Headless Horseman - Brainstorming

[DarkCrusader]

All right, I'm running a Ravenloft campaign right now (finally). I'm planning to use the Headless Horseman. However, I'm changing a verrrrrrry important element about him.

He's not a darklord.

Fact of the matter, he was released at a time when everyone in the setting had to be a darklord, regardless of whether or not that was best for the character. Heck, his back story wasn't even defined. By making him a darklord, they severely limited him. For those not familiar, his "domain" was a road that manifested and you couldn't step off. Then a series of combat encounters before he rides up and you have to fight the final boss.

In my mind, Gothic horror (and by extension Ravenloft) should not be about a series of combat encounters. I will give credit to a short story I read once that did something interesting with him (called the Freak), but the story wasn't really about him at all.

I think it's far more interesting and productive to turn him into a very powerful monster, but strip him of his darklord status. However, there are a lot of options on how to do this. I thought I'd swing it by you guys and gals and see what you thought.

Some notes before I begin. I am most interested in thematic and dramatic elements and I stick to broad definitions of monsters as presented in the Van Richten's Guides. Whether or not he's a ghast or ghoul is irrelevant to me. Second, we should leave magic users out of this if possible. Casting invisibility on your own head or the like means ANYONE could be a "headless" horseman. It would get redundant. Finally, I'm not worried about exactly recreating the headless horseman. Variation from the original article is perfectly OK with me.

Lycanthropes- We can rule this one out right. There is no lycanthrope that functions without a head and more importantly, there's nothing animalistic about this character.

Vampires- Closer, but still not. Even if a vampire could survive without a head, this would make no sense. Easier ways to get blood than this. Also, doesn't seem to hit the right themes.

Ghosts- The headless horseman is definitely corporeal so ghosts might seem like a bad choice. However, some kinds of ghosts can become material for short periods of time. Turned back into vapor or whatever, could explain how he disappears and reappears. However, most ghosts are tied to one place and there are some choices I feel could work better here.

Dopplegangers- Nope. Makes no sense. Whatsoever. Unless you had a really creative doppleganger making a hoax. However, name the player group who wouldn't feel ripped off by that revelation. Except Mystery Inc.

Fiends- A fiend certainly could do this. The rampant destruction fits in well with some sorts of fiends, and the reality wrinkle could add a lot. There's also some potential here in that he could shape shift to lure people outside or the like. The problems here are mostly my own preference. I think fiends should be EXTREMELY rare in Ravenloft. Also, they are powerful which immediately vaunts them above many player groups.

Lich- Minion - "So let me get this straight boss. You mastered magic, studied the darkest, blackest arts, pulled your soul out of your body, put it into a phylactery and became an undead horror so you ride around at night, headless, chopping the heads off of total strangers?"

First, I'll just say that it's way out of character for any lich to go rushing into melee combat. Second, any lich dumb enough to have this as his ambition would probably not have been smart enough to become a lich in the first place.

I suppose we could say something went horribly awry in a magic experiment. Perhaps his skull was his phylactery and someone stole it. He's mindlessly chopping off heads to try and recover it. Even with that, you'd have to try hard not to make him sound like a total moron.

Hags- Just doesn't fit the description of hags. I could justify a hag being involved in the back story perhaps. Perhaps take inspiration from Orpheus getting his head ripped off by the women. But no, the headless horseman is not a hag.

The Vistana- This one is a stretch. The Vistana are not a monster. However, the headless horseman might have been one of them once. Perhaps a certain casque is always on the move due to a relentless chase by the horseman. Perhaps a Vistana curse made him. However, I feel they work better as back story or atmosphere.

The Created- Well, golems are corporeal and certainly physically capable of this. However, the archetypal one (flesh golems) wouldn't work. They need a head. Even if we go with another kind of golem, like stone, there needs to be two. The horseman and the horse. While I think it could work, the normal golem themes don't tie into this very well and would probably be more work than they are worth.

