Serene Annihilation: Universal Heroes - Pumpkinheads

Is all that we see or seem

But a dream within a dream?

-A Dream Within a Dream, by Edgar Allen Poe 

In recent times, there have been sighted around Mordheim the most curious - and disturbing - individuals.  All resemble, in general arrangement, normal human beings.  Save for being unusually tall, one might mistake them for men at a distance.  But up close, their bizarre nature becomes apparent: filthy robes, creaking armor - and carved pumpkins for heads.


These so-called "Pumpkinheads" occupy Mordheim and the settlements around it in ever increasing numbers.  There have been some attempts to persecute them as Chaos mutants (or worse) but in the lawless demesnes of the City of the Damned, there are far worse horrors and so the Pumpkinheads are usually left alone.

For all intents and purposes they act as normal people do.  They have been spotted in groups, alone, or in what appear to be families.  They patronize bars and inns from Cutthroat's Den to the Drunken Goblin and beyond.  They have never been observed to eat or drink, but order food and beverage just the same.

Most Pumpkinheads rarely speak, but some are quite garrulous.  Their voices range from a soft whisper to  jolly bellow.  Some hiss, and some mutter cruelly.  Some voices are clearly masculine, some feminine, some both, and some utterly indeterminate.  When observed up close, a flickering light can be seen inside their pumpkins; their bodies are wrapped in bandages, or else their robes are so stuffed with straw as to hide their forms.

Those who have spoken with them report that they converse as one in a trance or dream.  If asked where they came from, a few will claim to have come from a nearby town called Pottsfield, but most ignore the question or simply remain silent.  It is  worth noting that there is no town called Pottsfield on any Imperial map.

Occasionally a Pumpkinhead will display more initiative than his (or her?) brethren.  They have been known to join warbands and venture into the ruins.  Although they crave gold, no one seems to know just what they do with it.  Pumpkinheads almost universally eschew ranged weapons, preferring to fight up close.  Pumpkinheads which are vanquished collapse into a pile of empty robes and a burst pumpkin.  Weirdly enough, they sometimes turn up later, intact and acting as though nothing had happened...

 +++PUMPKINHEAD+++

A Pumpkinhead may be hired as a hero for 60 GC.  A Pumpkinhead hero starts with 8 experience points.
A Pumpkinhead may be added as a hired sword for 25 GC with a 10 GC upkeep.

Name	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
Pumpkinhead	4	3	3	3	4	1	3	1	7
(max)	4	6	6	4	4	3	6	4	9

Presence: 5 (maximum 10)

Equipment: Heavy Armor, Shield, Sword.

Skills: Pumpkinheads may choose from Combat or Speed skills whenever they gain an advance.

SPECIAL RULES
Wraith-Type: Pumpkinheads are strange, otherworldly creatures who follow all the rules for Wraith-Types.

+++ADDITIONAL IMAGES+++