Stirge, Dire

Family: Stirge

Medium beast, unaligned

Armor Class 12
Hit Points 53 (8d10 + 8)
Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
16 (+3)	14 (+2)	12 (+1)	8 (-1)	6 (-2)	4 (-3)

Skills Perception +4, Stealth +8
Senses passive Perception 14
Languages –
Challenge 1 (200 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Bleeding Wounds. Creatures detached from the dire stirge’s Exsanguinating Lance or who fail to save against Wing Thrash begin to bleed. Bleeding creatures must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw with disadvantage at the end of each of their turns or suffer 2 (1d4) bleeding damage. A successful saving throw or magical healing stops the bleeding.
• Hooked Hide. Creatures within 5 feet which make a melee attack or Strength (Athletics) check against the Dire Stirge suffer 2 (1d4) slashing damage.

ACTIONS

• Exsanguinating Lance. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 10 (3d4 + 3) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 12 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone and grappled as the Dire Stirge attaches to it. While attached, at the start of each of the stirge’s turns, the target loses 10 (3d4 + 3) hit points due to blood loss. The Dire Stirge does not need to use an action to drain blood in this way. The stirge can detach itself by spending 5 feet of its movement. It does so after it drains 20 hit points of blood from the target or the target dies. A creature, including the target, can use its action to attempt a DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check to detach the stirge. Creatures detached from a Dire Stirge suffer the effects of Bleeding Wounds.
• Wing Thrash (Recharge 4-6). The Dire Stirge thrashes its deadly wings, slashing all creatures within 5 feet. Each creature in the area must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw. on a successful save, a creature suffers 2 (1d4) slashing damage. on a failed save, a creature suffers 5 (2d4) slashing damage and the effects of Bleeding Wounds.

TACTICS

• Initial Round-When stalking tightly grouped prey, a Dire Stirge first dives in and uses Wing Thrash to bloody its victims before launching back into the air. As blood begins to flow, the frenzied Dire Stirge dives back down to impale and feed upon the bloodiest victim with Exsanguinating Lance. When stalking individual prey, a Dire Stirge simply dives in, using Exsanguinating Lance to feed while frequently using Wing Thrash to keep attackers at bay.
• Defensive Round-If overwhelmed, a Dire Stirge uses its Wing Thrash and then launches into the air to circle its target or flee. The following round, if it stays, it dives and impales the bloodiest creature with its Exsanguinating Lance.
• Victorious Round-Once it drains 20 hit points of blood, a Dire Stirge proceeds to Wing Thrash, Lance, or grapple any remaining living creatures until they die. It then lays the eggs in their corpses and flies off to its nest. If its hunger is fully sated and the Dire Stirge is brought below 15 hit points, it flies off to digest its meal and return later for a second meal.

ABOUT

Much larger and stronger than mundane stirges, dire stirges do not need to hide and feed in the dark. Dire stirges build shallow nests upon the desert ground, tucked into hilly crags, or carved into the sides of trees. Curled up in their nests, dire stirges can often be mistaken for thorny reddish shrubs. The presence of desiccated and mangled corpses nearby is often a sign of a Dire Stirge nest.

Dire stirges rend their victims to tatters before they can finish draining them, with their bristling proboscis. The dire stirge’s proboscis and pores exude a viscous liquid, increasing blood loss before driving the monster into a feeding frenzy. Satiated, the Dire Stirge implants its eggs in mutilated corpses before returning to its nest, leaving a serious problem for carrion-eaters in the area. While eggs laid by a Dire Stirge typically hatch into regular stirges, eggs that incubate inside a host creature violently birth more dire stirges.

Unlike the swarms of their mundane brethren, dire stirges tend to be solitary, apex predators. Covered in razor-sharp hooks used to shred their victims, these six-winged monstrosities spear meals with a long, jagged proboscis, draining prey of their blood as it pins them to the ground.

d4	Dire Stirge Treasure
1	A badly shredded cloak of protection. The cloak’s +1 bonus to AC is disabled due to the excessive damage.
2	A severed hand wearing a heavy golden ring worth 50 gp.
3	A greenish organ inside the stirge’s mouth provides enough anticoagulant saliva to coat 5 pieces of ammunition, granting them the effects of Bleeding Wounds on a successful hit.
4	A tattered scroll containing a random 1st level spell. There is a 25% chance the scrolls disintegrate when used, causing the spell to fail.