In the spirit of the season (especially when some players might miss a session due to trick or treating) meet the Pumpkin King, found in Tome of Beasts 2 and now Monster Vault 2!
A Desperate Deal
Ten years ago, the village of Kaschdam was at the brink. Excessive rains destroyed what little crop could be coaxed from the ground. Already living at subsistence level, the farmers were certain to starve in the harsh winter to come.
The villagers gathered in the abandoned farmhouse used for prayers and offerings to the gods. Each night, the village elder led the farmers in desperate pleas for a miracle to erupt from the seeds they kept sowing in the earth.
Beyond belief, the village’s prayers were answered. Between favorable rain and late snows, the fields bore enough food to sustain the villager through the winter.
Little did they know that the blessings came not from the gods but a fey lord known as the Pumpkin King, who came to village elder in their dreams. In exchange for ten years of bounty, the village elder promised to tithe the crop to the Pumpkin King.
A Bountiful Decade
For ten years, the Pumpkin King maintained his end of the bargain. The soil that once seemed so poor was refreshed, allowing for the planting of many cash crops for sale in faraway markets. As its fortunes bloomed, its small paths blazed into highways and Kaschdam thrived.
One year ago, the village elder who promised Kaschdam’s tithe to the Pumpkin King passed away. The village elder never told anyone of the pledge they had made to the fey lord while under the duress of certain starvation so many years ago. Perhaps the village elder hoped the Pumpkin King would forget about his covenant and leave Kaschdam in peace.
Rarely are fey memories so short.
Cometh Down Pumpkin King
Four days ago, Kaschdam recognized the tenth anniversary of their fallow harvest that wasn’t. The townsfolk arranged for a weeklong celebration, inviting representatives of their trading partners to join in the festivities. As a result, many nobles have come to town, flush with coin. With them are many adventurers, hired as protection.
Four nights ago, a tuberkith herald of the Pumpkin King (see Tome of Beasts 3) came to announce the fey lord’s imminent arrival to collect the promised tithe. Most laughed the herald out of town.
Three nights ago, orphans of the black (see Tome of Beasts 2) broke into Kaschdam’s storehouses, removing one of every ten barrels of vegetables and one of every ten sacks of grain, returning them to the Pumpkin King’s patch to the north of town.
The town continued, undeterred.
Two nights ago, the Pumpkin King’s bearfolk raiders (see Tome of Beasts 1) infiltrated Kaschdam to collect their tithes. The raiders took one of every ten animals in the town, returning them to the Pumpkin King’s patch.
The town continued, undeterred.
Last night, the Pumpkin King’s azeban allies (see Creature Codex) played tricks and cast illusions during the festivities. While distracted, the Pumpkin King’s hired elfmarked assassins targeted the nobility, abducting one of every ten of them and dragging them back to the Pumpkin King’s patch to the north of town.
Finally, Kaschdam is waking up to the truth.
Enter the Heroes
The PCs arrive the morning after the abductions, having traveled with a noble whose trip was delayed. Reaching the Kaschdam carriage house, the PCs find other adventurers strapping supplies to the very fine wagons. They are heading home instead of finding out what next misfortune will befall the town.
Avalor, the current mayor and the daughter of the village elder, implores the PCs to locate and recover the missing nobles. The guards hired by the nobles have fled the town in the evening, and Kaschdam has 1,000 gp to reward those bold enough to save the nobles.
The Patch of the Pumpkin King
The Pumpkin King’s patch is easy to track and locate, although the path is lined by scarecrows, some living, some ornamental. Upon arriving, the PCs find tuberkith noncombatants cooking the stolen food for a banquet, while the animals are bedecked in the nobles’ fine clothing as guests of honor. Inside jack-o’-lantern cages, the nobles are dressed in rags, awaiting their fate. The Pumpkin King sits on a throne of amber colored blossoms, ready to greet his unexpected guests.
As a fey lord, the Pumpkin King is susceptible to flattery. However, his goals and ways are likely alien to the PCs. He explains that the village once promised him the tithe of its bounty. When they did not pay, he engaged in self-help to collect what he had been promised. He took a tenth of the food stored in town, a tenth of the animals working the land, and a tenth of the trading partners that his blessings fostered.
If prompted, the Pumpkin King confesses that the village elder’s promise to tithe Kaschdam’s bounty was vague but enforceable. The fey lord explains that while he is interpreting the agreement, he is willing to return what he took for the right tithe.
The Pumpkin King is willing to negotiate with PCs, and will agree to return the remains of what his agents took in exchange for an appealing substitute. However, the fey lord eventually tires of his uninvited guests and attacks.
The Pumpkin King’s Lair
The Pumpkin King typically lives in fey realms like the Summerlands, in patches where pumpkins, squashes, and other gourds grow. The Pumpkin King surrounds himself with fey minions like tuberkith and alliumites (see Creature Codex) and shadow fey mercenaries. However, the Pumpkin King occasionally establishes a lair in the Material Plane.
When encounter in his lair, the pumpkin king has a challenge rating of 11.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing all initiative ties), the pumpkin king can use a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the pumpkin king can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Haunting Ballad. All creatures in the lair who are friendly to the Pumpkin King begin singing a song of adulation to the Pumpkin King. Creatures who fail a DC 16 CHA save must use their bonus action to join in the song. Creatures who fail by 5 or more can’t concentrate on spells during this time.
- Summon Allies. A tuberkith brawl (use the bar brawl from Monster Vault 2) briefly enters the lair in an empty space within 60 feet of the Pumpkin King that he can see. The tuberkith brawl departs the lair at the start of the next lair action.
- Wandering Vines. Creeping fronds and vines in a 30-foot radius spring to life, targeting all creatures who the Pumpkin King perceives as an enemy. Each targeted creature must succeed on a DC 17 STR save or fall prone. This area is difficult terrain until the start of the next lair action.
Regional Effects
The area near the pumpkin king’s lair creates one or more of the following effects:
- Glare. Every pumpkin, squash, or gourd emanates dim light in a 20-foot radius while within 10 miles of the Pumpkin King ‘s lair.
- Gourded Eyes. The Pumpkin King can use his action to look through eye shapes carved into a pumpkin, squash, or other gourd within 1 mile of his lair.
- Altered Flavor. Any food within 10 miles of the Pumpkin King’s lair gains a strong taste of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Creatures who eat food within this radius must make a DC 10 CON save to gain sustenance from eating.
If the pumpkin king dies, these effects fade in 1d4 + 1 days.
Next Steps
If the PCs provide an acceptable tithe to the Pumpkin King, the fey lord permits the return of the nobles, animals, and food that his servants had taken.
If the PCs defeat the Pumpkin King in battle, he returns to life at the conclusion of the harvest season, returning to the Summerlands. In his next life, the Pumpkin King loses his claim to Kaschdam’s tithe . . . but what other desperate villages also bartered for his blessing?
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