Krampus is here to haunt the Holidays - Monster Drop (Patreon)

Greetings everyone! And Happy Holidays! Please enjoy a free monster to haunt your festive season!

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the winter period (insert other season here if your somewhere else in the world!) I am going to keep this pretty brief, because as I type this, I have my half packed bag beside me, preparing to jump on a train in the morning to go stay with my brothers family for the holidays!

I annoyingly had this creature prepped for the last few weeks, however, with everything this time of the year just piling on top of me (as well as prepping for the launch of the big new project with Fantastical Geographic in the new year, things just kept falling by the wayside! Which is why I am making sure I get this out to you while I still can! And of course, how could I let the season pass without releasing my own take on the mythical Krampus!

This was an incredibly fun creature to put together, I knew I wanted to give this one away for free, so I wanted to do something really fun. In fact, this monster stat blocks was actually a recreation of one of my earliest 5e homebrew creations! Originally created for a game pre-Unlimited Realms set in Matthew Mercer's Exandria, he was the first antagonist for a campaign that never really got to go very far. I loved the idea of making a version of this legendary monster that was more than just a seasonal legend. As such I wanted to make lore that really felt like it had a lot more to it than "Evil Santa", after all, the real life myths of Krampus has so much deep lore that I wanted to draw from. Evil Druidic Fey are not just for Christmas. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, I will copy the lore down here, to help with Readability!

"Krampus was once a druid hermit, known throughout the small villages bordering his woods as a kind-hearted man. Every winter, he would set out from his home in the woods and visit all the local towns to gather supplies, which he would trade for wooden toys and tools he had crafted throughout the previous year. The villagers would look forward to his visit all year round. That was until he changed.

One winter, while travelling, he was caught in a blizzard, a storm so terrible that he could barely see a few feet in front of him. Hidden in a cave the kind-hearted man became afraid, calling out for someone to come save him, but there was no reply. Slowly, as the cold crept in, Krampus wept and from his tears an icy spirit rose. It offered him salvation in return for all the love the local villages had for him. Confused, afraid and desperate, the druid accepted.

That winter, Krampus never came to the villages, much to the disappointment of the people who had hoped to trade for more treats and surprises. The druid wasn't seen again for many years and slowly, the villagers forgot about him, that was until the winter Krampus returned. Ten years on from that fateful blizzard, children started to go missing from the local villages, the only clue left was a beautifully crafted wooden toy.

Krampus' deal with the Ice spirit had changed him, twisted him into a dark fey who had transformed the dark elements of the forest he used to care for. His legs twisted into large, thick hooves of the wild beasts he used to feed, from his head grew long, gnarled horns made of the ancient oak of the trees he provided for. The kind hearted man was gone, the only thing that remained was a beast that thirst for the sweet love of an innocent heart."