Ancient Dead- Now this is a strong candidate. Powerful, corporeal undead with an array of magical powers that could cover many things the headless horseman needs to do. I see only two drawbacks. First, is while ghosts are usually tied to one spot, ancient dead always are. He needs a tomb or resting place of some kind. Even if he ranges really far, he can't get everywhere in the Core. Second, this is one most like Tim Burton's film about the horseman. Whether that's a pro or a con depends on you. My feelings are mixed.

Walking Dead- Another really good one. This would have to be an unusually powerful and old one. Rather unique. But it could definitely work. He wouldn't suit as an obedient dead. Hungry dead sounds unlikely, unless he gains subsistence from decapitating people somehow. This leaves the third kind (what were they called again).

Dark Fey- This is another likely candidate. I'll admit this comes from lots of folk lore about dullahans and horses that drown you, etc. I wouldn't put this past some redcaps or other nasty fey as some kind of sport. They would also certainly be able to use magic to enhance the terror of their raids or escape mysteriously.

This does bring to mind an intriguing possibility. What if the headless horseman is just a puppet, and it's the horse that's the evil intelligent master? Whenever it's rider is killed it traps a new victim on it's back.

Mist Creatures- This one could work really well. The headless horseman absolutely works as a myth or urban legend that can be manifested to wreak havoc.

Thoughts or feelings?

[Atma]

In Darklords, he's described as a unique undead... So, I would think he would be some sort of corporeal ghost or mist-creature that only manifests at certain times of the year, and that, once the right time has passed, he goes poof until things fall back into alignment. Or summoned.

[Manofevil]

Dam. You just HAD to get me started, didn't you?

OK Here's what I got.
Centuries ago, in some forgotten land, a noble officer was sent on a suicide mission during the course of a war. Only his headless body, his faithful horse, and the weapon that had beheaded him, a sickle, were recovered. A female magic user who was also a camp follower and the intended of that officer was so distraught over his death that she vowed to punish all those to blame for it. She sunk all of her magic into the sickle, using it to animate her beloved's corpse and binding the horse to it. She had originally intended for the horseman to hunt down and take the heads of the officer's corrupt superiors as well as all members of the enemy army, but she underestimated the amount of magic required for such a complex spell and collapsed before it was complete. The Horseman quickly claimed her as it's first victim and began a long string of random beheadings that finally culminated in the mists finally rising around it. This runaway magical creation has been rampaging across Ravenloft ever since.

Use whatever parts of that you like.

[Zilfer]

Alright admittedly my topic is all over the place buuuuuut. I discussed a few of my ideas and at worst you'll just discredit them as not applying to your campaign which is totally fine! The beginning of the topic is different than the last because i change my mind over time, for a 1 on 1 campaign that I am doing but i leave previous posts unedited so i can go back and look where I started.

http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/foru ... f=1&t=8207


Recently I've been starting to think of it as a Fey for my own campaign, maybe an undead fey which is why it's able to be almost anywhere because the way i see the fey realm is they have TONS of exits and they could be far away in the real world but close in the fey world.


If you want an Evil Master I know a certain person that needs heads...... lots of heads actually..... I mean she has to get the SOMEWHERE doesn't she? (THAT might be an interesting campaign thread.... especially since if it's defeated the PC's may never know! XD)

[Alastor]

I was suprised that DeathKnight was not on your list of possible monsters.

To me, that feels like the first possibility to consider for any undead character with a mount. Death knights have an innate ability to command lesser undead to serve them, so that could explain the other original encounters if you still want to use them. Also, since it is a template you could scale the Horseman to match your party's level fairly easily.

The only question is why an undead knight who retains his intelligence would travel around cutting off heads.

Maybe beheading was the favored punishment for some crime in his kingdom of origin. He was found guilty of this crime himself, then further punished with the curse of undeath, and the only way he can think to redeem himself is hunting down others similarly guilty and treating them the same way.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

You're not the first to think of demoting the horseman from darklord. The rewrite he got in Dungeon Magazine #174 expanded the domain beyond the road made him the real Darklord's curse.

