Swarm, Wharfling

Large swarm of Tiny beasts, unaligned

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 63 (14d10 – 14)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft., swim 20 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
10 (+0)	16 (+3)	8 (-1)	2 (-4)	12 (+1)	7 (-2)

Skills Perception +3, Sleight of Hand +5
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, stunned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages –
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Special Traits

• Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature’s space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a tiny wharfling. The swarm can’t regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.

Actions

• Bites. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 0 ft., one creature in the swarm’s space. Hit: 21 (6d6) piercing damage, or 10 (3d6) piercing damage if the swarm has half of its hit points or fewer.
• Locking Bite. When a creature leaves a wharfling swarm’s space, 1d3 wharflings remain grappled to them (escape DC 10). Each wharfling inflicts 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage at the start of the creature’s turns until it escapes from the grapples.
• Pilfer. A wharfling swarm makes 1d6 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks each round against every creature in the swarm’s space. The DC for each check equals 10 plus the target creature’s Dexterity modifier. For each successful check, the wharflings steal some small metallic object from the target, and the theft is unnoticed if the same result equals or exceeds the target’s passive Perception.

About

An undulating mass of flesh and teeth, a wharfling swarm is a horrific sight by moonlight.

About

Bloodthisty Mobs. These masses of hairless bodies writhe along the coast in the moonlight, and often are mistaken for shoggoths or other much larger creatures. Squeals mingle with the screams of the occasional unfortunate fisherman caught in its path.

Beach Swarms. Periodically, wharflings congregate in huge numbers and tear along the shoreline for miles before finally returning to their dens. Why they gather this way is unknown, but most locals know to avoid the shore on these nights.

Arcane Wasting (Disease)

An outbreak of arcane wasting is always met with horror, but that fear is felt tenfold by practitioners of magic both arcane and divine.

When the bodily fluid of an infected creature touches a humanoid or when an infected creature casts a spell (direct or indirect) on a humanoid, that humanoid must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become infected with arcane wasting. Beginning 1d6 days after infection, the infected creature must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw at the end of each long rest. If the saving throw fails, the victim loses 1d3 Intelligence and 1d3 Wisdom.

Lost Intelligence and Wisdom can’t be recovered while the disease persists. If the saving throw succeeds, nothing happens; the disease ends after the second consecutive successful saving throws. Once the disease ends, lost Intelligence and Wisdom can be restored by greater restoration or comparable magic. The disease is also cured by lesser restoration if the caster makes a successful DC 15 spellcasting check.