Bogeymen, Greater & Lesser
| Climate/Terrain: | Any |
|---|---|
| Frequency: | Uncommon |
| Activity Cycle: | Any |
| Diet: | Fear |
| Intelligence: | 10 |
| Alignment: | Chaotic Evil |
| No. Appearing: | 1 |
| Armor Class: | 5 |
| Movement: | 12 |
| Hit Dice: | 1 or 3 |
| THAC0: | 20 or 18 |
| No. of Attacks: | 2 |
| Damage/Attack: | 1d4/1d4x2 (bite and claws) |
| Special Attacks: | See below |
| Special Defenses: | +1 or better to hit |
| Magic Resistance: | Nil |
| Size: | M |
| Morale: | Fanatic (20) |
| XP Value: | 350 |
Bogeymen are the creations of peoples irrational fears and superstitions, of their irrational/ waking nightmares. Most are fairly weak (only 1 Hit Die), but from the overwhelming fear of one individual or the trepidation of whole community greater bogeymen are created.
Bogeymen consider vindictiveness and cruelty the only worthwhile pursuits, akin to art. Those who are suitably despicable they admire; others they consider fair game.
Although all are different, bogeymen are inevitably grotesque, appearing as huge hairless dogs, rotting corpses, parodies of the viewers' loved ones, etc.
Combat: Bogeymen are motivated by the need to inspire fear, and will most often focus on this during combat. Favored tactics include apparently launching fearsome attacks, during which the spirit has a +4 bonus to hit, but actually only inflicts a single point of damage, and then springing a seemingly innocuous attack that causes 1d4 points for its bite, and 1d4 each for its clawed hands. Bogeymen also have the ability to cast hold person once a day, and will slowly tear held victims apart instead of killing them instantly; and once per day it may teleport any object within 10 yards, up to 20 pounds in weight, into its own hand (including a fighter's valued sword). Both lesser and greater bogeymen have these abilities. Additionally, the greater bogeymen may create an illusion of any powerful enemy the character facing it has recently dispatched. This illusion has all the statistics and abilities of a geist (see the RAVENLOFT Monstrous Compendium Appendix III).
Accepted Alignments: None. Bogeymen have no desire to cooperate with mortals for any reasons beyond tormenting them.
Familiarity: First the shaman must avoid attack by convincing the spirit he or she is as sick and twisted as the bogeyman by presenting it with a suitably disgusting gift (not requiring a formal sacrifice), like a meal prepared from the brains of a still living monkey. Then, a charm spirit spell is needed to make the spirit cooperative.
Demands: None. Bogeymen have no interest in mortal affairs. They exist only for the fear they can instill in mortals.
Benefits: Bogeymen can provide shamans with the death candle spell, but will only do so if coerced or charmed.