[Zilfer]

I was suprised that DeathKnight was not on your list of possible monsters.

Pathfinder also has an alternate form of that. (Probably due to copy right) They are called Graveknight. They are pretty badass and can summon an undead skeletal horse i believe which is the same every time. So that's another possibility and it makes whatever it was before into a undead. Furthermore I thought it was kinda ravenlofty that someone who is greedy enough to use the Graveknights (Probably magical kickass full plate or whatever) slowly becomes the graveknights. Something that I've wanted to use on my party in regular DnD but i think would fit equally as well in Ravenloft.

For Graveknights their armor is basically their phylactery sort of thing, but that's something I think most players won't know or be able to metagame. I mean whenever there's a lich you just destroyed who DOESN'T look for the phylactery? xD

[MichaelTumey]

Yes, as far as corporeal ghosts go, there are two mentioned in the Kaidan books (though these are third party Pathfinder rules). In Haiku of Horror: Autumn Moon Bath House, the ghost has several special corporeal hair attacks she can do even if she is otherwise fully incorporeal. In the second Curse of the Golden Spear module, Dim Spirit, Honya, the ghost featured in that story is always corporeal for 24 hours of the day, though for 23 of those she appears as a normal living person - she doesn't even realize she's a ghost. One hour a day she is in her true form as animated skeletal remains and she has an attack that sucks the moisture from living beings.

So I agree, using unique mechanics, a ghost would be very appropriate (in my opinion, most appropriate) being to represent the Headless Horseman.

[alhoon]

NOTE: There are corporeal ghosts and there are timed ghosts. "Don't be caught on the road in a moonless night" could be "The ghosts manifest and uses minions to keep you on the road, but is anchored on the road"

But I would go with ancient dead though.

[Hazgarn]

I'd say he makes the most sense as fey. I'm somewhat surprised no one has brought up the bogeyman subtype specifically. The Horseman seems like he'd fit well amongst their number.

Some form of ghost or apparition would also feel right to me.

[alhoon]

Bogeyman is very good yes.

[The Lesser Evil]

The problem I have with fey is mostly a mechanical one (if you're using a 3.X derivative) in that fey typically really suck at combat. (Unless you use some kind of template on an already existing creature.) Otherwise, yeah I agree the fey/bogeyman/mist creature idea is a really good one.

As far as ancient dead being bound to a site, I don't see anything in any of the material that says they have to be, or even that they ever actually depend on it. In the case of mummies bound by servitude or invoked to protect something they owned in life, then there may be some connection. But I can't find anything in Van Richten's Guides or the Ravenloft material that says that all of the ancient dead are bound to a given grave site or tomb. Indeed, even some mummies in Har'Akir have gone far beyond that. (After Senmet's plans against Ankhtepot fail, he flees the domain entirely, and Ankhtepot sent one of his servitor greater mummies all the way to Dementlieu just to track down and kill the comparatively pathetic Abu Al Mir purely out of spite and revenge.)

Of course, coming up with an ancient dead origin for the Headless Horseman would be a bit hard, but it could be done. The most likely means of mummification would be some sort of natural preservation such as being thrown into a bog. But "naturally occurring" mummies are noted as being among the weakest (rank 1 or 2), and the abilities of the Headless Horseman seem to be a bit beyond that. However, Van Richten's Guide to the Ancient Dead mentions the possibility of an usurped form of Created ancient dead. That is, even the best intended of funerary arrangements can be perverted if a malevolent third party is able to lay a curse upon the corpse.

