Dream larva

Dream larva are the misbegotten offspring of deities of fancy, longing, and dream. Most creatures know the statement of a night terror, a bolt of horror that wakes the sleeper from a dead sleep.

Dream larva are night terrors who escape dream into the waking world, nightmares made manifest. They have no specific form, but instead are every creature’s worst nightmare, each observer sees a dream larva for the first time as the most fearsome, terrible creature imaginable. To those that survive that squamous vision, dream larva appear as large humanoid shapes composed of thousands of crawling larval worms.

Dream larva have horns, a cruelly fanged mouth, four arms ending in claws, and four in pincers. No one knows how many dream larva infest the various regions of dreams. Most sleepers never dream the forbidden dreams that send their thoughts into the self-perpetuating nightmares that conceal and trap individual dream larvae. Such forbidden dreams are normally only triggered by the discovery of certain banned, divine manuscripts that have been mostly purged from the multiverse. However, sometimes dream larvae are disturbed nonetheless (or purposefully summoned). When they are, they follow the dreamer back into the waking world, and attempt to plunge all of creation into a true nightmare of their own creation.

A dream larvas’s natural weapons are treated as epic, evil, and chaotic-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Dream larva
Large outsider (Chaotic, Evil, Extraplanar)
Hit Dice	40d8+360 (700 hp)
Initiative	+3 (Dexterity)
Speed	80 ft.; Fly 240 ft. (perfect)
AC	52 (-1 size, +3 Dexterity, +40 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple	+40/+60
Attack	Bite +56 (4d8+16)melee
Full Attack	Bite +56 (4d8+16) melee, 1 gore +51 (4d6+8) melee, 4 pincers +53 (4d6+8) melee, 4 claws +53 (4d6+8) melee
Space/Reach	10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks	Worst nightmare, improved grab, sending, spell-like abilities, summon nightwalker
Special Qualities	Abomination traits, sonic immunity, regeneration 15, fast healing 15, SR 44, DR 15/ Good and Epic or Lawful and Epic
Saves	Fort +31, Ref +25, Will +29
Abilities	Strength 42, Dexterity 17, Constitution 29, Intelligence 16, Wisdom 24, Charisma 36
Skills	Concentration +52, Craft (dreamweaving) +46, Diplomacy +60, Escape Artist +46, Hide +46, Jump +36, Knowledge (Arcana) +46, Listen +50, Move Silently +46, Search +46, Sense Motive +50, Spot +50
Feats	Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Flyby Attack, Great Cleave, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-Like Ability, Weapon Focus (pincers), Weapon Focus (gore), Weapon Focus (bite), Weapon Focus (claw)
Epic Feats	Epic Toughness, Epic Weapon Focus (pincers), Epic Weapon Focus (claw)
Climate/Terrain	Any
Organization	Solitary, pair, or solitary plus 1-4 nightwalkers
Challenge Rating	31
Treasure	Standard
Alignment	Always chaotic evil
Advancement	41-65 HD (Large); 66-84 HD (Huge); 85-110 HD (Gargantuan)

Combat

Worst Nightmare (Su): Each time a living creature first views a specific dream larva from a distance of 30 feet or less (or from a scrying effect), the subject sees the image of the most fearsome creature imaginable. This is not an illusion or phantasm; the dream larva truly becomes, for just that instant, the subject’s worst nightmare. Even if simultaneously viewed by dozens of different creatures, the dream larva appears differently to each one of them. Creatures immune to fear or mind-affecting effects (or warded by protection from evil or death ward spells) are immune to worst nightmare; all others must make a Will save (DC 43) or die from the supernatural horror revealed. Survivors (and those resurrected) are immune to the effect from that individual dream larva in the future. The DC is Charisma-based.

Spell-Like Abilities: At will-fly, haste, nightmare, prismatic spray;

2/day-dreamscape(epic spell).

Caster level 31st; save DC 23 + spell level. The DC is Charisma-based.

Improved Grab (Ex): If the dream larva hits with a claw or pincer, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. Dream larvae can use improved grab on a creature of any size. The dream larva has the option to conduct the grapple normally, simply use the claw or pincer to hold the opponent, or use sending (see below) on the opponent. Each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals the damage listed for the attack that established the hold, unless it used sending on the victim.

Sending (Su): Grappled victims may be physically sent into a nightmare, at the dream larva’s option, on the dream larva’s next action after establishing the grapple. Victims must make a Will save (DC 43) or be apparently swarmed by thousands of worms making up the dream larva’s body. The victim is actually cast into a shrieking maelstrom of dream where it can take no actions but observe. The victim physically returns 2d4 rounds later, apparently ejected from the dream larva’s body (but appearing even if if the dream larva has left or is otherwise absent). The victim of the nightmare has taken 4d6 points of temporary Wisdom damage, but is otherwise free to act on the round it returns. If the victim takes more Wisdom damage than it has points of Wisdom, the extra points are instead treated as temporary Constitution damage. The DC is Charisma-based.

Summon Nightwalker (Sp): Five times per day, a dream larva can summon a nightwalker.

Abomination Traits: Immune to polymorphing, petrification, and other form-altering attacks; not subject to energy drain, ability drain, ability damage, or death from massive damage; immune to mind-affecting effects; fire resistance 20; cold resistance 20; nondetection; true seeing at will; Blindsight 500 ft.; telepathy out to 1,000 ft.

Regeneration (Ex): Dream larvae take normal damage from good or lawful weapons or weapons forged by a sleepwalking weaponsmith.