Dread Terrors

Beginning at 2nd level, a dread learns to harness the power of fear in a variety of ways called terrors. Using a terror is a swift action. Some terrors are channelled through her devastating touch class feature. These terrors charge a dread’s touch (and later her weapon) until her next successful attack that round.

Some terrors can be augmented by spending power points, similar to manifesting powers, to increase their effect. When augmenting her terrors with power points, the dread cannot spend more power points than her manifester level on any single use of a terror.

A dread can use her terrors a total number of times per day equal to her dread level + her Charisma modifier.

Terror Level Prerequisite
Chase Terror
Consuming Nightmare 16
Haunting Steps 8
Horrible Strike 4
Incite Fear
Invigorating Fear
Lingering Fear 10
Maddening Fear 4
Mind Drain 6
Mind Rend 4
Mindlock 4
Ranged Mindlock 10 Mindlock
Nightmare Form 8
Concealed Nightmare 14 Nightmare Form
Concealed Nightmare, Imp. Nightmare Form,
Concealed Nightmare
Fear Incarnate 12 Nightmare Form
Nightmare Touch 10 Nightmare Form
Persistent Nightmare Form 10 Nightmare Form
Shroud of Fears 10 Nightmare Form
Nightmare Step 10
Overwhelming Fear
Paranoia 14
Sickening Fear 6
Soul-Chilling Fear 12
Steal Essence 8
Terrified Escape
Weakening Fear

The dread chooses her terror from the list below. All terrors may only be chosen once unless otherwise specified.

Chase Terror

Whenever an adjacent foe that is shaken, frightened, or panicked attempts to take a 5-foot step away from the dread, the dread can, as an immediate action, take a 5-foot step so long as the dread ends up adjacent to the foe that triggered this ability.

Concealed Nightmare

The dread gains a shroud of materializing fears around her while using the nightmare form terror, giving her concealment (20% miss chance). The dread must be at least 14th level and have the Nightmare Form terror to select this option. This terror is used when Nightmare Form is activated and does not take a separate use of terrors to activate.

Concealed Nightmare, Improved

While using the Nightmare Form terror, the dread gains total concealment (50% miss chance). The dread must have the Nightmare Form and Concealed Nightmare terrors to select this option. This terror is used when Nightmare Form is activated and does not take a separate use of terrors to activate.

Consuming Nightmare

The dread’s next attack infects the target with nightmare so overwhelming it threatens to strike the creature dead. The target must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the dread’s class level + the dread’s Charisma modifier) or die. If the target succeeds, it becomes immune to this terror for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear death effect. The dread must be at least 16th level to select this option.

Fear Incarnate

The dread’s connection to the realm of nightmares and her understanding of the fears of others gives her a terrible insight into how to shake people’s faith in themselves, granting her a bonus to Intimidate equal to her class level while using the Nightmare Form terror. The dread must be at least 12th level and have the Nightmare Form terror to select this option.

Haunting Steps

The dread’s attack slows the target (as the spell) for 1 round per dread level unless she makes a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the dread’s class level + the dread’s Charisma modifier). The dread must be at least 8th level to select this option.

Horrible Strike

The dread’s attack deals an extra 1d6 points of damage as she empowers her attacks through her connection to the region of nightmares. For every 2 power points spent, this damage increases by 1d6. The dread must be at least 4th level to select this option.

Incite Fear

The dread’s next successful attack incites fear in her target. The target must make a Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the dread’s class level + the dread’s Charisma modifier) or become shaken for 1d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.

Invigorating Fear

If the dread’s reduces an enemy to 0 or fewer hit points this round, she gains temporary hit points equal to her Charisma modifier.

Lingering Fear

The dread’s attack causes a lingering fear in the target which prevents rest for one day unless it makes a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the dread’s class level + the dread’s Charisma modifier). Inability to rest means the target cannot regain spells or power points, nor heal normally. For each 2 power points spent, this fear lingers for an additional day. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The dread must be at least 10th level to select this option.

Maddening Fear

The dread’s next successful attack imposes a -2 penalty to the struck creature’s Wisdom score in addition to its normal damage. This is mind-affecting fear effect. The dread must be at least 4th level to select this option.

Mind Drain

The dread’s attack drains a number of power points equal to the dread’s level unless the target makes a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the dread’s class level + the dread’s Charisma modifier). When used against a target with spellcasting, the dread drains away one spell at random equal to 1/2 her dread level or the next lowest level available if none exist for the applicable level. If the target has both spellcasting and power points, the dread chooses which to drain. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The dread must be at least 6th level to select this option.

Mind Rend

The dread’s attack deals 1d8 additional damage if his target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not). If the dread spends a power point when activating this terror, the damage increases to 1d10. This extra damage is not multiplied on a critical hit. The dread must be 4th level to take this terror. This terror can be taken one additional time every three levels thereafter (7th, 10th, etc). Each time, it increases the additional damage by one die.

