Night Falls, Everyone Dies: Let's Read Ravenloft-Denizens of Dread

[Rappy]

I bid thee welcome, liliths and ghouls, to the interim Let's Read from myself in between the first and second installment of the Tome of Horrors (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144804) series.

What is "Ravenloft"?
Ravenloft is a campaign setting that focuses on the "Demiplane of Dread". It is a land ruled by darkness and evil, veiled in mists that draw in the unwary and the impure from other planes and into its deadly grasp. It is a campaign setting where your outlook is very bleak, as you must fight monsters while avoiding becoming one yourself by the corrupted touch of the enigmatic "Dark Powers". Ravenloft draws heavily on Victorian horror including Dracula, Frankenstein, and similar imaginings, as well as the darker aspects of European folklore. The setting has been around since AD&D, and has managed to keep up steam rather well in spite of some inattention from Wizards of the Coast during the 3E era.



What is Denizens of Dread?
Denizens of Dread (or DoD) was one of the bestiaries produced for the 3rd Edition version of the Ravenloft campaign setting, put out on a WoTC-licensed allowance by White Wolf (yes, that White Wolf) via the Sword and Sorcery line. It covers a good dose of the major spooks and shockers in the world, especially things like undead and were-beasts.



Contents
Akikage, Ancient Dead, Animator (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9581510&postcount=5)

Arak, Arayashka, Assassin Bug (Giant) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9595485&postcount=6)

Backwards Man, Bakhna Rakhna, Baobhan Sith (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9610368&postcount=9)

Bastellus, Bats (Carrion and Skeletal), Beetles (Grave Scarab, Giant Scarab, and Monstrous Scarab) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9640060&postcount=12)

Boneless, Boowray (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9648918&postcount=19)

Bowlyn, Broken One, Bruja, and Carrion Stalker (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9670391&postcount=20)

Carrionette, Cats (Night, Plains, and Crypt), and Changeling (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9761630&postcount=23)

Cloakers (Resplendent, Shadow, and Undead), Corpse Candle, and Crimson Bones (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9837768&postcount=27)

Dhampir, Dread Doppelganger, and Dream Spawn (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9898935&postcount=29)

Dreamweaver and Drownling (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9962720&postcount=32)

Dread Elementals, Ermordenung, and Fenhound (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10062694&postcount=34)

Dread Fiend, Figurine, Fury (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10158189&postcount=49)

Geist, Ghost, Ghoul Lord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10252404&postcount=54)

Goblyn, Dread Golems (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10309081&postcount=56)

Grave Ooze, Gremishka, Grim (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10375800&postcount=57)

Grim Reaper, Spectral Hags, Head Hunter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10422841&postcount=59)

Hearth Fiend, Hebi-no-Onna, Dread Hounds (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10508355&postcount=63)

Vistani Human, Assassin Imp, Impersonator (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10589976&postcount=64)

Jack Frost, Jolly Rodger, Kizoku (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10686419&postcount=67)

Lebentod, Witchbane Leech, Elemental Lich, Living Tattoo, Living Wall (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10723922&postcount=69)

Lycanthropes (Lowland Loup-Garou, Mountain Loup-Garou, Werebadger, Werejackal, Werejaguar, Wereleopard, Wereray, Wereraven) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10794903&postcount=80)

Marikith, Mist Ferryman, Mist Horror (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10811801&postcount=98)

Moor Man, Dread Nightmare, Odem (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10905425&postcount=99)

[Dusk Eclipse]

:grave dirts starts to stir from the ground, a skeletal hand rises through the ground and with some difficulty pulls out a body:

Now were where we?

Oh yes... I am sure this LR will be as entertaing and informative as the last one

:quickly subscribes ot the thread:

[The Tygre]

Now this should be a lot of fun. :smallamused:

[Terraoblivion]

Technically you don't become a monster via the Dark Powers, but via your own moral failings. The Dark Powers just gave you powers to go along with it. It was very much a setting about Nietzsche, abysses and overused quotes.

[Rappy]

Technically you don't become a monster via the Dark Powers, but via your own moral failings. The Dark Powers just gave you powers to go along with it. It was very much a setting about Nietzsche, abysses and overused quotes.
Fair enough, eloquence was never my strong suit. Anyway, here are our first trio of terrors!

Akikage
A CR 7 incorporeal undead, the akikage, or shadow assassin, is the unrelenting restless spirit of an assassin who died before finishing a hit. In the afterlife, the akikage still hunts in pursuit of the one that eluded it in its time of mortality, unneringly stalking its target. An akikage's three special abilities all focus on stealth and quick assaults, obviously, as...you know...they're assassin spirits and all. First off, akikage can become invisible at will, which combined with their innate +2d6 sneak attack, is a very nasty combination. If that wasn't bad enough, an akikage that gets a critical hit can force a save-or-die ability that, if successful, freezes the target's heart in ice. We've only just started, and we already have a very nasty undead encounter that will certainly make more of an impression than the bog standard shadow.



Ancient Dead
The ancient dead are, more or less, mummies-as-a-template. Unlike standard mummies, however, their disease is variable rather than a stereotypical "mummy's curse" a la mummy rot, they have turn resistance, and they can draw on positive energy (albeit slowly) to heal themselves. This is an artifact of the older era when mummies were positive energy undead, a concept that was mostly lost or shunted into the "deathless" concept...but I'm not going to get on that tangent, I have to keep on target. Anyway, in addition to that, the ancient dead get a "rank" of 1 to 5 that determines their Strength increase and damage reduction, amongst other things. One of those "other things" are a list of supernatural powers each ancient dead can pick and choose from, including the ability to control animals (usually ones with an Egyptian motif), shapeshifting, elemental powers, object animation, and the ability to create standard Monster Manual mummies. This is a very versatile template that allows you to have mummies in which no two are exactly the same, providing a challenge to the players and a little fun for you as the DM.



Animator
Another template already? I'm pretty sure my birthday already passed...

Animators are a template that turn animated objects into poltergeist-style undead with invisibility, telekinesis, the ability to animate further objects, and several SLAs tied to emotion. Indeed, animators are intrinsically tied to emotion, and must feed on negative ones such as jealously and rage to survive. While not exactly a widely-applicable template as-is, one could always expand it to include other mindless constructs rather than just animated objects for the frightening possibility of things such as hulking clay golems possessed by evil spirits or demonically-infused juggernauts.

[Rappy]

Arak (Shadow Fey)
The arak are dark fey that come in four flavors: the CR 4 powrie, CR 5 shee, CR 5 sith, and CR 3 teg. All of the arak are dealt damage by sunlight due to their part-shadow nature, and all but the powrie have a luck bonus to AC. The powries are assassins that resemble pixies gone wrong, and have a lot of Rogue abilities coupled with Illusionist spellcasting, deafening and fear-inducing vocal abilities (well, sorta..the latter is more of a grin plus the creepy laugh rather than just the vocals), and the ability to shapeshift into wasps and similar insects. The pale, elven-like shee enjoy art and prefer subterfuge to combat when it approaches them, having a charm-inducing kiss and the ability to shapeshift into a bird to fly away from a battle; if truly pushed, however, the shee have cursed arrows that bring doom to an opponent and 5th-level Bard spellcasting. Sith are like evil shee, focusing in dark powers such as 6th-level Necromancer spellcasting and the ability to transform into shadows, as well as blinding fast speed. Finally, you have the tegs, which are feral, hairy elven fey that can transform into foxes, 2nd-level Druid spells, and a confusion-inducing howl.



Arayashka
Also known as snow wraiths, the arayashka are incorporeal undead spirits of the biting cold and can be found in the frigid regions of the Demiplane of Dread. The CR 5 arayashka aren't really that impressive, with heat drain and cold damage being pretty much their only abilities besides the requisite spawn creation ability. Furthermore, they are actually cowardly, only attacking when they feel they can win. Not the most impressive undead, but it could be made rather interesting and creepy with the right atmosphere in a game set in the cold lands.



Assassin Bug, Giant
Would you believe me if I said this was a giant assassin bug? Yeah...these CR 2 blood-drinkers aren't really more special than most other giant insects. Their only real notes are that they have poison and camouflage in addition to their blood drain, making them good sneak-attack jump scare enemies.

[Starbuck_II]

So sith are like Dark force users (Necromancy)? That is cool.

Are giant assasin bugs like stirges (in the blood drain)?

[LOTRfan]

I love Ravenloft. If the review is interesting, I might have to look into getting this book.

[Rappy]

Backwards Man
Part elder, part infant, twisted-limbed, and evil, backwards men "exist only for mayhem". They are essentially horror movie monsters in a nutshell, starting out their mayhem with jump scares and brief glimpses before graduating to creepy sounds and odd events, before finally attacking the target with constricting tongue-tentacles that come from their mouths. Their origin and purpose is unknown, although two examples given are that they are either orphans abandoned by their mothers into the mists or transmutations gone wrong. Since, according to the book, "backward men despise women and single them out as choice targets above all others", the former seems to have more credence. Backwards men, in addition to their Gene Simmons attack, can climb up any surface, have fast healing, have ghost sound and invisiblity as SLAs, and gain extra tentacle attacks with each successful slashing or piercing attack that hurts it, since apparently they have tentacles for blood or something. All in all, one strange, macabre CR 4 Aberration, and an interesting potential encounter.



