This D&D Monster Is Every Hero's Worst Nightmare

[@DungeonDad]

You can check out the Fablemaker's Deck of Many Things right here! - www.kickstarter.com/projects/hitpointpress/the-fablemakers-deck-of-many-things-for-5e?ref=7gc6yo Thanks for watching! What monsters would you like to see on the channel next?

[@TheIdealofGreed]

Day 14 of Darklight request, I believe spread out over a year. Writing this so early Basil is still sleeping, so no confirmation yet if his ability to talk is real or imagined.

[@TheIdealofGreed]

Also day 5 of Tristan Spaulding's request for Dundgeon Dad to cover the far more introverted Dungeon Dragon.

[@pykeembers1575]

Still hoping to see ethergaunts soon

[@G1Arcee]

Really like to see a spooky episode for spooky month ^u^ Have loved this channel for a long while now and Halloween is my favourite holiday, so a perfect combo! And of course it’s a weird nightmare monster xD always nice to see those.

[@G1Arcee]

Hoping to see something relating to the Drow and the under dark! Maybe something that lives in those weird lakes under there or that burrowing thing. : )

[@NihongoWakannai]

in the 40 seconds since this video was posted, I watched all 30 minutes and it was a great video

[@DungeonDad]

I appreciate the support from the time travel community.

[@joshuakirkham9593]

I can see nothing wrong with this statement whatsoever.

[@pgorman3874]

Ah KZbin… you “work” so well…

[@selkiara1272]

You aren't supposed to reveal chronomancy so flippantly. The community will get restless.

[@kevingarcia-gz7or]

​

[@PikaLuigi]

I feel like the Dream Vestige could be the one greatest fear of a Lich, and though they are fearless of death, the Vestige is the one thing that would make them scream and run away

[@calvanoni5443]

A Lich would probably be immune to it's powers, but would certainly like having it around.

[@matthieudeloget8998]

​@@calvanoni5443Since the vestige is very intelligent, it might turn on the lich and find a way to absorb it

[@HeadHunter-mv2ht]

Or maybe the lich have one contained in a item as either a last resort or decoy phylactery. When not in danger he could talk to it as a way to bounce ideas.

[@Emmy-S55]

But what if a Lich intentionally connects to a dream vestige to become it’s predominant personality. Originally I had a bbg being a Lich who put its Saul into an automaton to use it as a mobile filactery that he could control. Claiming souls with a cursed keyblade to expand his pirate crew. But what if he was instead a Lich fused with a dream vestige possessing an automaton. Since a dream vestige can travel through dreams they’ll be a terrifying threat to the party and the world, and it would also lead to some really interesting moments as they occasionally appear in they’re dreams to taunt them. It can lead to some pretty interesting moments and fusing a Lich with a sentient cloud of fog would give this iconic monster such a breath of fresh air.

[@sharkjumpingwalrus6744]

Ancient Nameless Lich: "I fear no man. But that thing." The lich says pointing at a depiction of the dream vestige. "It scares me."

[@samaelreidrev4938]

Ok, I can't be the only one that want a Dream Vestige as a warlock's patron !

[@Bee-wk7hw]

Nuhuh

[@id9907]

The Warlock patron The Many from the Griffon's Saddlebag seems to be tailor made for this creature. NGL, really cool

[@danielgehring7437]

You... want your character to not only be influenced by, but in a contractual obligation to obey, a living nightmare? For 20 levels?

[@diogoextreme2]

So not just a normal dream vestige, but THE dream vestige the first one, would be kinda really fun, use the mist to kinda comunicated when the caracter is "lost" on what he patron wants

[@samaelreidrev4938]

@@danielgehring7437 A sentient living nightmare ! Imagine the sole rescapee of a village "transformed" into a dream vestige, seeking vengeance and guided by the power and the hundred of voices of their lost friends and family

[@perro692]

Imagine an island nation surounded big fog. Once there you learn that a century ago, the island army fell ill to some plague and they willingly turned themselves into a dream vestage to keep protecting the place

[@Goofygooberman37]

That’s scary but so beautiful

[@ts25679]

Upon hearing its name my brain made the leap "so it's like the hunter's dream from Bloodborne. Yharnam is a dream vestige of the events that happened that fateful night and The Moon Presence is the dominant will trying to claim the hunter's body.

[@faceoctopus4571]

I'm picturing the dream vestige teaming up with incorporeal undead (such as Shadows). The incorporeal undead get to feel strong in the aura and bully the living, and the dream vestige has teammates that don't look tasty.

[@wildstorm3486]

Damn that would be an absolute nightmare combination.

