Editing Nightmare (section)

==3rd Edition==
[[File:Nightmare planar handbook.jpg|300px|left]]
[[File:Nightmare 3e.jpg|right|300px]]
The most significant change to the nightmare in 3rd Edition is a visual one. Despite the written description making no mention of additional fire, the nightmare in the Monster Manual now has both a flaming mane and a flaming tail. It has also picked up weight, and is no longer skeletal in appearance. As we'll see, this depiction became the norm from this point forwards.

In terms of its description and statistics, the nightmare remains remarkably similar to its earlier edition cousins. It has slightly more hit points and does a bit more damage (now split into physical and fire damage), but it has the same special abilities: flaming hooves, defensive smoke, and the ability to travel into the astral and ethereal planes. The smoke attack is now cone-shaped but extends slightly further, to 15 feet. It gives the nightmare a measure of concealment against opponent, without impeding its vision. The astral and ethereal travel abilities are specified as being the same as the equivalent spells cast by a 20th-level sorcerer.

For the first time, there is a mention of nightmares "haunting the dreams" of those who have crossed them, but this appears to be poetic licence with the description, rather than a new ability. Although nightmare are still used as mounts by powerful evil creatures, they appear to be more reluctant to allow others to ride them than before. While mounted, they cannot fight independently unless their rider makes a successful ride check. Their carrying capacity is specified as being up to 900 pounds. The Arms and Equipment Guide lists them as "untrainable". Since Nightmares both fly by magic (instead of wings), are suitable as a mount and clearly have a skeleton (the outline of their ribs are visible in the art), they're a good target for killing and animating as skeleton mounts. This is helped by their low HD and Outsider status making them valid targets for Lesser Planar Binding, freeing a necromancer of the need to actually locate one to kill. 

The "advancement" entry indicates that some nightmares can be huge in size, with up to 18 hit dice. When the nightmare was updated for the Monster Manual v.3.5, a huge version was given its own stat block as a "cauchemar" (French for "nightmare"). The 3.5 nightmare also gained darkvision 60 ft., and its environment was amended from "any land and underground" to specify the Gray Wastes of Hades as their home.

The line from the 2nd Edition monster statistics block indicating a creature's diet was not carried over to 3rd Edition, making it default to the Outsider standard of not needing to eat. In ''Dying of the Light'' (''Dungeon'' issue #84) the vampire Lythia keeps two nightmares which she uses to draw her carriage and under the seat she keeps a leather sack filled with platinum filings to feed the pair.

The 3rd Edition Manual of the Planes maintains nightmares as possibles encounters in the astral and ethereal planes, as well as the Tarterian Depths of Carceri, the Gray Waste of Hades, the Nine Hells of Baator and the Abyss. No specific mention is made of their presence in Gehenna, but the encounter tables imply that they can still be found throughout the lower planes.

Just in case a player wants a nightmare PC, the article Monsters with Class in Dragon #293 suggests that the Effective Character Level (ECL) of such a character would be 10, meaning that it would be treated as ten levels higher than ordinary humanoid adventurers. This article was a preview of Savage Species but the nightmare didn't make it into that book, probably because it isn't a particularly playable race.

The Tome of Magic includes the fiendbinder class, which uses truenames to bind fiends and other creatures into service. The cauchemar nightmare is one of the creatures that can be bound by a fiendbinder of at least 5th level.

In Expedition to the Demonweb Pits, the adventurers visit the planar city of Zelatar. While there, there is a possibility that they can persuade a group of cauchemar nightmares to help them navigate the city. So bored are the nightmares with acting as mounts for dignitaries and merchants, that they will co-operate with the party as long as their intention is to leave Zelatar, and provided the heroes are reasonably competent riders.