Those who study the occult tell tales of creepy dolls, whether porcelain or straw, inhabited by dark spirits, who conspire to drive living people mad, frame them for murder, and turn reality into a terrifying nightmare for all they encounter. Some are sinister-looking puppets coated in cobwebs and ravaged by time. Others appear cuddly and friendly until they reveal their true nature.

Spiteful Spirits. Haunted dolls are created when a vengeful undead spirit, such as a ghost or specter, seeks a vessel to contain its overwhelming hatred. Inhabiting the physical structure of the doll imparts some measure of control to the spirit, allowing it to act without losing itself to its dark impulses. Instead, they act with cunning and intelligence, weaving devious schemes over time to ensure their wicked thrills can continue forever. Once a spirit has possessed a doll, however, it is forever bound to that vessel, and can't leave even if it wants to. When the vessel is destroyed, the spirit is destroyed as well.

Life-size and Larger. Though most haunted dolls are small enough to sit on a bookshelf, some spirits are able to find larger vessels to inhabit. Some dolls are sized to match a real person, used by wealthy dress-makers and other clothes-designers, and these can become haunted just like smaller dolls. There are fantastical cities where magical parades feature giant marching puppets, and some scholars claim that spirits could haunt even those.

Lifeless Nature. A haunted doll doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.

Horror Variant: Eldritch Doll

Rather than being possessed by an undead spirit, some dolls are possessed by a more powerful dark spirit, or even animated by dark magic itself, such as a hag's curse or a blood ritual. They are called eldritch dolls, and they are a worthy addition to any horror-themed campaign, adventure, or session.

Just like regular haunted dolls, eldritch dolls take many shapes and sizes. Eldritch dolls, mannequins, and giant dolls have the same statistics as haunted dolls, haunted mannequins, and giant haunted dolls, except that they also have resistance to necrotic damage and they gain the following traits:

Creepy Rejuvenation. After the doll dies, it comes back to life with all its hit points in 1d4 days unless it is killed by a good-aligned creature with a bless spell cast on that creature or the doll's remains are sprinkled with holy water. Magic that removes a curse can also prevent this effect. When the doll finally returns to life, it regains its body (which is unharmed), appearing in a random location within 1d10 × 10 miles of where it died.

Innate Spellcasting. The doll's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:

At will: fear, minor illusion, thaumaturgy
1/day each: delude (new), dream, phantasmal force