Artwork | Michael Zawacki How the Harrowing Hunts The Harrowing is a creature of nightmares, only appearing on All Hallows Eve, when it comes to feed on the fear of mortal souls. It uses its Harrowing Gaze to first frighten as many people as possible, before using Conjure Nightmares to cause chaos. This gives the party something to attack that isn't the Harrowing, and buys it time to use Frightened to Death, which might outright kill a party member, especially if used on the only healer or if the downed player is in the Harrowing Gaze. Once the Harrowing has suffered damage, Witness Fear is used both as a main source of damage & a healing source. Using the Living Nightmares Though not really creatures, they have a statblock of sorts (next page). That's mostly to decide when the player should get more saves to realize it isn't real, as well as other details such as the Attack. When you conjure these, ask the players what creatures or things their character is afraid of to know what form they take! Note the slow movement speed & unstoppable movement (being able to go through walls)-- they were meant to emulate the feel of Slasher movie villains, relentlessly pursuing their target for the kill. 1 Harrowing Large aberration, lawful evil Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 165 (22d10 + 44) Speed 0 ft., fly 20 ft. (hover) STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 12 (+1) 14 (+2) 17 (+3) 15 (+2) 18 (+4) Saving Throws Int +7, Wis +6, Cha +8 Skills Perception +10 Condition Immunities prone, frightened, charmed Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 20 Languages Deep Speech, Undercommon Challenge 12 (8,400 XP) Prof. Bonus +4 Spice: 3 Harrowing Gaze. The Harrowing's central eye emits 150- foot cone which distorts & corrupts reality. Creatures in this area are Frightened, unless they are immune to this condition, and cannot regain hitpoints. While frightened in this way, they have disadvantage on saves against illusionary effects (including Conjure Nightmares). A creature that leaves this area makes a Wisdom Save (DC 16) at the end of each of their turns to end this effect. At the start of each of its turns, the Harrowing decides which way the cone faces and whether the cone is active. Prey on the Frightful. The Harrowing can hear the heartbeats of frightened creatures, and knows their location even when it cannot see them. Actions Conjure Nightmares (1/Encounter). Each creature the Harrowing can see must make an Intelligence Save (DC 16) or have their fears manifested before them as a Living Nightmare (see stat block). The Living Nightmare appears within 10ft of the target creature, pursues them relentlessly, and is invisible to all other creatures. When the Living Nightmare would take damage from an attack or spell, the creature it pursues may make an additional save to end this effect, banishing the Living Nightmare on a success. Witness Fear. The Harrowing turns all of its eye stalks towards one Frightened Creature; That creature must make a DC 16 Wisdom Save. On a failure, the creature suffers 36 (8d8) psychic damage, and the Harrowing is healed for half that amount. Frightened to Death (Recharge 6) Target frightened creature is forced to 3 roll death saves. If they succeed on two of these, they suffer no effects. If they fail 2, they are reduced to 0hp. On their turn, they roll the remaining death saves as usual, stabilizing with 3 successes or dying with 3 failures.
Living Nightmare Illusion Armor Class 16 Hit Points None (the creature is not real, but an illusion) Speed 20 ft. Saves +5 to all Damage Immunities Psychic Condition Immunities All Killer's Pursuit. The Living Nightmare is created to hunt a particular creature. It can move through objects to do so, which the hunted creature will rationalize to make sense (seeing it as teleporting, running, flying, etc) depending on the form they take. Figment of Imagination. Only the creature it pursues can see the Living Nightmare. When the Living Nightmare would take damage from an attack or spell, the creature it pursues may make an additional save (Intelligence DC 16), banishing the Living Nightmare on a success. Actions Slasher. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) Psychic Damage.