Brown kept getting a rock for trick or treat. Maybe his weapon is a sling.

Lucy was a "doctor" she could be the cleric.

Right, i'm looking for subtle things too. I don't want them to realize what is happening until the end. Any sort of traps or puzzles?

There should be a yank-it-like-a-football trap.

As to puzzles, maybe:
- something mumbled and hard to discern.
- a leap of faith into a soft pile

A trap that involves dunking one's head in water/liquid to retrieve something?

A trap that transports individuals to a parallel universe and they have to infiltrate something (ala Snoopy "behind enemy lines")

1. The maze has doors which open only after saying the magic words, which they already know and wouldn't be "trick or treat."
2. The characters have to collect spell components from the creatures behind the doors and place the components in special bags which will preserve them for future use
3. The Linus character is in the wrong location to raise the Great Pumpkin. However, the Great Pumpkin appears elsewhere for them to combat.
4. The PCs acquire sweet berries going door to door too, which will restore hit points ("sugar rush"), but if too many are eaten at once, the PC will suffer from "sugar crash."

Charlie was never any good at making jack-o-lanterns 🎃 from memory
And don’t forget the Red Baron!