Critfall: Headless Horseman

By
NightsHigh

A Halloween boss for Critfall. On October nights at midnight, a headless executioner riding on a black horse may come for a player standing under the open sky. He carries a rusted sword and his own burning jack o' lantern head.

Description

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.

Features

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 Horseman on his Gallows Steed

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.

The charge

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.

His head landing in a line of fire

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.

The Horseman on foot

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.

The sword and the head as trophies

Requirements

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.

Configuration

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.

The config screen

<details> <summary>Every option and its default</summary>

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.

</details>

Modpacks

Free to use in any modpack.

Links