Bakhna Rakhna
The CR 1 small Monstrous Humanoids known as the bakhna rakhna may seem like particularly strong goblins at first, but they are in truth much more sinister. They are more or less little raiders, using their ability to phase in and out of locations to enter homes without effort. Once in, they ravenously devour food and plunder goods before leaving. Indeed, unlike most monsters, the recommended method of dealing with them is "hide and hope they are quick to leave". If their efforts are thwarted, a bakhna rakhna horde will return in even more vicious raids, or possibly even kill the home owner's children and eat them as "payment" for the previous interruption. This makes the bakhna rakhna less of a traditional enemy and more of an obstacle you have to outhink or be prepared to fight in large numbers at their source. In addition to the aforementioned phasing, these creatures have poisonous blood that deals Dexterity damage to those who have it seep into an injury, and wield arrows coated in their own blood...which brings to mind horrible imagery of self-mutilation just for the purpose of hurting others with their own blood. *Shivers*



Baobhan Sith (Black Sprite)
These CR 3 evil relatives of the pixies are insane and bloodthirsty, living to spread misery and pain through torture and ritual mutilation of others. They can cast hideous laughter with their own infectiously sinister chuckling. Beyond this, they...really aren't worthy of much note. They have typical pixie-ish SLAs and natural invisiblity, but...eh? They're sort of a bit underwhelming after the last two monsters and compared to the arak crew.

[Terraoblivion]

Yeah, that book has some quite nice monsters. Which doesn't mean that all of them are equally cool. But like i said, the third edition version of Ravenloft is awesome.

[Fri]

I never know that mummies were used to be positive energy undead, and I actually kinda like the idea. Mummies are definitely something like a sacred undead or something. And while we're at it, we could also make them not actually evil! They're ancient kings or something that're kinda annoyed that a bunch of good for nothing pipsqueaks came into their house and break their furnitures. Get out of my lawn!

Now I have a story idea about how the party must ask for a mummy's wisdom to deal with their bbeg or something..

[Rappy]

Bastellus
An interesting note about this CR 6 undead is that its illustration is clearly an homage to the German painting "Nachtmahr", an old painting illustrating the incubus. And like the incubus, the bastellus is a creature that comes in the night to feast on dreams. Unlike the incubus, however, the bastellus is no creature of lust; indeed, it is one of pure terror and insanity, spreading tainted, twisted dreams that it laps up like a fine wine to its palate. The bastellus can cause confusion with its touch, spreads darkness about itself, induces sleep, and can hide in plain sight. In addition, it can create more bastellus with its corruptive influence, and can actually pull a character into their dreams to combat it there. Any character that doesn't simply fail in the real world and get a negative level from the dream attack can fight back in their dreams; in this world, the bastellus is nearly the same, save that its confusion ability becomes a treacherous Wisdom damaging blow.



Bats, Carrion and Skeletal
Not quite doombat and mobat levels of meh, but still...one is a CR 1/3 Medium-size skeleton of a bat that happens to retain flight abilities, and the other is a CR 1 Small Magical Beast that uses a paralyzing shriek to...well...paralyze a victim before slitting their throat to get at their blood. Eh.



Beetle, Scarabs
These come in three flavors: the Mummy movie-style flesh burrowing CR 1/2 grave scarabs, the CR 2 Medium-size disease-spreading giant scarabs, and the Large CR 4 trampling, blade-pincered monstrous scarab beetle. They're...erm, well, they're beetles. So yeah.

[Eldan]

Well, yeah, they are beetles. But there's between 400'000 and a 100 million beetle species in our world alone, so D&D really needs more.

Why yes, I'm an entomologist. :smallwink:

[Psyx]

Fair enough, eloquence was never my strong suit. Anyway, here are our first trio of terrors!

Akikage
A CR 7 incorporeal undead, the akikage, or shadow assassin, is the unrelenting restless spirit of an assassin who died before finishing a hit.

Next time I need someone dead, I'll hire a dozen guys, then murder them all, in the hope that one of them will turn into one of these...

[CapnVan]

Well, yeah, they are beetles. But there's between 400'000 and a 100 million beetle species in our world alone, so D&D really needs more.

Why yes, I'm an entomologist. :smallwink:

Eldan, just wanted to check those numbers. Is that range correct? Somewhere between four hundred thousand and one hundred million?

You'd probably know, but that's a hell of a range!

[Eldan]

400'000 is the known amount. We are currently at around a million species known (total, all living creatures), most of them are insects, and around half of all insects are beetles.
The 100 million are numbers generated with rather questionable methods, and are more like "we're certain it can't possibly be more than that" estimates than anything else. Around one to ten million seems more likely.

[Rappy]

Well, yeah, they are beetles. But there's between 400'000 and a 100 million beetle species in our world alone, so D&D really needs more.

Why yes, I'm an entomologist. :smallwink:
True, but (to use a saurian analogy), you don't need stats for every species (or genus, for that matter) of hadrosaurid, just some generics such as "Huge Lambeosaurine", "Gargantuan Hadrosaurine", etc. Of course, this isn't an on-species ratio of scarab stats, but...what was my point again, exactly?

[Eldan]

Hey, true. I mean, most animals fit into broad categories. I'm perfectly fine with using perhaps two or three kinds of predatory large cat stats for almost everything. A jaguar is not that different from a leopard, statwise. Perhaps change a few feats around. So having one kind of scarab is fine.

Still. There's a lot of interesting insects around no one ever statted up. Those with actually rules-relevant special abilities.

[Rappy]

Still. There's a lot of interesting insects around no one ever statted up. Those with actually rules-relevant special abilities.
Yeah. Eventually, there needs to be a monstrous weta, I say. Also, just two entries this morning, as I'm not feeling too well.

Boneless
A rather...unique mindless undead, the Boneless template, as its name implies, creates a boneless undead. Boneless have increased Dexterity and can slither and slide fast on all fours as well as seep through small cracks and holes due to their pliability. These abilities are offset by the loss of any attacks that require hard bone parts (such as teeth or claws), an extra weakness to holy water and symbols, the loss of Intelligence obviously, and a constant need to be moistened; a dried Boneless takes double damage from fire. An interesting idea, in my opinion at least, would be to animate both a boneless and its removed skeleton for a creepy dynamic duo of a single entity.



Boowray
A CR 3 incorporeal fey that resembles a small child, the boowray is (like many creatures in Ravenloft) deceptively sweet in appearance. In truth, they are a physical manifestation of the voices in your head, whispering untruths and twisted words that can drive one to madness. While this and invisibility at will are the only abilities the boowray has, they certainly pack a heavy punch. These are an unpleasant fey to throw against altruistic players that think they are helping a lost child, or seeing a kinder nature spirit, or what have you, before you grin and state "roll your Madness save".

[Rappy]

Happy Halloween, folks. And what better to do on Halloween than to write an entry on horror monsters?

Bowlyn
These incorporeal undead are the spirits of those that have died in accidents at sea, and blame someone still living for their deaths. As CR 3 undead, they don't have much going for them in combat (their only notable special assault abilities are a fear aura, a nausea-inducing touch, and telekinesis), but they have plenty of story potential. They only rise on the anniversary of their death, and even then it may not be for up to 10 years, meaning that their appearance is a momentous and frightful occasion. This means that the bowlyn could be a plot hook for fresh heroes to find the past, or a spectre of past failures that has come back to haunt a seasoned adventurer.



Broken One
A patchwork of mismatched parts of various beasts and beings, the CR 3 Aberrations known as the broken ones are tortured beings created by curses, mad science, and the Mists themselves, driven insane by their warped transformation. While different than the 2E incarnation (which were always beast-people created by failed magic experiments), these broken ones are still interesting, and have some modularity due to variable special qualities such as extra limbs, fluid, clay-like bodies, or inhuman strength.



Bruja
One of the few creatures in the Demiplane of Dread that isn't actively out to murder you, the hags known as bruja are actually quite unlike their kin and actively willing to help you. Due to a melancholic personality produced by the fact that they are fated to always know the time and cause of their own deaths, brujas try to combat the darkness of the demiplane by blessing individuals, breaking curses, dispelling evil, and generally trying to unweave the tainted threads of the world. When they aren't out and about in such a manner, brujas live in cottages out in the wilderness, surrounded by animals they have empathic connections. While I'm not sure I can see normal "Good" heroes fighting a bruja, they are definitely an interesting potential NPC a character that has suffered a curse might have to find and plead for mercy with, or a wandering figure that the heroes have heard of but never seen.



Carrion Stalker
These CR 2 vermin vaguely resemble walking ribcages, and - as their names suggest - feast on carrion. They also happen to often hide in the corpses they feed on to lure in tasty living things (which they can sense with their heatsense special quality), which they then spear with numerous needle-tipped tendrils and pull toward them. A living individual is not meant for the carrion stalker itself, though; no, the living being is meant for its larvae. Oh yes, like so many alien invertebrates, the carrion stalker wants to lay its eggs inside you and have them burrow through you for Constitution damage. The carrion stalkers are interesting in the fact that they are not actively evil like so many creatures of the realm, they're simply good parents that happen to need your body for their children.

[Mulletmanalive]

Rappy...I think I'm in love with you...

Thank you so much... [small tear]... this...is...beautiful...



What is Denizens of Dread?
Denizens of Dread (or DoD) was the first (but not only) bestiary produced for the 3rd Edition version of the Ravenloft campaign setting, put out on a WoTC-licensed allowance by White Wolf (yes, that White Wolf) via the Sword and Sorcery line. It covers a good dose of the major spooks and shockers in the world, especially things like undead and were-beasts.

I'm sure it's been brought up by now, but Denizens of Darkness was the first, with this being the expanded 3.5 revision [a bit like the Tome of Horrors version being reviewed last time.

I can still remember my gaming store running a part ex-program for disgruntled Ravenloft fans...



