Nightmare

Overview

A nightmare appears in a cloud of roiling smoke, its mane, tail, and hooves wreathed in flame. The creature’s unearthly black form moves with supernatural speed, vanishing in a cloud of brimstone as quickly as it appeared.

Dread Steed

Also called a “demon horse” or “hell horse,” the nightmare serves as a steed for creatures of exceptional evil, carrying demons, devils, death knights, liches, night hags, and other vile monsters. It resembles a fiendish horse, and a nightmare’s fiery red eyes betray its malevolent intelligence.
A nightmare can be summoned from the Lower Planes, but unless a worthy sacrifice is offered to it as food upon its arrival, the nightmare displays no special loyalty to the creature it serves.

Creating a Nightmare

Nightmares don’t appear naturally in the multiverse. They must be created from pegasi. The ritual that creates a nightmare requires the torturous removal of a pegasus’s wings, driving that noble creature to evil as it is transformed by dark magic.

Nightmare CR: 3 (700 XP)

Large fiend, neutral evil

Armor Class: 13

Hit Points: 68 (8d10 + 24)

Speed: 60 ft , fly: 88 ft

STR

18 +4

DEX

15 +2

CON

16 +3

INT

10 +0

WIS

13 +1

CHA

15 +2

Damage Immunities: Fire

Senses: Passive Perception 11

Languages: Understands Abyssal, Common, and Infernal but can't speak

Challenge Rating: 3 (700 XP)

Confer Fire Resistance. The nightmare can grant resistance to fire damage to anyone riding it.
Illumination. The nightmare sheds bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet.

Actions

Hooves. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 feet, one target. Hit: 2d8 + 4 bludgeoning damage plus 2d6 fire damage.
Ethereal Stride. The nightmare and up to three willing creatures within 5 feet of it magically enter the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa.

Lifespan

Immortal

Average Weight

1,500 pounds

Average Length

20 feet