The Necroworm

[Cyclone231]

I decided, today, to just make a creature. No reason, no campaign, nothing like that, just make one. I had a few different ideas, but I decided to go with the necroworm. So here it is:

Necroworm:
Tiny Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 1d10 HD (6 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. land (4 squares), 5 ft. burrow (1 square)
Armor Class: 13 (+1 dexterity, +2 size modifier), 13 touch, 12 flat-footed
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+0
Attack: +1 Bite 1d3-3
Full Attack: +1 Bite 1d3-3
Space/Reach: 5 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Attach
Special Qualities: Reanimate, infest, telepathic bond, blindsight, magical beast traits
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +5, Will +2
Abilities: Str 5, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 7
Skills: Climb -1, Jump -1, Knowledge (local) 3, Knowledge (arcana) 3, Listen 3, Move Silently 4, Sense Motive 2, Spot 2
Feats: Lightning Reflexes
Environment: Underground
Organization: Solitary, pair, or cluster (2-6)
CR: 1
Squirming along the floor is a brightly colored purplish worm, covered in a thick coating of red and pink bits of a dead human. It’s six irridescent eyes gleam in the darkness, and it’s triangular maw fumbles about a bit of food.
Necroworms are a bizarre magical beast of unknown origins. Some scholars believe they may have come from another plane of existance, though which is unknown. They are vile, and little known creatures, sharing traits with both ordinary parasites and predators.

Necroworm hives are the stuff of legends. Though theoretically possible, they have never been encountered by anyone whose word is worth something. Necroworms are encountered, if in numbers at all, in clusters.

Necroworms feed by consuming flesh and tissue. They generally leave their host to perform this task, though some more careful or paranoid necroworms may choose to remain inside the host, instead burrowing a way from the mouth through to where the brain used to be, consuming food in a manner which visually resembles the host eating it.
Combat:
A necroworm generally begins combat within the form of a humanoid zombie brought to life with it’s Reanimate ability. Once this host zombie is slain, the necroworm generally remains within the head until it believes all hostiles are gone, whereupon it will exit and find a new host.

If the necroworm is encountered outside of a host, it will attack wildly, attempting to make a grab maneuver on a foe. If this succeeeds, it will bite down until the target dies, then attempt to scurry into the brain. This process often takes a while, and a necroworm may die before completing it.

If encountered in a cluster, outside of a body, then necroworms will all proceed to attempt to attach themselves to one hostile. Once the hostile is dead, they will move on to the next, and one will reanimate the corpse and use it to attack the enemies.

Attach (Ex): If a necroworm hits with a bite attack, it uses it’s triangular to latch onto the opponent’s body. An attached necroworm is effectively grappling its prey. The necroworm loses its Dexterity bonus to AC and has an AC of 12, but holds on with great tenacity. Bite damage, as opposed to that of an unarmed strike, is dealt.

An attached necroworm can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached necroworm through grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the necroworm.

Reanimate (Sp): The necroworm can bring it’s deceased host back to life as a zombie, as the spell animate dead. However, unlike the spell, the necroworm must remain in contact with the host for the duration of the effect. It can only animate one body at a time, and must abandon it’s current body in order to use the ability again. To use this ability, the necroworm must first burrow into the skull of it’s host.

If the necroworm has taken class levels which enable it to cast spells which create undead, the necroworm may cause the deceased to rise as an undead of any of the types it is able to create.

The necroworm’s host is considered to be in constant contact with the necroworm, and may receive instructions all the time. The necroworm is capable of speaking through the body, assuming it has yet to rot to that point. Otherwise, the body is an ordinary zombie.

Infest (Ex): Once it’s foe is dead, the necroworm may begin to burrow into it’s skull. This takes a full round action, and upon completion, it may use it’s Reanimate ability.

Telepathic Bond (Sp): The necroworm forms a permanent telepathic bond with both it’s mate and any members of it’s cluster. This ability can only be used on fellow necroworms and does not use experience. It can only be used after a long period of exposure and mutual comfort. A necroworm may form only seven such telepathic bonds. Bonds with other necroworms are considered a mutual loss of a bond. Bonds may be severed at any time.

A cluster is similar to, but distinct from, an pack of ordinary predators. Firstly, there is no alpha leader - the pack is unified though the general instincts of unity amongst them. Secondly, there is a very deep loyalty to other members of the pack.

Clusters reach a “critical mass”, so to speak, at seven members. At this point, bickering surely begins to break down the cluster and loyalty is surely suspect.

Magical Beast Traits: The necroworm lacks the darkvision and lowlight vision traits normally seen by magical beasts.

Necroworms as Characters:
Necroworms are intelligent, so they are fully capable of taking class levels. This does not mean most do, but the occasional necroworm does so. Such necroworms are generally necromancers or rogues. Less common class choices are fighters, experts and wizards. If you own or use the Psionics book, then they may be psions or wilders.
Necroworm characters have the following racial traits:
- Tiny size
- +4 Dexterity, -6 Strength, +4 Int, +2 Wis, -4 Cha
- Base land speed of twenty feet, can burrow through dirt at a rate of five feet.
- Special Attacks (see above): Attach
- Special Qualities (see above): Infest, reanimate, telepathic bond, blindsight, magical beast traits
- Languages: None - necroworms communicate via their telepathic bonds or not at all.
- Favored Class: Wizard
- Level Adjustment: +2

[Abd al-Azrad]

CR is fine- approximately the CR of a Medium-sized zombie, which is what you'll encounter the thing as. The level adjustment may be a bit low, though. Balanced ability scores are fine, but it has a 3rd-level spell at will, burrow speed, and is not a humanoid type. +1 may be pushing it.

