Runequest Thursday #65 - The Krampus for Glorantha!

Children of Pavis and the region thereabouts are often warned to beware the Krampus - a creature associated with Wakboth the Devil and with Dark Season, when he appears in the Pavis and River of Cradles region to plague the faithful, lampooning their worship and kidnapping the devout, whom he tortures into embracing chaos, recanting on their faith, or at least renouncing the gods.

Though associated with no known cult, he can create his own by offering a form of existence to the Doomed he has taken into his cart. These Doomed must make a Resistance roll against POW 18 or succumb and undergo a terrible transformation at the cost of their souls and any affiliation with their former cults, becoming lesser Krampus themselves. They gain 1d6 SIZ, STR, CON, and AP, a gore attack doing 1d8 + Damage bonus at 50%, and the lasting enmity of gods and men. If they were initiates or higher in cults with spirits of reprisal, they will be plagued with these for the remainder of their existence. Those who had no cult affiliation have a much tougher time resisting the Doom, and must Resist POW 24.

As bad as Krampus is, he is far worse with a pack of Doomed. So reinforced, Krampus has been known to attack settlements and towns, frightening the inhabitants, stealing children, blackmailing their parents into the ranks of the Doomed. In this way, Dark and Storm seasons may pass in terror, until some Storm god like Storm Bull or Orlanth, or their followers, takes note. In any event, Krampus wanderings end with Sacred Time. He cannot abide the increase in holiness in the world.

Given its similarity to broo, Krampus is often thought of as a creature of Thed. This is not the case, nor does Krampus trade in disease, his only affliction being that of the Doom. 

However, it is possible that a priest associated with Wakboth [such as Cacodaemon or Thed] could  summon Krampus, but the ritual requires considerable effort and is not often undertaken, especially since Krampus appears somewhere most times in Dark Season without being summoned. Still, an ambitious priest might hope to increase his power and prestige by calling the Doombinder.