Alien Abductions in DnD?! The Dream Eater

[@SamFinklestein]

I love how "this creature is too easy to fight with mundane means" became "this is freaking horrifying" the moment the fly speed was considered for even a second.

[@MonstersMulticlass]

Gotta look at the whole picture some times!

[@SamFinklestein]

Also something that *might* more naturally prompt the party to try Persuasion on their own is to have them encounter the dream eater mid-engulf. What they see is just an NPC in a black cloud screaming with terror. They might be less inclined to attack it if they haven't encountered it as a monster first. It would have to be a more powerful NPC to give them a chance to survive, but that would just make it more terrifying if the players know the NPC's power.

[@SamFinklestein]

Hard mode DM, inspired by Ellie's comment about character moments: "Oh, you wanna multiclass? Survive this attack from a dream eater first. Level 1 hexblade dip doesn't seem so attractive now, does it?"