A while ago, I posted a list with spell-sets for Aelf-Adal of lower level. If you have never heard of the Aelf-Adal before, then you might not be familiar with the Veins of the Earth (which is a pitty). Of course, the Phantasmal Force spell was part of it. With it, a Magic-User may call force a Phantasmal of any being ever being encountered by the character. While the common warlock will already meet a lot of strange monsters over the course of the own adventures, the Aelf-Adal are born from and living in a literal world of nightmares. There is nothing that they could not have already met in person there. Therefore, what they call forth should be twice as dangerous, or at least beyond the pale. What follows is are 6 Phantasmal Nightmare Creatures, which I created with the help of The Random Esoteric Creature Generator
…and of course, you may use each of this monster as a chaotic, non-dream-phantasmal threat for a monster-hunting adventure. Perhaps it is a horrific threat to some village…?
As I often do (and advise others as well), I did not went strictly by the book (such books are meant to help creativity not along, not to put creativity on a leash), but omitted a few steps and/or used some things as pre-set “because…”
In regard to Alignment, all my Nightmare Phantasmals count as Chaotic by their very nature. For HD, I decided that all of them should be HD:6 creatures. After all, we talk about nightmares here! For the same reason, I defined the size of each and every creature as large (but ruled that the HD-bonus was already included into this). Yes, there are a lot of nightmares that feature groups of smaller (and perhaps weaker) beasties, but as the Phantasmal Force spell would only create one creature, I focused on the Biggie-Nasties.
I roll for Basic Body, Basic Characteristic, two Features and the Combat Tactic. In case of a target category that might not be present in the group (or make no difference); I will adda “fall-back-option” (in hint side: that only happened once). Movement I roll for as well, but will treat Attack as “Additional Attack” (hint side: “more often than not”). No roll Special Ability: for something that would dispel itself sooner or later, and each of them will have the Dream-Matter trait (PCR p.134), which means that everyone who touches the Phantasmal or is touched by it (e.g. a successful attack with a body part) must Save against Confusion. I created a special Nightmare Confusion Table therefore (see the end of the article). The “Save for” is my personal rule, PCR does not state a save.
Hint side: no, I was not able to omit special abilities. I was only able to keep myself from rolling for them. The pictures that formed in my mind NEEDED a special ability each. And here you have them. In some cases I ignored other die rolls as well. This is what should do if your own creativity is boiling up something that does not fit to a dice roll on your table. Trust yourself as a GM. Oh! Those of Number 4 are from the generator. Credit where credit is due…
Nightmare #1: It walks like a man, is tall like a man and has the chest of a man, but its head is that of crow, its legs are that of a crow, its arms sport all the long feathers of a crow´s wing and end in the same claws as the feet do. The black feathers that cover its body whole are shimmering, like a rainbow on black. It caws constantly. The monster will attack the character with the lowest AC and will attack the same target with all of its attack.
Eye Strike*: When the beak attack was successful with a natural 20, the victim must Save vs. Paralyzation to avoid the beak hitting an eye. An eye that is hit is blinded, and permanently if another Save vs. Death is not passed. Otherwise, the eye will recover after 2d6-TB turns.
Nightmare #2: A snake the size of a man, thick as a woman´s waist, with two dragon-like legs and arms like a man. The scales are red, the eyes are yellow, the maw of its pointy head is filled with two rows of wolf-like teeth. The whole of it is covered in blood. Every inch of it glistens red, blood drops down from it scales and sprays away from its body when it moves quickly. Blood drops down the antlers that protrude from the back of its head. Backwards, away from it, the wrong way. Also it has legs, it glides through the air as it would be water. The monster will attack a random opponent each round.
Blood-Spit*: when it has been wounded, the monster will spit a spray of blood at the beginning of its next round, which will automatically hit a random target in melee with it. The victim must Save vs. Devices or will be filled with bloodlust, and fight on for 1d4 rounds after all opponents have been disposed off. Additional hits increase the number of rounds by one.
PCR = Player Core Rules (of Lamentations of the Flame Princess).
Nightmare #3: It looks like a large, shaggy bear with black fur. The head is round and hosts an ash-gray human face instead of a snout. From the eye sockets, poisonous snakes protrude that hiss while they writhe and sway about. Their fangs drip thick drops of auburn poison. The limbs end in paws with bear-like claws, but black in color and the size of daggers. It jumps and swirls like a dervish, and howls as it does. If it wishes to, it may run up a wall or along a ceiling on all fours. This devilish thing will attack a random character at the start of the battle, and later on the character that has dealt the most damage to it in the previous turn.
Dervish*: the AC of the monster includes a +2 bonus for DEX. Furthermore, the monster will not suffer falling damage unless the drop could not end any other way but fatal for a mortal being.
