Krampus, Bane of the Naughty
Lvl. 18 Folklore Yokai
Age & Appearance:
Human Form: Dated clothing, somewhat resembling that of Saint Nick and their other peers. Krampus' human form contains a particularly pointy-seeming nose and pronounced, long eyebrows.
Yokai Form: Although Krampus presents itself in many variations, most of these share some common physical characteristics. He is hairy, usually brown or black, and has the cloven hooves and horns of a goat. He bears fangs, and his long, pointed tongue lolls out.
Krampus carries chains, thought to symbolize the binding of the Devil by the Christian Church. He thrashes the chains for dramatic effect. The chains are sometimes accompanied with bells of various sizes. Of more pagan origins are the Ruten, bundles of birch branches that Krampus carries and with which he occasionally swats children. The Ruten may have had significance in pre-Christian pagan initiation rites. Sometimes Krampus appears with a sack or a basket strapped to his back; this is to cart off evil children for later drowning, eating, or transport to the Demon World.
Base Attributes:
Physique 3, Martial 0, Spirit Level/Demonic Force 5, Capacity 5, Constitution 6, Intellect 3, Sensory 6 __ HP 112, Energy 11, Sense 11/110ft., Potency 11, Initiative 9, Movement 35ft.
Skills:
Guard 9, Deflection 3, Evasion 9, Cunning 9, Deduce 9, Resistance 11, Willpower 11
Combat:
Unarmed Standard Attack 3, Energy Imbued 14, Damage Output d6, Full Attack 2 Weapon Name The Ruten (Birch Rod), Weight Class Light, Type Slashing, 1H, Range 5ft. Standard Attack 3, Energy Imbued 14, Damage Output d8, Full Attack 5 Special Weapon: Capable of bestowing the effects of 'Pain' upon a successful attack.
Minor Trait
Krampus' goat-like features allow him to climb seemingly impossible to traverse surfaces.
Physical Trait
Carnivorous Recovery:
You can recover 1d4 HP for every distinct corpse you consume from. You may do so no more than [2 times a day per Constitution].
Thick Fur: Your real body’s thick fur provides thermoregulation advantages that keep you warm in colder environments and keeps solar heat from directly making contact with your skin in more sunny locations. Damage related to heat/fire or ice/cold is always reduced by 1 for each distinct source or attack that affects you. Additionally, you benefit from a +3 on all rolls performed to resist the consequences of thermal effects.
Frightening Appearance: Your true appearance is a thing of nightmares. Average humans and creatures flee or become paralyzed upon seeing you. Cunning checks used to intimidate or frighten others benefit from a +5 to their result.
True Form
Enhanced Skills:
Cunning, Resistance, Willpower
Special Attack:
Krampus Horns, d8 + 11, Piercing
Feats
Overwhelming Will: Your overall energy is one that overwhelms any who attempt to affect your psyche (read mind, calm and fear effects, hypnosis, etc.), control and influence you, spy on you by means of Techniques, or form a malicious link to you of any kind, be it by use of a Technique or natural ability. On a successful Willpower save against such effects, the person attempting to affect you must roll Willpower themselves, pinned against a Potency roll of your own. On a failure, the affected is Overwhelmed for 2 rounds.
True Potency: Critical Rolls do not count as auto-success for the purpose of overcoming/dispelling your Technique’s effects.
Reactionary Opening: Allows you to disregard Initiative to go first, but you may only Prepare Action.
Trackless: You know how to manipulate your energy so that individuals that sense you cannot tell in which direction you reside in relation to them.
Additionally, Deduce checks performed to track you suffer a -5 penalty, and spying or tracking Techniques targeting you always fail.
Improved Guard: On a successful Guard check, you block all damage. Punching Bag: You know how to take a hit. Using Guard as your Defensive Action guarantees a -2 on the damage taken (after all other calculations), even on a failed roll.
Defensive Instincts: Allows the user to roll Defensive Actions against Attacks and Techniques that they do not see/sense coming.
