Sunday, May 14, 2017

Frightful Fridays! Imaginought

Hello and welcome to a new Frightful Fridays! We're inching closer to this feature's namesake, and I hope to continue doing so. The imaginought is a blank slate until it experiences fearful thoughts and then takes the shape of those thoughts to terrorize its victims. It also likes to "play dead" and let its fast healing restore it to health, so it can launch a final, horrifying attack.

I hope you enjoy the imaginought, and I'll be back again with another monster. Thanks for reading!



A menagerie of horrifying images crosses this creature’s body. Its face is featureless apart from a wide, toothy grin.
Imaginought      CR 7
XP 3,200
NE Large outsider (native)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +14
Aura fear (30 ft., DC 18)
DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+3 Dex, +8 natural, –1 size)
hp 85 (9d10+36); fast healing 2
Fort +7, Ref +9, Will +8
DR 5/good; Immune cold, fire; Resist acid 10, electricity 10
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., climb 30 ft., fly 80 ft. (good)
Melee bite +14 (1d8+5), 2 claws +13 (1d6+5)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks fearful energies, rend (2 claws, 1d6+7)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +13)
   At will—detect thoughts (DC 16)
   3/day—burning hands (DC 15), summon swarm
   1/day—bane (DC 15), phantasmal killer (DC 18)
STATISTICS
Str 20, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 15, Cha 18
Base Atk +9; CMB +15; CMD 28
Feats Dazzling Display, Intimidating Prowess, Power Attack, Shatter Defenses, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Acrobatics +3 (+7 to jump), Bluff +16, Climb +13, Disable Device +15, Disguise +16, Fly +11, Intimidate +21, Knowledge (local) +10, Perception +14, Stealth +11
Languages Common; telepathy 60 ft.
SQ taste of fear
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, nightmare (3–6)
Treasure incidental
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Fearful Energies (Su) If an imaginought has successfully read the surface thoughts of a creature with a fear of a particular type of energy, its burning hands spell-like ability deals maximum damage of that energy type to the phobic creature. Additionally, the creature takes a –2 penalty on its save against burning hands.
Taste of Fear (Su) An imaginought gains a +8 morale bonus on Survival checks to track victims that have failed their Will save against its fear aura.

An imaginought is a bogeyman created from the fearful thoughts of those who enter the foreboding space it inhabits. A blank slate before it is first created, it develops a suite of tricks and powers to maximize the impact of its frightful nature. The creature inherently knows what its “creator” fears, but, should it survive beyond the moment of its creation, it learns to read thoughts to improve and expand its tactics.

A hulking brute of a bipedal creature, standing about 8 feet tall, an imaginought starts with very few details on its dead grey flesh, other than dagger-like claws and a gnashing bite. As it encounters more fears, it coalesces into a preferred nightmare form. A palpable wave of fear emanates from an imaginought. Each creature has subtle differences based on the phobias it has tasted. Typically, though, an imaginought features insects, spiders, or snakes crawling along its body, or a fiery aura. An imaginought is sensitive to numeric superstitions, so it may have 13 total digits on their hands, 6 digits on each hand, or an odd number of horns crowning its brow. These features do not give the creature extra or more powerful attacks. An imaginought also speaks in a familiar voice to its victim, usually belonging to an authority figure or someone who bullied the victim in the past.

An imaginought lives only to sow terror. It likely lets victims go so it can invoke a sense of fear of subsequent encounters. The creature enjoys playing dead where it waits for its victim to draw near and check on it or strike a fatal blow, at which point it leaps up in a horrifying display and continues its attack. Among themselves, imaginoughts are dull and lifeless, perhaps exchanging fearful patterns with each other. The creatures have no original thoughts of their own and rely on sentient creatures’ thoughts and fears from which they create mirror distortions. Without intelligent victims to feed them, they become inert. Thus, imaginoughts stalk their victims to maintain a flow of negative emotions. Some imaginoughts work with animate dreams and night hags to enhance the terror they create and provide the more powerful creatures with victims.