[@enderking6904]

@@wildstorm3486 🥁 nice

[@chrisgonsalves3581]

The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath by H.P. Lovecraft is a very inspirational story for imagining the dreamworld. I definitely recommend it if you're going that direction with your own campaigns.

[@muchos5233]

Also Dream Quest of Vellit Boe, gave me some decent inspo for running dream like realms/encounters

[@danielgehring7437]

I played in a campaign once where, when it was time for the party to enter The Dream, we all just got handed Call of Cthulhu character sheets. It was fantastic, possibly the best campaign I ever played, but man, it must have taken a lot of work to set up.

[@chrisgonsalves3581]

@@danielgehring7437 that's actually a great idea. Definitely stealing that.

[@ludamillion]

Lovecraft's Randolph Carter tales are far and away his best work. And yes, must read materials for anyone using a dreamworld in a campaign or just in writing/creative work in general.

[@lordexeres5756]

One of my players is an Archfey-pact warlock who contracted vampirism and I've flavored his curse as dream-themed. He can enter the dreamscape at will and explore dreams and derives sustenance from devouring the psychic energy from them, so this creature sounds perfect for a high-level threat tailored for him and the rest of the party.

[@nickpheonixify]

So if I want to TPK my party I need a dream vestige flanked by shadows being battled in a fog cloud.

[@Dualbladedscorpion7737]

imagine in D&D a player character had a terrible nightmare of this spirit, and by chance that same spirit took notice and proceeds to chase after it's visiter in a haunting manner, not only in their nightmares but also in the waking world. Or a Beholder had a PTSD nightmare related to this thing (possibly do to barely surviving it's encounter with a Dream Vestige), and it's nightmare was so vivid it spawns a beholder variant of the Dream vestige into existence.

[@msf2399]

You said “Beholder [Dream Vestige] variant,” and I sat bolt-upright like, “!!! YES!!!!!”

[@L0rdm3phiston]

Terrifying

[@beholderborn2561]

Dig the spooky content, love the weird creatures :D Would love to see the phaerimm sometime, given how they’re so freaky as to cause a whole country of magic users to implode trying to figure out how to kill them lol

[@DungeonDad]

They’re 100% on my short list. I’m really hoping to get around to them before the end of the year

[@probablythedm1669]

Might interest you to know the Phaerimm is fully statted out for 5e on page 147 of Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy. I don't think all of it is "canon" to 5E, but if you want a bunch of tools for a Sword Coast campaign with patrons, goals and opposing organizations to make some neat homebrew campaigns, or just want to use some of it in your own campaigns for group patrons, it seems good. Got stats for a lot of Baldur's Gate characters too, mainly as patrons and contacts and buying it means money for charity (Extra life).

[@derekstein6193]

​​@@probablythedm1669I was just about to suggest Minsc & Boo's Journal of Villainy when I read OP. Beat me to it.

[@beholderborn2561]

sweeet I'll have to check it out then, thx bro!@@probablythedm1669

[@croissant2434]

the idea of a giant mass of fog being an active threat is such a cool idea. even if the details per se is cool and all. it's really that concept that will make me want to create something in the vibe.

[@UtterApe]

I know that 4th Edition is something most people try to forget about, but one of the most interesting things in that edition for me was the addition of the Adamantite Dragon and the Orium Dragon. The idea, that a metallic dragon would chose to adapt to the underdark and develop this beak-like mouth was always really fascinating. And the Orium Dragon not only has a really cool personality compared to other dragons, with a very unique breath weapon to boot, they also have so many potential story hooks, you can basically add them to your campaign in any way you see fit!

[@agustinvenegas5238]

I first heard of the orium dragon from aj pickett's video and I had to add one in my first one-shot as a DM, the players really liked them?

[@Harrowed2TheMind]

Wasn't the Adamantine Dragon in 3rd Edition, though? Heck, it first appeared in 2nd Edition, from what I see.

[@frousteleous1285]

I imagine these are on the list, since he's begun doing all of theblesser known metallica

[@UtterApe]

@@Harrowed2TheMind I do believe that before 4th edition, there was a Adamantite Dragon (very similar spelling). Those guys were Planar Dragons living in the Twin Paradises of Bytopia and they were said to be neutral good.

[@LittleThymbol]

That was some amazing use of The Hand That Gives the Rose at the start there. Honestly never thought that it would fit a spooky theme, but god damn did it hit!

[@crowdemon_archives]

Warring god of bugs definitely help I guess 😅

[@propsken4339]

Achtually (sic), the Dream Vestige debuted in AD&D 2ed.'s Return to the Tomb of Horrors. It was indeed created by Orcus, albeit involuntarily. It also appeared in the 4E Tomb of Horrors module. Love the adventures, love the monster - and love the video! Keep up the awesome work, D'Dad.

