We are considering writing an adventure using a Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow approach where the party respawns at midnight or after a PC death but thought it would be good to take inspiration from previous efforts (or not bother if a great version has already been done.)
What published adventure has ever used a "Groundhog Day" type plot? As a fallback, podcasts or D&D streams would be acceptable (so at least the plot and play through are reviewable.)
In the AD&D Ravenloft product Children of the Night: Vampires (1996), p.36, the vampiric ixitxachitl lord Myxitzajal possesses a cursed pearl of enthrallment which causes anyone within a one mile radius to endlessly repeat a single day. The item's description even specifically mentions the 1993 movie Groundhog Day:
Its powers have been warped by the weird energies of Ravenloft. Now the pearl enthralls all victims (except the owner) within a one-mile radius whose Wisdom is lower than 16. Targets endlessly repeat the activities and emotions of a single day (this effect is similar to the situation in the movie Groundhog Day, though horrific rather than humorous). Victims have a chance to break the entrallment once a day by successfully saving vs. spell at dawn.
This book contains an adventure module called The Ritual Repeats, in which a small fishing village repeats the same day over and over due to the pearl's influence.
If a PC is affected by the pearl due to the party staying longer than one day, the module recommends that this is a good roleplaying opportunity. The player will of course know that the day is repeating, but their character should not, if they're affected.
The D&D 4e Eberron adventure module Lost Village of Janus Gull, appearing in the digital Dragon #367 (Sept 2008), the village of Janus Gull forms its own demiplane which is caught in a temporal loop. Its inhabitants re-live the same twelve-hour duration repeatedly, and are unaware that they are caught in a loop. On one day per year, the village reappears and can be entered.
The Adventure Zone: Balance Campaign (the first campaign) had a "chapter" that was structured around a Groundhog Day style plot. The Chapter is called "The Eleventh Hour" (Episodes 41-49).
You should note:
The Adventure Zone's first campaign does not "strictly" adhere to D&D rules, but it is very good.
Dungeon Crawl Classics #88.5: Curse of the Kingspire does something like this (at least implementing a time loop in some form).
The RPG ThinkTank has published a Christmas adventure based on this. At a point in time or when a character dies, they all wake up back at 6am of that day.
The plot can be found here:
The characters awake at 6am on Christmas Morning. (...) The instant a character dies, the entire party once again wakes up at 6am on Christmas Morning to find everything is repeating.
To unravel the mystery and find their way home the characters must save the suicidal man on the bridge, reunite a man with his wife, help a teenage couple defeat the small green monsters and discover the true meaning of love.
I've adapted this myself for a Chrismas Grinch adventure, but I haven't published my adventure yet. Maybe I'll update this post in the future.
