Fear Gaunt

*This hulking shadow exudes a palpable menace, its form twisting into the shapes of hooks, grasping hands, and writhing tentacles.*

**Feargaunt CR 9**

**XP 6,400**

CE Large outsider (extraplanar, incorporeal)

**Init** +9; **Senses** darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +18

**Aura** nightmare (60 ft., DC 20)

**DEFENSE**

**AC** 23, touch 23, flat-footed 17 (+7 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 dodge, –1 size)

**hp** 102 (12d10+36)

**Fort** +7, **Ref** +13, **Will** +11

**Defensive Abilities** incorporeal

**OFFENSE**

**Speed** fly 40 ft. (perfect)

**Melee** tormenting touch +16 (6d6)

**Space** 10 ft.; **Reach** 10 ft.

**Special Attacks** tormenting touch

**Spell-Like Abilities** (CL 12th; concentration +16)

**At will**--fear (DC 17), ghost sound (DC 14)

**3/day**--confusion (DC 17), nightmare (DC 19), phantasmal killer (DC 18)

**STATISTICS**

**Str** —, **Dex** 21, **Con** 17, **Int** 12, **Wis** 16, **Cha** 19

**Base Atk** +12; **CMB** +18; **CMD** 37

**Feats** Blind-Fight, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Lunge, Skill Focus (Stealth)

**Skills** Bluff +19, Fly +26, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (planes) +16, Perception +18, Sense Motive +18, Stealth +22

**Languages** Common (can’t speak); telepathy 100 ft.

**SQ** never far behind, prideful defense

**SPECIAL ABILITIES**

**Never Far Behind (Su)**

A number of times per day equal to its Charisma modifier, a feargaunt can teleport to a square adjacent to a creature that is still shaken from the feargaunt’s nightmare aura or damaged by its tormenting touch. This ability functions as greater teleport. This ability functions only if the feargaunt and the creature are both in the Dimension of Dreams.

**Nightmare Aura (Su)**

A feargaunt is cloaked in a 60-foot-radius aura of fear, which manifests as darkened shadows, subtle rot, and skewed perspective. The first time a creature ends its turn within the aura, it must succeed at a DC 20 Will save or be shaken for as long as it stays within the aura and for 1d4 rounds thereafter.

Creatures within the aura suffering from any fear effect automatically fail Charisma checks to attempt impossible feats in a dreamscape. The feargaunt can suppress or reactivate this aura as a swift action. If the creature succeeds at the saving throw, it cannot be affected again by the aura for another 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The DC is Charisma-based.

**Prideful Defense (Su)**

A feargaunt gains a deflection bonus to its Armor Class equal to its Wisdom modifier, in addition to the deflection bonus an incorporeal creature normally receives based on its Charisma modifier.

**Tormenting Touch (Su)**

A feargaunt’s touch is an incorporeal touch attack that deals 6d6 points of damage and bypasses damage reduction. A creature that is suffering from a fear effect and is struck by the feargaunt’s tormenting touch also takes 1d2 points of Charisma bleed damage. This bleed damage can be stopped as normal, but also stops when the subject is no longer suffering from a fear effect.

​**ECOLOGY**

**Environment** any (Dimension of Dreams)

**Organization** solitary

**Treasure** none

Certain vivid nightmares endure beyond the sleeper’s awakening, drawing substance from planar flotsam and deriving purpose from their creators’ deepest fears. Shifting their form from moment to moment, these malicious creatures range the Dimension of Dreams, ambushing prey with soul-weakening strikes. Their presence turns dream elements that might otherwise be only frightening into agonizing experiences that can kill their victims. Feargaunts often allow victims to believe they have escaped, only to attack anew from an unexpected direction. The Dimension of Dreams is their home territory, and a feargaunt uses its knowledge of this realm to ensure that no matter how fast or how far victims flee, they can never truly leave the feargaunt behind.

Anywhere a feargaunt steps takes on a darker, more frightening cast. Shadows become impenetrable hiding places for things that lurk out of sight, familiar locations take on ominous twists that lead those who thought they knew their way astray, and comforting faces become masks for monstrous, sadistic enemies. The terror the feargaunt inspires eats away at the mental stability of its victims, ensuring that they can’t navigate dreamscapes without tripping themselves up and letting their own imaginations hamper them.