[@smile--]

Not only is it broken in combat, its also insane in lore. Also reminds me of the Black Mist from LoL lore

[@phillipmalone186]

i’m having trouble understanding how dream vestiges haven’t taken over all of faerun millenia ago like theyre such a huge threat and can multiply so fast it doesn’t make sense that anything else is even around

[@alexandercross9081]

This seems like the perfect thing to throw against my own homebrew creation, The Baku, based on the creature of Japanese myth. They're designed to be familiars normally, but when confronted with something from the nightmare side of the dream plane, they're like wolverines, tiny but fierce.

[@Dead_head4565]

Oooh, an idea I have is based off a old story I read “Accounts from the lonely broadcast station.” The basic synopsis is two radio workers, spend most there time in the radio making sure it stays on, when this town is plane straight weird. Every few days a thing living mass of a fog comes crawling in, and it’s up to the two people (and a couple’s others they meet along the way) to fight back the fog, and eventually they start to fight back against the fog and the horrors that lye within. Good read and I think I just found that things equivalent. Thank you Dungeon Dad.

[@NegaDruid]

Can't forget its introduction in Return to the Tomb of Horrors. And the amazing badass poem that heralded the Vestige.

[@NegaDruid]

"The city that waits was the city of Moil. Where dreams truly died, but bodies yet toil. In slumber unrelenting, they lie yet in wait. Biding their time to seal your fate. Discovery of the void and my fortress within, demands exploration through peril again. Find amid towers degenerate the single key, and resolve the dilemma of problems three. Beard the brine dragon in its frozen hallow, remove the key, avoid its starved swallow. Beneath webs of glowing emerald, hangs a riddle box rife to be solved. The darkweaver endures the cold in her lair, grasp your fate with consummate care. The lifeless dream that marks the crime, is the Vestige that guards the sand of time. Each resolution removes one obstacle, for those who peruse this written oracle. The phantom released flies you in fashion, to my inevitable fortress of conclusion."

[@kobold_sushi_executive_chef]

I've been designing a dream heist for my players inspired by your Steel Dragon video, and I'm going to try to work these in as one of the creatures that starts to manifest if they travel beyond the borders of the dream they'll be invading

[@DungeonDad]

That’s an awesome idea!

[@zackwalters8797]

Material plane idea: this thing is now the atmosphere of the world it devours. It's now constantly sunless, cold, and creates undead anytime something dies. Whispers could haunt people and dreams are converted to nightmares.

[@johncollins7631]

I love the Libris Mortis book so much. So many beloved monsters. Between this and Heroes of Horror by 3.5 games were always fun. I once tortured a party I ran with one of the weakest, but most gruesome, monsters from these books…the Crawling Cyst.

[@legendaryweredragon35]

The Dream Vestige is actually an adaptation of a unique monster called The Vestige which first appeared in the AD&D 2E adventure "Return to the Tomb of Horrors." I am surprised you missed that detail in the video.

[@propsken4339]

Thank you. Glad I'm not the only one who knows.

[@avitraangelica9278]

Was looking for this comment. ^v^ The history of Moil is a WILD part of the canon.

[@adammyers7472]

Now a mad wizard starts feeding one of these things gibbering mouthers to see if it can decipher the thoughts and language of the mad spawn.

[@Jawmax]

That your idea you had of kids being the ones to go into the dream realm that made me immediately think of the Three Urchin from Water Deep. Going in as the adventures they often pretend to be they can be helpful NPCs or even pre-done character sheets. Maybe the reason kids are the ones going in is that the long sleep spell only works on children.

[@Avigorus]

This beastie's psychic cousin the Caller In Darkness might make sense for a future Halloween... preferably after Ethergaunts get done lol

[@HexatheonRPG]

The creation of a domain of dread is described as mists descending on a location and consuming it, plunging it into the Shadowfell. You could have the mists that surround the domains be the original Vestige, dragging lands down for some nefarious purpose. Or maybe it’s as much a prisoner of the Shadowfell as the domains are, acting not of its own will but merely at the whims of the ebb and flow of negative energy, every soul twice trapped in torment.

[@benjaminotalora363]

Aw man I actually knew about these guys! A dnd podcast I follow has a wizard with homebrew dream magic, so they had a whole adventure dealing with dream vestiges in the dream realm as part of that character's story. They had a pretty cool homebrew that vestiges would generally be nightmare themed or dream themed depending on what emotions/memories created them and weren't necessarily evil. Pretty neat stuff

[@NumPad]

Eyyy Ravana’s Phase 1 Theme from FF14. Good choice!

[@DungeonDad]

It is such a great track

[@Valthoran90]

High on high I stand! Or high on high we stand since this video is awesome!

