hat man

not sponsored by benadryl

This is a monster you can drop into any game, based on a hallucination/cryptid associated with sleep paralysis and diphenhydramine overdose.

you probably should have closed that door behind you.

It is not fatally dangerous by itself but should prove an interesting challenge in combination with other monsters or dangers. Characters who fall victim to its curse have a potentially interesting decision at the start of combat - lose one round guaranteed or risk losing more rounds but gaining the ability to fight back against their curse.

HAT MAN

A shadowy, shifting silhouette wearing what appears to be a hood or wide-brimmed hat. Some who see it claim it has red pinpricks for eyes. Those who encounter them are plagued by nightmares, some for the remainder of their lives.

Paralyzing Gaze – Anyone making eye contact with the Hat Man must save or fall to the ground paralyzed for 1d6 rounds. Those affected are thenceforth Cursed to see the Hat Man at inopportune moments. Whenever initiative or surprise is rolled, they must save again or suffer a relapse. During relapses, only cursed creatures see the Hat Man. Tightly blocking one's sight for a round is sufficient to avoid the Hat Man. Cursed creatures know they are cursed because they often see the Hat Man at the edges of their vision (this is not sufficient to trigger a save but is anything but good for the nerves).

• It likes to linger at boundaries: where walls meet, along cracks in the ground, at the edges of shadows, and especially in doorways.
• It will often initially try to move along boundary lines if threatened.
• If you get paralyzed and something starts killing you or eating you, it will stand over you looking(?) down.
• It can chose who sees it but can't change this once it has decided.
• It can flee by walking into an area of darkness.
• If you are cursed and you kill it, the curse is broken.
• You can also break the curse by sleeping on a pillow made of phoenix down (phoenix down is believed to be an ingredient in the Tea of Resurrection and is very dearly bought).