A Cauchemar is a towering, demonic equine cloaked in roiling black smoke and flickering veins of living hellfire. Its body is armored in charred obsidian hide, cracked like volcanic stone, glowing faintly with infernal heat. Each hoof strikes the ground with a thunderous crack, leaving behind smoldering hoofprints that linger like brands. Its eyes burn with malevolent intelligence—twin embers that pierce through fog, illusion, and hope alike. The creature exhales acrid black smoke from flared nostrils, the stench of brimstone trailing in its wake.
Behavior
Cauchemar are calculating, willful predators, far more intelligent than common nightmares. They do not serve unless it suits their interest, and they despise being treated as mere mounts. When bonded with a rider—typically through infernal pact or arcane domination—they grudgingly cooperate, but always watch for signs of weakness or betrayal. Left to their own devices, they stalk the Ethereal and Material Planes, hunting souls steeped in fear, regret, or forbidden knowledge. Their presence warps the local environment, with fires burning hotter and dreams turning sour.
They are unusually tactically aware, using hit-and-run ambushes, verticality via flight, and their ethereal jaunt to appear and vanish at will. A Cauchemar fights with brutal efficiency, striking terror first, then trampling through ranks with devastating force.
Habitat
Cauchemar originate in the blasted wastes of Abaddon, particularly within desolate valleys between the Four Rivers of Woe, or among the shifting, haunted paths of the Silent Battlefield, where echoes of war never cease. There, they roam freely in small herds—or rarely, as solitary reapers. On the Material Plane, they manifest in places of extreme trauma or magical instability: ruined battlefields, cursed cities, or the sites of failed planar rituals.
They require no food or rest, and prefer lairs near thin veils between worlds, using such proximity to phase in and out of reality at will.
Modus Operandi
The Cauchemar’s preferred mode of attack is shock and dread. It begins with the Smoke, a choking supernatural cloud that blinds and sickens opponents, allowing it to strike from concealment or escape retaliation. It often appears suddenly—via ethereal jaunt or plane shift—charging directly into vulnerable targets or spellcasters. After softening a group, it tramples the weakest, aiming to cause chaos before escaping through another dimensional tear.
In service to a master, it often acts as scout, enforcer, or escape vehicle, able to carry a rider across realities with terrifying speed.
Motivation
The Cauchemar exists to sow fear, punish hubris, and feast on suffering. It loathes those who pretend to master the planes without understanding them, and delights in destroying the sanity of dreamers and planar travelers alike. Some scholars claim each Cauchemar carries a spark of divine hatred from a forgotten Horseman of the Apocalypse, explaining their obsession with violating boundaries between life and death, sleep and waking, reality and dream.
It does not kill indiscriminately—it hunts with purpose, favoring victims who teeter on the edge of moral compromise or who have made deals they should not have.
A cauchemar is not simply a fiendish mount—it is a predator of the planes, wrapped in smoke and forged in hate. Born in the scorched wastes of Abaddon and summoned only by the most desperate or damned, it stalks worlds not for conquest, but to feed on fear, pain, and collapse.
Cold; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Damage Immunities
Fire, Poison
Condition Immunities
Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned
Senses
Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 19
Languages
Understands Abyssal and Infernal but cannot speak
Challenge
11 (7,200 XP)
Proficiency Bonus
+4
Traits
Fiery Form. A creature that touches the cauchemar or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet takes 5 (1d10) fire damage.
Smoke Exhalation (Recharge 5–6). As a free action, the cauchemar exhales a 30-foot cone of thick, choking smoke. Each creature in the area must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature is blinded and poisoned until the start of its next turn. If the save fails by 5 or more, the creature is also incapacitated until the end of its next turn, as it retches violently.
The area becomes lightly obscured for 1 minute and heavily obscured until the end of the cauchemar’s next turn.
Planar Steed. The cauchemar can innately cast the following spells, using Charisma as its spellcasting ability (spell save DC 15):
At will: detect magic, misty step
1/day each: etherealness (self and one willing rider only), plane shift (self and one willing rider only)
Nightmare Intelligence. The cauchemar has advantage on Intelligence (Arcana) and Wisdom (Perception) checks to detect illusions, planar anomalies, and creatures on the Ethereal Plane.
Actions
Multiattack. The cauchemar makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its hooves.
Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) piercing damage.
Fiery Hoof.Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage. The target must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Trample the Veil (Recharge 5–6). The cauchemar charges in a straight line up to 60 feet, phasing partially into the Ethereal Plane. The cauchemar may pass through incorporeal or ethereal creatures as if they were not there. Each creature in its path must succeed on a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw or take 27 (6d8) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. On a successful save, the creature takes half damage and is not knocked prone.
If the cauchemar ends its movement adjacent to a creature that failed its save, it may make one Fiery Hoof attack as a bonus action.
