Unkillable enemy for Halloween adventure

[Redhood101]

So I’m planning to do a Halloween adventure based on sleepy hollow. So the main enemy will be the headless horseman. Part of the story is that basically the horseman can’t be killed. I’ve designed the story so that it’s about lifting the curse on this island and make the horseman disappear.
I’m wondering if anyone has advice on how to use an enemy that can’t be hurt. My current idea is to present each encounter with him like a puzzle. Where they have to find away to keep him from completing his objective (like burying him in rubble or trapping him). Has anyone done this or have any experience? Will this idea crash and burn as my players beat me with dice?

[Lunali]

You could make him something like a lich or mummy lord where his body will reform if he is killed.

[Garfunion]

Make the headless horseman a Revenant. When they die, they just reform/return in 24 hours.

[ImproperJustice]

If it helps, there is an OSR sleepy hollow module out there for like $1.

I think it’s published by Barrel Rider Games...

[Ganymede]

A boneclaw is an "unkillable" enemy. It constantly resurrects itself when slain as long as the mortal it bonded with is still alive.

[Laserlight]

So I’m planning to do a Halloween adventure based on sleepy hollow. So the main enemy will be the headless horseman. Part of the story is that basically the horseman can’t be killed. I’ve designed the story so that it’s about lifting the curse on this island and make the horseman disappear.
I’m wondering if anyone has advice on how to use an enemy that can’t be hurt. My current idea is to present each encounter with him like a puzzle. Where they have to find away to keep him from completing his objective (like burying him in rubble or trapping him). Has anyone done this or have any experience? Will this idea crash and burn as my players beat me with dice?

As long as your tell the players clearly from the outset "This critter can't, CAN NOT, be killed, you'll have to solve it by some other means than throwing damage at it", you're probably good.

[FrancisBean]

I love these sorts of stories -- it's the sort of thing I like to be able to pull off. I'd approach it by staging the first encounter to basically solve itself -- let them meet the horror head-on and realize they're losing, but then the damaged tower falls, the rope holding the portcullis finishes burning through, or some similar event. The idea is that the party gets away clean but has the chance to realize they can't handle the BBEG directly.

A smart group of players will start doing research, and that's where you plant the (in game) knowledge that they literally can't kill him. Add a few mouldering journal entries from prior heroes on ways they briefly stopped the BBEG before they were defeated, and it should be enough.

Sad to say, some groups will just decide to plan a better ambush, face him again, and get a possible TPK. Unfortunately, my experience suggests you've got about a 60% chance of that with most tables. Me, I'm lucky -- my group religiously researches the weaknesses even of lesser enemies, so I can generally rely on them never walking into a fight they can't win.

Good luck, and I want to know how it all worked out, come early November!

[iTreeby]

Scooby-Doo it by having an illusionist with maliable illustrations? Just a thought.

[LoneStarNorth]

Give the horseman an objective other than killing the players. Have it go after an NPC in the first two encounters, then come after the party in the third, at which point they should have had enough time to research and break this curse.

They'll probably try to fight the horseman at first, but notice all of its wounds healing instantly or what have you. Once it kills its target it simply leaves, ignoring the party, and thus avoiding a stubbornness-induced TPK. If the party does something that forces the horseman to stop ignoring them, have it knock them to negatives but then move on without wasting time on a coup de grace.

[CTurbo]

I'd start it off as kinda weak compared to the party so they "kill" it easily the first time, then keep bringing it back a little stronger each time, and they'll have it figured out before it get's too strong. The Revanent as mentioned above is a great template for this.

[Ganymede]

I'd start it off as kinda weak compared to the party so they "kill" it easily the first time, then keep bringing it back a little stronger each time, and they'll have it figured out before it get's too strong.

This shtick was done in the first Hellboy film. In it, a creature hounds the protagonist that, when killed returns as two copies of itself after a period of time. One became two, two became four, four became eight, and so on.

That could easily be a template for an unkillable foe that ramps up in challenge over time.