This group of supernatural villains are based on the older Icelandic myths rather than the much less horrific modern versions, but for anyone unfamiliar with these characters the wiki page about them is still a reasonable synopsis. There are many, many more detailed sources online and off, and I encourage anyone who's interested to do some research of your own. If not, you can get the basics at the link, which avoids me having to explain cultural icons who are basically on par with Santa Claus (and almost as equally distorted by time and changing beliefs). I'm assuming most people have at least heard of them at this point.
I've included a fairly generic environment that might attract this group's attention, either as a hunting ground or a site for some terrible ritual to ruin the holiday spirit and grab some metaphysical turf for their own legends.
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Gryla
In the SCRPG, Gryla is by far the most proactive and outright villainous of her family. They're all androphagic supernatural monsters, but she's the only one who really works at it effectively. As a troll-witch she's also reasonably adept at magic and her schemes will frequently revolve around taking steps to keep her myths from either fading away or changing beyond recognition. She's deeply resentful of the slow modernization and "gentling" of the tales about her, and has no desire to be transformed from a terrifying child-eating menace into something more consumer-friendly. She can reverse the trend through suitable rituals, which just coincidentally also involve horrible public displays of cannibalistic violence that are bound to attract the attention of superheroes in the vicinity.
Of course, she might also just show up with her family to punish some idiot who's decided to use them as the basis for a range of adorable plushy dolls. She's seen what happened to Cthulhu. Gryla ain't going out like that.
Description: Stooped, hungry-looking troll-crone dressed in ragged peasant clothing. She'd almost be a pathetic figure if it wasn't for the palpable aura of hungry menace she exudes along with the scent of blood and rotting meat. Well, that and the fact that she's seven feet tall and has a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth and hands that end in hooked iron claws. Kind of saps the pathos thing, that look.
Gender: Female Age: Millenia Old & Looks It Height: 7'7" Eyes: Black
Hair: Scraggly Blonde Skin: Wrinkled Leathery Hide Build: Hunched & Emaciated
Approach: Relentless
Archetype: Formidable (Weakness: Lightning, Sound of Bells)
Health: 45 + (5 x H)
Powers: Strength d10, Presence d8, Shapeshifting d6
Qualities: Imposing d10, Ancient Troll-Witch d8, Stealth d8, Persuasion d6
Status: No Weakness Mods - d12 / Both Bonuses and Penalties - d8 / Only Penalties - d4
Abilities:
Ancient Evil (A) Boost using Presence. Use your Max + Min dice. Remove all penalties on yourself.
Terrifying Hunger (A) Boost using Presence. Use your Max die. That bonus is persistent and exclusive. Attack using your Mid die.
The Old Magics (I) Whenever a nearby opponent would Attack you, you may destroy one bonus on yourself or one penalty on that opponent to reduce the Attack by the value of the destroyed mod.
Trollish Might (A) Attack and Hinder one target using Strength. If target status is d4 or d6, use your Max + Min dice If target status is d8, use your Max die. If target status is d10 or d12, use your Mid die.
Upgrades & Masteries:
Come Help Your Mother, Boys (A) Replenish your Yule Lad minions up to the number of heroes in the scene.
Magical Mastery (I) If you have access to proper materials, automatically succeed at an Overcome in a situation involving harnessing magical forces.
Tactics
Gryla greatly prefers to feast on the young and helpless, but if she's forced into a fight she'll use her inhuman strength and knowledge of ancient trollish magic to their fullest. She usually opens with Terrifying Hunger, licking her cracked lips before taking a quick bite. This is followed by selecting a weak-looking foe and using her Trollish Might against them repeatedly, defending herself with The Old Magics as need be. If canny foes reduce her status die by exploiting mythological troll vulnerabilities she'll pause her onslaught to call upon Ancient Evil powers to restore herself.
Her upgrade lets her call on an endless supply of her malicious offspring, and her mastery can actually get them to work together to do something right for a change.
Her powers and qualities grant her a bit of arcane skill, mostly involving minor shapeshifting and glamours to conceal her (and her family's) real nature until it's too late. She's much better at lengthy ritual magic that isn't really useful in a brawl with superheroes.
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Leppaludi
About the only way you'll run into Leppaludi is with the rest of his family in tow, although if you somehow find yourself in their lair he might be more or less alone there, sleeping or gorging himself on leftovers. He's nowhere near motivated enough to do much on his own, and he wouldn't be very good at accomplishing anything beyond loafing even if he tried. Pretty much just going to be around to keep the heroes from interfering with whatever Gryla is up to, either by hitting them till they stop moving or by telling his lads to do it for him.
Description: A shambling, dumpy-looking troll in ragged filthy clothing. He stinks like a trash heap, and tends to yawn a lot even while he's fighting.