Akikage
A CR 7 incorporeal undead, the akikage, or shadow assassin, is the unrelenting restless spirit of an assassin who died before finishing a hit. In the afterlife, the akikage still hunts in pursuit of the one that eluded it in its time of mortality, unneringly stalking its target. An akikage's three special abilities all focus on stealth and quick assaults, obviously, as...you know...they're assassin spirits and all. First off, akikage can become invisible at will, which combined with their innate +2d6 sneak attack, is a very nasty combination. If that wasn't bad enough, an akikage that gets a critical hit can force a save-or-die ability that, if successful, freezes the target's heart in ice. We've only just started, and we already have a very nasty undead encounter that will certainly make more of an impression than the bog standard shadow.

I love meaningless Romanji names. If I didn't know what the critter was, i'd be baffled right now. As it is, i'll admit that "red shadow" does sound better in Japanese... admittedly meaningless...what the hell does that have to do with cold?



Ancient Dead
The ancient dead are, more or less, mummies-as-a-template. Unlike standard mummies, however, their disease is variable rather than a stereotypical "mummy's curse" a la mummy rot, they have turn resistance, and they can draw on positive energy (albeit slowly) to heal themselves. This is an artifact of the older era when mummies were positive energy undead, a concept that was mostly lost or shunted into the "deathless" concept...but I'm not going to get on that tangent, I have to keep on target. Anyway, in addition to that, the ancient dead get a "rank" of 1 to 5 that determines their Strength increase and damage reduction, amongst other things. One of those "other things" are a list of supernatural powers each ancient dead can pick and choose from, including the ability to control animals (usually ones with an Egyptian motif), shapeshifting, elemental powers, object animation, and the ability to create standard Monster Manual mummies. This is a very versatile template that allows you to have mummies in which no two are exactly the same, providing a challenge to the players and a little fun for you as the DM.

Still not actually found a use for these things since they appeared in Van Richten's Guide so many years ago... well, until I learned about Chinese and Japanese self mummifying monks....



Animator
Another template already? I'm pretty sure my birthday already passed...

Animators are a template that turn animated objects into poltergeist-style undead with invisibility, telekinesis, the ability to animate further objects, and several SLAs tied to emotion. Indeed, animators are intrinsically tied to emotion, and must feed on negative ones such as jealously and rage to survive. While not exactly a widely-applicable template as-is, one could always expand it to include other mindless constructs rather than just animated objects for the frightening possibility of things such as hulking clay golems possessed by evil spirits or demonically-infused juggernauts.

The greater one makes a smashing haunted house. These are FAR too easy to deal with compared to the original version though...

Given how hard it will be for them to survive while they can't make AoOs against that Dismissal spell, their CR actually cripples them.

[Eldan]

Ooh, the self-mummifying monks. I never thought of including them. Clever.

[Rappy]

Ooh, the self-mummifying monks. I never thought of including them. Clever.


I'm sure it's been brought up by now, but Denizens of Darkness was the first, with this being the expanded 3.5 revision [a bit like the Tome of Horrors version being reviewed last time.

I can still remember my gaming store running a part ex-program for disgruntled Ravenloft fans...
Heh, thanks for the info.


I love meaningless Romanji names. If I didn't know what the critter was, i'd be baffled right now. As it is, i'll admit that "red shadow" does sound better in Japanese... admittedly meaningless...what the hell does that have to do with cold?
I have absolutely no clue, beyond the whole "chilling hand of death" metaphor.


Still not actually found a use for these things since they appeared in Van Richten's Guide so many years ago... well, until I learned about Chinese and Japanese self mummifying monks....
Yes, those are pretty darn fascinating. They make a good offset to the stereotypical pharaonic mummies, which is the same reason I like the Aleutian mummy from Frost and Fur (which I may do a Let's Read of after ToH II, but...yeah, we'll get there when we get there).

Carrionette
Like Pinocchio gone horribly wrong, carrionettes are living puppets with nasty demeanors, straight razors, and magical silver needles in their arsenal, making them a rather nasty CR 1 Construct. Their silver needles are paralytic, allowing them to numb the limbs of living beings before driving a fifth needle into said being's neck, performing a bodyswap. This is both good nightmare fuel for a player, as well as a way for a particularly mean DM to sow seeds of dissention amongst the players by having them face off against their own ally, now seen as the "villain" due to being in the carrionette's wooden body. Of course, as warp wood instakills carrionettes, they do have a pretty big Achilles heel.



Cats
Here we are given stats for the night cat, plains cat, and crypt cat, a CR 3 Magical Beast, CR 3 Animal, and CR 1/3 undead, respectively. The night cat is the stereotypical witch's devil-cat taken to its logical extreme, with Constitution drain and the ability to both bestow and remove curses. Plains cats are...pretty much just a different type of big cat, save for a stunning roar. Finally, you have the crypt cat, which is pretty much a zombie cat that has an infectious rash-like disease.



Changeling
CR 0 (!) or 1 Constructs, depending on whether they are built for combat or not, the interpretation of "changelings" presented here as as transmuted human shadows used as servants by the arak. The types presented are the sneak attacking powriekin, the musical sheekin, the undead-linked sithkin, and the feral hunting tegkin. While certainly not my favorite interpretation of changeling lore, they are a rather novel creature with good background story connected with the arak.

[Last Laugh]

Thanks Rappy! You always have really interesting, funny AND informative threads <3!

[Mulletmanalive]

Yes, those are pretty darn fascinating. They make a good offset to the stereotypical pharaonic mummies, which is the same reason I like the Aleutian mummy from Frost and Fur (which I may do a Let's Read of after ToH II, but...yeah, we'll get there when we get there).


There was an excellent presentation of bog mummies [semantics non-withstanding, mummies are dried, not pickled...] in one of the ravenloft books, though that was one of thos "indian burial grounds" type scenarios and there isn't much use for them beyond that...

And seriously, the carrionettes and that realm in general [despite the later toys] is just impossibly unsettling

[Terraoblivion]

Yeah, the tiny little village of children is indeed one of the more unsettling domains, even if it is also one of the harder ones to use. Which is a shame, because it is neat.

[Rappy]

Yeah, the tiny little village of children is indeed one of the more unsettling domains, even if it is also one of the harder ones to use. Which is a shame, because it is neat.
Little kids make great villains for some reason. I'd imagine there's a psychological reason for that, but I don't know it.

Cloakers, Dread
Three new cloaker variants for the Domain of Dread are given for your convenience here: the shadow, resplendent, and undead cloaker. The shadow cloaker has Constitution drain, the resplendent cloaker has HP drain and trades out the cloaker's shadow powers for color spray, and the undead cloaker is...undead. They also all have attach, reflecting the fact that the cloakers of Ravenloft are parasitic lifeforms that enjoy the yummy taste of your spinal fluids. Each one has its own cloak appearance, obviously; the shadow cloaker resembles a cloak of pure shadow, the resplendent like a jewel-studded royal cloak (good for those greedy adventurers), and the undead cloaker resembles an old, tattered cloak.



Corpse Candle
These CR 6 incorporeal undead are the spirits of those that have been murdered. They flicker like frightful lights within the eyes of their own corpses (which gives them their name), waiting for someone they can mentally coerce into bringing their killer to justice. Beyond that, they can control fire, and...that's pretty much it. They're more of a plot hook than an enemy, an obstacle or NPC instead of a creature to be slain for experience points.



Crimson Bones
CR 2 mindless undead, the crimson bones are the victims of vivisection, and can spread a blood-based disease called burning blood. They're not really that interesting to me personally, so I can't say much about them besides that you'll most likely use them in context of their ties to the sith or if you want something gory but low level in an encounter.

[Mulletmanalive]

Little kids make great villains for some reason. I'd imagine there's a psychological reason for that, but I don't know it.

According to memory, it's something about us part remembering the fact that our first encounters with other children and them not being very nice. I personally think it's because we're hardwired to protect children, even if we don't actually like them, and the idea that they are a threat is horrible and alien.

That and the fact that it's made sooo much worse by Interview with the Vampire


Crimson Bones
CR 2 mindless undead, the crimson bones are the victims of vivisection, and can spread a blood-based disease called burning blood. They're not really that interesting to me personally, so I can't say much about them besides that you'll most likely use them in context of their ties to the sith or if you want something gory but low level in an encounter.

Off the top of my head, how about giving it its mind back, slapping some class levels on it [NPC time!] and giving it a back story about being a surgeon that suffered from surgical addiction that turned into a ghoul as a result of eating his own flesh to dispose of it...

That's sure to freak out your players...

[Rappy]

According to memory, it's something about us part remembering the fact that our first encounters with other children and them not being very nice. I personally think it's because we're hardwired to protect children, even if we don't actually like them, and the idea that they are a threat is horrible and alien.
That sounds about right.


Off the top of my head, how about giving it its mind back, slapping some class levels on it [NPC time!] and giving it a back story about being a surgeon that suffered from surgical addiction that turned into a ghoul as a result of eating his own flesh to dispose of it...

That's sure to freak out your players...
Giving them an Intelligence score and a backstory like that would help a lot, yeah. I think there's just a general air amongst players when they face low-level mindless undead that it's a mook or something to be mowed down.

Dhampir
A +2 CR template for humanoids and monstrous humanoids, the Dhampir template reflects the legendary dhampir, a humanoid-vampire hybrid. It's a formidable template, granting pretty much all of the benefits of a vampire, a bonus to all ability scores, as well as weakness to sunlight, blood hunger, and a curse to rise as a vampire after death. While not quite the folkloric dhampir archetype, it is still an interesting template, and good for you to use if you want to throw a vampire at your players at an earlier level than usual or if you want a vampire sans the turnability.



Doppelganger, Dread
These CR 3 creatures are...not really that different from doppelgangers. They're usually Neutral Evil, have some slightly higher ability scores, and the ability to glamer objects it has on its person, but that's...pretty much the difference, really. There's not really much I can see that would justify you using dread doppelgangers as opposed to standard ones unless you want the glamer power and some more "Ravenloftiness".



