Demon, Nightmare
- Armor Class
- -4 [23]
- Hit Dice
- 6+6
- Attacks
- Bite or Hooves (1d6+2)
- Special
- smoke breath (10 ft., save or -2 attacks), natural flight, size change
- Move
- 24 (3) Fly 48 (3)
- HDE/XP
- 7/600
Description
Infernal beings are monstrosities with otherworldly or extra-dimensional origins. These beings are universally vile and at odds with the powers of goodness. There are several distinct races or groups of infernal beings, generally grouped by their origin. They might be called demons, devils, or other related terms. If reduced to 0 Hit Points in the mortal world, an infernal is not destroyed but disappears in a pall of greasy black smoke and terrifying scream, banished back to its home dimension or plane. Once banished, it cannot return to the mortal world for an entire year. To truly destroy one it must be reduced to 0 Hit Points while in its home dimension.
Nightmares, also known as Hell Steeds, are the horses of the lower planes. Nightmares are gaunt beasts with eyes that glow fiercely red and orange, fire and smoke blowing from their nostrils, and hooves that burn like fiery coals. Nightmares are able to change sizes, from the size of a warhorse up to a giant form twice that size, but despite these changes their statistics (hit dice, attacks, and so on) are not affected. This ability allows them to serve as steeds for demons and devils of various sizes. Night hags (page 154) and sometimes greater undead such as vampires, spectres, and liches may use nightmares as steeds.
Besides attacking with its fierce bite and burning hooves, a nightmare exhales a cloud of smoke that both blinds and chokes any living creature within 10 feet unless a successful saving throw is made. Those affected by the smoke suffer a penalty of -2 on all attack rolls while within the smoke-filled area. Note that after moving to a new location, one full round must pass before the nightmare's smoke cloud is fully formed in this new area; on the other hand, the smoke in its former location does not persist at all after the nightmare moves away. Nightmares can fly naturally despite having no wings, but they do so by apparently running in the air; they can ascend and descend at up to a 45-degree angle at the given movement rate, and cannot dive or perform other maneuvers as normal winged fliers do.
See Also
Other creatures in the Demon category: Demon, Balor, Demon, Imp, Demon, Lemure, Demon, Succubus, Demon, Agares, Demon, Arachnea, Demon, Barbed Devil, Demon, Baubas, Demon, Bone Devil, Demon, Creoboros, Demon, Dread Horseman, Demon, Eldri, Demon, Erinyes, Demon, Fiend, Demon, Glabrezu, Demon, Hezrou, Demon, Ice Devil, Demon, Larva, Demon, Malacoda, Demon, Malebranche, Demon, Manes, Demon, Marilith, Demon, Nalfeshni, Demon, Night Hag, Demon, Pazzu, Demon, Quasit, Demon, Rubicante, Demon, Shadow Fiend, Demon, Spined Devil, Demon, Vega, Demon, Vrock.
Source note: This creature is converted from The Basic Fantasy Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent and Benign – Omnibus Edition, 1st Edition Release 4, © 2010–2025 Chris Gonnerman, R. Kevin Smoot, James Lemon, Matt Sluis, and Contributors. The Basic Fantasy Field Guide textual material is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International; this page adapts that creature to White Box.