The official GemStone IV encyclopedia.
The mighty nightmare steed stands defiantly at all around it staring blankly with cold rage, filled with malice and a clear desire to rend flesh from limb to limb. It has midnight black hair and a silky silver mane with occasional black streaks. The eyes of a nightmare steed shine with a brilliant red glow that never are seen to blink very often, if at all.
Hunting strategies
Nightmare steeds only appear alongside Sheruvian harbingers. The steeds are basically nuisance creatures for when you are hunting harbingers. They cast elemental waves to knock you down, which makes you more vulnerable when the harbingers boost their AS with Spirit Strike (117). It is best to kill the steed in the room first, even if you are not going to earn experience off it. Their presence only makes the harbingers more dangerous.
When there are multiple creatures in the room Grasp of the Grave (709) largely neutralizes the threat. If you wait until the nightmare steed prepares to cast magic, a single cast of Corrupt Essence (703) should be sufficient to kill it before it can cast again. Otherwise there is a risk of the spell wearing off right before it casts. If the nightmare steed appears in the Sheruvian monastery, there will be a harbinger somewhere in the vicinity.
Other information
There is unique messaging for the different spell effects, so you can tell what they are going to cast by how their hooves are glowing:
(1) Dull Grey: Warding Attack
A nightmare steed rears back, its hooves glowing a dull grey.
A nightmare steed releases its magical energy at XXX!
CS: +257 - TD: +321 + CvA: -4 + d100: +96 - -5 == +33
Warded off!
Nothing happens.
(note: sometimes it only says "Nothing happens." without a roll.)
(2) Deep Crimson: Dispel
A nightmare steed rears back, its hooves glowing a deep crimson.
A nightmare steed releases its magical energy at XXX!
The brilliant, rapidly shifting aura around you shimmers and bursts in a bright flash!
The elemental aura around you wavers.
(3) Glows Brightly: Elemental Wave
A nightmare steed rears back, its hooves glowing brightly for a moment.
A nightmare steed releases its magical energy at XXX!
A wave of dark ethereal ripples moves outward from a nightmare steed.
You are buffeted by the dark ethereal waves, and knocked to the ground.
You are pinned in place, unable to move.
Roundtime: 3 sec.
(4) Bright Red: Weapon Deflection
A nightmare steed rears back, its hooves glowing a bright red.
A nightmare steed releases its magical energy at XXX!
Your eyesight becomes blurred slightly.
Behind the Scenes
Nightmares were actually "Demon Horses" in Rolemaster. They would be demon possessed horses, who would seek vengeance, either against those who had wronged the demon or the horse in life. The steeds are the males and the mares are the females, providing another of numerous subtle links with Shadow Valley. They are treated as undead in GemStone, and are not considered extraplanar beings for system purposes. While the harbingers of Shadow World ("Heralds of Night") were known to ride black unicorns, the Sheruvian harbingers of GemStone III rode nightmare steeds instead.
References
| Near-level creatures - edit
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