Dream Spawn
These Outsiders come in three flavors: the CR 3 gray spawn, CR 5 shadow spawn, and CR 6 ennui. The dream spawn dwell in the lands where minds go to sleep, creatures of id that feast on fear and nightmares. Within the realm of reality they can cause drowsiness, detect thoughts, feed on fear to restore HP, and have a special form of Intelligence drain that allows them to mimic the shapes of the things in the memories they have absorbed. In addition to these abilities, shadow spawn have a fear-inducing howl and ennui have invisibility. These are great monsters if you want to have adventures closely tied to the world of dreams but still have the capability to threaten the party in the land of waking.

[Terraoblivion]

Dream Spawn do suffer under the fact that the Nightmare Lands were never actually updated in the 3.0 and 3.5 versions of the setting. Makes their origins and what to think about them a bit more fuzzy for people like me who weren't old time fans of the setting.

[Thurbane]

I think Manual of the Planes, and also Heroes of Horror, have some info for adventures in Dreamlands (although probably not the same Dreamlands as Ravenloft).

Still, may be useful. MotP has the Lucid Dreaming skill, and HoH has the Dreamtelling feat chain.

[Rappy]

Since the next creatures on the list are the dread elementals, only two entries this time.

Dreamweaver
CR 1/2 Outsiders that resemble spiders. They're vulnerable to sunlight and can create webs that either cause sweet dreams or awaken nightmares within the mind. I guess they're good for "dream fauna", but...eh.



Drownling
Yay, more fey, hooray! The CR 3 drownlings are aggressive spirits of the water that resemble water-drenched children that smell of foul swamp liquids. They get their name from their preferred method of killing: using their spell-like abilities to charm or confuse individuals, then use an entangle spell to hold them underwater and drown them. Another interesting facet of the drownlings is that three drownlings, like hags, form a covey together. They split the damage between themselves. They can also heal damage by staying in their home pool...which is a good idea anyway, as they take Strength damage from walking too far on dry land. In any case, the drownlings are enigmatic but interesting fey, and their habits make me think it would be interesting to tie them in to the hags.

[The Mentalist]

Hey, true. I mean, most animals fit into broad categories. I'm perfectly fine with using perhaps two or three kinds of predatory large cat stats for almost everything. A jaguar is not that different from a leopard, statwise. Perhaps change a few feats around. So having one kind of scarab is fine.

Still. There's a lot of interesting insects around no one ever statted up. Those with actually rules-relevant special abilities.

I know I'm way behind on this but I present you two options.

1. Stat them up yourself. (It's really quite fulfilling to see your work used by someone else.

2. I don't know much about the subject but if you're willing to feed me with information I'll stat up the creatures, fish, insects, birds, anything that's fun. (Please pick this one. I like making things and I'm always hunting ideas.)

[Rappy]

Elementals, Dread
The first of the dread elementals are blood elementals. They are...well...bloody. Stats-wise, they are pretty much variant water elementals with blood drain, but they at least have some interesting lore such as the claim that the blood of a murderous werewolf clan has created a particularly powerful blood elemental in the past. The grave elemental is the corrupted earth elemental variant, and gains the ability to drag grappled foes into its mass via numerous corpses within it. The mist elemental, in addition to being the most "Ravenlofty" of all the Ravenloft elementals, is notable for having the ability to use its corrupt air elemental body to attempt to taint others into becoming Neutral Evil. Finally, there's the pyre elemental, which can animate fire-coated undead. All in all, some strange variants of standard elementals, but variants nonetheless; I can't help but imagine that writing down the changes alone and not reprinting the stat blocks for every elemental age category for all four dread elementals would have saved up space for different monsters.



Ermordenung
This template is a +2 CR template that turns humanoids into charming but deadly venomous assassins. Beings under the employ of one Ivana Boritsi, the mistress of the land of Borca, ermordenung are denied physical pleasure until they basically turn into sadistic, sex-hungry killers. It's a nasty template that grants poison in both touch and kiss form, immunity to almost all other poisons, and bonuses to all ability scores, as well as some decent feats. While it is noted that they are almost always employed within Borca's borders, it's always possible to spring an ermordenung on adventurers in other domains as an unpleasant surprise.



Fenhound
Strange CR 4 Chaotic Good Outsiders, the fenhounds are almost the Mists' ways of defending others from their own twisting powers. Those that experience the taint of the darkness within the fenhounds' swamps on a full moon will be the target of their hunt, assaulted with trip attacks, ferocious jaws, and fear-inducing howls. Even worse, if you actually kill a fenhound, you are merely marked for more to manifest the next full moon, and unless you can attain atonement, they will eventually wear you down and take you down. It is also worthy of note that cleric spells of the Sun domain don't work on the fenhounds, who are strongly allied to the moon and its gods.

[Eldan]

"Ermordenung?"

My god. It hurts. So much.

I'm trying to translate it into English. I think I'll have to borrow from the Simpsons and call it "Enmurdering"

[Mulletmanalive]

Heh
A Borcan heart enmurders the strongest of men

I always felt that these versions of the dread elementals were a bit...well, pants.

The originals were practically unsummonable but they made such good allies to your villains that it was always worth incorporating them; frankly, my players never did get innured to the desperate chase to stop that pyre getting lit or that vat of blood from being animated.

That and the whole unquenchable flames aspect of the original pyre elemental was what made them truly scary...

The Ermodung [that's how i always say it, gave up trying to pronounce it when I was 14] are a nifty thing but it seems kinda pointless as a template... when are they ever going to be in a situation where anything other than spellcasting can trump their poison? Seriously...

Fenhounds? [shrug]

[Eldan]

"Ermordung" at least makes sense. It's a real word. "Assassination".

Edit: I bought myself some old Planescape books for cheap on Ebay. Anyone interested in me doing a Planescape version of this? (Though without going into the rules much, I have no idea of AD&D rules. Perhaps I can have a look at some conversions as well).

[Terraoblivion]

Get used to really, really bad examples of non-English languages, Eldan. The entire Vaasan language as it is presented in the Gazetteers is basically Danish, with a few minor changes. Except that it tends to be utterly ridiculous Danish. Like someone took the English text and translated it to Korean in google translate before taking that and translating it to Danish the same way.

[Tyndmyr]

"Ermordung" at least makes sense. It's a real word. "Assassination".

Edit: I bought myself some old Planescape books for cheap on Ebay. Anyone interested in me doing a Planescape version of this? (Though without going into the rules much, I have no idea of AD&D rules. Perhaps I can have a look at some conversions as well).

Go for it! I love reading these things, and really would love to know more about Planescape in general.

[Caustic Soda]

Edit: I bought myself some old Planescape books for cheap on Ebay. Anyone interested in me doing a Planescape version of this? (Though without going into the rules much, I have no idea of AD&D rules. Perhaps I can have a look at some conversions as well).

I'd read it. Planescape is neat :smallsmile:.

[Mulletmanalive]

Get used to really, really bad examples of non-English languages, Eldan. The entire Vaasan language as it is presented in the Gazetteers is basically Danish, with a few minor changes. Except that it tends to be utterly ridiculous Danish. Like someone took the English text and translated it to Korean in google translate before taking that and translating it to Danish the same way.

In fairness, some of the "English" in some old Swedish rpg books my friend has is just as bad. I suspect the high standard of modern English internationally has the internet to thank [though funnily enough, as an English coaching volunteer in the summer, we found a lot of folks could read English but couldn't understand it spoken]

On the Planescape thing, yes, but only if a cutter knows how to parlay the jab faster than a deader on Sigil and isn't planning on giving anyone the laugh [and you include a gossary...i'm sure i've used at least one of those wrong]

[Eldan]

Oh, not everyone speaks cant. It's seen as a bit low-class and mostly done in Sigil. And I won't do it in a review.

[Mulletmanalive]

Yes, but all but one of the books i've ever read were written in it. It was like reading A Clockwork Orange again [a "masterpiece" of "English" literature where the dialogue is mostly in a made up English/Russian pidgin (crude hybrid)]

It seemed appropriate somehow, unless you're going to include full translated summaries...I still have no idea what the guy was going on about in the Factions handbook about those imagination people...

Or maybe this is just the player's guides i'm thinking of...been a long time

[Eldan]

I love Clockwork Orange. YMMV.
And really, it's only a handful of words that are regularly used.

Also: http://www.mimir.net/cant/cant2.html

[Mulletmanalive]

I mostly just feel bitter about Clockwork because I was obliged to do it for English class but really wasn't warned that it's not wholely in English. And the edition we had made no effort to explain what was actually being said in the Nadsat bits. The plot I like, the film I like, the book, less so.

Bookmark on the glossary thought. It's as good as the one in my old planeswalker's handbook

[Volthawk]

Also: http://www.mimir.net/cant/cant2.html

Ah, useful. Now I don't need to ask you all the time.

[Eldan]

I'm pretty sure I've linked that one before a few times.

[hamishspence]

True, but (to use a saurian analogy), you don't need stats for every species (or genus, for that matter) of hadrosaurid, just some generics such as "Huge Lambeosaurine", "Gargantuan Hadrosaurine", etc.

I remember discussing this on EN World- though we ended up with "intermediate" categories of creature between each major size. So there were "Big Deinonychosaurs" which, while Medium, were on the larger end of Medium, compared to the normal Medium ones.

[Rappy]

Fiend, Dread
Noted here is the fact that, once summoned to the realm, demons, devils, etc. cannot return home; it's a one way trip through the Mists, and they aren't going back. They can, however, psychically manifest their energy in another, turning them into a "transposed fiend", which is basically a slightly altered Half-Fiend template. So, moving on from that rather minor note...

