A Dream Deferred (MitPII)

[Lord Iames Osari]

Dreamshards
Fine Outsider (Incorporeal, Native, Psionic, Swarm)
HD 1d8 (4)
Speed fly 40 ft. (perfect, 8 squares)
Init: +1
AC 20; touch 20; flat-footed 19 (+1 Dex, +8 size, +1 deflection)
BAB +1; Grp ~
Attack Incorporeal swarm (1d4 Str)
Full-Attack Incorporeal swarm (1d4 Str)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks Distraction, psi-like abilities
Special Qualities Incorporeal traits, swarm traits, immune to weapon damage
Saves Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +3
Abilities Str ~, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 6, Wis 11, Cha 13
Skills Listen +2, Spot +2
Feats Force of Personality
Environment Material Plane
Organization Solitary
Challenge Rating 1
Treasure None
Alignment Any; see text
Advancement 2-3 HD (Fine)
Level Adjustment ~

The glittering cloud of sparkles hovers in the night air, looking for all the world like a peaceful starfield brought down from the sky and put in the street.

Dreamshards are created when a dream is interrupted. They can have any alignment, depending on the nature of the dream and of the dreamer. To determine a random alignment, roll on the following table. The alignment of dreamshards also determines what one of their psi-like abilities is.
{table="head"]d10|Alignment|Psi-Like Ability
1|LG|Daze 1/day
2|NG|Attraction 1/day
3|CG|Telempathic Projection 1/day
4|LN|Entangling Ectoplasm 1/day
5|N|Deja Vu 1/day
6|CN|Distract 1/day
7|LE|Disable 1/day
8|NE|Demoralize 1/day
9|CE|Mind Thrust 1/day
10|Reroll|~[/table]

Distraction (Ex): Any living creature vulnerable to a swarm's damage that begins its turn with a swarm in its square is nauseated for 1 round; a DC 11 Fortitude save negates this effect. Spellcasting or concentrating on spells or powers within the area of a swarm requires a Concentration check (DC 20 + spell/power level). Using a skill that involves patience and concentration requires a DC 20 Concentration check.

Psi-like Abilities: In addition to the psi-like ability determined by their alignment, dreamshards possess the following psi-like abilities, usable at manifester level 1st.
1/day - control flames, control light, create sound, far hand

[Icewalker]

This wouldn't work at all as a random encounter or anything like that, but it'd make an amazing piece of a somewhat fairy-tale reminiscent adventure, involving someone messing with peoples dreams. I like it, very cool.

Dunno bout outsider type, but I certainly can't think of anything better.

[GuesssWho]

You know the poem! Cool!
Neat idea, too.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Ahahahaheheheheeehhh...

Poem? I just had the line kicking around in my head.

[Demented]

An incorporeal swarm of teensy psionic outsiders... funny.
All you need now is an explanation on how these little guys end up on the material plane, and could conceivably ever be encountered.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Native subtype, man. They appear whenever someone is woken up in mid-dream.

[Icewalker]

Shouldn't be too hard for them to show up, and like I said above, would work great in an adventure with a rather fairy-tale feel to it, involving somebody messing with peoples dreams.

[XtheYeti]

pretty nice, its a good concept, and it could be put to some nasty uses.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Simple but sweet. Very cool.

I'd say they need to be able to be brought forth by a power. Perhaps the manifestation lasts 24 hours, and if you are awoken it happens. Or maybe even a feat as the circumstances for their coming into being aren't standard and they ain't exactly big huge bruisers.

BAB +1; Grp +1

Grapple should be - as they are incorporeal and a swarm.

[Mewtarthio]

or does it explode...?

Anyway, nice monster, it's good to see the occasional unique CR 1 creature running around, and it would definately add some flavor to a dream-themed campaign, but I've got a few questions:

If this thing shows up whenever someone is awoken mid-dream, it changes to a pretty big feature of the campaign world. Also, did you take into account all the Commoners that will be killed if they wake someone up from a CE nightmare (yeah, I know, the same thing happens if they try to wash their cats...)? Simply rewording the flavor text a little to make the frequency of dreamshard birth more vague would fix this problem.

What would a CG dreamshard do with Telempathic Projection?

[Lord Iames Osari]

Simple but sweet. Very cool.

I'd say they need to be able to be brought forth by a power. Perhaps the manifestation lasts 24 hours, and if you are awoken it happens. Or maybe even a feat as the circumstances for their coming into being aren't standard and they ain't exactly big huge bruisers.

Grapple should be - as they are incorporeal and a swarm.

A compliment from Vorpal Tribble - my existence is validated!

Thanks for the correction, btw. I was on autopilot.

As for a power to bring them forth - I don't like it as a self-targeting thing, but a power that could bring them out of other people's minds would probably be good.

or does it explode...?

Anyway, nice monster, it's good to see the occasional unique CR 1 creature running around, and it would definately add some flavor to a dream-themed campaign, but I've got a few questions:

If this thing shows up whenever someone is awoken mid-dream, it changes to a pretty big feature of the campaign world. Also, did you take into account all the Commoners that will be killed if they wake someone up from a CE nightmare (yeah, I know, the same thing happens if they try to wash their cats...)? Simply rewording the flavor text a little to make the frequency of dreamshard birth more vague would fix this problem.

What would a CG dreamshard do with Telempathic Projection?

I account for the mind thrust/Commoner problem mainly by handwaving, although Fax Celestis' 1 level/5 years of age idea makes Commoners slightly more resistant.

A CG dreamshard would probably hide inside walls and things and just make people feel good. *shrug*

I'm toying with the idea of them having a set of circumstances where they dissipate naturally -like at sunrise or when their creator starts dreaming again. What do you guys think?