# Nightshade, Nighthaunt >[!rimg]+ > ![[Placeholder2.png]] *A supernatural aura of dread hangs thickly in the air around this malignant black figure. It looks something like a gargoyle, with large shadowy wings, curling horns, and a lashing tail, but its body appears to be sculpted from purest night, and its face is blank except for the pale, lifeless orbs of its eyes.* <div class="grid-container"><div class="MON">Nighthaunt</div> <div class="CR">CR 12 (19,200 XP)</div> <div class="SOU">Lost Empires of Faerûn pg. 185</div> <div class="SYS">Dungeons & Dragons 3.5</div></div> CE Medium Undead **Init** +8 **Senses** darksense, darkvision 60 ft.; **Perception** +15 **Aura** desecrating aura (30 ft.) #### defense **AC** 29, 19 touch, 20 flat-footed (+8 Dex, +1 dodge, +10 natural) **hp** 60 (8d8+24) **Fort** +5, **Refl** +10, **Will** +10 **Feint** 25, **Demoralize** 22 **DR** 15/silver and magic; **SR** 23 **Immune** cold, undead traits **Weakness** light aversion #### offense **Speed** 40 ft., fly 60 ft. (good) **Melee** 2 claws +14 (1d4+6 plus grab), bite +14 (1d6+6), tail slap +12 (1d4+3) **Space** 5 ft., **Reach** 5 ft. **Special Attacks** channel negative energy (6d6, DC 17, 6/day), energy drain **Spell-Like Abilities** (CL 12th, Concentration +15) > **At will**— _deeper darkness_, _detect magic_, _see invisibility_, _unholy blight_ > **3/day**— _contagion_, _greater dispel magic_, _haste_, _invisibility_ > **1/day**— _hold monster_, _finger of death_, _ice storm_, _plane shift_, _summon_ (level 6, 3–6 shadows, 2–4 wraiths, or 1 greater shadow, 100%) #### statistics **Str** 23, **Dex** 27, **Con** —, **Int** 16, **Wis** 18, **Cha** 16 **BAB** +6, **CMB** +12, **CMD** 31, **TA** +12, **RTA** +14 **Feats** [[Combat Reflexes]], [[Dodge]], [[Multiattack]], [[Weapon Finesse]] **Skills** Acrobatics +16 (+20 when jumping), Fly +23, Intimidate +14, Perception +15, Sense Motive +15, Spellcraft +14, Stealth +19 **Languages** Abyssal, Common, Necril #### special abilities ### Energy Drain (Su) Whenever a nighthaunt succeeds on a grapple check, the grappled creatures gains two negative levels. #### tactics Nighthaunts are terrifying foes, with numerous dark powers at their beck and call. By pressing its blank face to its victim’s, a nighthaunt can drain the life energy on which it feeds. Nighthaunts often use deeper darkness and invisibility to divide and confuse their enemies, then swoop close to grapple spellcaster with their icy talons and drain their life forces. Nighthaunts prefer to harass well-organized or strong opponents from a distance, using their spell-like abilities to wear down their victims before closing for melee. #### ecology **Terrain** Plane of Shadow **Organization** Solitary, pair, fright (3–4), or terror (8–16) **Treasure** Standard **Advancement** 13–17 HD (Medium); 18–24 HD (Large) Malicious, sinister creatures of unliving darkness, nighthaunts are the smallest and weakest of the nightshades. Because nighthaunts delight in the destruction of the good and the innocent, they are inexorably drawn to places of evil power and defiled goodness, such as desecrated temples or emptied graveyards.