A Dungeon Master appears to be a quiet human, but he is actually a servant of the darkness. He promises heroism and great deeds, but his only aim is to see the hearts of the good corrupted and their lives cut short. In exchange for completing quests and challenges, or "games" and "sessions" as the Dungeon Master calls them, he grants greater power. What his victims do not know is that this power, while seemingly innocuous, is actually spawned from the darkest depths of the abyss. Over time, victims of a Dungeon Master become lost in a dream world of monsters and mazes, and all die in pointless combat with monsters or by their own hands. Instinct: Corrupt youth

• Tempt the weak with dreams of power
• Teach a dark spell to someone
• Enchant someone with a useless obsession
• Slowly removes its victims capacity to do good

Each individual shadow is actually a swarm of tiny, dust-sized demons. No one is quite sure where they come from, or how to kill them, but it is known that children of every species on every plane of existence know to fear the darkness . . . Instinct: To spread

• Devour flesh
• Impersonate voices
• Absorb knowledge from those it kills

The Black Knight is the best guard you can hire. He can kill almost anyone in a fight, and he's been known to insist that even the most grievous injuries are mere "flesh wounds." Instinct: Prevent any from passing

• Fight relentlessly
• Bite your legs off

Born in darkness, the Forgotten Bane was once a human child wrongly imprisoned by a mad sorcerer-king. Tormented by years of occult experiments and the tragic hope of escape, the nameless child finally grew strong enough to escape and killed his captors. Now, fueled by alchemical elixirs and pure hatred, he returns to civilization to establish his own rule. He is relentless and treacherous, using his enemies' most secret weaknesses against them. If you face him, which will break first . . . your spirit, or your body? Instinct: Bring civilization to its reckoning

• Break them
• Find enemy's weakness
• Use lesser warriors as pawns.

These utterly vile entities hail from another branch of reality ruled by a Swordmage known only as "The Elder Brother." Created to serve some decadent and unspeakable purpose, perhaps merely a mad joke of the Elder Brother, these miniature cloth golems now simply wait for any creature unlucky enough to stumble into their lairs. Having the appearance of some sort of perverse puppets, they quickly prove to be something far more sinister . . . Instinct: Impudently defy authority

• Leap onto unsuspecting humanoids
• Pretend to be inanimate
• Pile them wrist-deep in impudent puppets
• Teleport when people aren't looking

These peculiar creatures resemble flightless, featherless birds with leathery skin and rubbery, drill-shaped beaks. Although they will mindlessly follow any evil entity promising them a safe place to stow their eggs (which can serve as one ration use, in a pinch), they are actually quite well-spoken and sarcastic. Perhaps if you simply reasoned with them, they might agree to dig a tunnel for you . . . Instinct: Protect its eggs

• Tunnel . . . through walls or people.
• Dogpile an adventurer

A pepper pot shaped creature slightly shorter than a man. It is a bronze color, with a single unblinking eye on a stalk. Its skin is hard and nigh-unbreachable. Instinct: To exterminate!

• Disintegrates foes

Snake is a terror of the darkness, hailing from a land of gears and metal, he does not understand the situations he has been exposed to and reacts by lurking where you'd least expect and making a meal of those you hold dear. Instinct: to sneak

• Sneaks up and slits your throat
• Distracts you with magazines
• Uses targets as living shields

“Can’t all be the High Priest, they said. Can’t all wield the White Spire, they said. Scrub the floor, they told me. The Cthonic Overgod don’t want a messy floor, do he? They said it’d be enlightenment and magic. Feh. It’s bruised knees and dishpan hands. If only I’d been a cleric, instead.” Instinct: To serve dutifully

• Follow dogma
• Offer eternal reward for mortal deeds