[@snowboundwhale6860]

This is reminding me of deathfog from divinity original sin, it could even fit as a known force that isn't even recognised as a creature by most because the only thing they know about it is "There's this creepy fog and if you walk into it you die, rumour has it even your body disappears". It has the intelligence to act deliberately and disguise it's actions as coincidental or a force of nature without intent, so it might even avoid actively responding to people near it who haven't already identified it as an undead and not just a cursed fog.

[@Vrikrar]

I love the idea of having a campaign traveling through a dream realm for a while, and using this as less of an enemy and more of a natural phenomenon, like a storm of coalesced nightmare that sweeps through, forcing the party to hide in an old cabin and fend off ghostly arms as they start smashing in through the windows and crawling under the door, only for the dream vestige to pass on.

[@Dragowolf_Rising]

Imagine the players being hired to retrieve an "Eversmoking Bottle" that turns out to actually be a prison for a dream vestige.

[@Pyre]

Y'all ever put off watching a video because you were TOO excited about it? Because that was me with this one. The Dream Vestige has been one of my absolute favorite monsters since the first time I read Libris Mortis. I have media analogies and in-game stories to tell, and DD has only improved the lot of those. Firstly, I recognize a bunch of that music, and those are some clever choices. I didn't realize how effective Ravanna's theme could be as a horror waltz until now. That 'multiply on a chessboard' math about how fast they can split? If you're having trouble visualizing that, think of the opening of Baldur's Gate 3. But now picture an implacable, impenetrable tide of screaming fog expanding relentlessly outward, as it reaches out and snatches people who disappear before they're even fully within it. This gets worse when you think about it further, because the Dream Vestige has no *weaknesses* . No sunlight or running water to hold it back, like a vampire. No phylactery to shatter, like a Lich. It can't be stopped by walls, and even protective magic can only hold it off. Short of engaging it directly 'Apocalyptic event' is the only possible result of one of these driven to actively devour and left unchecked. Though you can use them more subtly. I did. And what might a horror like this SOUND like, you may think? Another media comparison can help perhaps: the city that was murdered overnight and spawned the first one was a place called Moil. It is currently disconnected from any specific Material Plane: it exists in a place of absolute darkness and cold, filled with a type of zombie that is drawn to and empowered by heat. Does this sound familiar to anyone? A place drifting in absolute black, with an incorporeal THING born of nightmares and mad fury, that absorbs those it captures into itself? There are a couple undead from 3.5 that track to this particular example (the Caller In Darkness the book passage @20:42 references is the other notable one), and the quote I could find online isn't the best example at all. But it is VERY direct. And I'm betting anybody else who read Wheel of Time thought of this thing too. "Blood so sweet, so sweet to drink the blood, the blood that drips, drips, drops so red; pretty eyes, fine eyes, I have no eyes, pluck the eyes from out of your head; grind your bones, split your bones inside your flesh, suck your marrow while you scream; scream, scream, singing screams, sing your screams..." Wheel of Time, the Machin Shin. The Black Wind of the Ways. The comparisons fairly *howl* at you. I've only had the chance to use this thing once, in one of the first campaigns I ever ran to completion. Ravenloft-inspired, and the PCs were acting as guards for a caravan, traveling north through Nebulous Fantasy Germanic Land. Among NPCs with them was a dhampir character who, they would later find out, was gathering friends to go back and strike down the evil vampire ruler of a small nation, to whom he happened to be related. Yes they were a direct expy of the character you're thinking of. No, the show would not come out for another five or so years. The PCs, caravan, and all find that the road they're on leads into a fog-filled ravine. They trundle down into it, and immediately weird things start happening. Sounds in the fog with no source. Hallucinations. Disturbed dreams. Things start going wrong, including at least one whole wagon just not being there, come the morning. No warning, no indication of attack, just gone. The PCs navigate all these issues over several days, fending off attacks by other creatures at times. Ones that are very much real, ones that seem real until they aren't. Sometimes being driven to attack each *other* because of whatever's going on with their perceptions. Near the end, a wagon's horses spook and wrench off the pathway, screaming and dragging the wagon with them. When the PCs reach it, the horses and the driver are gone. No signs of struggle, no footprints away from the abandoned carriage. Just gone. Around this time, people have made high enough religion checks to clock that *something* must be doing this, and to come close to realizing what it is. But it was the dhampir NPC, with PC prompting, who finally told the PCs and the caravan that they needed to abandon caution and GO, right now. "Because of what's in the fog?" "It isn't in the fog. It IS the fog." The sequence ended with the fog around them congealing into screaming, snarling faces, pursuing after the wagons racing along at breakneck speed while the players made checks to keep them moving, until they came up out of the other side of the ravine. And the faces all fell back into formless nothing, on this little-used path out in the deep forest.