Techniques
Name: Lost Realm Base: Alternate Space Technique Type: Specialty, Support Performance: Full Round Action Delivery: Self Effect Type: Instant
___
Name: Punishment Base: Jinx Modification: Fear, Blind Technique Type: Specialty Performance: Standard Action Delivery: Selective Range: 20ft. Effect Type: Lingering Duration Tier (DT): S Duration: 3 rounds Saving Throw: User’s [Potency] VS Target’s [Willpower] Note: Punishment's Fear effects benefits from the 'Frightening Appearance' Yokai trait, granting its particular effects a +5 bonus against a Saving Throw. ___
Name: Lethal Getaway Base: Charge Modification: Piercing, Damaging Strike Technique Type: Combat Performance: Full Round Action Delivery: Contact Range: 50ft. Effect Type: Instant Damage: 1d6 (1d8 in True Form) + 7d12 + Potency Prompts a single Energy Imbued Attack Roll against each individual in the threatened path, each failed Defensive Action leaving the targets Downed and applying the Damage Output.
___ Name: Eternal Base: Self-Regeneration Technique Type: Specialty Performance: Standard Action Delivery: Self Effect Type: Passive Channeling Duration Tier (DT): S Duration: 3 Rounds Restored HP: User’s Potency, per round Quick Activation: Self-Regeneration can now be initiated as a Free Action. If this Technique is Modified, all other effects it might have cannot be initiated in this way. ___ Name: Instant Karma Base: Mirror Pain Technique Type: Combat Performance: Defensive Action Delivery: Self Effect Type: Instant
___ Name: Krampus' Little Helpers Base: Animate Object Technique Type: Specialty Performance: Standard Action Delivery: Selective Range: 20ft. Size: Object of up to 20ft. Effect Type: Lingering Duration Tier (DT): Mn Duration: 1 minute (10 rounds)
Adventure
Perhaps Krampus is best used in a sort of Christmas-themed investigation set of sessions, particularly satisfying if hosted during Christmas in real life. During the season, children are going missing from whichever local town or village your players currently find themselves in, and those that already know about how Krampus works are likely to quickly suspect him. Nevertheless, the challenge is not in the surprise of who is performing the kidnappings, but in how will the party be able to stop— or at the very least— fend off the powerful and ancient Christmas entity.
Krampus does not actively search to engage in combat. Quite the opposite, actually: he avoids it. His goal is to capture all the town's naughty children, only engaging those that might stand in the way of his purpose. And by engaging, I mean just brushing them aside, using techniques such as 'Lethal Getaway' to plow right through them, 'Punishment' to disable them, and 'Krampus' Little Helpers' to obstruct them in all sorts of ways, so that he may continue on with his mission and his purpose. Most of the time, however, Krampus can traverse freely using his 'Lost Realm' Technique (Alternate Space), giving the PCs and others looking to stop him a short window to engage him: only when coming in and out of said space. Speaking of this "Lost Realm", in between the kidnapping of children, those children which Krampus will not be dealing with immediately are often left to roam this dimension, cold and afraid, allowing Krampus to more easily kidnap more children without having to deal with the encumbrance issues of carrying the rest of them around.
Should Krampus sustain damage, he attempts to heal himself first and foremost using the 'Carnivorous Recovery' Demon Trait, by consuming some of the misbehaved children he manages to get his hands on. Should that not be enough to heal his wounds, he utilizes 'Eternal' (Self-Regeneration), but only in an emergency, because most of his energy is reserved for traversal through the "Lost Realm". Being a special entity, Krampus benefits from 2 other Yokai Physical Traits, Thick Fur and Frightening Appearance, the latter which he most definitely takes advantage of when performing 'Punishment', making the Fear effect it contains difficult to overcome.
When Krampus detects a particularly powerful-seeming attack or Technique, he makes sure to activate 'Instant Karma', reflecting all damage sustained back at the aggressor.
Every time Krampus manages to get away, he's difficult to track down due to the 'Trackless' feat, which makes it unclear where his energy is being sensed from exactly, while also giving a -5 penalty to Deduce checks performed to track him physically.
Knowing Krampus' full toolset, especially how evasive he is thanks to the Lost Realm, you can see how the adventure eventually boils down to one thing: investigating which are the "naughty kids" in town, because their homes are the only places one can guarantee to encounter him. And although these kids are not saints, it's nearly guaranteed that Krampus' punishment does not match their crimes. It might be impossible to save them all, but saving a handful might be considered miracle enough.