Spring-Heeled Jack ideas


Carrion Crown

Scarab Sages

My group are just finishing up Harrowstone and soon they will be starting their long journey to Lepidstadt. I want to throw in some interesting encounters so I’ve thought about using Spring-Heeled Jack.

The party could out-slug him easily, so I’m going to have him hit the party with hit-and-run tactics, as well as pulling off cruel tricks (such as nasty traps, attracting monsters, etc).

Jack doesn't want to kill them all straight away; he wants to make a game of it that will entertain him for days.

Does anyone have any interesting (and cruel) ideas that could help me? I want the players to absolutely hate him by the end of it :D


I had to look him up (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring-heeled_Jack). Has he been designed for the Pathfinder game? If not, what did you come up with? What kind of creature is he and what are his motivations? How does he come to focus on the party? An association with the WW?

Scarab Sages

He was added as a bonus monster in the back of Haunting of Harrowstone but has no relation to the plot.

He's a CR 3 fey with sneak attack, a minor Fire breath, a panicking gaze and he can jump 20ft in the air as a move action.


Oops. Apparently I didn't focus too much on the monsters not written into the story. What would be his motivation for going after the party? That may help you figure out how to use him. Maybe he has some connection to the Crooked Kin? Maybe he's been following them and decides to go after the party once he sees them at work? Or maybe the WW hired him to harass anyone who investigated their work at Harrowstone and attempted to follow to Lepidstadt.

I think traps and luring other monsters is a great way to go. My only concern would be that it might be too much of a distraction. I don't really have enough playing time to want to add TOO much to the journey to Lepidstadt.


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Just skimming the entry in HoH I'm surprised he doesn't have Spring Attack, and if he seems to easy for your players that might make a good upgrade.

Beyond that? The "historical" Jack was known for slashing women's clothing, so he should likely focus on any female PCs. Possibly even making Sunder attempts against their armor, if any.

Scarab Sages

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Here’s what I’ve got so far.
The first couple of nights he'll just sneak into their camp and steal stuff, shred clothing, and possibly replace character's drinking water with his pee.

Then things will get a bit nastier. He'll sneak in and wipe poison ivy leafs into a sleeping character's eyes then run off laughing.

Another night he'll use his fire breath of them, run off and lure them into a pit trap (which might have some angry animal at the bottom).

As a climax I’m thinking of some kind of rock formation that he can jump about and loosen boulders at people.

If things go really well I might have him survive so he can do more stuff later.

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32

Part of the theme of Carrion Crown is a grand tour of Ustalav. With that in mind, side-quests in between the modules should try and weave in other parts of Ustalav that the modules miss out.

You could do some cool things by bringing in Tamrivena, perhaps the PCs track Spring Heeled Jack to there and foil his murders there.


You could put him in TotB and have the Beast accused of some crimes that were in fact perpetuated by spring-heeled jack.


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In my campaign, I used Jack on the journey to Lepidstadt.

Spoiler:
He basically replaced the Feaster in Watery Shadows. One of the Crooked Kin had wandered off into the woods near Cortaud and stumbled upon Jack's unhallowed grove.

I tried to describe the grove in very evocative terms, with mist and strange lights and large stones that looked like tortured, petrified human figures. I also described Jack in an ambiguous way--as if he might be a normal human wearing a devil's mask (at least, until they got a close look at his feet).

I absolutely gave him Spring Attack.

The encounter was suitably freaky. The party was especially fascinated with Jack's knife, but they lost interest after discovering that it's not magical.

Scarab Sages

Gonturan wrote:

In my campaign, I used Jack on the journey to Lepidstadt.

** spoiler omitted **

Sounds good, I'm going to copy that.

I might upgrade the dagger so it makes a suitable reward if they manage to kill him.

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32

Why not make it the dagger from the scenario that the crooked kin give, ie, the +1 bane shapeshifter dagger.


I'm also using Spring-Healed Jack as well.

GM's only:
Mostly his role in Ravengro is an attempt at adding more trust Points to the game. He shows up once every 6+1d4 days (and I adjust it to make sure its not on top of one of the other events going on it town) and harasses one of the villagers in some form. He will stab Zokar near the Laughing Demon, Break into Councilwoman Mitra Strealock's home, and stalks Alendru for days outside the Unfurling Scroll. Later, as the PCs are taking a carriage ride to Lepidstat, I will have their driver be the next victim of Jack's twisted murder spree.

Just haven't come up with how to run the carriage battle as of yet.
I may have to give Jack a few levels of rouge if the PCs are at level 4.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

I love Spring-Heeled Jack. I run him as an agent of chaos showing up when things are brewing to sow confusion. I've shied away from using him as an encounter himself, instead having him show up, say something ominous, maybe hit on any characters with celestial blood, and bound away into the night. I've limited his kills in the story to people the party doesn't like. Strangely, despite them knowing he's a serial killer, everyone seems to like him.

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