Apparition

When it shows itself on the Prime, an apparition is a skeleton draped in loose, filthy bandages. It stays airy and insubstantial at almost every moment; only in a round when it attacks does it firm up into something half-solid. Its true home is the Ethereal, and twice per day it can cross between that plane and ours, each crossing taking one round.

The creature emerges from any solid, nonliving thing, such as a floor, a wall or a piece of furniture, so opponents roll for surprise at -5. It senses any being with Intelligence above 5 by telepathy out to 100 feet in every direction, though it has no other psionic talent, and being noncorporeal it drifts straight through locked doors and similar obstacles toward its target.

It never lays a bony hand on anyone. Instead an innate, improved suggestion makes the victim believe its claws are crushing his throat. No attack roll is needed. The target makes an Intelligence check at -4 to see through the illusion, and knowing an apparition is present does not help. Success makes that person permanently immune to that particular apparition. On a failure, a Constitution check follows: success sends the victim fleeing for 1-4 rounds as if by a fear spell, giving the apparition time to try again, while failure means death from sheer terror. Only a remove fear spell cast in that same round prevents it. If either protection from evil or its 10' radius version is already in effect when the attack comes, the Constitution check succeeds automatically.

Anyone slain this way and later brought back always fails the Intelligence roll against apparitions from then on. A victim left dead for more than 24 hours rises as a new apparition 2-8 hours later.

On the Prime it can be harmed only during the single round of its attack, and only by silver or magical weapons. On its own plane it has AC 5 and can be fought normally. Clerics turn it as a spectre or as 8 HD undead.

Apparitions have no society to speak of, though a freshly risen one tends to linger near the creature that made it while it gets used to its new state. Needing neither rest nor food, they keep no lair, and whatever treasure happens to be about is simply left where the fight took place.

Destroying an apparition on the Prime only buys time: it re-forms in the Ethereal in 5-8 days and goes hunting for whoever 'killed' it. It is truly ended only when slain on its home plane. Victims whose companions abandoned them to this fate usually (80%) come looking for the survivors to share it.