The Hope Day Massacre [4E D&D]

Join the Krampus Christmas Carnival!

Often times in RPGs an opportunity is missed to spice up the game with celebrations and holidays for the PCs that coincide in time with real-world holidays.  I am guilty of this myself.  I often think: of all the days in the year, why would my game fall on this in holiday?

One holiday that has always sparked excitement in gaming is Halloween, but why do things have to stop there?  Halloween means undead, almost 100% of the time (Editor’s Note: or Magical Candy!).  For RPGs – that’s an easy one to incorporate into your game. But, what do Christmas and this holiday season represent?  Gift giving, family, caring for others, and festive decorating are strong themes of this holiday season.

While the mini-adventure below is intended for 4^th edition Dungeons & Dragons games, the story of the encounter can’t be used for any fantasy game system.  If you do use it – for any game system – drop us a comment and let us know!

The Hope Day Massacre

This mini-adventure for four or five low-Heroic Tier characters that have recently finished an important adventure that made them local heroes. Winter has come and the PCs receive an invitation to celebrate the Hope Day Holiday (or some other winter festival chosen by the GM) with a friendly local lord named Sir Boon. He has offered up that there will be gifts, great food cooked by his lovely wife, ale and wine and a warm bed at his estate for a weekend stay. In the invitation, he also makes clear that all his children idolize the PCs and their recent exploits.

Assuming the PCs accept the invitation, the PCs should have a week to make prepare and to travel to Lord Boon’s estate, a full-day’s journey from town.

Lord Boon’s Manor

Read the following read-aloud text as the PCs arrive at Lord Boon’s Manor.

“As you approach Lord Boon’s manor, you are overwhelmed by the smells of many delicious prepared dishes on the air. The pine trees that line the sides of the manor are covered in light snow. There are decorations of various gods on display in the long yard. The gravel path is lined with magical lights that follow the path as it bends around to the front of the manor. Smoke comes belching out of the chimney, carrying the smells of the foods and the thought of comfort next to a nice warm fire. Festive wreaths and tassles adorned on the outer walls of the house and from the second-story windows. Three stand out on the front doors of the house that are clearly amateur in design, but with great creativity. These must have been made by the lords three children. After a few minutes of waiting, you realize that no one is coming to greet you.”

If the PCs search the manor grounds, they will find it deserted. The house itself, however, seems to be inhabited as a bright fire can be seen burning in the hearth inside. When the PCs move into the house, read the following.

“You open the door in the hopes of finding a peaceful night of good food and gifts. The door is not locked, and based on the way the foyer of the house looks it appears that someone recently departed in a hurry using the front door as their way out. Fire from a massive hearth casts light that flickers off the walls of a den to your right. Suddenly, an evening of festivities has taken a turn and a great sense of forboding falls upon you.”

Make the following skill rolls for each PC. On each success, depending on the skill rolled, read the following text.

Perception (DC15): “You hear the distant sound of someone weeping, just over the sounds of the crackling fire.”

Perception (DC20): “Hoof prints show on the wood floor from ashes. The hoof prints come from the den. You cannot see where they may have entered the house.”

Nature (DC15): “You notice tufts of wirey black fur shed on the floors of the house leading towards the den, but nowhere else. It looks like the fur of goat.”

As the PCs enter the den, read the following text aloud.

“You are confronted by the sight of a once beautiful woman, now middle-aged. She is holding an equally aged figure in her arms. She weeps just loud enough to audible over the fire as you approach. One other figure is sprawled about the floor. It is a boy; the look on his face is one of terror. No visible wounds are on his body, but appears to be dead.”

The woman is Lady Charlotte Boon. She is a mess after the attack which happened just an hour prior to the PCs arriving. She quickly describes what happened, but she will not tolerate too many questions. She pushes for the visiting group of heroes to head out immediately after the creature, to find her missing girls. To help encourage their resolve, she offers a reward of 1,000 gold (or other appropriate reward) to each PC who helps return her daughters safely.

She explains to the PCs that about 1 hour before, a strange monster—part demon, part goat, part man—dropped down through the smoking chimney and attacked her family. Her son tried to defend her family, but stone-fell dead from fear at the stare of the Krampus. Her husband, Lord Boon, tried to fight the beast off as well but was gored to death by the horns of the creature. The creature then grabbed both of the family’s daughters and made for the front door. She’s been sitting in shock ever since.

Tracking the Krampus

Listen to creative player options for tracking the creature. Below are some good examples:

History (DC15): “You know the creature is the Krampus, a demon that stalks the mountains in the region. You know where to look for the creature.” All tracking checks by the party gain a +2 bonus.

Perception (DC20): “You find some evidence of several pieces of a ripped girls dress. They start to form a trail and lead you to the beast’s lair.” Tracking the Krampus can take hours into the night, or days depending on how the DM wants to run it. If the PCs fail this tracking attempt, give them an automatic success to find the trail after 30 minutes of searching. In this case, the Krampus will gain an advantage and be better prepared when when arrive.

Arcana or Nature (DC15): “You know the creature is the Krampus, a fearsome beast that exacts punishment on people who it believes have done evil deeds. You know its habits and that its gaze alone can kill people out of fear.”

“Using your knowledge and skills, your group follows the trail to an odd house with many chimneys and made of brick. There does not appear to be a door. The air outside is still. None of the nearby trees rustle and the snowy crunches loudly with every step you take in it.”

The Krampus Encounter

Once the PCs locate Krampus’s lair (a lodge in the mountains), they have three options to get inside.

Perception (DC25): “Hidden among the wood piles at the rear of the lodge, you find a concealed door that leads inside.” A failure means they did not find the secret door.