Gender: Male Age: Younger Than Gryla, Like Most Things Height: 7'10" Eyes: Black
Hair: Unkempt Black Skin: Filthy Grayish Leather Build: Flabby & Potbellied
Approach: Focused Archetype: Bruiser
Health: 35 + (5 x H)
Powers: Strength d12, Stinking Breath d8
Qualities: Imposing d10, Close Combat d8, Lazy Oaf d8
Status: Green Zone Health - d6 / Yellow Zone Health - d8 / Red Zone Health - d10
Abilities:
Belch (A) Hinder one target using Stinking Breath. Use your Max die. Attack that target using your Mid die.
Flailing Block (R) Defend against an Attack that only targets you by rolling your single Strength die. Boost yourself by using the amount of damage reduced.
Grand Slam (A) Attack one target using Strength. That target cannot Defend or use reactions against this Attack. Attack multiple other nearby targets using your Min die.
Stop For A Drink (A) Defend yourself using Imposing. Use your Mid + Min dice. Recover Health equal to your Max die.
Trollhide (I) Reduce damage from physical and energy sources by 1 (in Green status), 2 (in Yellow status), or 3 (in Red status).
Upgrades & Masteries (optional):
It's A Big Family (A) Replenish your Yule Lad minions up to the number of heroes in the scene.
Behave Yourselves, You Brats (I) If you have complete control over your surroundings, automatically succeed in an Overcome to organize rabble to accomplish a task.
Tactics
Leppaludi would rather be loafing back in his cave, but if he's been dragged out of bed anyway he's game for a brawl and a bit of a snack while he's up. He relies on his truly prodigious strength to punish enemies with Grand Slam, either grabbing a foe or some suitably hefty object and using them as a improvised weapon, putting bonuses into the Min die to amp up the splash damage. If attacked Flailing Block prevents quite a lot of damage and a grants free Boost. He'll mix up his pattern with the occasional Belch, mostly because it annoys Gryla. Trollhide makes him increasing hard to hurt as his sluggish metabolism starts going to work, but he may Stop For A Drink if he's really getting bashed around.
His upgrade lets him call on his countless children and stepchildren, and his mastery occasionally gets them to cooperate long enough to do something useful.
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The Yule Cat
Of all the Icelandic mythological entities here the Yule Cat is the most likely to be found roaming around on its own, either looking for a meal or just spreading chaos. While it doesn't have any dietary age preferences, it only devours those who haven't been gifted clothing recently. This is a fairly well-known weakness, but ploys like frantically chucking a hand-me-down sweater at a potential victim won't cut it. The gift clothing has to be new, and "recently" is a pretty arbitrary term as well. The spread of cheaply-made modern clothing has really made things tough on on the big kitty, and finding suitable prey gets harder every year. It might start only considering what you're currently wearing, so those ugly socks grandma gave aren't doing any good sitting in a drawer. This could be a real issue for heroes, many of whom wear the same costume for years on end.
The Yule Cat's Titan challenge involves getting a collar (even if it's just a length of rope or chain or something) on the thing and then attaching a bell to it. By remarkable coincidence (and the power of myth at play) there will always be something suitable in the immediate vicinity of the Cat when it manifests, although players who come up with their own solutions should be encouraged. Anyone using themself as a collar with Elasticity has the right mindset for this game.
If Gryla is nearby, performing a Hinder on her by ringing a belled cat will absolutely trigger her weakness, and even deserves a bonus to the attempt if the player came up with the idea without prompting.
Description: A coal-black longhaired cat larger than a good-sized barn. Its eyes glow with hellish light - except when it doesn't want them to because it's sneaking up on you in the cold dark night.
Gender: Ask The Vet Age: Indefinite Height: About Forty Feet At The Shoulder
Eyes Glowing Red-Orange Fur: Black Build: It's A Giant Cat
Approach: Disruptive
Archetype: Titan (Status Challenge: Attach the Collar 00 Bell the Cat 0)
Health: 50 + (5 x H)
Powers: Agility d10, Intangibility d10, Leaping d8, Strength d8
Qualities: Stealth d10, Alertness d8, Close Combat d8, Terrifying Mythological Feline d8
Status: Titan Challenge Start - d12 / Stage 1 Completed - d10 / Stage 2 Completed - d8
Abilities:
Black Cat Stampede (A) Hinder multiple targets using Terrifying Mythological Feline. You and any nearby allies Defend using your Max die.
Curious Cat (A) Activate one of the environment's twists in its current zone.
Toying With Dinner (A) Attack multiple targets using Close Combat. Use your Min die. Hinder each target using your Max die. If one of those targets rolls doubles on their next turn, they take damage equal to the penalty created.
Wriggling Around (R) When you are Attacked by a roll that includes doubles, remove one of the successes from the Titan's challenge.
You Mice Are No Threat To This Cat (I) Reduce all damage you take by 6 (at d12 status), 4 (at d10 status), or 2 (at d8 or less status).
Upgrades & Masteries (optional):
Power Boost (I) +20 Health. Increase all Power dice sizes by one (max d12).
Feline Chaos (I) Automatically succeed at an Overcome when you throw out all the rules during a situation that is spiraling out of control.
