This indistinct figure suddenly takes on a nightmarish shape, not quite human or animal or fiend.
Animate Dream CR 8
XP 4,800
NE Medium outsider (extraplanar, incorporeal)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +17
Defense
AC 20, touch 20, flat-footed 15 (+5 deflection, +4 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 90 (12d10+24)
Fort +10, Ref +8, Will +12
Defensive Abilities incorporeal; SR 19
Offense
Speed fly 40 ft. (perfect)
Melee incorporeal touch +16 (6d8 negative energy plus nightmare curse)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +17)
3/day—deep slumber (DC 18), dimension door, nightmare (DC 20)
1/day—confusion (DC 19), fear (DC 19), phantasmal killer (DC 19)
Statistics
Str —, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 21
Base Atk +12; CMB +16; CMD 32
Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Casting, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Iron Will, Mobility
Skills Bluff +20, Fly +12, Intimidate +20, Knowledge (planes) +15, Perception +17, Sense Motive +17, Stealth +19
Languages telepathy 100 ft.
Ecology
Environment any (Ethereal Plane)
Organization solitary
Treasure none
Special Abilities
Nightmare Curse (Ex) An animate dream's touch puts horrifying visions in the target's mind. Curse—incorporeal touch; save Will DC 21; frequency 1/day; effect 1d4 Wisdom drain and target is fatigued; cure 3 consecutive saves or dispel evil, dream, or remove curse.
From time to time, when a powerfully imaginative sleeper wakes from a particularly vivid or unusual dream, a fragment of that dream lingers on the Ethereal Plane. To survive, this animate dream needs the power of living will, imagination, and emotion to sustain it. An animate dream seeks out mortal minds, appearing as a shadowy and often frightful dream figure. Its true appearance is vague and nebulous, but it reacts to the fears and emotions of those around it, taking on a nightmarish appearance that differs for each viewer.
An animate dream can find satisfaction and sustenance by passing one of its ghostly limbs through a mortal's body—the act infusing the mortal with negative energy that sates the animate dream's unnatural hunger. But by forcing a creature into a state of sleep, terror, or both, the animate dream can gain a much more satisfying meal, feeding on the emotions released in such states. It uses its spell-like abilities to this end, for each creature it harms with its nightmares, drives temporarily insane with confusion or fear, or outright slays with phantasmal killer provides the monster with more nourishment. An animate dream forced to go for a long period of time without feeding does not starve to death, but does grow increasingly feral and violent in nature.
Animate dreams sometimes associate with other creatures from the Ethereal Plane or that have associations with dreams and nightmares, such as night hags, phase spiders, and xills. Sometimes these alliances are mutually beneficial, but in many cases the animate dreams are treated as slaves. Night hags in particular like enslaving animate dreams, and sometimes use their essence as a component in creating heartstones.