[@Pyre]

And in the interest of not losing another channel owner like due to editing; it feels worth noting that the kids venturing into the dream realm in the hypothetical in the video don't *need* to be medieval kids. They could just be some group of friends from the suburbs who have noticed something is Wrong and want to fix it. Adjust levels of actual danger to your group's comfort. Stories like IT and Stranger Things are beloved for a reason. And you can take it further, in the realm of modern(ish) media references. Imagine a whole small town, dead and empty. And full of fog. And things keep being not-quite-right as players go through it. And sometimes all the world lurches into something out of, say, a nightmare. And there's even a question of whether anyone the PCs meet, or even the PCs themselves, are alive or dead. Because wouldn't *that* be a great shoutout to Silent Hill as a concept, eh? The 'environment' is actually the Dream Vestige itself, and victory just means finding peace for the PCs and everyone else trapped within.

[@zee8590]

That Ravana theme had me pause what I was doing and immediately start paying attention. Great taste!

[@jesseparker8878]

Same but for Slay The Spire soundtrack.

[@LightningFox1990]

Might not be this exactly, but I think I now know what a villain of mine is going to be trying to use.

[@willturnbull4796]

This would be a great monster for a Night Hag covern to summon through a nightmare ritual for a final boss encounter.

[@Naro_Rivers]

Sounds like a horrifying Halloween oneshot.

[@9Johnny8]

This is a terrifying monster and wonderfully described, but at first I heard "Flavourfull spells that a dream vestige might be able to cast, that would add a little genocide" and thought: Does it NEED any? It made me think about the concept in practical terms. One thing with the description of the dream vestige is that, unless it is somehow contained, there is no reason for it NOT to move to the nearest city through the Dream Realm in less than an hour, copies of itself arriving in all other cities on the continent within a day or two... 8 days to reach the other side of an earth-sized planet. So that is the first thing that needs to be explained, unless you drop the "inescapable craving for bodies" entirely. That aside, the average NPC (10 Int) would take 4 hits to be absorbed, so 20 temp hp. 11 commoners to make 1 dream vestige seems far too few souls for the concept.

[@DungeonDad]

If I was going to use it in a more prolonged capacity I definitely feel like altering the conditions for it to grow would be a good idea. Maybe limiting it to once per week or something like that so it’s still a present threat but not something that would take over the worldd ina. Few days

[@MrCafitzgerald]

The Dream Vestige originated not in 3rd ed but in 2nd ed in the boxed set "Return to the Tomb of Horrors". The third module is set in the cursed city of Moil where you'll find the Vestige.

[@willlynch8697]

The Vestige, an undead dream, originally appeared in the 1998 2nd edition boxed set Return to the Tomb of Horrors by Bruce Cordell. This version in Libris Mortis is adapted from that.

[@willlynch8697]

Orcus was to blame, the name of the city was Moil.

[@Kookiiss]

The music at 2:36 is an FF14 theme so take my like for leaving me awash with nostalgia 😍 Also, I’ve never really been interested in D&D lore until I started playing BG3. It’s very fascinating and there’s so much to take in (too much). The way you explain it makes it easier to digest though, so thank you

[@lucas-xg7dc]

what song is it?

[@Kookiiss]

@@lucas-xg7dc It's Ravana's theme / The Hand that Gives the Rose :)

[@anita-rw3mx]

I think getting some sociology into the mix would be cool. If the original vestige was created through a cursed town its character could be defined by the local culture. A vestige created out of a satyr commune could be different from one that was created through a spartan like community. To defeat the vestige the party might need to find survivors or find the village the vestige was created in.

[@Arisilde]

The player is tasked with rooting out an ancient necromancer from a ruin in a blighted land. The dream vestige cloaks a portion of the landscape, making it inaccessible, effectively cutting off a portion of the map and trapping the townsfolks between itself and the necromancer's undead hordes. The players have multiple ways to deal with the hordes, but one option is to somehow speak to the vestige and sick it upon the undead army, basically eradicating it and opening a path to the necromancer. There are a few ways this can pan out. Perhaps the vestige is controlled by a friendly soul just barely keeping it in check, like stated in this video, but after consuming so many undead souls it splits, and those resulting vestige is no longer friendly. A number of plot paths open up here. Maybe the vestiges do battle, maybe they destroy each other, maybe one or the other comes out on top and the party has to figure out how to deal with the result. Maybe one or the other attacks the necromancer. Maybe it kills the vestige, or is killed and the vestige continues to split and it becomes the looming threat. Many ways it could be played out. Perhaps the vestige was never friendly, and the player party makes a bargain with it somehow for the prize of the much larger meal the undead army would make. Possibly with divine intervention from a dream deity, or something else. Perhaps the party tricks it, and then has to deal with it's later wrath. So many ways to use it without making it explicitly the main baddy.... at least at first :)

[@judgewilson2410]

What I would suggest is the lich is imprisoned and the guard is the visage the defeat of the visage will release and awaken the lich it kills everything that gets in range to prevent someone from releasing the lich so now what you have is do they kill it and unknowingly release something much worse or do they find out it’s a guard and try and find a way to keep it guarding but prevent living beings from getting too close

[@kiracaroso]

I recognize most of the music here, but I can not place from where nor the track names. If DD could put a list in the description that would be amazing.

