Formian Worker

Family: Formian

Small monstrosity, lawful neutral

Armor Class 12 (natural armor)
Hit Points 19 (3d8 + 6)
Speed 40 ft., burrow 10 ft., climb 10 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
13 (+1) 12 (+1) 15 (+2) 3 (-4) 6 (-2) 5 (-3)

Damage Resistances psychic
Skills Perception +1
Senses blindsense 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages Common; telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

  • Able Assistant. A formian worker can use the Help action as a bonus action to assist any other formian worker. Burden Bearer. A formian worker can carry double the normal load for a creature of its Strength, and it has advantage on Strength checks made to lift, carry, or move heavy objects

ACTIONS

  • Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, 5 ft. reach, one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) slashing damage.

ABOUT

Giant, antlike expansionists with an alien hive intelligence, formians are not evil, but they are aggressive in the propagation of their kind into new territories, including new worlds they encounter through interplanetary portals. The formian homeworld is a lush green jungle planet teeming with life both above and below ground level. Formian hives create vast tunnel systems, turning the subsurface of the planet into a honeycomb-like structure. After colonizing every habitable piece of land on their home world, formians looked to the stars for additional lands to infest.

Expansionistic Colonists. This instinct to expand and propagate often causes conflict with their neighbors. Though the formians believe it is their right to annex into new areas, they have no patience for those who move into theirs. Formians claim and fiercely defend verdant areas of land around their hive because much of the hive’s nutritional needs are supplied by surface agriculture and hunting. In spite of this, intruders often don’t even notice they have entered formian territory. The ground above a formian hive appears unoccupied-formians conceal entrances to their hives and prefer harvesting fruits and berries in a way that leaves the land largely untouched. Meat that lands on formian tables typically comes from expeditions to drive off or hunt predators. Formians of the warrior caste organize these campaigns and these warriors have little patience for poachers.

Matriarchal. Formian society is a strict matriarchy. Though each hive’s queen is theoretically independent and her rule absolute, allegiances are common between hives, and less powerful hives often grudgingly defer to more powerful matriarchs. Hundreds of worker and warrior formians serve even the smallest of hives. Larger hives number in the tens of thousands and have complex tunnel systems with interwoven corridors connecting territories that might span over hundreds of square miles on the surface alone. Each formian hive is designed primarily to protect the queen. Approaching the center of the hive can be exceedingly difficult. Paths are designed deliberately to lead encroachers away from the queen’s hidden lair. In addition to deceptive corridors, formians often build traps and place complex magical protections, decoys, and illusions to protect the queen’s inner sanctuary.

Formian Queens. Evolved to procreate on a massive scale, a formian queen is barely able to move under her own power. On the rare occasions she leaves her throne, a small army of workers assist and defend her, but formian queens are by no means defenseless. They are massive and powerful beings and have the ability to possess any worker or warrior in the hive. A queen uses these thralls as her eyes and ears and can cast spells through them. Creatures that invade a hive might find themselves the equals of the queen’s myrmarchs and taskmasters only to be laid low when a mere worker unleashes the queen’s tremendous magical power, employing the full force of her cunning and wrath.

Formian Myrmarchs. Larger than typical warriors, formian myrmarchs are the chief guardians of the hive. They serve as trusted advisors to the queen and as generals of her armies.

Formian Warriors. Warriors are the formians outsiders most frequently encounter. The warriors of the hive follow the orders of the myrmarch and defend the hive from all encroachers. They also serve as hunters within formian lands and protect workers that venture beyond the hive.

Formian Taskmasters. Taskmasters serve the queen as overseers of projects that require greater intelligence and more liberated thinking than workers possess. Each taskmaster oversees workers bred with specific skills, directing tasks like expanding tunnels, repairing damage to the hive, or undermining the lands of dangerous creatures.

Formian Workers. Workers are by far the most common formians, and perform a vast number of basic tasks, but they avoid interacting with those outside their hive.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Boricubos: The Lost Isles (5E) © 2021, Legendary Games; Author: Miguel Colon.

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