Snake Eyes*: on the rounds first attack roll of the monster, the Referee will roll 2d6 together with the d20 for the attack itself. If the 2d6 show a result of 2, the victim of the attack must Save vs. Paralyze or will be bitten by one of the snakes the beast has for eyes. If bitten, the skin of the victim will pulsate at the beginning of the following round. At the beginning of the next round and following, the victim must Save vs. Poison. If failed, a snake like that of the monster will rapidly grow in the victim´s flesh and burst out through the skin (causing an ugly, bleeding wound and 1 point of damage). The snake will slither away quickly, or dissolve in into bloody goo if hit and killed (AC: 17). When the monster is killed, an afflicted victim must roll one more Save. If passed, the terrible effect of the snake bite fades. Cutting off the snakes from the monster is equal to cutting away its eyes, but each of them regrows at the end of the next round. The face of the creature will pulsate horribly while it does.
Nightmare 4: The monster resembles a lion, but its fur coat is like that of a beaver, and wet with water. It has no paws and claws, but oversized human hands at the end of all its limbs. With them, the aberration walks on air as if it would be solid ground. Its neck is longer than a pike but not thicker than a mans thigh. Still, it carries a lions head on its end with ease. The neck twists, coils and rolls like a snake, and allows the lion´s maw to strike where it pleases. When struck itself, the monster´s body strangely bends inward, like one would have slapped a waterskin. It will attack a random opponent each turn.
Elongated Neck: the monster may benefit from any bonus or special tactic/maneuver that a skilled fighter with a spear or polearm may benefit from.
Rubbery Body: Any attack that achieves only up to half of its possible damage with its damage roll “bounces off” harmless instead. This does include hits to the neck.
Nightmare 5: a monstrous praying mantis, eight feet tall. The insectoid body of it is covered in additional iron scales, not unlike those of certain types of man-made armor. They dangle and shingle against another when it moves. On its head grows brow hair, like that of a man, and it wears it in a neatly trimmed page cut. It moves cautious, careful and well-planned. A well trained-warrior, whose only display of frenzy are the frantic movements of the mandibles. Its powerful catching limbs with their thorny spikes on the inside may crush a man immediately. If need should arise, it may unfold the wings under the protective shell of its rear body to fly, but will only do so to follow an enemy or to get into a beneficial position. It will never fly away from melee. Among the opponents facing it, the monster will always choose to attack the one with the most hit points left.
Mantis Grab: a successful attack of the monster automatically initiates an immobilizing hold as state under Wrestling on p.63 of the PCR. The mantis-thing gets a +6 bonus on maintaining its grasp on its prey. Furthermore, it will walk backwards (with no reduction or penalty to movement) while dragging its victim a long. On the beginning of each following round, its mandibles will begin to deal 1d6 damage to the victim it holds. The Referee should keep in mind that the monster, if followed, will release a victim to attack an opponent with more remaining hit points instead.
A Careful Beast: this nightmare monster will make use of “Hold Action” if nothing is in reach already (and will only come forth if nobody engages it) and use the Defensive Fighting option. Attacks with ranged weapons, it will simply ignore as long as it is not actually damaged by one or a character takes time to aim at it. The Referee could portray it as patiently waiting with its grabbing limbs unfolded, the tips of them high above the heads of the characters, ready to snap at them, quick as an arrow.
Nightmare 6: the abomination has the form of a giant centipede which head has been replaced by fusing it to the rear of a likewise tremendous falcon. The falcon-part flaps its wings constantly and shrieks, its talons cut through the air while the centipede body keeps it upright. The multitude of insect legs move it, but only drag the grotesque body over the ground. It has none of the speed of a true centipede. The whole form is covered in fist sized rocks that protrude out of its whole body, like metal studs on leather armor. Eleven human faces are dispersed along it, in a line that starts with the side of the falcon´s neck and ends after three more faces in a cluster on the erect centipede underside of the horror. The face cluster is broken up by rocks protruding between and inside them. They silently roll their eyes, grimace and droll. The abomination will attack humans before it attacks demi-humans, and will furthermore choose the opponent most heavily armored.
The Wailing: the eleven faces will not stay silent. As soon as the thing lost at least half of its hit points, they will start to wail horribly. Everyone able to hear them must at that point Save vs. Magic or is going to be overwhelmed by anguish. Characters overwhelmed by anguish will drop their weapon/s and try to disengage. They may try to regain it (or draw another one) to continue fighting at the beginning of their following round, but will do so with a (-1) penalty. Spellcasters must succeed on a Save vs. Devices (repeatable at the beginning of every round) to pull themselves together, otherwise they will not be able to concentrate enough to cast a spell. Killing the thing (unlike dispelling or dis-believing it as a Phantasmal) will summon The Collective Unconscious Desire for Suicide (see PCR p. 140; “Abstract Forms”).
Nightmare Confusion Table (d6):
1-2: The character breaks into a sweat, but may act normally. Add +2 to the
next roll on this table for this character.
3-4: The character begins to panic and therefore suffers a (-2) penalty to all Attacks. At the beginning of the own round, the character may Save vs. Magic to remove the effect.
5: The character just stammers or sobs uncontrollably, and thereby cannot take any active action on the next round.
6: Confusion and Paranoia temporarily seize the characters mind. He or she will attack the nearest ally on the next round (if there are any).
7+: Screaming, the character turns round and RUNS. He or she will disengage at the beginning of the next round and run away from the Nightmare Phantasmal for a number of further rounds equal to (1d6 minus Wisdom Bonus; minimum: 1)
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