Figurines
These tiny Constructs are mostly found in the lands of the Rajian people, and are basically miniscule golems of (typically, but not always) ogre-level intellect. They come in several varieties, each with their own composition and general shape. We have:
The CR 1 ceramic figurine, usually made to resemble a frog, crocodile, or other swamp-dwelling reptile or amphibian. As their shape implies, these constructs can hold two flasks worth of water, potion, or some other liquid to later squirt out at their opponents; on the downside, though, they are vulnerable to sonic attacks, which tend to crack them open like eggs.
The CR 1 spider, scorpion, or insect-shaped crystal figurine is similarly weak to sonic attacks, but makes up for it by being immune to light-based attacks and capable of using some nasty SLAs such as color spray in return.
While having a higher CR of 3 and the ability to shapeshift to the size of a real elephant and produce a shout-effect trumpeting, the pachyderm-shaped ivory figurines have classic golem mindlessness as a drawback.
The CR 2 primatoid-shaped obsidian figurines are rough-hewn, barely above animal intelligence, and are pure melee combatants. They attack with claws and spikes, running underfoot and striking whatever gets too close, so don't expect an award-winning performance out of one. They also has a decidedly nasty side-effect of forcing a Reflex save to avoid permanent blindness from flying obsidian shards.
Finally, we have the tiger-shaped porcelain figurine. They are supposedly the strongest of all the figurines (even though they share the CR 3 spot with the ivory figurine), and back it up with constant see invisbility, enervation eyebeams, and the ability to size up to Large to match a true tiger.
All in all, like the ermordenung, the figurines are very situational. If you are campaigning in Sri Raji, they are likely to be a part of your campaign. If you aren't...well...I guess you can just skip their 4 pages.

Fury
Unlike the Greek furies, which were spirits or goddesses of vengeance, the furies here are evil temptresses charged by the Mists to keep corrupted people from redemption. All are CR 11, wield +3 scourges that deal 1d3 points of ability damage of some sort, have a stinking breath...erm...breath weapon, as well as alter self, a contingency-in-case-of-death near-immortality type ability, raking attacks, and can be turned as if they were undead. Beyond that and going into specific differences, Alecto has 10th-level Cleric magic and deals Wisdom damage with her scourge, Tisiphone is the meleer and deals Strength damage with her scourge, and Megarea has 10th-level Sorcerer casting and has a scourge that belts out Intelligence damage.

[Eldan]

Those furies at least sound closer to their counterparts than the Erinyes. But the temptress part is just strange.

[Rappy]

Those furies at least sound closer to their counterparts than the Erinyes. But the temptress part is just strange.
Well, it's not temptress in the succubus way, at least. But it still does have some temptation, as well as a bogeyman aspect of "stay on the path of Evil, or the furies will get you!"

[Thurbane]

COuld be worse - you could be attacked by furries! :smallredface:

[The Tygre]

COuld be worse - you could be attacked by furries! :smallredface:

Careful; we still haven't gotten to the lycanthropes yet, son. And if there's one thing Ravenloft's got plenty of, it's lycans.

[Rappy]

Geist
Essentially a variation on the Ghost template, with less direct manifestation and more mind screws. They come in two flavors: the despair-aura'd bussengeist, who are born of tragedies that their inaction produced, and the classic telekinetic tantrum-throwing poltergeist. Not much to say about this one, really.



Ghost
Again, not much to say about this one. I mean, you know what a ghost is, surely. The template presented here has some variation to it, though, allowing you to pick special qualities that allow the ghost to enter someone's dreams, casting animate dead, and other spook specialties.



Ghoul Lord
Ahhh, the classic [insert undead here] lord, the old archetype of powerful undead. In this case, we have the ghoul lord, who has the wendigo-like origin of engaging in massive acts of cannibalism and thus attracting the dark powers. In addition to paralysis and ghast creation, the ghoul lord has turn resistance, a foul miasma around itself that weakens Good-aligned creatures, and the ability to transmit a horrid disease. This disease ravages a creature's body and mind, compelling them to constantly eat raw flesh, then specifically raw humanoid flesh, and eventually the flesh of living humanoids. And if that wasn't bad enough, those that succumb to the disease, good or evil, rise as ghoul lords subservient to the one that transmitted the disease to them in the first place. Harsh.

[Mulletmanalive]

Huzzah, another entry! Good to see you back, Rap.

I always liked the Ghoul Lord... It was a nice addition to the Zombie Lord and while more physically powerful, it doesn't have those insta-kill bull-poop attacks that the Zombie Lord has, making them more interesting in my oppinion.

The power leveled ghosts are a nice addition, allowing you to make more powerful ghosts as the need arrises. If you go for the whole Supernatural "older ghosts tend to get madder and more powerful" route, they're a godsend. Otherwise not a big deal though.

[Rappy]

Goblyn
These strange CR 2 Monstrous Humanoids are basically Medium-size goblins with big mouths to chew on people with. They are created from humanoids by evil spellcasters that telepathically control them in combat, using them for guards and the like. They really aren't that interesting to me personally, because other than the horror aspect of knowing that they were once human (or a similar species), the fact that they only attack when told to and do little else makes them seem a bit too much like flesh-and-blood golems.



Golems, Dread
And speaking of golems... There's a plethora of golems here for your use, so let's briefly go over them.
Bone Golem: Scattered heaps of skeletal parts, these CR 10 golems have orc-level intelligence (indeed, all but three of the "dread golems" have Int 9 as their Intelligence score) and a violent roar that can induce paralysis or a save-or-die effect. What makes them particularly deadly is that they can be instantly fully healed with a casting of animate dead, which isn't that hard to come by considering the types that make bone golems.
Doll Golem: A horrific CR 8 monster in a size Tiny package, doll golems are basically a less intelligent version of Chucky, attacking purely with biting force. Their bite, however, causes the target to contract hideous laughter that lasts until they either die or the effect is dispelled.
Flesh Golem: A version of the flesh golem that has Int 12, regeneration, and a constricting grap at the expense of being vulnerable to poison, negative levels, fire, and acid. Essentially, it's a flesh golem that's gone from just being an expy of Frankenstein's Monster to being Frankenstein's Monster.
Gargoyle Golem: The gargoyle golem earns its CR 10 with the ability to petrify its targets. It can be killed instantly by an earthquake spell or dispel magic of sufficient power, though, which somewhat balances things out.
Glass Golem: This CR 8 stained glass figure gains fast healing under direct sunlight and fires a prismatic spray effect as its primary assault. Gasp! A glass-related monster with PS? What a shock!
Mechanical Golem: A greatsword-wielding man of metal, the CR 11 is essentially a walking Tesla coil, blasting electricity around itself.
Mist Golem: Now here's an odd one. Made out of a decidedly abnormal material -namely, the Mists themselves - these CR 14 nightmares can transport themselves through the Mists, have a mournful wail that can panic an enemy, a cloud around itself that can manifest a number of spell effects ranging from stinking cloud to cloudkill, and the ability to create the creatures known as mist horrors, which we'll meet later.
Snow Golem: CR 10, immune to cold and water attacks, breathes cone of cold, yadda yadda. Other than its Intelligence score, there is one other thing that is actually rather unique about this particular snow golem above the others: namely, the fact that it can transfer electric attacks struck at it to another individual it's holding.
Wax Golem: This take on the wax golem presents a CR 6 creature specifically created as a doppelganger of a living being, whose one main attack is to level-drain its flesh and blood counterpart and take its memories as a result.
Zombie Golem: The last of our golems is this middle finger to sensible undead body structure, a creature made of zombies slammed and stitched together into a mess of random body parts. Strangely enough, while its companion the bone golem has an Intelligence score in spite of skeletons...well...not, the zombie golem still has Int -. It has the zombie action limitation and a putrid stench, and...that's about it. So much "last but not least".

[Rappy]

Grave Ooze
This CR 6 ooze is basically the leftover slop of a decaying body...lovely. In addition to the old standard of acid damage, the grave ooze has an immunity to necromantic effects and piercing damage, and the ability to engulf its prey. And...that's about it, really. While the fluff makes them out to be this terrifying challenge, they aren't that different from most other generic oozes.



Gremishka
CR 1/3 Magical Beasts, gremishkas resemble gremlin-headed monkeys and, according to the text, are "twice as bad and twice as deadly" as true gremlins. Given that the gremishka can be frightened by lights and have no real special abilities to speak of besides a cumulative bonus to their bite attack when mobbing together, I somehow don't see them being the bigger threat. If you're gonna make a claim about how one monster is tougher than another, I'd suggest backing it up. They aren't really that interesting fluff-wise, either; they're the nega-brownies, using their trickster nature for petty acts of violence, and...that's about it.



Grim
A dog or owl-like CR 6 Magical Beast that can turn undead as a 9th-level Cleric and guard areas from evil with an unwavering gaze. I...guess that's sort of interesting, but I'd prefer the Tome of Horrors II church grim any day.

[LOTRfan]

The Grim sounds interesting. I'll have to check the Creature Catalog for the Tome of Horrors stats.

[Rappy]

Grim Reaper
Don't fear the Reaper...unless you're low-level, that is, since it's CR 7. Mind you, the relatively low Challenge Rating of this multiple-specimen Outsider incarnation of Death doesn't mean the grim reapers aren't cheap-shooting jerks, as they have a save-or-die scythe blade attack, a save-or-go-comatose scythe pole attack, and a fear gaze. If that wasn't bad enough, they're permanently invisible to all but the dying, even when attacking. They do have the weakness of immediately being destroyed and sent afar if healing magic is used on their target, though, so there's that to consider.

