I guess this is the classic monster under the bed or in the wardrobe. As such it needs little introduction, but there's a solid English folklore basis for this. I suppose the origins for this lie in a childs fear of the dark, or rather what may reside in the darkness. And of course in the stories that adults use to scare children into being compliant.
Whether its bloody bones, rawhead, jackie blob, tommie rawhead, they're variants of the same thing and I'd be surprised if a variant of this doesn't appear everywhere in the world. And its something sadly lacking in D&D.
The use of this monster as a relatively low level side quest or short adventure, saving the children in a village from insanity that seems to be spreading, or being tasked with working out why the Lords youngest child is convinced the manor is haunted, etc. is I'm sure obvious to all.
Bloody Bones
by Cab Davidson
| Stat | Bloody Bones* |
| AC: | 6 |
| HD: | 4+1* |
| Movement: | 90’(30’) |
| Attacks: | 1 touch |
| Damage: | 1d6+energy drain |
| No. Appearing: | 1 (1d4) |
| Save As: | F4 |
| Morale: | 11 |
| Treasure Type: | C |
| Intelligence: | 9 |
| Alignment: | Chaotic |
| XP Value: | 200 |
Bloody bones are undead creatures resembling pale, emaciated human corpses, with bones showing through skin that appears to have been picked at by crows as if the body had been left in a gibbet, allowing blood to seep and stain their otherwise porcelain white skin. Despite being long dead their wounds never seem to dry. Their bony fingers look horribly extended and their faces are contorted in a decayed, skeletal grin. Their origin is unknown – perhaps in life they were adults who were especially cruel to children, or they may simply be the creation of an unspeakably wicked entropic immortal. Occasionally they steal from or murder adults to try to satisfy their never ending craving to harm children, but to no avail. This desire can never be sated.
Bloody bones are usually invisible to adults (visible only with detect invisible or truesight), but are always visible to children, from whom to be unnoticed they must make a conscious effort to hide (under the bed, in a wardrobe, the cellar, in the shadows under the stairs, etc.). While children can see them and may be aware of their presence, adults typically disbelieve they even exist. And from the position of being known to the child but disbelieved by the adult, they seek to keep the child in fear, driving them to insanity over time. They may, if the accompanying adults make no attempts to deal with them, spend years tormenting a single child, potentially destroying a whole family in the process, furthering entropies goals by making the next generation more bitter than the last.
Bloody bones are completely incapable of physically harming children, which drives them to instil ever more fear and insanity. They cannot touch children or wield anything to cause them harm, set traps for them, etc. They become visible upon attacking an adult (and that adult can forever see that bloody bones), and their touch causes 1d6 damage + energy drain. They are immune to normal weapons, and can only be struck by silver or magical weapons.
As undead creatures, bloody bones can be turned as if wraiths.