Esoteric Dragon, Nightmare

Nightmare dragons have red frills and appear terribly contorted, trailing shadows behind them.

NE dragon (extraplanar)

BASE STATISTICS

CR 2; Size Tiny; HD 3d12; Speed 60 ft.
Natural Armor +2; Breath Weapon cone, 2d6 acid
Str 15, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 13

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Dragons gain different special abilities as they age.

Table: Nightmare Dragon Special Abilities by Age Category
Age Category Special Abilities Caster Level
Wyrmling See in darkness
Very young Dreamsight
Young Immune to mind-affecting effects
Juvenile Frightful presence, psychic magic 1st
Young adult Change shape, DR 5/magic 3rd
Adult Nightmare talons 5th
Mature adult DR 10/magic 7th
Old Psychic magic, rising nightmare 9th
Very old DR 15/magic 11th
Ancient Terrifying presence 13th
Wyrm DR 20/magic 15th
Great Wyrm Dream terror 17th

Change Shape (Su)

A young adult or older nightmare dragon can assume any humanoid form of its size or smaller three times per day as if using polymorph.

Dreamsight (Su)

A very young or older nightmare dragon can see the dreams of sleeping creatures.

Dream Terror (Su)

A great wyrm nightmare dragon can utterly control any dreamscape it enters, shaping it to its will. When a creature’s lucid body dies in a dreamscape under the great wyrm’s control, that creature’s material body also dies.

Nightmare Talons (Su)

The claw attacks of adult or older nightmare dragons are considered keen weapons.

Psychic Magic (Sp)

A nightmare dragon gains the following psychic spells upon reaching the listed age category: Juvenile—ghost sound (0 PE), true strike (1 PE); old— dimension door (4 PE), nightmare (5 PE).

Rising Nightmare (Su)

Three times per day, when an old or older nightmare dragon kills a living creature, it can cast phantasmal killer as a free action.

Terrifying Presence (Su)

A creature that fails its Will save against the frightful presence of an ancient or older nightmare dragon is panicked if it has fewer Hit Dice than the dragon.

ECOLOGY

Environment any (Dimension of Dreams)
Organization solitary
Treasure triple

These hunters of the Dimension of Dreams seek to wreak nightmares on sleepers and make existing bad dreams even more terrifying. Nightmare dragons often work with night hags in their grim collection of sleeping souls.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 5 © 2015, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, John Bennett, Logan Bonner, Creighton Broadhurst, Robert Brookes, Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Thurston Hillman, Eric Hindley, Joe Homes, James Jacobs, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Ben McFarland, Jason Nelson, Thom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Alistair Rigg, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Wes Schneider, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, Mike Shel, James L. Sutter, and Linda Zayas-Palmer.

scroll to top