Sunday, June 10, 2012

Beast of the Week: Headless Horseman

Good old Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  Why the Headless Horseman isn't a standard D&D monster I don't know.  Anyway, I'm mixing Washington Irving's version with the Celtic Dullahan (also a Castlevania monster - bonus!) for this week's Beast.

Headless Horseman
AC: 5 (15)
HD: 6**
Move: 120 (40) (or as mount)
Attacks: 1 weapon
Damage: by weapon
No. Appearing: 1 (1-4)
Save As: F6
Morale: 10
Treasure Type: A (U)
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 725

Headless Horsemen, also known as Dullahans, are undead decapitation victims who return to haunt the area of their death.  They ride large, fierce black horses, which may be war horses or riding horses.  Some rare versions may ride an undead horse or Nightmare.  Some Headless Horsemen are searching for the head the lost, others carry it with them in their hands or on their saddle pommel, and search for evildoers to slay and add their souls to the ranks of Hell.  They attack with weapons, but can also use the following spells: Knock, Cause Fear (at will), Cause Blindness (once per turn), Finger of Death (once per day).  As Undead creatures, Headless Horsemen are immune to sleep, charm and hold magic.  They can be Turned as Vampires.

3 comments:

  1. Dude! An Irish fairy I didn't already know, that's a rare beast coming from my background. Totally going to use this beastie in my Garnia campaign world. I should have known Washington Irving must have had a good Celtic source for the Headless Horseman in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", it just makes sense.

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  2. "Why the Headless Horseman isn't a standard D&D monster I don't know."

    Indeed!

    Fantastic idea. Evocative use of an idea that has all the potential of being lame to the Nth degree if written by the wrong person.

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  3. Way late in finding this(actually reading through the blog from start to finish) and you mentioning that the Headless Horseman is a Dullahan, reminds me of an anime I watched called Durarara. It features an Irish Dullahan named Celty, who is searching for her head in modern day Tokyo. Her horse takes the shape of a street bike in the series.

    Definitely a must watch.

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