special halloween game

[Theodore Rockwell]

My New Orleans game is goin great.  I am planning a special encounter for Halloween, a Dullahan.  I could use some help on what abilities to give him.  I want to make it a real tough fight.

[Sanctaphrax]

Living Dead, Strength, Toughness, Weapons.

Then give him a gimmick of some kind. A mount, complete with rules for mounted combat. An unusual custom power. Evocation. Something like that.

Add other competencies to taste.

Make him fey, but give him a catch of gold.

At least, that's how I'd do it.

The wikipedia article for Dullahan is pretty interesting, I recommend you take a look.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dullahan

That's where I got the catch of gold. I think that the opening of locks and the calling out of the names of the dead have potential too.

I also recommend you look here:

http://www.razumny.no/DFRPG/HeadlessHorseman.pdf

[Todjaeger]

I also recommend you look here:

http://www.razumny.no/DFRPG/HeadlessHorseman.pdf

Links to the same file are available at the following sites:
http://files.boardgamegeek.com/file/download/7iqitwjjwf/Headless_Horseman.pdf?
http://www.epicwords.com/attachments/4675

I mention these since the above site has indicated that they won't keep hosting the file and they had requested that the file be uploaded elsewhere.  Also, an expanded version of Headless Horseman should be out before Harry's birthday.  I'll post a link to that once I have it.

-Cheers

[Theodore Rockwell]

Thanks.  I was planning on a greatsword, but saber has a better feel to it.  When everyone is there i have a five player party and they are creative, (i love that) so the one in the link feels a little weak.  the obvious solution is upping the toughness and strength powers.  I would like to be as creative as they are though.  So, some home made stunts?  I'll take a closer look at the stunts list here.

[Sanctaphrax]

Yes, you should definitely look at the stunt list. /self promotion

You might also want to take a look at the custom power list. There's a fair bit of stuff there that can make a fight scene unique.

The exact stats that you should use depend on your PCs. What power level are they, and how are their characters built?

PS: Cold iron as a catch might not be a good idea. If your players have the catch, the horseman probably won't last long. And they'll probably have cold iron. So gold would be better, I think. More mythologically accurate too.

[ways and means]

Mind you for a horseman you could take the cold iron one step further and insist upon actual cold iron (un-fired iron so no steel or alloys) which would be a +2 catch but be a dozen times harder to find.

[Theodore Rockwell]

I have a group of 5.  3 casters, 1 water, 1 fire and 1 geo.  1 ursathrope and 1 pure mortal P.I.  We are at 8 refresh at the moment.  the water and fire casters are main damage.  geomancer is utility.  ursathrope is the local connecting and tank.  P.I. is the talky.  of course they take turns trying out the different roles,sometimes to hilarious ends, but thats how the characters are built. 

I was planning on going with the gold catch after reading the wiki article.  Breath weapon is already listed in the books.  Im just torn on how to do something akin a dragon's fear aura from DnD.  I have been looking at the incite emotion power, and having it attach an aspect of Scared for his Life.  I'll see what I can see in the custom list.

[Sanctaphrax]

My recommendation is this with the mental aura upgrade and whatever other upgrades seem appropriate.

DANGEROUS AURA [-2]
Description: Standing near you is dangerous.
Effects:
Dangerous Aura. This power makes a Fair physical attack against Endurance (or Athletics, as decided when this power is taken) at weapon 0 against each character in your zone each turn. This power can be turned off and does not affect the user.
Extra-Dangerous Aura [-1]. This power makes Great attacks.
Super-Dangerous Aura [-1]. (Requires Extra-Dangerous Aura) This power makes Fantastic attacks.
Hyper-Dangerous Aura [-1]. This power attacks at weapon 2.
Mental Aura [-1]. This power inflicts mental stress and is resisted with Discipline.
Large Aura [-1]. This power affects everyone within one zone.
Vast Aura [-1]. (Requires Large Aura) This power affects everyone within three zones.

Sounds like you'll need Supernatural Toughness and a solid (Superb-ish) defense skill to challenge your group. But it sounds as though they're light on defense, so Inhuman Strength might be enough. I also recommend giving the horseman some FP so that the advantage of numbers isn't so brutal.

[Silverblaze]

Power: Headless - ? refresh.

You Can Hit What You Can't See: Your body suffers no penalty to perception rolls nor for combat rolls.

Can't Blind Nor Deafen That With No Head: blocks that effect breathing, sight, or hearing have no effect upon you.

[Todjaeger]

Okay, the extended version of Headless Horseman, called Sleepy Hollow (naturally) is now available at the link below.
http://www.epicwords.com/attachments/4777

Note the significant increase in capabilities for the Headless Horseman, which was actually modeled after the Giant Scarecrow fetch from OW.

-Cheers

[JediDresden]

Very nice, thank you.  I look forward to running it with a group. It looks awesome.

[Todjaeger]

Very nice, thank you.  I look forward to running it with a group. It looks awesome.

Glad you like it.  You might also get a kick out of the "report" on the aftermath of Sleepy Hollow.
As more material becomes available, I'll post it.

-Cheers

[JediDresden]

Looking forward to it.

[Theodore Rockwell]

Thanks for the links.  Ive been busy recently, just got a full time job.  I am still managing to work in time for game though and i look forward to throwing this at the group.

[hank the ancient]

I remember somebody making the point once that the headless horseman was really terrifying if you considered him to be an undead. For Zombies and Vamps chopping off the head usually puts them down, but what the Heck do you do when there's no head to start with.

 Maybe that's where the whole can't cross the bridge idea came from.