#maskinganna

[briefbestiary]

A goatish trickster, the Maskinganna is the subject of a type of Sardinian masks.

[thecreaturecodex]

Maskinganna

Artist unknown, accessed at “Un Mondo Acconto” here

[Commissioned by @justicegundam82. Not a lot of info in English, but the maskinganna appears to be a Sardinian take on sleep paralysis, filtered through a satyr/Pan lens (its title is King of the Forest, at least according to Google Translate).]

Maskinganna CR 6 CN Fey This dwarfish humanoid has the head and horns of a goat. It has a twinkle in its eyes and a long knife in its hands.

The maskinganna is a puckish creature of the woodlands that delights in frightening mortals and watching their reactions. They have a fondness for dreams and dreamers. They are known to break into people’s homes in order to watch their dreams as if it were a theatrical performance, and influence those dreams with its mystical messages. A favorite prank of a maskinganna is to set up an illusion of a horrible creature near a sleeper, and then wake them up with a shout or shove. The flailing panic that ensues and the unsettled dreams that follows are a maskinganna’s favorite sport.

Although their tricks may seem cruel, most maskinganna are less actively malevolent than they are mischievous. They are offended by creatures that use nightmares to actually hurt dreamers, and are enemies of night hags, animate dreams and other such monsters. It is in fighting these creatures, or defending themselves, that a maskinganna is most likely to resort to physical violence. They carry cold iron swords to deal with night hags, a fact that renders them suspect to many other fey creatures.

Maskingannas are rare, and they usually favor animals as company. They are frequently shifting forms, and children or halflings are their favorite humanoid targets to masquerade as. In animal form, they are often in the shape of a goat, dog, or other animal that wouldn’t seem out of place in a town or village, but they will readily change into a bird or fish in order to make a quick escape if they need to. The true appearance of a maskinganna is goatish, and they are occasionally mistaken for satyrs or fauns by the uneducated.

Maskinganna Boons and Banes (5th level, CL 10th, DC 18) A maskinganna is more likely to bestow a short-term ally with a beneficial trick instead of using its boon, but it may use it to reward someone for assisting it in fighting night hags or other nightmare-inducing monsters. A maskinganna may use its bane to punish those who fight them, or as a warning to those who incur on its territory.

Boon: You always get a good night’s sleep full of pleasant dreams, and your health reflects this. You recover twice as many hit points or ability points from resting. This boon lasts for one week.

Bane: Your sleep is restless and leaves you just awake enough to function. You do not recover hit points or ability points from rest, and suffer a -4 penalty to all saves against sleep effects or abilities that cause fatigue or exhaustion. This bane lasts for one year.

Maskinganna     CR 6 XP 2,400 CN Small fey (shapechanger) Init +8; Senses Perception +13, low-light vision Defense AC 19, touch 16, flat-footed 14 (+4 Dex, +1 size, +1 dodge, +3 natural) hp 65 (10d6+30) Fort +6, Ref +11, Will +9 DR 10/cold iron; Immune fear, sleep effects; SR 17 Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee masterwork cold iron short sword +11 (1d4/19-20), gore +5 (1d4) Special Attacks manifold tricks, sneak attack +1d6, terrible visions, tricks (8/day, DC 18, false flanker, mesmeric mirror, psychosomatic surge, shadow splinter, vanish arrow) Spell-like Abilities CL 8th, concentration +11 (+15 casting defensively) Constant—speak with animals At will—invisibility, lullaby (DC 13), scare (DC 15) 3/day—deep slumber (DC 16), detect thoughts (DC 15), dream, major image (DC 16) 1/day—shadow conjuration (DC 17), shadow evocation (DC 18)Statistics Str 10, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 10, Cha 17 Base Atk +5; CMB +4; CMD 20 Feats Combat Casting, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Weapon Finesse Skills Bluff +16, Disguise +16, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (nature) +10, Intimidate +16, Perception +13, Sleight of Hand +17, Spellcraft +15, Stealth +24 Languages Aklo, Common, Sylvan, speak with animals SQ change shape (Small or Medium humanoid or animal, polymorph), dream reader, wild empathy +13 Ecology Environment temperate forests or urban Organization solitary, pair or riot (3-8) Treasure standard (masterwork Small cold iron short sword, other treasure) Special Abilities Dream Reader (Su) A maskinganna can view the dreams of any sleeping creature within 30 feet. It cannot directly influence these dreams unless it uses its dream spell-like ability. Manifold Tricks (Su) A maskinganna can implant up to three tricks at a time. Any one creature can still be the subject of only one trick at a time. If the maskinganna implants a fourth trick while three tricks are concurrently implanted, it must choose one trick to dismiss without triggering (this still counts against its daily uses) Terrible Visions (Su) A maskinganna’s illusions can become especially frightening. At the maskinganna’s discretion, any major image it casts can cause all creatures within 30 feet that see it to succeed a DC 18 Will save or be shaken for 5d6 rounds. This is a mind-influencing fear effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Tricks (Su) A maskinganna gains tricks as the mesmerist class ability. It treats its Hit Dice as its mesmerist level, and if it takes levels of mesmerist, its Hit Dice stack with its mesmerist levels for the purpose of the trick class ability. Wild Empathy (Ex) A maskinganna gains the wild empathy class feature of a druid. It treats its Hit Dice as its druid level, and if it takes levels of any class that grants wild empathy, its Hit Dice stack with its druid levels for the purpose of the wild empathy class ability.