Tactics
The Yule Cat is about as predictable as his smaller kin but its primary motivations are curiosity and hunger. Gryla and her children don't feed it well at all and Leppaludi has been known to eat what little food does get left for it.
It will frequently use Curious Cat to trigger environment twists just to see what happens, or Black Cat Stampede to cross every hero's path and saddle them with bad luck while defending itself (any benefits its "owners" derive from the ability are purely accidental as far as it's concerned). If annoyed it will switch to Toying With Dinner to damage and disrupt the heroes, and it may "accidentally" include allies in the effect for the hell of it. While it doesn't do much actual damage, You Mice Are No Threat To This Cat makes it very hard to hurt and if heroes try to finish its challenge by belling the cat it will keep Wriggling Around at every opportunity.
Its upgrade makes it more powerful all around, and reflects the increasing number of people who believe in its legend at least a bit. All cats innately posses its mastery, of course.
Note that despite being forty feet tall, it's still incredibly agile, absurdly stealthy (unless you happen to be allergic to cats) and can literally walk through walls to get into places it can't possibly reach. It's also very fond of making truly prodigious leaps and can often be found lurking on the tops of skyscrapers, bridge supports and similar elevated vantage points.
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Yule Lad d8 minion
Description: Gnarled, stunted trollish figures about four feet in height. They vary a lot in terms of specific physical attributes, clothing (or lack thereof) and behavioral quirks, but all have clawed hands, disturbing sharp teeth, and a hungry gleam in their eyes. There are dozens of these things, some better known than others. The obscure ones are damn bitter about it too.
Malicious Child-Eaters: You receive a +2 bonus to Attack or Hinder any target that has a smaller status die than your own.
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Shopping District In December
This environment represents an urban shopping district near the winter holidays - cold, a little snowy, and crowded with both vehicle and pedestrian traffic. It could also be an open shopping plaza or a big mall parking lot, and you could probably swap in some other weather effects if your game is somewhere that doesn't see traditional winter weather.
Countless Distractions d10, Innocent Shoppers d8, Wintery Weather d6
Green Zone
(Minor Twists)
Intense Snow Flurry: Roll the environment dice. Hinder all Attack actions and Overcomes that rely on vision until the start of the next environment turn using the Mid die.
Fender Bender: Start a challenge. A minor automobile accident has occurred and is blocking traffic, which wasn't moving all that fast to start with. A young passenger is trapped behind an airbag in one of the vehicles, and the two drivers are arguing loudly. If the scene ends without the challenge being resolved someone will make off with the trapped passenger and both drivers will be injured brawling with each other. Clean This Mess Up - 0
(Major Twist)
Guilty Consciences: Roll the environment dice. Add Min dice d6 Wanted Criminal minions to the scene. They are armed with unlicensed pistols and are hostile to everyone except each other.
Yellow Zone
(Minor Twists)
Blaring Horns & Flashing Lights: Roll the environment dice. Hinder all heroes using the Mid die as irate drivers lean on their horns and cars get in the way.
Frightened Civilians: Start a multi-step challenge. A group of shoppers panics in response to whatever the villain(s) are doing, or perhaps they think they've heard gunshots or seen a firearm being brandished. Overcome to calm things down and restore a semblance of order. If the scene ends before this challenge is resolved several people will be badly hurt in the panicked rush. Restore Order - 00
Hostage Situation: If there are any Wanted Criminal minions in the scene, start a challenge. One of them grabs a hostage and threatens him with a pistol. Overcoming the challenge also defeats that minion. Defeating the minion ends the challenge, but they receive a +6 to saves versus damage while holding the hostage and their die size does not decrease if they succeed in a damage save. If the scene ends before the hostage is freed they'll be killed during the criminal's escape attempt. Free Hostage - 0
If all Wanted Criminal minions have been defeated before this twist occurs, roll the environment dice and Boost all hero targets with the Mid die as a reward for their efforts.
(Major Twist)
Police Response: Roll the environment dice. Add Mid die d8 Police minions to the scene. They'll concentrate on Attacking any Wanted Criminal minions, then dealing with any active challenges before anything else, either by Boosting a hero who's tackling the problem or by attempting the challenge themselves (see the rules for minion Overcomes on page 156). Their reactions to the heroes should be tailored to your game.
Red Zone
(Minor Twist)
Chaos Reigns: All active challenges require an extra Overcome success to resolve.
Last Gasp: A defeated enemy makes one last basic Attack using its highest possible status die.
(Major Twist)
Lost In the Confusion: Any active villains may successfully escape the scene and any immediate pursuit.
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If the Yule Cat happens to be in the scene, one of the many holiday decorations is an enormous wreath that could be used as an impromptu collar, and there are a half a dozen brass bells hanging off street lamps in the area (which might also prove problematic for Gryla).
Also, while the big cat can trigger environment twists with an action, a specific Major Twist still won't happen more than once per scene. It can re-use Minor Twists as much as it likes.
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