Among those who succumb to the temptation of dark magic, individuals in possession of latent psychic abilities sometimes realize that they can use the secrets of evil magic to augment their mental faculties—often leading to deleterious ends for individuals who cross them. The magic-users known as nightmares are just one example of how such figures might meld the forms of magic they have discovered and use their gifts for sinister ends.
Able to reach into the minds of others, nightmares call forth their victims’ deepest fears and amplify them to the point that the affected creatures cannot do anything but grapple with the terror building inside them. As nightmares grow more powerful, they can transport their victims’ minds into a waking dream in which the fears that plague them become all too real.
Level 3 Nightmare
Attributes. Increase two by 1
Characteristics. Health +3, Power +1
Languages and Profession. You can speak, read, and write Dark Speech or add a profession to your list of professions.
Magic You discover the Forbidden or Telepathy tradition or you learn one Forbidden or Telepathy spell.
Psychic Corruption The Forbidden tradition counts as a psychic tradition for you. When your mind is focused from your use of the Focus Mind talent (see page 114), other creatures with Corruption scores lower than yours cannot detect your marks of darkness or ascertain your Corruption total by any means.
Vile Whispers You can use an action to attack the mind of one creature you can see within short range, filling its thoughts with horrifying visions. Make an Intellect attack roll against the target’s Will. On a success, the target becomes frightened for 1 minute or until it takes damage from a source other than your Vile Whispers. At the end of each round, the target must get a success on a Will challenge roll or take damage equal to 1d6 + your Corruption score. Once you use Vile Whispers, you must wait 1 minute before you can use it again. You can use this talent a number of times equal to 1 + your Power score. You regain expended uses when you complete a rest.
Level 6 Nightmare
Characteristics. Health +3
Magic You learn one spell.
Waking Nightmare A creature that becomes frightened by your use of Vile Whispers must immediately make an Intellect challenge roll with a number of banes equal to your Power score. On a failure, the creature becomes blinded and deafened until the effect ends. Furthermore, when the creature takes damage from your Vile Whispers, it increases its Insanity total by 1. Gaining Insanity in this way does not cause the creature to become frightened.
Level 9 Master Nightmare
Characteristics. Health +3, Power +1
Magic You learn one spell.
Horrid Possession You can use an action and expend the casting of a Forbidden or Telepathy spell of rank 2 or higher. If you do so, choose one frightened creature you can see and make an Intellect attack roll against the target’s Will. For each rank of the spell you expended higher than 2, you make the roll with 1 boon. On a success, your body dissolves into a cloud of black smoke that immediately streams toward the target and enters its body, where it remains for as long as you concentrate, up to 1 hour. While you are inside the target’s body, the target is compelled. If the target was frightened, you remove that affliction from it. Any effect used against the target that would end possession automatically drives you from the target’s body and ends the effect.
When the effect ends, you flow out from the target’s body toward an unoccupied space of your choice within short range of the target, where you immediately return to your normal form. If you remained inside the target’s body for a full hour, the target gains 1 Corruption when the effect ends.