[@FattyMcFox]

Ok, now imagine one of these things encounters the vestiges of a dead god. 4E's pact of the Vestige meet 3E's Dream Vestige. Amalgamated horrors seek to lay claim over all the heavens and souls within them. Would be a great level 20 campaign that could even be played with dead characters.

[@lordk.gaimiz6881]

I can also see this creature being reflavored into something like: What if the souls consumed by a lich were freed or returned to life, maybe by destroying a lich's phylactery one of these things comes out... Or maybe a lich can summon one of these idk I apso see it in an eberron campaign representing the mourning fog wall

[@tomasrodriguez796]

This is helpful. Created a monster very similar for my players. It serves a hag fulfilling bounties. Its reward is the soul of the one who places said bounty. When my players met it they described it as the mouth of hell. The intelligence that binds them arises from the spitefulness shared between them.

[@WobblesandBean]

I was once in a really cool campaign that featured a BBEG like this. He was essentially the leader of these things, the Lord of Nightmares. I was a faerie, and since faeries are borne of great bursts of magic, I was created from him, and was kind of like his daughter. He was trapped in the dream realm, so he sent me out as his secret herald to find ways for him to gain enough power to pierce the veil and take over the real world. It was a lot of fun, and I wish it had continued. I'm so tired of great campaigns fizzling out before things get interesting.

[@Zaprozhan]

Another great find! You've added another monster that can be boss, looming threat, or weird ally. Thank you!

[@grogc6942]

Before you got to the plot hooks, I was already thinking about going inside it. It'd be pretty easy to set up a Ghostwalk styled new campaign following a TPK, the characters becoming ghost classes and fighting inside the dream entity itself. It wouldn't be a small thing to do but victory could lead them to becoming sentient ghosts who could at least get revived and possibly come out with a spell-like ability as a reward. Related to that, every time you have a create that can incorporate other creatures... always look to the worst case scenario. It manages to get a dragon, for example, then you could very easily modify its reasoning and mode of attack to mix the two. A red dragon vestiage might haunt a treasure in a castle, coming out lash out in anger and try to grow on regular raids. On the tearing itself apart idea it might even try to throw out minions, spectres or so on, only to try to eat them again later. Could do a bigger HP pool and subtract from it for minions so you could shave it down through multiple encounters. End up with the base vestage that has a roughly dragon shape to its fog.

[@msf2399]

…this comment needs more likes.

[@grimmscarlet1690]

This has now become one of my favorite creatures of all time! It's so nice to have someone who reliably converts all these cool creatures into 5e, as they are gigantic missed opportunities. Great video as always and happy spooky month =) However there seems to be a minor inconsistency in the document: The creature's passive perception is listed as 15, but with it's +10 to perception that score should be at 20 (considering that passive perception is 10 + the creature's perception bonus).

[@nickmillar999]

Once again you’ve dropped the perfect video just in time. I’ve been planning an enemy known as the Dreamweaver for my players that was originally a sort of warlock-esque monster that existed in the realm of dreams and has begun to terrorize the party in their sleep, but this is so much better for the actual monster itself. Thanks again, Dad

[@grymgungus3933]

That preview makes me think of the King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard album PetroDraconic Apocalypse

[@Dyneamaeus]

Don't think for a second that I won't recognize that battle-waltz and applaud your taste in its selection. The Dream Vestige feels very similar to the City Corrupter to me. Given its pure propagation speed I'd give it a similar 'drag location into another realm' effect if there were enough of them in the same area, dumping everything into the dream realm, just to act as apocalypse prevention.