Just why the grim reapers collect souls isn't really made clear by the setting; they have the Mists subtype, meaning they are bound to Ravenloft's Mists, but it is suggested by our good old sage scholar friends that they may have their origin in the Negative Energy Plane. At the same time, though, there is a little dropping of the suggestion that something in the dread realms proper may be behind these sinister spirits. Really, though, they're most likely the result of vindictive DM, seeing as they are more and more likely to appear each time an individual is resurrected or saved from near-death. :smalltongue:



Hag, Spectral
I reiterate what I said about the Spectral Troll template back in the Tome of Horrors: why not just recreate the Spectre as a template, rather than a monster, instead of specifically making "Spectral [X]" templates for everything out there? This one at least has the unique ability to transform humanoids into living hags (humans into annis hags, elves into green hags, and...for some reason...halflings, dwarves, and gnomes into sea hags) by an unspecified special ceremony performed during a specific lunar phase (new moon for annis hags, full moon for green hags, and a lunar eclipse for sea hags). If you ever wanted to know where baby hags come, well...now you know. Poor sea hags must have a low population with the whole species and eclipse prerequisite.



Head Hunter
These CR 3 Aberrations are pretty much the embodiment of the "for the evulz" school of drow mad science. So, the drow (or some other underground race, the book adds) decide "hey, we want to infiltrate surface-dweller settlements". And how do they do so? Glamers? Invisibility? Nope, human heads mounted on spider legs that eat the heads of corpses they capture in razor-sharp webs, then emplace themselves in the neck cavity of the deceased's corpse to masquerade as them! Genius!

[Mulletmanalive]

[B][SIZE="5"]Hag, Spectral
I reiterate what I said about the Spectral Troll template back in the Tome of Horrors: why not just recreate the Spectre as a template, rather than a monster, instead of specifically making "Spectral [X]" templates for everything out there?

Legacy creatures, in this case. They came from the phase of 2e where they'd gotten shot of templates and regulated monster rules for a kit based format, so they actually had surprisingly little to do with the "base creatures" at the time.

The Tepes Gazeteer also had rules for hag multiplication via "adoption"... which is just as messed up as it sounds...

[Terraoblivion]

Really, several of these monsters make a lot more sense and become much more interesting when you read the setting books. They start having a place in them then. The goblyns are a great example of this, being the primary thread existing in the domain of Forlorn where they certainly are more than fleshy little golems. Also there is a certain horror in them being people twisted into those forms rather than simply constructed.

[Rappy]

Legacy creatures, in this case. They came from the phase of 2e where they'd gotten shot of templates and regulated monster rules for a kit based format, so they actually had surprisingly little to do with the "base creatures" at the time.
Fair enough.


Really, several of these monsters make a lot more sense and become much more interesting when you read the setting books. They start having a place in them then. The goblyns are a great example of this, being the primary thread existing in the domain of Forlorn where they certainly are more than fleshy little golems. Also there is a certain horror in them being people twisted into those forms rather than simply constructed.
I see. I probably should get more than the two Ravenloft titles I have in my possession. Alas, money's been tight for me for far too long... Similarly, turmoil has been far too common as of late, so I may be breaking from this thread. Hopefully not for too long, though.

[Rappy]

While I was somewhat distracted from this thread recently due to depression, income taxes and other political business, a bad stomach virus, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: the Game, I'm now back on track.

Hearth Fiend
Fiery CR 2 elementals of the Mists that, like grim reapers, seem to be on at least some level based around the idea that spellcasters need to have a bogeyman for their magic; in this case, fire magic attracts these relatively weak but decidedly destructive little impish things to the mortal coil. Hearth fiends like nothing more than a good bonfire...well, nothing besides a good bonfire made of living flesh. They throw bolts of fire to light things up, and if they're in a particularly sadistic mood they'll charm humanoids into committing ever larger acts of arson for their own amusement and the hope of transferring to larger fires to gain strength.



Hebi-no-Onna
Another area-focused creature, the hebi-no-onna are CR 16 Monstrous Humanoids, putting them in the upper tier of creatures we've met so far. These charming creatures resemble geishas with snakes for arms and use their charming gaze to collect thralls to act out their various whims. In addition, they have powerful 14-level Wizard spellcasting and the ability to command snakes, as well as two types of venom: standard Constitution-striking venom from their snake head hands, and hallucinogenic "Nightmare Wine" from their human head. While our good old sage friends suggest that the hebi-no-onna are offshoots of the yuan-ti, their immunity to gaze attacks from any reptilian creature means that a particularly sadistic DM is likely to pair them with medusas or basilisks instead.



Hounds, Dread
While I could say things about the CR 1 mastiff (big, strong dog) and carcass hound (zombie dog that can spread nerve-affecting disease), those things would be boring at best. Instead, I'll look at the third and somewhat unique hound, the CR 2 phantom hound. In spite of its name, the phantom hound is not an incorporeal undead...well, it is an undead, but not incorporeal. Phantom hounds act as undead guardians of their masters' property, even after said masters may be dead and gone themselves. To help them do so, phantom hounds have a panic-inducing baying howl that is strengthened by working as a pack and a Strength-debilitating poison.

[Rappy]

Human, Vistani
So I guess humans are technically in the 3E Monster Manual...as long as you are using Ravenloft. The vistani are, in essence, a mixture of Hollywoodized Roma and old witch tropes: mysterious traveling nomads with supernatural powers. They are neither good nor evil, their caravan tribes following only the vistani's wanderlust and the hands of fate. While mostly like other humans beyond their fluff, vistani do have a small bonus to Sense Motive and Survival checks, as well as the ability to cast the "Evil Eye". Said Evil Eye is a gaze attack that is more powerful for female vistani than males, and can replicate such magical effects as paralysis, fear, domination, and suggestion. In addition, there are human-vistani (even though vistani are technically human) hybrids; while they aren't given any real detail here, the half-vistani are detailed as a player race in the Ravenloft Player's Handbook (a title which I commend for showing both male and female members of all playable races, something that's all too often left out in a campaign setting title with new playable races); of course, since that isn't the book I'm LRing, I won't go into those details here.



Imp, Assassin
One of the rare Outsiders in the title, the CR 4 assassin imp is a scorpion-tailed little devil that is adept in - what else? - assassination. After all, it is called an assassin imp, rather than a baking cookies imp, butler imp, or annoying distraction imp. To protect their master, the assassin imp has regeneration and strong spell resistance, as well as a virulent venom from their stinger-tipped tail; similarly, their spell-like abilities are focused on inflicting pain, stealth, and counter-stealth as opposed to the more conniving and "tricksy" SLAs of the weaker standard imp. Sound good? Well, don't forget, it is a Lawful Evil creature, and as such is contractually obligated to find loopholes. In this case, that means that no one is out of the crosshairs of being attacked to defend the creature's summoner "master", even the master's friends and loved ones. It's definitely a good creature for political intrigue or a murder mystery in the dread realms.



Impersonator
A CR 3 Aberration with the Shapechanger subtype? Named an impersonator no less? What ever could it be for?!

...Yeah, while not the most creatively-named creature ever, the impersonator at least does a different dance than, say, the doppelganger. This blood clot-like blob lives to drink the bodily fluids of other creatures of Small or Medium size, which it then uses to replicate that creature's form. It's an interesting little twist, in that the impersonator must actually obtain genetic information from what they want to turn into, and blend in a bit of ooze-like flavor with their blood drain and paralytic attacks as well. It's a predator, but a crafty one, and a potentially interesting wilderness encounter if you play it right.

[Amechra]

Bump? Bump!?

THIS! IS! RAVENLOFT!

[danzibr]

I don't know if it's been brought up yet, but "akikage" doesn't really mean anything that makes sense.

[Rappy]

I don't know if it's been brought up yet, but "akikage" doesn't really mean anything that makes sense.
It has been, along with ermordenung. Poor Ravenloft creators, they just had some bad naming choices. :smalltongue:

Jack Frost
Small CR 3 fey of the icelands, the jack frosts somewhat resemble elves in miniature, graceful figures with a vindictive streak. Basically, they enjoy draining heat from the bodies of living things. No, not need, enjoy. So basically, they're miniature light blue drow. Jack frosts can take two alternate forms: that of a hypnotic snowflake swarm or of a bone-chilling wind to drain heat.



Jolly Rodger
Would you ever believe that a creature with this name was an undead pirate? With a resistance to fire and an immunity to cold and water spells, the Jolly Rodger is pretty dangerous to a low-level party, even with spellcasters backing them up. This doomed man of the deep leads a crew of zombie pirates in raids against coastal communities as they did in life, plying the seas with a ship that, were it not for the powers of the Jolly Rodger, would be long rotted beneath the waves. In addition to being able to create zombies from those they kill, these CR 6 undead live up to the "jolly" part of their name: both their gaze and their touch can bestow the hideous laughter spell. Sea dogs beware, for the Jolly Rodger is definitely an interesting potential encounter in the waves of the dread realms.



Kizoku
In essence, cannibal bishounen samurai. Like a non-demon incubus, the CR 7 kizoku's main weapon is his charm. When he's seduced someone, he steals their life essence, turning them into a willow tree. This is, of course, also the main bane of the kizoku. While armed with a formidable array of powers, including a number of formidable spells and regeneration that isn't bypassed by any normal form of energy or physical damage, he can be felled by a weapon forged from willow wood carved by an individual that loved the person said willow once was. Of course, in the end, the kizoku still wins even in death; while most of the willow trees become living women again after the beast is felled, the one whose willow-body was used to make the killing willow weapon can only be brought back to life with powerful wishing magic.

[Terraoblivion]

I had forgotten how many vaguely Japanese-inspired monsters really were in this book. I guess Rokushima Taiyou really has a unique selection of monsters. I do wonder, with all these Japanese beings where are the were-hakutaku?

