What was my dream? (PEACH)

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Ok, this will most likely be my last dream-based creature for awhile as the contest ends tonight and even I'm a bit satiated with the theme ;)

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Sleepwalker

What was my dream? A distant, unknown world/That elemental ether doth immerse,
With matter in a wild disorder hurled,/And primal forces in contention whirled,
A senseless demon over all supreme,/Who seeks with apish malice to reverse,
Creative influences, and coerce/A universe to death and bring its scheme
To chaos whence it came? What was my dream?
- Joseph O'Connor, What Was My Dream?

Medium Outsider (extraplanar, incorporeal, psionic)
Hit Dice: 7d10+7 (45 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (+3 deflection, +2 dex), touch 15, flat-footed 13; or 14 (+2 dex, +2 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+7
Attack: Incorporeal Touch +9 touch (1d8 )
Full Attack: 2 incorporeal touches +9 touch (1d8 )
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Behind you, cold sweat, distracting memory, psi-like abilities
Special Qualities: Always slumbering, blindsight 60 ft., incorporeal traits, outsider traits, power resistance 20, questionable existence
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +5
Abilities: Str 10 (- against non-incorporeal), Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 16
Skills: Autohypnosis +14, Hide +12, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (the planes) +10, Listen +14, Lucid Dreaming +14, Sense Motive +14, Spot +14
Feats: Ability Focus (cold sweat), Dreamtelling, Weapon Finesse
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary, Vision (2-6), Wake (7-20)
Challenge Rating: 8
Treasure: None
Alignment: True Neutral
Advancement: 8-17 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -

The memory of a song that once swears has never been heard, a delicious thrill at entering a long abandoned but somehow familiar locale, the feeling of deja vu that cannot be shaken. At some point this feeling is felt by all, a sense of the fantastic brought upon by sight or sound or smell that reminds them of... something. Something that becomes harder to grasp the more one tries to remember. These places, sensation, memories, they are all a subconscious link to the Mindfields. Whether this phenomena is of the waking world changing dream, or dream having an echo of its own within waking, is unknown. Many suspect that there may be little difference. The link might not have existed at all until a passing mind established one.

Certain locales induce these feelings of otherworldliness more than others, such that nearly all who pass through experience an unexplainable strangeness. They become a focal point where both dream and waking coincide at the same time, creating an unnerving region of sheer surreality. Those who remain too long within begin to change and adjust until one questions whether they exist, or if they just think they do...

Sleepwalkers appear as figures hidden under a full-body veil of some glowing gossamer substance that billows and flutters around them. Whats to be seen within the veil varies as the sleepwalker can be derived from many species, but have a common theme, being roughly all the same height, and all with eyes closed. The blurred faces are devoid of any expression, with the calm, serene expression of one fully and unashamedly asleep.

Combat
Sleepwalkers seek above all to bring new creatures into their ranks where they can enter a new stage of consciousness. They have no qualms about brutally murdering those they find, knowing they will merely awake the next morning unharmed and on their first step to becoming a sleepwalker themselves.

Sleepwalkers tends to gang up on those who enter their bewildering lands, using their psionic powers to confuse and weaken. Once they have control over their victim they use their Mind Seed ability to start the transformation.

Always Slumbering (Ex): A sleepwalker is immune to all fear and sleep effects.

Behind You (Su): A sleepwalker who does not possess a host cannot be looked at directly if it does not wish, only being seen vaguely out of the corner of the eye. This grants them full Concealment (50% miss-chance) and allows them to always be in a position to flank their opponent.

Cold Sweat (Su): Those who die at the hands of a Sleepwalker awakes in a cold sweat the next morning where he would have awoken had he not died, remembering it only as a horrible dream. Others whom witness the death must succeed on a DC 18 Will save or forget the death as anything but a shared dream as well. What they do not know is that the sleepwalker has taken over the subconscious of their victim.

When their victim for whatever reason goes unconscious the sleepwalker slips along its link to dream to replace the consciousness that has left. The host takes on the mental scores of the sleepwalker and may now arise. The sleepwalker has full control over the body as if it had used Mind Switch, though cannot use any of its host's supernatural abilities or attacks, including spells or powers taken from a player class. All spells and powers directed at the host show it as being asleep.

The sleepwalker often directs its host's body back to the waking dream where the host was first met in the hope of converting it to another sleepwalker. If the host dies while the sleepwalker remains within it is released back into the Region of Dreams. If the host dies while in the area it picked up the sleepwalker it once more awakens the next morning.

When the host awakes the sleepwalker is pushed from its mind. The host gets the mental benefits of a good night's sleep, including its daily spells and powers, though does not heal any physical damage it sustained previously from its lack of bodily rest.