[@heathmorris6100]

I love the idea of the dream vestige as a fail state. The bbeg is creating one in the center of town and if allowed the creature will be set loose and multiply into absurdity and eventually destroy the nation. The time table allows the party to have a chance to kill it before it gets out of hand if they miss the chance to prevent its creation but if ignored it will quickly grow out of hand and have extreme consequences for the world at whole

[@Albatross0913]

2:39 oh man what a great music choice, Ravana was awesome

[@2445elijah]

Honestly when describing the personality it reminded me of The Master from the first fallout, which could be a good third way to play it

[@paledrake1378]

Small note: a creature from the adventure “Return to the Tomb of Horrors”, the Moilian Vestige, is likely the first publication of the Dream Vestige, being a 2E module. It’s not 1:1 but it’s *hard* to say it isn’t the first one

[@Paintchipsrocks]

OK, nerd time. This monster is mentioned a couple of times in 2e, most notably in the "Guide to the Ethereal" where it is called out. The cursed city is Moil (the city that waits), a demiplane which only connects to the negative once you're in it, and has one of these in it. Moil is one of those big dnd necromany places, Bleakborn from Libris Mortis are "Moilian zombies" and in the 3.5 Complete Arcana there is "Black Lore of Moil" a feat that makes negative energy stronger.

[@propsken4339]

Even more notably: AD&D 2ed.'s Return to the Tomb of Horrors, where it debuted alongside Moil...

[@Cheshire020]

Oh this thing will fit _wonderfully_ in my Strahd campaign.

[@lordhogwash8393]

Currently running a horror campaign and this could make for an interesting monster

[@TakeWalker]

how ironic that I came here because I had a dream XD specifically, I wanted to know what the largest unique challenge in D&D might possibly be (also, I've been watching your older videos lately, and major props for how far you've come in terms of video production :D) Everyone knows about the Tarrasque by this point, it's a big, powerful monster, there's only one, it's pretty unique. And I know you've covered monsters with a CR over 20. But after dreaming up a five-part encounter meant to have a ridiculous CR like 30 or 40, I had to wonder... What's the highest one?

[@Maliceinponderland]

That is awesome. I think apart from being a necromancer's creation or minion, it could alternatively become a sort of rival. In my game i have a city that has been razed in a war 100 years ago, and there's a necromancer that basically made it its lair and turned every corpse as undead. Now that amount of zombies could definitely attract a dream vestige hoping to devour all these souls, and it becomes this war between the two factions that the party stumbles upon. Thank you for this. Also, given that the vestige absorbs the souls and the very identity of its prey, wouldn't charisma drain make more sense than intelligence ? Also making it charisma saves instead of wisdom. I may be wrong but i feel like charisma saving throws don't come up nearly enough, and that would create some terrifying snowball effect. Plus while having the risk of your dump stat becoming 0 much more rapidly than other stats is unsettling, i think having your prime casting stat getting nerfed by a monster would be pretty frightening as well. That would make the Dream Vestige an entity looking for strong personalities to feed on and fuel its drive and ambition, seeing as the lore is much more about conflicting/dominant personas in the hive mind than a monster hungry for knowledge. Also now paladins are terrified of it and are more reliant on clerics to help them in battle.

[@einar_476]

This is basically what lives in Shadar Logoth, where Matt found the ruby-hilted dagger in the wheel of time.

[@maxblake5564]

I personally think giving the dream vestige the weird spell once per day would also be thematically appropriate. Same reason as phantasmal killer.

[@covilderagnaros1028]

A "Night Twist" that ends up trapping the entire population of a city in an eternal sleep and acts as an anchor for the dream plane could be an interesting idea. When the party discovers the City/Village, they would notice something strange, the victims of this place seem to have died in their sleep, this is made obvious by the presence of skeletons in the beds, with the exception of a single place, which seems to have been used as an attempt to prevent some creature from entering (some bodies could also be found hidden). During the night, spreading out in all directions and coming from the center of the forest, the "Night Twist" would begin an evil song composed by the souls in eternal torment in the form of a chorus. At this point I believe that various creatures from the plane of dreams could affect the animals of the place (perhaps the fears and nightmares of the inhabitants?)

[@Hvedrun]

The City of Moil arc in the Return to the Tomb of Horrors module is fascinating in itself, an entire city doomed with eternal slumber and plunged into the Negative Plane very much like Elturel, all because they turned away from the worship of Orcus. Just when they embraced light, everything became dark forever, and Moil turned into The City That Waits. Its description as a network of dark crumbling towers slowly sinking into the fog (or tar-like substance in the Planescape module Dead Gods) at the frontier of the Negative Plane left a big impression on me. A fitting home for the original Vestige. There are so many fascinating places in the DnD multiverse you could do an entire series based of the geography of the planes after you're done with monsters.

[@LizardKingPerseus]

Love how he showed the art for godless shrine when bringing up clerics and paladins

[@idrisabdullah3492]

I love how the American Dad clip was actually referencing D&D but had the original Monster Manual instead of the DMG

[@ghrondindustries5136]

I've watched this video several times before but I just had the idea of playing a Circle fo Dreams druid who backstory is just the story of sleeping beauty. Except... When a kiss woke her up... The rest of her city didn't. And now she's adventuring to figure out why. (And... *That's* the curse that creates the first Dream Vestige, which can show up later in the campaign, comprised at least originally of the souls of her city)

[@officersoulknight6321]

Honestly if you wanted to convert the Minecraft Wither Storm into a DND creature you could just copy the Dream Vestige and add a Lazer

[@1cmanv]

27:15 I bet you're real proud of that pun.

