The final piece of the Last Stand of the Rainbow Corps is the monsters that will bring about their downfall. In common with the player led theme of the adventure, the details of the nightmares are filled in by the group. This led to a slightly different design approach as I couldn’t include advantages that might describe the physical appearance. Instead, each monster is developed much more around what they can do and what role they fulfill on the battlefield.
Shield Nightmares
These are more defensive minded creatures, looking to distract attackers and protect allies. The paths Large and Tribal Warrior gives them plenty of advantages for physical defense. This is why I added the Fanatic path. It gives them a suite of advantages to resist mental and magical attacks. With three free resists, this monster is going to be difficult to hurt. This is balanced by its limited ability to attack as only Brawn and Manual Dexterity are useful offensively.
Assault Nightmares
Companions of the shield nightmares, these are creatures dedicated to offensive. By using Large, Predatory and Warrior I have a good set of life advantages: Brawn, Manual Dexterity, Speed and Toughness. By pairing these with specialist attacks like Knockdown and Stunning Blow it can achieve attacks in excess of 6d6. It has a high recoup to make it a fast moving and fast attacking monster but it only has the one free resist. If the players can withstand its attacks, they should be able to kill it quickly. Hence why it is paired with the shield nightmares..
Nightmares King
The final encounter of the adventure, this nightmare has to be flexible enough to deal with a wide variety of player characters and be a lethal threat. Huge and Battle Veteran give this monster a good set of physical attacks and defense. I’ve bolstered this with Demonic, from the 6d6 Bestiary and Dreamer, a path from the adventure. With these paths the Nightmares King has skills that the players have not faced before. Being able to manipulate the dreamlands themselves, it can summon new mook allies, shift the terrain or directly affect its enemies minds.
Image Credit – La Vie En Noir by Jerome Olivier – CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0