So let's return to the tale of the villainous Hessian soldier mentioned in the Washington Irving tale. Dying on the battlefield (getting your head blown off by canon fire) seems both less ignominious and harder for somebody you really hate to find your corpse and curse it (not to mention harder for a corpse to be preserved.) What if our soldier/mercenary was so reviled/hated that he received a public execution by beheading? (Guillotine or by axeman might be fun.) At the public execution, many people would have the opportunity to lay curses upon the slain soldier. And then the body of the future Headless Horseman is dumped unceremoniously into an unmarked grave in the bog, where the body is naturally preserved. However, the mummy is filled with the malevolence the soldier displayed in life, the indignity of a public execution, and the dozens (or even hundreds) of curses laid down by the populace to disturb its rest. I think you could explain a fairly powerful and unique ancient dead that way.

[Hazgarn]

Walking Dead- Another really good one. This would have to be an unusually powerful and old one. Rather unique. But it could definitely work. He wouldn't suit as an obedient dead. Hungry dead sounds unlikely, unless he gains subsistence from decapitating people somehow. This leaves the third kind (what were they called again).

Restless dead (wights and the like). Something along the lines of a Dread Revenant would certainly be appropriate if you could find a reason why he's more concerned with finding his missing head than finding his murderer.

[The Lesser Evil]

A revenant could be pretty cool. The thing to work around would be the specificity of their targets. (Usually a revenant goes after a specific murderer, right?) If it blamed a whole community for its death or even country or civilizations it could work. Given enough motivation, it could even chase down descendants of those it finds responsible for killing it.

Edit:If the revenant were confused or just especially jealous, it could go after people that just seem like its perceived murderers.

[DarkCrusader]

Wow, that's a lot of great responses! Thanks so much, and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to reply.

I'll address all of the replies here. However I want to say I'm not using a d20 system. I plan a post later where I rant about how d20 is one of the worst systems for horror. This also means that trying to decide between a death knight and a grave knight is superfluous.

One question I do have is the bogeyman. I don't remember a type of fey specifically referred to as bogeyman, unless I'm looking in the wrong book.

Atma- Thanks for the ideas. Those are all good.

Manofevil- Yes, I DID get you started! That's an awesome back story and back story is critical in Gothic stories!

Zilfer- When tossing about ideas as broad as mine, I can't really claim to have a campaign set in stone. Your idea is pretty awesome, though you are right, that's rather campaign specific. Your reasoning about the undead is sound. I do not like the idea of the Headless Horseman collecting heads for someone else though. Then the story becomes about someone else, rather the Horseman. That was one of the central failings of Tim Burton's movie I felt.

Alastor- Death knight wasn't one of the options I mentioned because A) I was trying to do it within the bounds of the Van Richten Guides and B) I'm not using a d20 system. Not bad background ideas though.

Gonzoron of the FoS- Thanks for the recommend! Looks like I'd have to pay for to get access. Oh well. It's an intriguing concept. I keep assuming Ichabob Crane will be the darklord somehow.

MichaelTumey- Interesting examples of Coporeal ghosts. Thanks!

alhoon- Your ghost idea is atmospheric and cool. However it's worth noting "Don't be caught on the road in a moonless night" could apply equally to either ghosts or ancient dead.

Hazgarn- Where does the bogeyman subtype come from? Glad you like the Dread Revenant idea. Dread Revenants are rather... focused. The Headless Horseman is usually depicted as indiscriminate.

The Lesser Evil- I am not using a d20 system, though the fey do tend be glass cannons in this system too. You are right though. It would be a little out of character for a fey to be a front line fighter/tank type.

You are right that ancient dead don't have to be bound to a site. However, they're very attached to their possessions and most require a place to sleep. The nomadic nature of the Horseman's lifestyle just seems to clash with my idea of ancient dead. You ARE correct in saying some have gone pretty far afield, but the examples you gave were servitor mummies. They were basically undead guided missiles.

Your explanations on how he could be ancient dead are good, but in my experience the more you have to work to make it work, the more you should consider something else.

You're right about the Dread Revenant. Dread Revenants are rather... focused. The Headless Horseman is usually depicted as indiscriminate