Warning: Standard Friday the 13th shenanigans within.
Summary / Hook
The new owner of an historic summer camp, Topaz Bayou, begs the party for assistance. They are attempting to re-open the camp, but a strange man refuses to leave the place until his ritual is complete. Screve Tristee’s previous attempts to remove the man have been met with a violent response, thus his enlistment of the party. Screve also notes that they should approach Jay’s Son (the man) stealthily, because he’s unsure what evil he’s attempting to unleash. Screve asks that the party remove the man “by any means necessary.”
As a way to make the connection more meaningful, it’s possible that someone from the party went to the camp when they were younger, or maybe their first job was as a counselor at the camp.
Note: This encounter is intended to be heavy on stealth. Jay’s Son is meant to be near unkillable, similar to his namesake (Jason – Friday the 13th). If you’re going for a gory-er vibe, consider having a previous party or two lying dead throughout the campsite.
Key NPCs
- Screve Tristee – The new owner of Topaz Bayou, looking to make a fortune on a recently untapped market.
- Grack – Half-orc camp counselor coordinator helping Screve get things on track, was also a counselor when Jay’s Son was left there 20 years ago.
- Jay’s Son – Jay Doorhees dropped his son at this camp many years ago, but didn’t fill out the name tag. As such, the counselors wrote “Jay’s Son” on there as to not lose track of who should be picking him up. Sadly Jay never showed back up to retrieve his boy, who has now grown into middle-age. It is unclear if Jay intentionally left his son, or if something happened to him as he was returning. He is a mute human male, wearing clothes that he has fashioned himself from bark, scraps found around the camp, and other items. He also wears an oddly made mask, distressed from years of wear and tear.
Here Comes The Son
Looking for Jay’s Son, the party finds him sitting at a lone table making a macaroni portrait. Scrawled with a burnt stick next to the face is the word “Dad.” Jay’s Son holds the macaroni portrait aloft, examines his work and gives a grunt of approval. He gets up and ambles toward the center of Topaz Bayou, placing the portrait on the ground in the center of a ring of rocks he’s constructed. Also in the center the party sees an oversized shirt that appears to be from his father.
If the party makes perceptible noise, Jay’s Son will begin to stalk after them, wielding a long piece of steel that most closely resembles a shoddy greatsword. Jay’s Son has a low WIS score, so the party is capable of hiding from him, but he himself tends to disappear quite easily as well.
If attacked, Jay’s Son has a slew of ways to injure the party. Along with his greatsword he also has Necrotic Grasp, grabbing the party member by the shoulders or throat and picking them up off the ground. The DM can also determine whether Jay’s Son grapples the creature it is touching.
The party can follow standard horror movie tropes to distract Jay’s Son, “tripping” over a branch to draw his attention, or those sorts of things. When distracted, party members roll with advantage against Jay’s Son.
It is possible to kill Jay’s Son, but it will be tough to do so.
The Ritual
The mechanics of the ritual are fairly straightforward, so we won’t go into too much detail. Jay’s Son collected everything he could of his fathers items, made some makeshift memorials and placed them at the center of the camp. At the edge of the camp in 5 different locations are fires that Jay’s Son needs to set alight to complete the ritual.
The fires do not burn like normal fires and are impossible to put out (up to the DM if they are impossible or not). Jay’s Son’s focus is on lighting these fires and stalks between them with tunnel vision.
If all five are lit, necromantic energy fills the air and a hole rips open in the center of the fires. Emerging from the hole is a Big Jay Construct, a hodge podge mess of twigs, tent fabric, and outhouse boards, all fused together by pasta shells and mud. Jay’s Son will rush forward and hug the construct who hugs him back. Together, the two will leap into the hole in the ground which collapses inward sealing them off with a fiery crackle.
Where the hole was opened, the party sees the mask Jay’s Son was wearing, the dirt cleaned off and flowers growing in a small circle around it.
Resolution
Regardless of what the party did to get rid of Jay’s Son, Screve will be ecstatic and offer the party free room and board at the camp as they get it re-opened.
They are also welcome to take the Mask of Jay’s Son, which grants the wearer +2 STR, but does 1d6 necrotic damage every hour.
