Death Linnen

"He was stretched out in the midst of the bed, on his back, without any disorder... His hands, i think, were even crossed on his breast. The only thing not usual was that nothing was to be seen of his face, the two ends of the pillow or bolster appearing to be closed quite over it."

--"Two Doctors"

When lying in bed at night, wondering what those strange creeks and pops are in the darkness, who hasn't felt just a little more secure by drawing up the covers? Even the security of bedclothes is taken from us by death linens.

Death linens are beings of living cloth, usually sheets, pillows, and other items associated with beds. They have been infected with latent psychic forces born of nightmares. They are normally active at night, but they can lurk in cupboards or laundries and assault people at any time. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes that can be divided into three broad categories:

Killer Pillow

The killer pillow is a fluffy and inviting-looking animated pillow that humps along like a huge amoeba. It can jump up to 20 feet once per tum in an attempt to catch a victim, but normally it lies dormant, hoping a victim chooses to rest on it.

Combat: The killer pillow has 2 Hit Dice and can crinkle its surface into a sort of face, with which it "bites" for 1-2 hp damage. if it strikes with a roll of 18 or better, it wraps itself around the head of any creature up to size Land begins suffocating him or her, inflicting an automatic 1-4 hp damage per round. The victim (or another helping him or her) must make a Strength check on 3d6 to dislodge it, or else attack it. Any attack on a piJlow that is smothering someone is also considered an attack on the victim, although at-2 to hit, and doing only half damage.

If a character goes to sleep on a killer pillow, the pillow's first hit is automatic, and it begins smothering immediately. The sleeping victim is actually affected by a weak suggestion spell; the character must save vs. magic once per round to see if he or she awakens. If not...

Habitat/Society: Killer pillows are "born" by accident and do not seek out other pillows or death linens. Although solitary by nature, they may not be the only death linens in a building (especially a large structure, like a castle), since the linens in general are created by similar circumstances.

Ecology: Killer pillows have no place in the natural order of things. They need no nourishment and attack because they are literally bad dreams in physical form. Some wizards have learned to create killer pillows from deathbed linens and control them; these are often sent as "gifts" to people they would like to see killed. Threads from any death linen can be used in sleep, charm, or suggestion spells.

Flannel Beast

The flannel beast often hides in pantries and closets where towels, bedclothes, and linens are kept. It resembles a stack of towels or rags (90% undetectable by visual inspection) until it moves, whereupon it looks more like a tattered ferret or snake.

Combat: The flannel beast has 4 Hit Dice. It bites for 1-3 hp damage, and its fangs are coated with a powerful (type E) venom. It can wrap its long body around a victim and suffocate him as does a killer pillow, while simultaneously trying to bite.

Habitat/Society: Like all the death linens, flannel beasts are loners. They can sometimes be found in tombs or sepulchers, having formed from winding sheets.

Ecology: Like killer pillows, flannel beasts have no place in nature. They attack living creatures but do not eat them. Certain wizards and clerics have learned to create and control flannel beasts; these are usually employed as assassins or tomb guardians.

Sheet

The sheet variety of the death linen takes on a disturbingly humanoid form when it strikes, moving at a surprisingly swift pace, and it gyrates and flops as it moves, a most disturbing spectacle. Anyone seeing a sheet must make a successful saving throw vs. paralyzation or flee in terror for 2-8 rounds. (In the Ravenloft campaign setting, use a fear check instead.) Sheets normally reside indoors, but they think nothing of chasing prey across the countryside.

Combat: The sheet strikes twice in combat with its ragged fists for 1-4 points of damage each. It can suffocate if it hits with an 18 or better. A successful Strength check is needed to free oneself from the sheet. It can also bite for 1-2 points of damage, and its fangs are poisonous (Type C; onset time 2-5 minutes; Dmg 25/2-8).

Blunt weapons inflict only 1 point of damage (plus any magical weapon and Strength bonuses) to a sheet per successful hit. Death linens are not undead and cannot be turned by priests or harmed by holy water.

Habitat/Society: Sheets are apt to roam the countryside for prey, but they find greater comfort in houses, castles, and manors. They need no nourishment; they assault or avoid living creatures for reasons known only to themselves. They rarely tolerate the presence of others of their kind.

Ecology: Like other varieties of death linen, the sheet holds no place in the natural order. Certain magical items have been created to control such beings, especially whistles inscribed with magical runes. Bits of them can be used in rites to create zombies and other undead beings.

All death linens have vulnerabilities that PCs can exploit: Fire causes double damage to them. A gallon or more of water sloshed on a death linen affects it as the slow spell. If a character strikes it with a roll of 19 or 20, the creature is stunned for one round, and it will flop to the floor in an inert pile. Any attacks made in the following round automatically hit.

Even after it is reduced to 0 hit points, a death linen's life force might enter another pillow or sheet in the next 1-12 months-a 10% chance per month. After all, we all sleep, and we often have nightmares, which strengthen the strange beings. If a slain death linen does not reappear within one year, the life-force has dissipated.