#bregostana

Hello, everyone! Here I am with a new creature - the Bregostana, a cryptid from Italian folklore. This creature appeared in the third-party 5e monster manual "Brancalonia Spaghett Fantasy: Bestiary", and that's the source I am starting my convertion from. Definitely tried to keep this creature in the spirit of both the original legend and the 5e statistics... but as always, I'll let you judge how it went!

BREGOSTANA

Image taken from "Brancalonia Spaghetti Fantasy: Bestiary", author unknown

This foul ape-like creature is covered in thick fur, and its clothing consists of rags, filth and bark. A mouth filled with crooked fangs almost splits its head in half.

BREGOSTANA      CR 6

XP 2'400

CE Medium Monstrous Humanoid

Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +13

Aura frightful presence (30 ft., shaken, DC 16 negates) , gaze of madness (30 ft., DC 16)

DEFENSE

AC  18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+3 Dex, +5 natural)

hp  76 (8d10+32) 

Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +9;

Weaknesses cynophobia, light sensitivity

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.

Melee 2 claws +13 (1d6+6 plus nightmare curse), bite +12 (1d8+6 plus poison)

Special Attacks poison

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th)

     Constant – spider climb

STATISTICS

Str 22, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 7, Wis 16, Cha 15

Base Atk +6; CMB +12; CMD 25

Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (claws)

Skills Climb +14, Perception +13, Sleight of Hand +13, Stealth +10 (+14 in forests), Survival +8; Racial Modifiers +4 Sleight of Hand, +4 Stealth in forests  

Languages Sylvan

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate forests or mountains

Organization solitary or pair

Treasure standard

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Cynophobia (Ex): A bregostana is terribly afraid of dogs and wolves. A bregostana that becomes aware of a dog, a wolf or any creature whose appearence can be ascribed to that of such animals (i.e. an hell hound or a blink dog) in a 30 ft. radius must make a Will save (DC 20) or become shaken for as long as it can still perceive the creature. The bregostana must also make this saving throw when taking damage from a wolf, a dog or any creature that resembles them. A bregostana that is already shaken from this ability becomes frightened instead if it fails another saving throw.

Gaze of Madness (Su): A bregostana’s gaze attacks only affects creatures that are shaken because of the bregostana’s frightful presence ability. Such creatures must make a Will save (DC 16) when meeting the bregostana’s gaze or suffer a random lesser madness for the next 24 hours. Whether the saving throw succeeds or fails, that creature becomes immune to that bregostana’s gaze of madness for 24 hours. This is a fear and madness effect. The save DC is Charisma-based   

Nightmare Curse (Su): A creature critically hit by a bregostana’s claw attack must make a Will save (DC 16) or suffer horrific, viscerally realistic nightmares next time they sleep – the victim is affected as by a nightmare spell, taking 1d10 points of damage, becoming fatigues and unable to regain arcane spells for 24 hours. This effect ends after the first time the victim sleeps or after 24 hours, whichever happens first. This is a curse effect. The save DC is Charisma-based   

Poison (Ex): Bite – injury; save Fort DC 18; frequency 1/round for 4 rounds; effect 1d4 Str damage; cure 1 save. The save DC is Constitution-based.

The bregostana, also known as “beast-witch”, is a monstrous creature that haunts mountainous regions. They are usually found alone, in hard-to-reach caverns out of which they crawl  after sunset, to approach the closest village and find their favorite prey – human children. Encountering a bregostana during the day is rare in the estreme, as they loathe sunlight and are clumsy and weak in daylight. At night, on the other day, they become horribly fast, moving through the trees like primates, and grabbing small animals and unwary travelers from above.