Critfall: Headless Horseman

A Halloween boss for Critfall. At midnight in October a headless rider comes for a player under the open sky, on a black
horse, with a rusted sword and his own burning head. Critfall rolls every attack, damage roll and save. He never breaks
blocks, and if he is still alive at sunrise, he rides off.

Before he was an executioner's ghost, he was a father. He was the town's headsman, and in the evenings he made sweets for
his children. Then the town took his head on his own block, and now he rides at midnight with it burning in his hand.

Midnight in October

On Halloween he comes at every in game midnight, by the server's real date, and he has a 10% chance at every midnight in
the rest of October. Hoofbeats and mist come first. The dates, the chance and spawning all year are in the config, and spawn eggs and
/summon bring him any time.

The charge

He charges on his Gallows Steed every 8 seconds. Make a Dexterity save (DC 13) or take the hit in full and be knocked
down; a save halves it. Up close, his sword adds fire damage while he has his head, and he sweeps when you crowd him or
stand behind him.

Line of fire

He throws his head, and it leaves a line of fire: a Dexterity save (DC 14) halves the damage. The head lands as an item
anyone can pick up and throw. Without it he has no fire and rides straight for whoever holds it.

Rider and steed

The Horseman (150 health, AC 15) and the Gallows Steed (80 health, AC 13) each have their own health, boss bar and Critfall
profile. Kill the steed and he fights on foot, without charges.

Rewards

He drops one set of rewards where he falls, for the party to share:

He always drops The Horseman's Head, and one of the following: the Rusted
Executioner's Sword (2d6 damage, crits on 19 or 20), The Last Hangman's Rope or Horseman's Treats, both equally likely to drop, and a 25%
chance of one more of the two that didn't drop. The weights and the chance are in a datapack.

• The Horseman's Head is a lantern you wear. Press H to light it or put it out; with a dynamic light mod installed
  it lights the world around you. Once a day, press B to breathe a cone of fire: a
  Dexterity save (DC 13) halves its 3d6 damage.
• The Last Hangman's Rope has three uses a day. Ropes burst from the ground where you aim, and everything standing
  there makes a Strength save (DC 13) or is held in place for 3 seconds. "It has held more necks than it ever should
  have."
• Horseman's Treats holds three a day. Critfall rolls a d6 for each one you eat: a fright, a short teleport, a burst
  of speed, passing through creatures, night vision or healing. "He made these for his children, long before the town
  took his head."

Each items uses come back at dawn. Every number is in a datapack, and each item has its own switch in the config.

Requires

• Minecraft 1.21.1
• NeoForge 21.1 or newer, or Fabric Loader 0.17.3 or newer with Fabric API
• Critfall 0.2.19 or newer
• GeckoLib 4.9.3 or newer
• The Headless Horseman on the server and on every client.

Optional

• Mod Menu on Fabric, for the config button in the mod list.

Works with

• Dynamic light mods that read item lights from resource packs, such as LambDynamicLights: the lit head lights the
  world around you.
• Critfall: Checks 0.1.3 or newer: the saves against his charge and his line of
  fire use your character's Dexterity save.
• Critfall: Initiative 0.2.0 or newer: he and his steed stay out of encounters,
  so his fight stays real time.

Open the config screen from the mod list: Mods → Critfall: Headless Horseman → Config on NeoForge, or the config
button in Mod Menu on Fabric. Save applies it at once. On a server, the screen shows only your own screen settings.

The server's settings are in config/critfall_horseman/critfall_horseman.json. Each player's fog, camera shake and smoke
are in config/critfall_horseman/critfall_horseman-client.json. His health, damage dice and save DCs, and the numbers of his rewards, are in a datapack.

Every option and its default

config/critfall_horseman/critfall_horseman.json

Option	Default	What it does
enabled	true	Master switch. Off, he never comes and his fight does nothing.
natural_spawning	true	He comes by himself at midnight. Off, only spawn eggs and /summon bring him.
halloween_night	10-31	The day he comes for certain.
every_halloween_midnight	true	On Halloween he comes at every in game midnight. Off, only at the first.
season_start	10-01	First night he may come by chance.
season_end	10-31	Last night he may come by chance. The season may run over New Year.
all_year	false	Every night counts as in season.
season_chance	0.1	His chance at each midnight in season, from 0 to 1.
hoofbeats	true	Hoofbeats and mist before he appears. Off, he appears at once.
sunrise_exit	true	If he is still alive at sunrise, he rides off.
fire_damage	true	His sword hits add fire damage while he has his head.
charge	true	He charges on his steed.
head_throw	true	He throws his head in a line of fire.
sweep	true	He sweeps his sword all around him when someone crowds him.
head_passing	true	Players can pick up his head and throw it.
drops	true	He drops rewards when he dies: his head, and one or two of his sword, the rope and the treats.
lantern_light	true	His worn head can be lit with a key.
lantern_breath	true	Once a day his worn head breathes a cone of fire.
hangmans_rope	true	The Last Hangman's Rope holds creatures in place.
treats	true	Horseman's Treats, each with one of six effects from a d6.
boss_bar	true	Boss bars for him and his steed.
lines	true	His lines as titles and on the action bar, with their sounds.
effects	true	Bursts of fire, smoke and mist from his moves, seen by every player.

config/critfall_horseman/critfall_horseman-client.json

Option	Default	What it does
fog	true	Fog closes in on your screen when he is near.
camera_shake	true	Your camera shakes when he charges nearby.
ambient_particles	true	The smoke, embers and fire trails around him and his head.

Free to use in any modpack.

• The Headless Horseman on modroll.studio
• Source
• Issues