BTW, they would make excellent rogue/illusionist/assassin/spy types. Seriously. Burrow into a target's home, sneak attack coup de grace while asleep, infest, and cast some glamer to make the now-reanimated corpse of the target look alive, so you can infiltrate his life.

...In fact, that would make an even cooler monster! Not to disparage this one, which is a fine low-level dungeon encounter. But with a few class levels, they become brutal doppelgangers! I am now enjoying this idea immensely.

[The Glyphstone]

You might want to change it to Tiny...Small is, like, halfing-sized...that's gonna get cramped in anyone's head who isn't Large or Huge.

[Cyclone231]

Mmm, point.

So, what should the LA be? +2? +3?

[Frojoe21]

Tiny creatures get a +2 size bonus to their AC and Attacks. You forgot to add that in to the stat block.

[Seffbasilisk]

+2 i'd guess. But can a Necroworm use weapons? If so, what ones? That would do things.

[The Glyphstone]

And would all class features apply when possessing a dead body?

Do they secrete some sort of preservative, or do they need to "re-inhabit" every few days?

[roadkiller]

It could be small as in long. It could probably curl up into a brain cavity. Not exactly comfortable, but it could.

[Jothki]

+4 Int? They may be intelligent, but they are still worms.

[dbsousa]

And why a Strength of 9? a viper of similar size only has a 6.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

You might want to change it to Tiny...Small is, like, halfing-sized...that's gonna get cramped in anyone's head who isn't Large or Huge.
In turn, Tiny is about housecat sized (PHB, pg. 149). That would be pretty big, too. I'd suggest Diminutive. That's toad-sized and more in line with fitting into a human skull.

I'd also change the Improved Grab to an attach (similar to a stirge (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/monstersS.html#stirge) or weasel (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/monstersAnimal.html#weasel)) special ability. Improved grab typically only works on creatures smaller than the grabber (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/monsterTypes.html#improved-grab) (I assume the ability is meant to be used on Medium sized targets). Although you can make a special exception, the creature's size will hose it on the grapple rules anyway.

[Splendor]

+4 Int? They may be intelligent, but they are still worms
Ya and dragons are just big lizards.

Sounds good but I would reduce the Str and Dex.. If they are living inside someone's head most of the time they won't have really any physical stats.

Reanimate: Necroworms are able to infect the recently dead giving them a semblance of life. A Necroworm has the ability to bond with a recently dead body and animate it. The body responds as an extension of its own body. This allows the Necroworm to speak, fight, cast spells, etc when possessing a host. In addition spells that target the host do not effect the necroworm, however once the host is destroyed the necroworm is visible for all to see. When controlling a host a necroworm uses the STR and DEX scores of its host inplace of its own.
Note: The host body is not undead, if the Necroworm leave the body it immediately falls down as a dead body. The body does radiate magical if detected when the Necroworm is controlling it. For all other effects and abilities treat the host body as iif it were a zombie (loss of special abilities, etc).

In addition I would give them preserve corpse 1/day.

[bosssmiley]

Has someone been following the "Age of Worms" campaign in Dungeon recently?

I'm definitely *yoinking* this for my own games, but I'm not sure whether to make it the favoured assassination tool of a Worm-That-Walks BBEG (see ELH for the Lovecraftian horror of it), or to use it as an Illithid experiment. Then again the little horror makes an ideal Far Realm icky.

Just one thing: "Necroworm as character" and a Level Adjustment *shudder*

Cookies for Cyclone!

[Jack Mann]

Definitely yanking this for my game. Also for the compendium. Yoink, and so forth.

[Hallavast]

A tiny creature with a d10 hit die will almost surely cause problems...

His reach should be 0 ft as well.
Why doesn't its str. penalty factor into damage?
A d4 bite is a bit much. I would suggest a d3 or d2.
Unless they are exceptionally strong and clumsy for their size, a -4 to strength and +4 to dexterity would be more appropriate.
How are "members of its cluster" determined? could any creature become a member? can only a select few worms be considered members?

[Cyclone231]

Editted to take into account some flaws with it, such as too high damage for it's size or incorrect damage values or whatever.

[Hallavast]

I like it ;)

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Just noticed this:

What's this "Teamwork" skill?

And along those lines, are those skills listed with ranks or total bonuses? With a +2 Int modifer, those Knowledge skills have to be at least +3 total (1 rank due to trained only + 2 for 14 Int).

[Cyclone231]

Shoot, Hero System leakover.

I also fiddle with Hero System, and in that, there is a skill called Teamwork. I got confused. How embarassing.

The skills are listed with ranks. Think I should change that?

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Shoot, Hero System leakover.
Cool, then.


The skills are listed with ranks. Think I should change that?
Monster stat blocks are written with total skill bonus. That's what I was expecting, and what most people reading the entry would expect. It also makes it easier for a DM to run it straight from the entry, since he doesn't have to look up stat mods, synergy, skill-enhancing feats, etc. So it's definitely a good idea. ;)

Of course, the downside is that when you do want the ranks, you have to do the math. Fortunately, that usually only happens when making a custom individual of the race, so you're doing a lot of paperwork anyway. ;D