[Rappy]

I do wonder, with all these Japanese beings where are the were-hakutaku?
Were-Celestial Dire Lion (via use of Monstrous Lycanthrope from Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary) perhaps?

Lebentod
Literally stated to exist purely to be henchmen, lebentod are undead that are cloaked in a semblance of life, going about the daily activity of the normal peasants around them until they are called by their creator to do said creator's bidding. Rather than a monster, this is a template that can create such an undead out of any humanoid for a +1 increase in Challenge Rating. While this grants them new attacks in various forms (including the ability to detach their own arms to use as clubs!), spawn creation, the aforementioned power of disguise, and some minor bonuses here and there, lebentod aren't perfect. The lose some of their Dexterity and Intelligence in their change, and they continue to "age" in spite of their undeath...albeit at a slower rate than they would in life, but still. If you want some conspiracy without shapeshifters or simply a different sort of undead minion than the usual, I can see where the lebentod could be useful.



Leech, Witchbane
This is a similar concept to the wizard's shackle from the Tome of Horrors; a magic-sucking verminous creature. What makes the CR 1/4 witchbane leech different, however, is the way it does what it does. While wizard's shackles drain spell slots, witchbane leeches increase arcane spell failure chance (even in divine spellcasters) with their suctioning and prevent regaining of used up spellpower while attached. They're stated to be purposefully utilized by the Tepest inquisition, so you can always expect that if you're encountering them.



Lich, Elemental
What's worse than a lich?

...I meant besides a demilich.

An element-bending lich, that's what! As their name implies, elemental liches are imbued with the powers of the elements, using these powers to fell their foes to quench their thirst for combat. They can conjure dread elementals, have a fear aura, an agonizing save-or-die attack that rips an opponent's bones from their skin, a save-or-become-Chaotic Evil touch attack, and a fiery touch attack. Elemental attacks, polymorphing, and mind-affecting abilities don't work against them, meaning a significant portion of a spellcaster's arsenal is useless when fighting an elemental lich; in addition, their turn resistance and high damage reduction makes them ferocious foes to Clerics and melee types as well. While they don't fit the image of the lich as a scheming mastermind with undead minions (indeed, they can't even control undead naturally), I do like the idea of a warmage-style lich that commands the elements. If you don't mind the save-or-die horribly/become a CE minion effects, then I'd say give the elemental lich a spin some time.



Living Tattoo
Another spirit of the dream realm, living tattoos are Constructs summoned to the mortal coil and bound to living flesh, capable of manifesting themselves as...well, tattoos. They are a fascinating combination of the hit points of the one that wears them, and a little bit of both new and old abilities based on the combination of the base creature-turned-construct and their bound companion. In addition to being one of the more interesting Construct-based templates out there, Living Tattoo has a varied (if eclectic) range of potential applicants: you can put this template on any object, animal, vermin, plant, undead, or dragon. And place they did, giving examples of the template used on a shadow, halfspear, leopard, raven, wyrmling green dragon, and wolf.



Living Wall
A decidedly horrific construct, the CR 8 living wall is a wall made of bricks, mortar, magic, and living people. Well...I can't argue, that is an effective way to ward off your potential enemies if you're an evil spellcaster. Anyway, suffice to say that this is not a pleasant thing to face off against. It gains attacks and spells from those joined into the suffering wall of fused bodies, is utterly insane (so much so that delving into the mind of a living wall can induce madness), and is immune to both flesh to stone and the like as well as stone-based spells, being neither quite flesh nor stone alone. Oh, except for meld into stone; that one just gets an instakill (or insta-fate-worse-than-death, I guess) on the fool that tried to meld into the absorbing wall that gains hit dice from sucking in living things.

[Eldan]

Lebentod


My brain. It is crying. I have hydrocephaly now, thanks to this book. :smalltongue:

[Rappy]

My brain. It is crying. I have hydrocephaly now, thanks to this book. :smalltongue:
There, there, I'm sure it'll get better. :smalltongue:

Also, I've added two more monsters to the last post, as I forgot how close we were to a certain entry that will need a post all to itself.

[Volthawk]

My brain. It is crying. I have hydrocephaly now, thanks to this book. :smalltongue:

Huh? Why's that? :smallconfused:

[Eldan]

It translates, vaguely, as Lifedeath. Only with more grammatical errors-

[Terraoblivion]

At least it is possible to tell what it is supposed to be. Some things are just baffling. Especially the place names in the Ravenloft gazetteers. I can only comment on the ones in Vaasan, which is essentially Danish, but those are utter madness and look like they were written by Google Translate.

Also thanks for the suggestion on how to make a were-hakutaku. I was mostly just making a joke, but it is still neat to get a genuine answer.

[Mulletmanalive]

It translates, vaguely, as Lifedeath. Only with more grammatical errors-

Due to my very limited German, I always thought it was Liebentod..."Children of Death-typathing." Infact, I'm not sure that's not the case in the adventure they come from.

You're not allowed to complain about place names. Most place names are gobbledeygook anyway. All of the Norse based ones in Britain have been warped by enough years of mispronunciation and linguistic hybridisation to have become meaningless gumpf.

Yes, both those words mean "nonsense"

[Eldan]

Haven't heard Gumpf before.

I'm more a fan of garbled latin place names. Zurich was originally Turicum.

[Terraoblivion]

The place names I was thinking about were descriptive ones. One of them was The Black Iron Shield run thought Google Translate to produce an utterly hilarious result, since it took the verb form of shield instead of the noun, didn't compound the word and followed none of the rules for how you'd put a set of words like that together. Each bit was Danish, but the result was gibberish despite it being explicitly said to be descriptive. Similarly, I'm scratching my head a bit about why they chose Danish for Vaasan, since all the pre-existing names from Nova Vaasa and other countries speaking Vaasan were in either Russian or Finnish, neither of which is remotely similar to Danish.

[Eldan]

Duh. It's nordish... -ish. All the same.

[Mulletmanalive]

I can field that one...It's White Effing Wolf.

They published a book where a single American industrialist ruled Britain without anyone noticing and the streets of London were continually terrorised by Hispanic gangs [the only ethnic group NOT represented in Britain to any noticable degree].

Effort and/or thinking are not really strong suits in their setting book authors.

[Rappy]

I can field that one...It's White Effing Wolf.

They published a book where a single American industrialist ruled Britain without anyone noticing and the streets of London were continually terrorised by Hispanic gangs [the only ethnic group NOT represented in Britain to any noticable degree].

Effort and/or thinking are not really strong suits in their setting book authors.
Woah, what book did that come from? Not that I don't agree on White Wolf's questionable efforts (even if I am a fan of the Creature Collection monsters)...

Anyway, sorry for the brief entry, but I've been both busy and kind of aggravated at things lately, but I still wanted to get the lycanthropes out here. So...here you go, discuss!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lycanthropes
What would a horror setting be without werebeasts?

...It'd still be a horror setting, but that's beside the point! There are a total of 8 different were-creatures here, those being...
Loup-Garous: Basically bigger, meaner werewolves. The lowland loup-garou takes the form of a worg, and the mountain loup-garou that of a dire wolf.
Werebadger: Merciless warriors and ideologues that are almost always dwarves.
Werejackal: Cowardly priests of Anubis from the desert regions of the Dread Realms. Particularly favored werejackel Clerics become "werejackal chosen", granted extra goodies by Anubis himself.
Werejaguar: Werejaguars are solitary jungle hunters and always in hybrid form, unable to take human or full jaguar form. Which makes them shapeshifters...how, exactly?
Wereleopard: The plains equivalent of werejaguars, only evil, possessing an inborn fear of lightning, and can create cursed wereleopards from humans that can leave hybrid form...but only on the full moon, when the natural wereleopards try to hunt and kill them anyway.
Wereray: Sadistic little beasts that like to inject their stingray venom into a victim then sit back just so they can watch potential prey drown for the Evulz.
Wereraven: Allies of the Vistani that combat evil with their eye-removing pecking powers. When the only Good werebeast you can expect to encounter has "pecking enemies' eyes out" as its favored combat tactic, you know you're in the Dread Realms.

Now, I do like werebeasts (and beastweres, for that matter), but...eh. While I guess dire werewolves are an interesting idea, and I do like the wereraven for its goodness and the wereray for its novelty, the gimmicks of the werejaguar and wereleopard just sort of fall flat on me for some reason. Also, why are werejackals evil? Anubis doesn't seem like that disagreeable a deity; I guess it's that whole "underworld deities = icky" thing.

[Terraoblivion]

Actually, White Wolf was only the publishers, they didn't write the books. Rather that was a task left to freelancers associated with the defunct, official fan group for Ravenloft, the Kargatane. Also, despite the names, I honestly really love their work on the setting, they did much to make it come to life. I will also defend White Wolf to a degree, they are a lot better than they used to be. Most of their really bad stuff was either from the early to mid-nineties or was based around that ever increasing plot tumor that was the metaplot. It appears that nWoD, as well as Exalted, has dodged the crappiness of old oWoD books.

And, yeah, I can see the lycanthropes being boring, but weren't werefoxes supposed to be from this book too? Or do they get their own, wholly separate entry?

[Rappy]

Actually, White Wolf was only the publishers, they didn't write the books. Rather that was a task left to freelancers associated with the defunct, official fan group for Ravenloft, the Kargatane. Also, despite the names, I honestly really love their work on the setting, they did much to make it come to life. I will also defend White Wolf to a degree, they are a lot better than they used to be. Most of their really bad stuff was either from the early to mid-nineties or was based around that ever increasing plot tumor that was the metaplot. It appears that nWoD, as well as Exalted, has dodged the crappiness of old oWoD books.
Fair enough, and duly noted.


