Planar Bestiary
The Plane of Air's idyllic expanses are vast and empty, extending forever. Unlucky Material Plane explorers can meet their end here by various means, including by falling until their food and water give out. These victims' deaths become the spark of a malicious air elemental.
Though breath thieves are elementals, the traumatic, screaming deaths of mortal beings in the Plane of Air sparked their creation. That spirit infused each breath thief with hatred for those that still breathe. Breath thieves seek every opportunity to blow through portals leading to other worlds and out onto interdimensional paths, looking for victims.
Often apparent only as a light breeze, breath thieves can be indirectly observed by the leaves and litter they pick up and swirl around. Where possible, breath thieves prefer to move with other, natural winds, at least until they locate a new target. Which is why breath thieves are so hard to notice until it's too late.
Thanks to their elemental nature, a breath thief doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Other names for breath thieves include "lurking screams" and "avenging scuds."
Motive: Hungers to steal the breath of the living
Environment: The Plane of Air, worlds of the Material Plane, alone or in pairs
Health: 18
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (4 points)
Movement: Long when flying
Modifications: Defends against nonmagical attacks as level 5
Combat: Breath thieves are invisible until they attack and can become invisible again as their action.
A breath thief makes a slam attack, inflicting damage on a hit and grabbing the target. All the grabbed victim's physical tasks are hindered and they take 4 points of Speed damage (ignores Armor) each round as the breath thief automatically chokes them until the victim can escape by succeeding on a Might task as their action.
Alternatively, the breath thief can release a magical scream reminiscent of the one that birthed them once every handful of rounds. Creatures within immediate range that fail a Might defense task take 4 points of damage from the cutting blast of air, are pushed out of immediate range, and fall prone. Creatures farther away but within short range that fail an Intellect defense task are frightened and must use their actions to move away from the breath thief for one minute, or until they succeed on an Intellect defense task on their turn to end the effect early. A creature that succeeds on their Intellect defense task against the breath thief's fear is immune to it for 24 hours.
Interaction: Breath thieves are vicious, elemental predators with little to no fear of death.
Use: An unforeseen side effect of a teleportation or planar travel spell calls one or two breath thieves into the area.
GM Intrusion: The breath thief intensifies their choking attack by entering a character's lungs, rendering the elemental invulnerable to mundane attacks, and hindering the victim's ability to escape the choking grasp by two steps.