[@BiowareNut]

There's a companion you can get in the Mask of the Betrayer expansion for Neverwinter Nights 2 that sounds very similar to this. It's called One of Many, and it's really cool because it can change classes depending on the dominant personality.

[@noahbelcher3196]

i watch your videos so often i though i was already subscribed

[@Lowehart]

This thing is exactly what I need for a boss monster in a oneshot set orbiting a 'black hole' that contains an evil demi-god that devours everything that passes its threshold. Little bit of reflavoring needed, so it's basically memories and dreams of those consumed. Remnants that refuse to die. And now it roams the accretion disc, looking for lost souls to 'collect and preserve'. It will call itself Testament.

[@asneakylawngnome5792]

I was really hoping Baldur’s Gate had this enemy in it. But it would also be VERY difficult to make it work.

[@hinthdarkshot2117]

This reminds me of the mist guarding the Korok Forest in Breath of the Wild.

[@moonieglow1]

Ohohohohohohoh, this, good sir... THIS is a monster I shall use on the second part of my soon to end campaign. Thank you for bringing the most interesting fellas to my table.

[@harrymusson7266]

Editing is on point this video!! This would be amazing for a mage academy dungeon crawl as an experiment that starts ravaging the fantasy science lab workers while the players try to kill it before the vestige gains enough power to duplicate. Could be cool for players to try to find the "scientists" in hiding places to find out more and figure out how to destroy the vestige. Alternatively, players trying to find enough bands of intellect in order to fight a pair of these could be a fun quest

[@VengefulJarl]

The haunted lands trilogy is so good. It's still pisses me off they tried to dismiss the trilogy in the dnd movie by rewriting how Tam took over Thay.

[@XenonPrimeSBSV]

Ooh, I love having cataclysmic fail states in a campaign, I'd love to see this thing unsealed from some warded container in the middle of a city. I have a bit of a love of exponential growth threats especially.

[@cooldude2722]

1) _Obviously,_ this thing’s theme song would be “Soft Fuzzy Man”. 2) The most fitting weapon against it would have to be a _magic alarm clock_ of some kind (probably a Radiant artificer gizmo).

[@grmpynrthmn5371]

Loving these, think I've watched your entire catalogue now. Waiting for the Yrthak to get it's time in the light.

[@YouWillBeHappyOrElse]

Imagine my absolute HORROR upon hearing Ravana's music. That slicey-dicey bug never fails to ruin my roulettes...

[@Valthoran90]

I almost thought I heard "Munster" of the Week and was like, wait...

[@benlynar9438]

“Call us, Legion! For we are many!”

[@EvilHeartlessMoogle]

Was not expecting Ravana's trial music, but made me really tune in.

[@leelatheteacher9149]

Hes a sleepy boi

[@G1Arcee]

Who isn’t lol. Me too though. Think I’m gonna go nap. : )

[@Fieryone233]

Shout out to Ravana's theme being used in this one

[@rubyriches]

A Ghost "Rat King"? Oh boy..

[@cylver3593]

My play group always makes jokes when the DM introduces fog into a description. Now I have something to actually have waiting in the fog. Loving the spooky Monster of the Week episodes so far.

[@joan_of_snark]

This video couldn't have been timed better. I was literally in the middle of writing a campaign where nightmares/dreams play a huuuuge role. Thank you for this!

[@PapaWolfDogZeus]

Is the Dead Level Podcast coming back for spooky season?

[@i_am_not_a_pro_but_lets_try]

oooh, this fits so well in my campaign - my BBEG can already invade the players dreams. this may need to make an appearance somewhere. :D

[@michaelmuirhead910]

Wow, I love this thing. I’ve been looking for a proper bbeg for my game, and this fits like a glove!

[@nonbunary]

excellent use of the Hand That Gives the Rose for spooky vibes lmao. i was like hey i know this boss fight! but damn i love the ex libris mortis content!

[@quaksbongos658]

I love the art done for this monster by Max it's so cool

[@DungeonDad]

He’s a legend

[@CEN-Tyra]

Holy crap was not expecting to hear Ravanna’s Theme from Thok Ast Thok, but it’s one of my favorite and fits in well with the overall theme of the video!

[@bluicarys732]

Yea, this thing drifting into a city at 2 A.M. would be an absolute disaster. Its going to take most than 16 minutes for that city to stir the guard and figure out whats happening.