The Child's Unmelted Snowman
Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (6d8+18)
Speed 25 ft.
Saving Throws Con +5, Wis +3
Skills Perception +3, Intimidation +4
Damage Vulnerabilities fire
Damage Resistances cold
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Common
Challenge 2 (450 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2
Actions
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"He isn't gone. He is only late. And late people must be punished." — Mara Vell's diary, found frozen shut
Lore & Description
Appearance
This waist-high snowman is built from old, gray snow packed around a child's red wool scarf. Two uneven lumps of coal serve as eyes, while a crooked carrot nose has frozen into a blackened shard. Its stick arms are wrapped in scraps of mourning ribbon, and a child-sized sheet of blue paper can be seen beneath the translucent ice in its chest. Names are scrawled across the paper in wavering handwriting, some crossed out, others circled again and again. It never drips, even beneath a summer sun; instead, frost crawls outward from its footprints.
Behavior & Origins
The snowman was built by Mara Vell, a grieving child whose older brother Tomas vanished during a blizzard near Bellwether Hill. Mara made the snowman while waiting for him to return and demanded that it promise never to melt before Tomas came home. When Mara died years later, the promise remained. The construct now maintains her list of everyone she believed failed Tomas, adding the names of trespassers and anyone who speaks dismissively of the dead. It has recently begun stalking travelers because a new name, 'Tomas Vell,' appeared on the list in handwriting no living person recognizes. A DM can place the snowman's lair beside Mara's abandoned cottage, where it wants the party to help it find Tomas before it erases every name on the list in blood.
Running The Child's Unmelted Snowman
Tactics
The snowman opens by using Read the Names against the most threatening character, then advances on frightened or list-marked targets with its fists. It uses Grief's Icicle against anyone who keeps their distance and positions itself near shade, snowbanks, or narrow paths where fire is difficult to use safely. When bloodied, it retreats toward Mara's cottage while shouting the names of the characters; it fights to the death if anyone tries to take or burn the list.
DM Tips
- Telegraph its arrival with child-sized footprints that stop abruptly, names scratched into frost on windows, and a distant voice reciting the characters' names.
- Give the snowman a soft, repetitive voice and childlike mannerisms: it tilts its head when confused, apologizes after hurting someone, and insists that every attack is deserved.
- Fire is effective but tactically risky: burning the list or the snowman's scarf can provoke it into focusing all attacks on that character.
- For a weaker party, remove the advantage from The Child's List; for a stronger party, let Read the Names affect two creatures instead of one.
Loot
- The Frozen List — A blue paper that never thaws. Names written on it cannot be erased normally, but a person whose name is crossed out gains advantage on the next saving throw against fear caused by the snowman.
- Mara's Red Scarf — A frayed wool scarf that remains cold to the touch. It bears the initials M.V. and provides a concrete lead to Mara's cottage and the mystery of Tomas's disappearance.
- Coal Eye — One of the snowman's coal eyes, warm with a faint heartbeat. Near the place where Tomas vanished, it points toward the last creature or object that saw him.