HEADLESS HORSEMAN, THE -
By Bill Silvey
Frequency: Unique
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: -4
Move: 12"
Hit Dice: 80 Hit Points
% In Lair: See Below
Treasure Type: Nil
No. Of Attacks: 2
Damage/Attack: By weapon type (See Below)
Special Attacks: See below
Special Defense: None
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Very
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Size: M
Psionic Ability: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil/nil
Level/XP Value: X/5500 + 10 Per H.P.
On another world within the Prime Material plane, a spirit of
unspeakable evil known as the Headless Horseman lurks. This creature is
the spirit of a deceased villain - a traitor
who turned his back on his loyalties to his countrymen during a great battle,
but before he could escape, his head was struck off by a sword blow.
As years went by and his perfidy and ultimate demise faded into legend, a small village called Sleepy Hollow formed near the place where he was slain. The villagers knew not of the Horseman's death, nor on the oath he swore upon reaching his just rewards within Hell: he promised that he would rise up on All Hallow's Eve and strike down anyone who crossed the bridge over the river close to where he was slain, and take their head for his own!
It was his choice of dates that gave the Headless Horseman one of his two gruesome weapons: The Headless Horseman adorns his otherwise bare neck with a large, flaming Jack-O-Lantern, and when he approaches his prey, he removes it and hurls it towards them! When it strikes the intended victim, it bursts as a 6th-level Fireball spell; standard saving throws apply.
The Headless Horseman's other weapon is a great gleaming sabre, and when he engages in hand-to-hand combat with an opponent, he will always strike at the head of his foe. If a 20 is rolled to-hit, the target must make a saving throw versus Spells, or else the hellish weapon beheads them (otherwise, it does 2-8 points of damage)! Anyone so decapitated can only be made whole through a Wish spell, or via True Resurrection. Although the Horseman then "wears" the head of the deceased, when he returns to Hell, it is rapidly consumed by the foulness and corruption there, leaving him in his unnatural state and lusting to decapitate another mortal.
Once per combat, the Headless Horseman bellows out an eerie, booming laugh. Any who hear this must save versus Spells or else suffer the effects of a Fear spell for 1-6 rounds. If the Horseman is defeated in combat, it will disappear until the following year's All Hallow's Eve. If the Horseman is met and confronted in ihis plane of Hell and defeated there, he is utterly destroyed.
The Headless Horseman rides a Nightmare (q.v.) with all the appropriate abilities thereof.
Although the Headless
horseman has no lair per se, when encountered on the Prime Material
Plane, he will always (unless so desired by the Dungeon Master) be found within
a six-mile radius of the covered bridge near Sleepy Hollow; anyone unfortunate
enough to encounter the Horseman who is able to cross the bridge and pass a
church-yard located on the bank opposite the town itself will be safe from this
horrible apparition.