Athletics (D15): Each player must make this check to climb up and hop down one of the chimneys. Each person who fails loses 1 healing surge and takes 10 fire damage from the fire that is raging at the bottom of the chimney.

Once inside Krampus’s lodge, read the following.

“The lodge’s interior is a large rectangular room filled with a mish-mash of stolen furniture, tables, a straw and branches bedding area, and a small cage. The walls are lined with brick from floor to ceiling. Six chimneys, all with burning fires line the two longer walls three to a side. They seem to be fed by coal rather than wood. The room is scorching hot, those of you that wear heavier armor and clothes start to sweat. There are two fancy, high backed chairs facing a fire in the corner of the room. One of you catches the slightest glance of a human child’s arm.”

If the PCs failed their initial attempt to track the Krampus, read the following.

“There seem to be no threats visible, other than the sweltering heat. “The girls stare into the fire blankly gazing. Nothing you do seems to remove them from their trance. A look of pain has washed over their faces and stays there. You hear a hidden door open as you see the kidnapper step into his lair from the fire and several large chunks of burning coal come flying at you. The Krampus howls and charges forward.”

The two burning coal chunks should each be considered a Ranged Touch Attack (+10) that does 2d6+6 damage each. On a critical hit, the PC catches fire.

Otherwise read:

Standing in the fire of the fireplace furthest from you is a 7-foot tall satyr. His horns are polished white, and his wiry black fur seems to covered in coal dust and shoot. As you enter the lodge, he turns to face you and a shockingly long, whip-like tongue descends from his mouth.

The Krampus attacks immediately. Lord Boon’s children have 10 hp each, but they have been protected by a magical charm that confers Resistance Fire 10. Once the battle begins, the PCs must take care not to kill the children who are bound to the chairs where they sit. The Krampus will use its own abilities, as well as try to bull rush the PCs into the burning fires, or using thrown chunks of burning coal as needed.

You can either use Krampus as a template (see below) or use the Level 5 Solo Skirmisher below (depending on the level of the PCs or how it suits your campaign).

After the Battle:

“As the Krampus falls into a crumpled pile on the floor, the girls finally return to normal.”

Once the PCs return the daughters to their mother, the rewards are paid and the mother asks for the PCs to stay at her estate for at least one week for “added protection”. The Lord’s wife is now the sole ruler of the region, and she may ask the PCs to help her establish her authority in the wake of her husbands death. This could in turn provide for a series of additional adventures where the PCs are pitted against other forces aligned against her.

The Krampus

The Krampus Level 5 Solo Skirmisher

Medium Outsider

Initiative +9 Senses Perception +8, darkvision

HP 160 Bloodied 80

AC 20 Fortitude 17 Reflex 19 Will 17

Speed 8

Action Points 2

Standard Actions

(M) Kneel and Paddle (Standard; at-will)

The target must drop prone or take 10 psychic damage. If the target drops prone make a melee attack +10 Vs. AC; 2d8+10 damage.

(M) Gore and Grab (Standard; at-will) Used as a charge action

+10 Vs. AC; 1d10+5damage and push the target back 2 squares.

Secondary attack: Level +3 Vs. Reflex; 1d6+5level damage. Shift 6 squares and slide the target to an adjacent square.

(CB) Penetrating Gaze (Standard; Recharge 5,6) Close Blast 3 * Fear, Psychic

+8 Vs. Will; 3d6+5 level psychic damage and the target gains Pushed 2 Squares away from the Avatar (save ends).

Move Actions

Goats Leap (Move; Recharge 4,5,6)

Deal 10 physical damage to every adjacent target and teleport 5 squares.

Minor Actions

(CB) Karmic Whiplash (Minor; at-will) Targets 1 in Close Burst 10 *Radiant, Psychic

+5 Vs. Fortitude; 1d6+5 radiant and psychic damage. The target may choose to deal 5 Radiant damage to The Krampus. If they do, they take 5 Ongoing Radiant and psychic damage (save ends)

Free Actions

Punish the Children (Free; Encounter)

The children move to be adjacent to the Krampus. Any attack that hits the Krampus this turn will hit one of the children instead. A player may choose to miss after discovering that the attack will hit one of the children.

Alignment Evil Languages Abyssal, Common

Skills Religion +7 Athletics +11 Perception +8

Str 18 (+6) Dex 16 (+5) Wis 12 (+3)

Con 12 (+3) Int 15 (+4) Cha 8 (+1)

The Krampus Template

Description: This avatar looks like the original creature that it is based off of with a couple of additions in appearance. There are horns curling up out of the top of the creatures head and goat like ears mutated out of the creatures original ears. The creature’s feet have turned into hooves. Its eyes have also become small and have a piercing gaze.

Krampus, Solo Skirmisher

Initiative +4 Senses –

Hit points: +6 per level + Constitution score

Defenses: +2 AC, +2 Reflex; Resist Fire 10; Vulnerability Necrotic 5

Saving throws +4

Speed +4

Action Points 2

(M) Gore and Grab (Standard; at-will) Used as a charge action

Level +5 Vs. AC; 1d10+level damage and push the target back 2 squares.

Secondary attack: Level +3 Vs. Reflex; 1d6+1/2level damage. Shift 6 squares and slide the target to an adjacent square.

(CB) Penetrating Gaze (Standard; Recharge 5,6) Close Blast 3 * Fear, Psychic

Levl +3 Vs. Will; 3d6+1/2 level psychic damage and the target gains Pushed 2 Squares away from the Krampus (save ends).

Enjoy!