Distracting Memory (Su): A sleepwalker's presence does strange things to the mind, bringing forth subconscious memories. All those within 60 feet of a sleepwalker hear a sound or smell a scent that they have experienced in a long forgotten dream. They must succeed on a DC 16 will save or become fascinated for as long as the sleepwalker is in range as their mind seeks desperately to place the sensation. Those who make the save are immune to the distracting memory for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Incorporeal Traits: A sleepwalker is harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons, powers, spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. It has a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source, except for force effects or attacks made with ghost touch weapons. It can pass through solid objects, but not force effects, at will. Its attacks ignore natural armor, armor, and shields, but deflection bonuses and force effects work normally against them. An incorporeal creature always moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it doesn’t wish to be.

Psi-like Abilities: Continuous - Read Thoughts, Wall Walker; At will - Mind Thrust; 3/day - Dream Travel, Overland Flight. 1/day - Mind Seed. Manifester level 10th. Save DCs are Charisma-based.

Questionable Existence (Ex): A sleepwalker cannot be seen by mindless creatures or those that are immune to mind-affecting effects or do not sleep (such as elves). A sleepwalker cannot itself see such creatures in turn. As well a sleepwalker cannot be seen by use of divination spells or clairsentience powers, and creatures and characters who have an insight bonus on their attack rolls, Armor Class, skill checks or ability checks do not gain those bonuses against it. Thus many question if sleepwalkers exist or if they are but figments of one's imagination... or both.

[DMgrinder]

<Player>(after being killed by a sleepy-thingy) So it was just a bad dream?
<DM> Yes. Yes it was. ;)

[The Vorpal Tribble]

<Player>(after being killed by a sleepy-thingy) So it was just a bad dream?
<DM> Yes. Yes it was. ;)

Exactly ;D

[Espynwislyn]

I must say, you make some pretty darn good monsters, Vorpal Tribble. I've always had a soft spot for dream-themes in D&D. I'll have to throw some of these at my party some time, with your permission of course.

[Mike_Lemmer]

This entry's confusing. I'm afraid I'll have to do 20 Questions to understand it.

1. Do they attack players while they're awake or in their dreams while they sleep?

2. If they kill a PC while he's awake and his teammates immediately bury him, where does he wake up?

3. How would a PC "wake up" from possession?

4. How do people become sleepwalkers?

[The Vorpal Tribble]

I must say, you make some pretty darn good monsters, Vorpal Tribble. I've always had a soft spot for dream-themes in D&D. I'll have to throw some of these at my party some time, with your permission of course.

My posting my stuff in a public forum means my stuff is automatically up for use ;)

And if you liike dream themes, here is my entry to the recent psionic based contest that has now opened to voting: The Mindfields

1. Do they attack players while they're awake or in their dreams while they sleep?

Yes ;)

What it is is there are places where dream seeps into reality and this is where these fellows dwell. The exact specifics is up to the DM.

2. If they kill a PC while he's awake and his teammates immediately bury him, where does he wake up?

Wherever he would if he had not been killed, probably amongst his team mates. Will adjust post to specify.

3. How would a PC "wake up" from possession?

They awake after a number of hour common for the race.

4. How do people become sleepwalkers?

Mind Seed usually, but also if they spend enough time in the dream area there. I plan on writing up some guidelines for the area which will detail how long one must remain within.

[Abd al-Azrad]

I think the Questionable Existence is the touch of finesse that really makes this monster special- you can honestly make the players, rather than the PCs, doubt the fight ever happened via metagaming.

You should take it one step further- make it such that the specified creatures cannot interact with the Sleepwalker. Right now, all that happens is those creatures are fighting blind against it (like everyone else, due to its "Behind You" ability which I believe might benefit from a renaming- Corner of the Eye, for instance, or Evade Perception).

Distracting Memory is pretty powerful, as it has the option of completely dividing the party. I think this is one of those rare few monsters that really does deserve a higher CR than its HD (my general rule of thumb is HD > CR).

I see the Sleepwalker's most powerful trait is its capacity to divide and conquer in any battle. The two abilities I've commented on thus far are brutally effective in that regard. Fun times.

VT, could you make a link inside your sig to your creations database?

[bosssmiley]

(quiet little voice)

Dude, you're taking advice on dream creatures from a guy called Abd al-Azrad? Ok, but don't blame me if the eldritch piping starts to bug you... ;)

[Abd al-Azrad]

Dude, you're taking advice on dream creatures from a guy called Abd al-Azrad?

You noticed that, eh? I'm happy with my alias.