A Nightmare Table

This should be your players' default sleeping position
throughout your campaign.

Your players have been having an easy time of it. They settle down for a good nights sleep on their tavern beds or on their soft bedrolls, perhaps beside a fierce, roaring fire. They feel cosy, warm, comfortable and safe... and that just wont do. 

Below is a table of nightmares to inflict on players. Perhaps an angry spirit is infuriated these ignorant sods have decided to camp on their burial ground, maybe a witch is toying with her inevitable victims, or it might be that your player just ate a really bad sandwich. I have included some classic nightmares and some... not so classic nightmares.

Naturally, like with everything in the world of role-play, these nightmares aren't just bad dreams but carry with them some terrible effects. This table can be used just for the nightmares, the effects are only examples of what you could do as a result of each nightmare. Feel free to mix, match or scrap the effects.

The nightmare descriptions are a springboard to leap from. When you play these out, elaborate on them and add in suspense, little details relating to your players characters and link the nightmare to your campaign.

Roll D10	The Nightmare	Example Effect
1	The player is accused of a terrible crime. The victim firmly believes that the player is responsible for their suffering and false evidence has been found. The player is accosted on all sides by aggressive accusers. As the player becomes more frantic, trying to prove themselves innocent, the more is stacked against them. Anxiety and terror grips their heart, until eventually they are murdered by an angry mob beating down on the player until they are a bloody mess, forever tarnished by the false accusation.	The player wakes and rolls a Save vs Magic, somewhere out there the player is now the main suspect in the investigation of a major crime. The crime must be gruesome, and at the GM's discretion for the tone of the game.
2	The player wakes in a dark room. A corridor stretches out before them. No ceiling is visible and a gentle skittering can be heard above. Occasionally, a glint of red flashes from the shadows, like eyes peering hungrily through the darkness. With the players eyes fixed on the ceiling, the only way is forward. As the player moves, a great pain suddenly flares up from their feet and shins. The ceiling was a red herring, for the floor is riddled with hundreds of ripping jaws protruding from the marble tearing off the flesh of the player’s legs until the bones are torn clean.	The player wakes and rolls a Save vs Paralysis, or the player is paralysed from the waist down for 1D20 hours after waking. The player can see the skin of their legs has been temporarily scarred as if shredded by teeth a long time ago.
3	The player stands in front of a mirror. There is an itching along the player’s gums. They swipe their tongue over their teeth and check them in the mirror. They seem fine. The player looks down and then back up at the mirror as the itching continues. It feels like the players gums are wriggling. They open their mouth once more to reveal their teeth are transforming into fleshy grubs which squirm in the pocket of bloody gum where they had once been teeth. Their tongue a chittering great cockroach. The player spits and screams.	The player wakes and rolls a Save vs Paralysis, or they are unable to open their mouth for 1d20 hours and they develop a phobia of insects.
4	The player wakes buried beneath the ground. They open their mouth to scream but rich dirt and fat earth worms fill their nostrils and throat. They choke on the dirt, clawing in the tightly packed darkness.	Player does not wake, roll a Save vs Paralysis if they succeed they claw their way out and wake up, with a phobia of being buried alive. If they fail, the player suffocates in their sleep. Death.
5	The player’s closest family member is deathly ill. A strange figure, perhaps another player or an NPC, tells the player they can help the ill relative for a price. Desperate, the player allows the person to take their eyes in exchange for a miracle cure. The stranger leaves the player with bleeding holes in their skull and the player tries to feed their relative the cure only to find it is water.	Player wakes and makes a Save vs   Magic, if they do not succeed then for the next 1d20 hours, the player will take a -2 penalty to any attacks as their vision becomes obscured by tears of blood ever so often.
6	The player is sat in a small church. On the altar lies a naked young girl. The player is asked by the priest to stay back but the player is compelled to approach. The girl arches her back and stands on her hands and feet like a crab, her head twists in unnatural directions and her ribs seem to slide up and down her body beneath her skin with sickening cracks. The player draws closer, reaches out and she snaps upright from her bent backwards position. She seizes the player’s skull and the player blacks out.	Player wakes and makes a Save vs   Magic, if they do not succeed they have been possessed by the spirit of the devil girl and the can make a saving throw to get rid of her once per day. You as a GM can decide how this pans out, pass the player secret instructions to enact the girls despicable vengeance.
7	The player is standing in an event that happened only a moment ago. Pick any event during the scenario so far. The event pans out as normal, except this time with small changes, this can be anything you like but they should be anxiety or fear inducing such as the others players and NPC's,  telling the player terrible truths, saying they know their secrets or having them mutilated.	The player wakes and makes a Save vs Magic, if the player does not succeed then they are convinced that the dream event was the real event that occurred.
8	The player is lying down in their bed with all of their comrades around them (if they did not go to bed alone). They feel a heavy pressure on their check in the dark and realise a naked hag is sat pinning them down. Her eyes are completely white and her teeth have been filed to needle points. She uses long black nails to peel away thin strips of skin and sucks them up between her teeth like spaghetti. The player can feel the nails digging in and slicing away their flesh. They scream, but no one around them wakes.	The player does not wake. They make a Save vs Paralysis, if they succeed then their comrades’ wake or rush in and rescue them. If they fail, their skin is slowly peeled away and by morning they are a skinless fleshy corpse. Death.
9	The player is being pursued. They are in the location they are currently in during the game but all their allies have been taken or murdered. They run and run but their body seems sluggish and their muscles are stiff. The creature chasing them is always behind them, breath hitting the back of their neck and if the player looks behind it can see it almost catching them.	The player does not wake. They make a Save vs Paralysis, if they do not succeed then they enter a sleep walking state where they run from the creature. If bound, they are unaware they are stationary and keep running. They do this until they collapse from exhaustion or starvation. They can make a Save vs Paralysis again, if they fail, they die.
10	The player finds themselves on a stage in front of a large crowd of jeering people. Many of them are childhood friends or people the player has previously worked with. The player is bound in the stocks. An announcer calls out for every person to ready their chosen projectile and the player is stripped in front of everyone for all to see. The player begs to be let go, but to no avail. They are suddenly pelted with every object imaginable from root vegetables to knives and axes.	The player does not wake, they make a Save vs Paralysis, if they succeed a good Samaritan pulls them free and wraps them in a blanket. The player wakes with a fear of being nude. If they do not succeed their roll, they are found in the morning with their bones broken and their body bruised. Death.