And, yeah, I can see the lycanthropes being boring, but weren't werefoxes supposed to be from this book too? Or do they get their own, wholly separate entry?
Surprisingly enough, no, the werefox wasn't one of the 2E Ravenloftians that managed to survive the era switch. Or maybe it's in Denizens of Darkness...I dunno, I don't have that one.

[Eldan]

Where exactly did the idea of "Loup Garou is a bigger, meaner werewolf" come from? Unless I'm mistaken, it's just French for werewolf, but I've seen it pop up all over in fantasy to mean superwerewolf.

[InVinoVeritas]

I've been playing in Ravenloft long enough to know that most of the brain-choking foreignish names have actually been around since the TSR days. They're the folks you should blame for Akikage and Ermordenung. But then again, Ravenloft is chock-full of twisted-death names, it's kind of ridiculous. There's Malocchio Aderre, de facto ruler of Invidia, places like Richemulot, Mordent, Odiare, and Dementlieu. But the best is saved for German--Victon von Mordenheim, the land of Verbrek, the horribly tattooed wizard Hazlik...

But even English isn't safe, with places like Ghastria (one of my favorite spots).

[Terraoblivion]

Hazlik isn't German, not unless they did insane things to the spelling of a German word. It doesn't even look German with the Z before an L and the K at the end, but I cannot figure out which word they could possibly have written in complete madness before.

I wouldn't say that Victor von Mordenheim is that bad either, there are honestly real German names that sounds even more ridiculous without even needing to drag in a second language for them being ridiculuous. Verbrek is kinda silly though, if they really did choose it because it was similar to the German word Verbrechen, which means crime.

And the reason Vaasan names bug me is simple. They're basically Danish, my native language is Danish. It's like the Hungarian phrasebook sketch to me.:smalltongue:

[LOTRfan]

Where exactly did the idea of "Loup Garou is a bigger, meaner werewolf" come from? Unless I'm mistaken, it's just French for werewolf, but I've seen it pop up all over in fantasy to mean superwerewolf.

Because the French are awesome. So, if you extrapolate it, French werewolves are just too cool to have the same stats as their mundane cousins. :smalltongue:

Seriously, though, werewolf legends in Bretagne describe monstrous canines the size of adult humans. I guess it makes sense that they use dire wolf stats.

[Eldan]

Hazlik isn't German, not unless they did insane things to the spelling of a German word. It doesn't even look German with the Z before an L and the K at the end, but I cannot figure out which word they could possibly have written in complete madness before.


It might potentially be pronounced the same way as the German "Hässlich", ugly. Though why anyone should spell it that way is beyond my capabilities of reasoning.

On the subject of realworld names, there's Ravenscar, Yorkshire. If that doesn't sound like something a gothic horror fanfic writer made up at the last minute, I don't know what does.

[Terraoblivion]

That's true, though it would also be the most insane change in spelling I've ever seen. It doesn't resemble that word at all and you would need to grab phonetics from several different languages to arrive at it. Not to mention they use umlauts elsewhere, so they really should keep it for him too if they meant ä and not a.

[Rappy]

Where exactly did the idea of "Loup Garou is a bigger, meaner werewolf" come from? Unless I'm mistaken, it's just French for werewolf, but I've seen it pop up all over in fantasy to mean superwerewolf.
It's probably our fault...by that I mean Louisianians, not GitP, of course. Cajun lore on the loup-garou or "rougarou" is varied and sometimes just plain funky, such as incorporating vampirism into the werewolf or having them warded off by church hymns.

Thus, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if there was some Cajun lore that introduced a larger-than-average werewolf.

[Eldan]

That doesn't sound too Cajun-specific, really. In European folklore, Witches, Vampires and Werewolves were all happily mixed up. Vampires transform into wolves, as do witches, and wolves drink blood. All of them potentially have evil magic.

[Rappy]

That doesn't sound too Cajun-specific, really. In European folklore, Witches, Vampires and Werewolves were all happily mixed up. Vampires transform into wolves, as do witches, and wolves drink blood. All of them potentially have evil magic.
Fair enough.

We still stake claim on being the state that invented the crayfish-alligator hybrid creature in our mythology, though, which has to count for something.

[LOTRfan]

Fair enough.

We still stake claim on being the state that invented the crayfish-alligator hybrid creature in our mythology, though, which has to count for something.

Crayfish-alligator hybrids? What are they called?

[Rappy]

Crayfish-alligator hybrids? What are they called?
I forget the name. There was a mention of it a plaque about Louisiana lore I saw in New Orleans, but it's been a while since I visited there.

[Mulletmanalive]

The book i was complaining about was "Shadows of the UK," a monstrous mess of a book [though to be honest, most American authored books about the UK make... i suppose "insane" is the right word... assumptions about the UK but this one takes the cake...]

Their stuff relating to Europe is usually...well, bad, and their clanbooks and stuff are at best colourful. I'm willing to assume that it's mostly freelancers not being actually vetted properly but still, depressing.

I've occasionally questioned the Loup Garou thing myself. The actual story goes that it was a massive wolf, unlike any other. It was pretty much the place where the modern werewolf came from [barring the silver], with the oldest stories i can find being from places like Romania and basically featuring men going bestial when left too isolated [mix of rabies and loneliness from the sounds of it]. No moon stuff in either story though

On the "Ravenscar" bit, yeah, that's an awesome one. Kinda sad that a "Scar" is a ridge of rock in a moor [or possibly a shallow salt marsh, a Carr, if we're talking Viking names]...

[Terraoblivion]

Oh, for crying out loud, curse you White Wolf. Just as you were getting better, you slipped right back into utter insanity and some bizarre ideas of Europe.

I still wonder how the Get of Fenris not dying was ever supposed to make sense. They could only reproduce themselves with their kinfolk, who had to be really traditionalistic, warrior guys who were not nazis, skinheads or similar. The area they were mostly found in? Scandinavia and Germany, some of the least militaristic, least traditionalistic countries on the planet. About the only ones around here who do go for militaristic machismo are the very neo-nazis, skinheads and racist biker gangs they were said to hate.

But really, most WW freelancers, at least in the oWoD years, seemed to have less understanding of Europe than the common, chest beating teen troll going on about how wussy and evil European welfare states are. It's quite remarkable how they completely missed that Europe is actually pretty wealthy, even the poorish parts, and thoroughly industrialized.

[Jolly]

Generally speaking, Euro views of America are just as off as American views of Europe.

[flabort]

And both their views of canada and vice versa are just as wrong, eh? :smallwink::smalltongue:

[Rappy]

The book i was complaining about was "Shadows of the UK," a monstrous mess of a book [though to be honest, most American authored books about the UK make... i suppose "insane" is the right word... assumptions about the UK but this one takes the cake...]
See, this is why I like having friends in the UK, Australia, and Canada. I can go beyond research and try to avoid utterly stupid mistakes. But that's neither here nor there...

I still can't believe we're already at the M's. We'll be starting Let's Read the Tome of Horrors II before you know it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marikith
Shadowy squishy bug-people from the lands of Timor, marikith are dextrous predators of the underground caverns and tunnels. They come in two flavors: the human-sized, extremely flexible, sound-mimicking CR 2 hunters, and the giant, venomous CR 11 queen. They are creatures that feed on both flesh and fear, meaning that they're likely to screw with your head before they actually get around to killing you; and, as we all know, this can only mean Bad Torture Times for a player. There's also the suspicious undercurrent of the species. They have only been found on Timor, and there are rumors that humans on Timor that fail their checks against the dark powers actually become the marikith...which would certainly explain why the marikith queen has a seemingly endless stream of cannon fodder hunters at her disposal.



Mist Ferryman
Let's see here. Skeletal, rows a ferry boat, takes people places in said ferry boat...hmm, sounds familiar.

But seriously, these CR 4 Undead aren't quite Charon. They don't want gold, oh no; they want to beat the snot out of you, and if you happen to win you get a free ride to anywhere in the dread realms they can teleport you to. Sounds easy, right? Well, not quite, given that their bony claws can impart a foul rot that hardens and cracks away the flesh of its victim, eventually turning them into a new mist ferryman if they succumb to it. Oh, and they can summon backup if they're ganged up on, of course, so there's that. In essence, the mist ferryman is part monster, part plot device. Your players want to get somewhere else in Ravenloft (or you want to get them there yourself)? Never fear, the mist ferryman is here!



Mist Horror
As its name suggests, some sort of horror born of the Mists. To allow versatility, this is a CR +1 template that can be applied to any living creature, giving you a wide range of potential shapes, sizes, and base power sets for the things that lurk in the Mists, just waiting to hunt your players. Mist horrors are incorporeal undead with a fairly wide set of defenses, including turn resistance, immunity to holy water and undead-affecting spells in spite of their type, and a number of other resistances. In addition, they have some good offense as well; their fear aura and ability to implant telepathic suggestions in the minds of others augment whatever natural combat abilities they had in life.

[Rappy]

Moor Man
Anthropophagous CR 3 bestial humanoids of the marshlands, moor men are ambush hunters that dwell in the wetlands of the dread realm. They are blinded by sunlight and thus typically spend their days wallowing in mud, only coming out at night to hunt...unless they smell human flesh, that is, which - as you know - is Monster Delicacy Number One. Their main differentiation from most "slavering horde" species is their innate ability to craft magical tattoos on themselves. Oh, and I guess having darkvision at a staggering range of 150 feet is pretty unique too.



Nightmare, Dread
Dread nightmares: like nightmares, only dreadier.

Seriously, though, they're basically just slightly tougher nightmares as far as I can surmise.



Odem
Small CR 5 incorporeal undead, the odem are evil spirits that apparently just didn't want to become ghosts hard enough. Their main goal is to eat fear and similar emotions; because that's what all ghosts do, you see. They have possession and Wisdom drain abilities.