Machine Age Productions

The Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of

Nightmares are as varied as the people they terrorize. Using this simple system, you can build your own Nightmares to terrorize the Chevaliers.

A note on Nightmares: Nightmares are strange. They’re unique for a reason. Use your imagination. Make things up. The more alien they are, the more you’ll surprise your players and fill them with dread. These beasts are the agents of Armageddon. They’re supposed to be frightening, not laborious exercises in rules crunching. However, these rules make the task easier, especially on the fly.

Step One: Name It

Come up with a general idea of what it is, and what it looks like. Is it a giant German Panzer tank? Is it a writhing pile of rats and mealworms? Is it a beautiful but deadly seductress? Is it a angel with wings of bone? This is important. Aesthetic will sell your Nightmares more than any other single aspect of creation.

The second most important aspect is how it will be used. If the creature is being introduced as part of a group, consider the group motif.

Step Two: Assign Horsemen

Pick from the four types. They’re fully detailed in the above section, but for brevity they follow the same motif as the Chevaliers: Conquest, War, Pestilence/Famine and Death. If Horsemen are introduced in a group, consider the roles you wish them to play in the war. Some combinations are absolutely lethal, you should watch out. For instance, a crowd of Pestilence Nightmares with a couple of Death Nightmares as support can bring severe harm to a group of Chevaliers.

Step Three: Define Traits

Similar to Chevaliers, you now assign Traits. However, there are two distinct differences, the number of Traits is mutable and Nightmares can have Traits at zero.

Nightmares are often brainless, shambling monsters. Sometimes they’re absolutely immaterial, and die with a touch. However, they use the same Traits as Chevaliers.

When choosing Traits, consider the relative power level you wish to represent. Four Traits makes for a very weak Nightmare, probably the weakest imps and minions. Eight is about average for the various breeds, as most have at least one negligible Trait. Nightmare leaders tend in the twelve range, these are frightening examples of their breeds. The generals of the Apocalypse possess sixteen Traits, each of the four has a full score of four.

Step Four: Skills

Some Nightmares have no Skills. The vast majority have exactly one Skill, as their entire existences are based around a single act. Rare is the Nightmare with more than three Skills, but princes and generals of the Apocalypse can have as many as ten.

Step Five: Destiny and Self

On average, Nightmares have a smaller amount of Self than an equivalent Chevalier, but a higher Destiny. This is not a hard rule, though.

Lesser minions will have only one or two Self points. Soldiers have between three to five. Greater warriors are progressively stronger. While Nightmares tend towards lower Self scores, some princes and generals have as many as forty Self. These are monsters that require armies to topple, though.

Most Nightmares have between three to six Destiny points. Even minions will have two or more. Nightmares have upwards of forty as well, in rare cases.

Rule of thumb: When designing an encounter for your players, add together their total Destiny and Self scores (and those of any hirelings and minions they’re using.) That number is a safe amount to distribute amongst your Nightmares. As many as five to ten fewer makes for a very easy encounter. Five to ten more makes for a terrifying encounter.

Step Six: Choose Seals

Again, there’s no hard rule for the number of Seals a Nightmare can have. A good guideline though is, for every four points between Destiny and Self, a Nightmare should have one rank in Seals. There’s one distinction though: For every four points above sixteen a Nightmare has in Self or Destiny, it can have an additional Advanced Seal in one of the seals it has already mastered. The princes and generals of the Apocalypse are very versatile devils indeed.