Dreamhaunt
From Monsterbook
A slowly-twisting column of dark smoke sways mesmerizingly back and forth. An eerily-familiar, humanoid face formed by the mist gazes at you with pale blue eyes that float within.
DREAMHAUNT (CR 5)
- Always NE Medium undead (Incorporeal)
- Init +7 ; Senses Darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +15, Spot +15
- Languages: none, telepathy
- AC 20, touch 20, flat-footed 17
- (+ 3 Dex, +7 deflection)
- hp 39 (6 HD)
- Immune undead immunities
- Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +10
- Weakness light sensitivity
- Speed 30 ft. fly (perfect)
- Melee incorporeal touch +6 (1d6, plus Wisdom wound DC 16)
- Space 5 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
- Base Atk +3, Grp --
- Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th)
- 3/day--deeper darkness, fear (DC 17), suggestion (DC 16)
- 1/day--teleport
- Abilities Str --, Dex 17, Con --, Int 18, Wis 21, Cha 17
- SQ undead traits, incorporeal traits, +2 turn resistance, nightmare bind
- Feats alertness, improved initiative, lightning reflexes
- Skills Bluff +11, Diplomacy +11, Hide +11, Intimidate +11, Listen +15, Sense Motive +13, Search +12, Spot +15
- Advancement 7-11 HD (Medium), 12-18 HD (Large)
Telepathy (Su): A dreamhaunt can communicate telepathically to any being that has a language.
Light Sensitivity (Ex): A dreamhaunt is dazzled in bright sunlight or in the radius of a daylight spell.
Wisdom wound (Su): Any intelligent creature harmed by a dreamhaunt's incorporeal touch attack (with the exception of any creature that is immune to fear such as paladins) must succeed at a DC 16 Will Save or lose 1 point of Wisdom (the dreamhaunt gains 5 temporary hit points on a successful wisdom wound). This wisdom damage does not recover naturally and cannot be restored by any spells short of a limited wish or miracle. Once the dreamhaunt that inflicted the wisdom wound has been destroyed, the wisdom wound converts to normal ability score damage that recovers normally. The save DC is Charisma based.
Nightmare Bind (Su): A single creature that received any wisdom wound damage from a dreamhaunt is bound to the creature through her dreams. Each time the victim attempts to sleep (or trance in the case of elves), she is affected as if by a nightmare spell. Any damage inflicted on the victim from the nightmare, restores an equal amount of hit points to the dreamhaunt regardless of it's location. As soon as the dreamhaunt is restored to full hit points, it automatically discorporates and reappears adjacent to the victim as she awakes.
The dreamhaunt is the spectral remnant of a humanoid that killed itself in the throes of despair. It exists only to spread suffering. It targets a victim's dreams, feeding off of their mental anguish.
Strategies and Tactics
A dreamhaunt is an intelligent adversary. It will attempt to separate any large groups (using it's fear or suggestion abilities) and attack a single target if able. It has the patience of the undead, and once it has inflicted a wisdom wound on any target, it will not hesitate to teleport away if the combat goes poorly. Heavily-armored fighters without holy symbols are a dreamhaunt's target of choice.
Dreamhaunt Lore
Knowledge (religion)
DC 16: This creature will haunt the nightmares of those it has wounded. This result reveals all undead and incorporeal traits.
DC 21: It has an aversion to sunlight but is not damaged by it.
DC 26: The creature recovers strength from your nightmares, and the only way to break the nightmare curse is to destroy it.
Sample Encounters
Mysterious nightmares (EL 5): One of the PC's somehow acquired a wisdom wound from a horribly damaged dreamhaunt. Once the nightmare's begin, if they don't determine the cause, they may be very unprepared when the dreamhaunt finally recovers completely and appears next to his victim.
Never-ending nightmare (EL 9): An enemy necromancer sends a group of four dreamhaunts to target his nemesis with orders to teleport back as soon as one of them wounds and binds with her. He then traps the dreamhaunts in a dimensional lock, so that even though it is fully restored it cannot teleport to it's victim. The PC must travel to the necromancer's lair to end her nightmare.
Ecology and Society
The dreamhaunt avoids sunlight so will normally dwell underground or in dense swamps. It despises those that are content and happy above all, so it will sometimes linger near halfling or gnome villages to spread misery there. The concepts of friendship and family are anathema to the dreamhaunt, so they are almost always alone. They only form groups or alliances when they deem it neccesary and then only for as short a time as possible.