Mindlock

The dread can invade the mind of an enemy through their subsconscious by making a melee touch attack that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The target must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the dread’s class level + the dread’s Charisma modifier), or be mindlocked for 1 minute per dread level. A mindlock allows the dread to either channel her devastating touch ability at range as a standard action which automatically hits, or attempt an Intimidate check on the target, even though the target might be out of normal range or out of sight. The range of the mindlock is 10 feet per dread level, and the dread does not need line of effect or line of sight once a mindlock is established. This is a mind-affecting effect. A dread can only sustain one mindlock at a time. If the dread attempts to mindlock a new target while another mindlock is active, the active mindlock ends. The dread is aware if the mindlock fails or ends, although she does not necessarily know the reason. The dread must be at least 4th level to select this option.

Nightmare Form

The dread’s internal connection to the realm of nightmares allows her to take on the form of nightmares herself. The dread can use ectoplasmic form as a psi-like ability at a manifester level equal to her dread level. The dread is still able to use her supernatural abilities while in Nightmare Form, although she suffers all normal restrictions on attacks and targeting. Each use of this ability is considered a daily use of the dread’s terrors. The dread must be at least 8th level to select this option.

Nightmare Step

When the dread is adjacent to a shaken target, she can teleport up to 40 ft. away into a square adjacent to another shaken target. The dread must be at least 10th level to select this option.

Nightmare Touch

The dread can use her devastating touch ability while using the Nightmare Form terror, even though she normally cannot make physical attacks. This terror is used when Nightmare Form is activated and does not take a separate use of terrors to activate. The dread must be at least 10th level and have the Nightmare Form terror to select this option.

Overwhelming Fear

The dread’s next attack stuns her target with overwhelming fear if the attack is successful. The target must make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the dread’s class level + the dread’s Charisma modifier) or cower for 1 round. If the attack misses, the effect is wasted. This is mind-affecting fear effect.

Paranoia

The dread’s attack causes the target to become intensely paranoid, making it fear even its friends. The target must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the dread’s class level + the dread’s Charisma modifier) or treat all creatures as enemies. The target reacts violently to anyone who approaches and will use the most efficient means of disposing the enemy. The target also attempts a save against all effects he could, unless he makes a successful Spellcraft check to identify the effect. This condition lasts for 1 minute per dread level. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The dread must be at least 14th level to select this option.

Persistant Nightmare Form

The dread can maintain her nightmare form inside areas of null psionics or dead magic areas. The dread must be at least 18th level and have the Nightmare Form terror to select this option.

Ranged Mindlock

The dread can initiate the mindlock terror at a range of 10 ft. per class level instead of as a touch attack as a standard action, but she still requires initial line of sight and line of effect. The target still gets a Will save as normal to resist the mindlock. The dread must be at least 10th level and have the Mindlock terror to select this option.

Shroud of Fears

The dread draws on the subconscious fears of those around herself while she is using the Nightmare Form terror, forming translucent shapes around herself representing the inner fears and terrors of those who view her. This grants her a deflection bonus to AC equal to her Charisma modifier. The dread must be at least 10th level and have the Nightmare Form terror to select this option.

Sickening Fear

The dread’s attack causes the target to become sickened unless it makes a successful Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the dread’s class level + the dread’s Charisma modifier). This effect lasts for 1d6 rounds. This is mind-affecting fear effect. For every additional power point spent, the target also takes 1 point of damage per round the effect lasts. The dread must be at least 6th level to select this option.

Soul-chilling Fear

The dread’s attack creates a conduit between her own subconscious and the mind of her target. The target must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the dread’s class level + the dread’s Charisma modifier) or gain 1 negative level. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. For every 3 power points spent, the target gains 1 additional negative level. The dread must be at least 12th level to select this option.

Steal Essence

The dread’s next devastating touch attack works as a conduit between the target’s subconscious and her own, turning some of the damage she does into healing energy, reinvigorating the dread. She heals an amount of damage equal to the damage she deals with her devastating touch. The dread must be at least 8th level to select this option.

Terrified Escape

The dread’s attack causes the target to flee from the dread on its next turn unless it makes a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the dread’s class level + the dread’s Charisma modifier). This is a mind-affecting fear effect.

Weakening Fear

The dread’s attack causes the target to be fatigued for one round per dread level unless it makes a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the dread’s class level + the dread’s Charisma modifier). This is a mind-affecting fear effect. This terror has no effect on a creature that is already fatigued. Unlike with normal fatigue, the effect ends as soon as the terror’s duration expires.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Psionics Expanded: Advanced Psionics Guide. Copyright 2011, Dreamscarred Press; Authors: Jeremy Smith and Andreas Rönnqvist.

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