Tenebrous Worm

Medium monstrosity, neutral

Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 142 (15d10 + 60)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
18 (+4) 14 (+2) 18 (+4) 2 (-4) 13 (+1) 8 (-1)

Skills Perception +4, Stealth +5
Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 120 ft., passive Perception 14
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

  • Bristles. Long spines of shadowstuff extend from between the worm’s armor plates. Creatures attacking the worm in melee (unless using a reach weapon) must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 piercing damage and 1d6 poison damage. Creatures failing this saving throw are injected with the worm’s venom and take an additional 2d6 poison damage at the beginning of their next turn, or half as much with a successful DC 14 Constitution saving throw. Failing the Constitution saving throw also leaves them paralyzed for 1 round. A poisoned creature must save again each round until it has succeeded on 2 consecutive saving throws.

ACTIONS

  • Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage plus 21 (6d6) acid damage. This acid affects only organic matter, causing flesh to dissolve into shadow-stuff that fades away, leaving jagged wounds behind. In dim light, this acid deals 28 (8d6) damage, while in bright light or darkness it deals only 14 (4d6) damage.

ABOUT

The caterpillar-like tenebrous worm is a voracious predator that hungers for mortal flesh. The tenebrous worm is the larval stage of the gloomwing-but in a strange reversal, these younger creatures are more dangerous than the Adults they grow into. A native of the Plane of Shadow, a tenebrous worm hatches from the body of an unfortunate creature that has been implanted with an egg by a gloomwing. The tenebrous worm is fully grown upon hatching, and immediately begins to scour its environs for flesh to consume.

Shadowy Dissolution. Although the tenebrous worm tends to be relatively pale-colored, its internal organs seethe and roil with shadowy energies and dark fluids. As the creature feeds, these shadowy innards begin to grow out of its body, forming strange bristle-like filaments of semisolid shadowstuff not only capable of piercing the flesh of those who would attack the worm, but also possessing a deadly paralytic poison. Additional shadowy fluids constantly seep from the worm’s mandibles-when it bites prey, these fluids melt flesh into shadows that the creature can then consume. When a tenebrous worm feeds on enough of this shadowy flesh, the creature seeks out a secluded, shady area (typically just within a cave entrance or in a ruined building) and spins a shadowy cocoon around itself.

A tenebrous worm’s cocoon exudes the effects of a darkness spell, muting the surrounding light. After a period of several days, the cocoon tears open and a fully grown gloomwing emerges, ready to seek a host for its eggs.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

The Dragon’s Hoard #15 © 2022, Legendary Games; Authors Jason Nelson, Miguel Colon, Alex Riggs, Mike Myler, Robert J. Grady, Michael “solomani” Mifsud, Darrin Drader, Matt Kimmel, Scott D. Young.

This is not the complete license attribution - see the full license for this page