Redcap

Squat, wizened, iron boots, and faster than anything that shape ought to be. He lives in the ruined peel towers along the border where the fighting was worst, and he dyes his cap in what is left. The dye has to stay wet. If it dries he dies, which is why he is always in a hurry, and why the pace of a fight with him only ever goes one way.

Pike: piercing, melee 10 ft, +4 to hit, 2d6+3, and a kick with an iron boot, 2d6+3, as his second attack. Never Slows: no roll and no save. He acts before every creature present in every round, without exception, and the DN should simply say so at the start of the fight.

The Cap Must Stay Wet: the clock starts on round 1 of the encounter, not on first blood. If seven rounds pass without the redcap killing a creature, the cap dries and he dies on the spot, no save. Each kill re-wets the cap and resets the count to zero. A party that retreats, blocks a stair and simply refuses to feed him wins outright without landing a blow, and he knows it, which is why he opens at a sprint. Of the Ruin: within a tower, keep or fortification he cannot be outrun and knows every stair. Cold iron does nothing at all - he is wearing it.