Tactics
The cauchemar begins combat by using etherealness or plane shift to ambush from an unexpected direction. It charges with Trample the Veil, sowing chaos before blanketing the battlefield in smoke to blind ranged attackers. It targets spellcasters and isolated foes first, using hit-and-run tactics and retreating into the Ethereal Plane to recover or reposition. If bound to a rider, it acts with frightening precision, delivering its master into ideal positions for battlefield control or assassination.
This towering, smoke-wreathed beast stamps the ground with flaming hooves, its obsidian hide cracked and glowing with infernal heat. Its burning eyes shimmer with cruel intelligence as it exhales a choking cloud of smoke. CR 11 XP 12,800 NE Huge outsider (evil, extraplanar) Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect good, detect magic; Perception +22
DEFENSE
AC 26, touch 10, flat-footed 24 (+2 Dex, +16 natural, –2 size) hp 147 (14d10+70) Fort +14, Ref +11, Will +7 Defensive Abilities fiery form; DR 10/good; Immune fire, poison; Resist cold 10; SR 22
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., fly 90 ft. (good) Melee bite +22 (2d6+10), 2 hooves +17 (2d6+5 bludgeoning plus 1d6 fire) Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks smoke (DC 22), trample the veil
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th; concentration +17)
At will – detect good, detect magic, greater teleport (self plus one rider only)
1/hour – ethereal jaunt (self plus one rider only), plane shift (self plus one rider only to specific locations)
STATISTICS
Str 31, Dex 15, Con 21, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 12 Base Atk +14; CMB +26; CMD 38 (42 vs. trip) Feats Alertness, Cleave, Improved Initiative, Improved Overrun, Iron Will, Power Attack, Run Skills Acrobatics +19, Bluff +18, Fly +19, Intimidate +18, Knowledge (arcana) +20, Knowledge (planes) +20, Perception +22, Sense Motive +22, Stealth +11 Languages Abyssal, Infernal (cannot speak) SQ nightmare mount
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Fiery Form (Ex) Any creature striking a cauchemar with a natural weapon, unarmed strike, or non-reach melee weapon takes 1d6 points of fire damage.
Nightmare Mount (Su) The cauchemar can carry one willing evil-aligned rider, allowing that rider to accompany it when it uses greater teleport, ethereal jaunt, or plane shift. While mounted, the rider gains fire resistance 10.
Smoke (Su) As a free action once per round during combat, the cauchemar exhales a 15-foot cone of thick, choking smoke. The smoke persists for 1 round and functions as obscuring mist. Each creature in the area must succeed at a DC 22 Fortitude save or be sickened for 1d6 minutes after leaving the cloud. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Trample the Veil (Su) As a standard action (usable once every 1d4 rounds), the cauchemar charges up to twice its speed, phasing partially into the Ethereal Plane. Creatures in its path must succeed at a DC 22 Reflex save or take 6d6 bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. Ethereal and incorporeal creatures are affected normally. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity. On a successful save, the creature takes half damage and is not knocked prone.
TACTICS
Before Combat The cauchemar uses greater teleport or ethereal jaunt to approach its prey from unexpected directions.
During Combat It opens with trample the veil to scatter enemies, then exhales smoke to obscure vision and isolate foes. It targets vulnerable or prone enemies with bite and hoof attacks, using its mobility and spell-like abilities to reposition or retreat.
Morale The cauchemar fights fiercely but values its survival. If reduced to fewer than 30 hit points, it uses greater teleport to escape unless bonded to a rider who commands otherwise.
ECOLOGY
Environment any (Abaddon) Organization solitary Treasure none
Description Cauchemar are brutal extraplanar beasts, elevated from common nightmares into intelligent, destructive horrors. With obsidian skin cracked by internal fire, these creatures roam the planes in search of prey, often bound by fiendish warlords or planar raiders as mounts of conquest. They despise servitude but will tolerate a powerful rider—particularly one willing to spill blood across dimensions.
They feed on terror and thrive in regions where planar boundaries are weak. Few survive long enough to study one in the wild; fewer still ride them and live.
This towering, burning equine stands upon smoking hooves. Hellfire shimmers in its hateful eyes.
The cauchemar is a more dangerous variant of the nightmare, particularly valued for its ability to enter the Ethereal Plane with its rider in addition to being able to use plane shift to invade other realities.
Carrying Capacity: A light load for a cauchemar is up to 612 pounds; a medium load, 613-1,224 pounds; and a heavy load, 1,225-1,840 pounds.
Smoke (Su) In battle, a cauchemar exhales smoke that chokes and blinds foes, filling a 15-foot cone each round as a free action. Anyone in the cone must succeed on a DC 22 Fortitude save or become sickened until 1d6 minutes after leaving the area. This smoke acts as obscuring mist for the purposes of concealment. The smoke persists for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.
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