Nightmare build

[Demons_eye]

What would be the best way to make a guy that could find out what some one is most afraid of and then send it at them? I was thinking wizard would do the trick but then I dont know much and I bet there are better ways of doing it. If I can get a good build going I will send it at my pc's So if anyone can help me with this it would be a life saver.

Edit: Any books allowed

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Heroes of Horror has Onieromancy, which has some spells that do exactly that (find the fear). Cleric has a domain that has it, and arcane casters can get it through a feat, I believe. I'd tell you more, but I don't have the book on me.

[Demons_eye]

Hmm I will look into that thanks. Question tho would it be to evil of me to force my players to pick at lest 1 fear if they say there character fears nothing?

[thegurullamen]

Phantasmal Killer

It does just that. Any other Figment or Fear spells follow a similar trend.

[Yukitsu]

Hmm I will look into that thanks. Question tho would it be to evil of me to force my players to pick at lest 1 fear if they say there character fears nothing?

Ask if their character is immune to fear effects. If they say no, which they should, tell them to think of something or roll it up on the chart for phobias.

[Demons_eye]

Phantasmal Killer

Well its what i was looking for but it seems like a one trick poney there. Not very scary if you see a guy throwing spells at you. Its kinda normal in dnd. But a guy that you know will find a way to pry into your mind, so deep, that you might be driven insane. Well now that what I was looking for.

[Mikeavelli]

You could always grab levels of nightmare Spinner, from the Complete Mage.

[nargbop]

I built a Fear-caster some time ago. The relevant classes are Dread Witch from Heroes of Horror and Nightmare Spinner from Complete Mage. I also used Dirgesinger from Libris Mortis and Fatespinner from Complete Arcane to help with the save DCs. Dread Witch allows you to attach "nightmare phantasm" to any spell whose effects can be seen (fireballs and illusions can have phantasm, Bear's Endurance cannot), forcing a fear effect. Fear effects stack, so multiple instances of nightmare phantasm force the other guy into a mewling ball of fright.
So, to do this right, build a Dread Witch with an Illusion specialist wizard. Have her use divinations and mindreading and oneiromancy and DM fiat to find out what people dream about. Cast illusions of those fears through a scrying spell (this is RAI rather than RAW), and you can terrorize the party. If you're playing a horror campaign, it would be appropriate to rarely let the characters sleep so that after a week they don't know if they're asleep or awake.
DM Thoughts : A fearless character is pretty boring. They wouldn't mind if their primary motivations were threatened? Sir GenericKnight sees his castle razed and burning, Father GenericCleric sees his church desecrated and his god's name cursed daily. Greedy GenericRogue finds himself poor again, only this time his feet and hands have been cut off and he has to beg instead of steal. Etc.. Etc. Fears don't have to be monsters and dragons, they should be tailored to the personality of the character and the player behind that character. What's going to get the most rise out of him/her?

[RTGoodman]

There's also, you know, the nightmare spell. Seriously, though, it doesn't do a lot of damage, but nothing scares a wizard/sorcerer/bard's player more than not being able to regain ANY SPELLS for a whole day. Oh, and it's only a level 5 spell, meaning your BBEG could be casting it at least a few times a day starting a 9th level.

Once you've used it, you should also make each player DESCRIBE his nightmare, and from there you can get ideas on what else to send at them. Spiders? Throw some ettercaps and giant monstrous spiders at 'em. Heights? Make 'em climb a mountain via a narrow path on the mountain face. Stuff like that.

[Prometheus]

nargbop hit on a good idea. Any character that has goals (and all should) would have fears in the sense that they have things that they are motivated to never have occur. Of course, you should be able to make it occur in a personal and dramatic sense.

Keep in mind that not all fears need be tangible. Fear of betrayal (Rogue), enclosed spaces (Druid), psychic domination (Barbarian), or personal incompetence (Paladin) can as compelling as things like spiders, dragons, etc. If one of the PCs insist that their character is fearless, use one of the above work-arounds to instead torment them with "despair" or "shame".

I read one thread in which the PCs literally played out the nightmares that they received and kept on coming back to that world everytime they slept. In some instances, progress in that world meant a small success in this world and they ultimately had to solve both crises. Of course, the closest thing to doing this by RAW is the Maze spell.

Consider also using fear-based monsters to either supplement the power of this foe or give him a reason for chosing fear over something like death or pain. Fihyrs and Greater Fihyrs (from Monster Manual II and tracing back to many earlier editions of D&D) come to mind - tendriled and transparent creatures that have powerful control over minds, feed off of fear, and are vulnerable to sunlight. Yeth Hounds (see my sig link for ideas) are at MMI creature based on fear.