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Legacy of the Dragons
Ghoul Worm Large Aberration Hit Dice: 10d8+50 (95 hp), dying/dead –6/–20 Initiative: +3 Speed: 30 feet AC: 18 (–1 size, –1 Dexterity, +10 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 18 Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+14 Attack: Bite +10 melee (1d8+4) Full Attack: Bite +10 melee (1d8+4) and slam +5 melee (1d8+2) Space/Reach: 10 feet/10 feet (Face/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/10 feet) Special Attacks: Horror, enhanced speed burst, disease, improved grab, constrict Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, stench, sunlight vulnerability Saves: Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +7 Abilities: Str 19, Dex 9, Con 20, Int 7, Wis 11, Cha 9 Skills: Sneak +4, Spot +8 Feats: Bloody Strike, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Night Owl, Skill Focus (Sneak) Environment: Any land Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 9 Treasure: Standard Advancement: 11–20 HD (Huge) Level Adjustment: — It is common knowledge that ghoul worms are undead. Gossipy tales told by those “in the know” invariably call the creatures undead, and when a person first sees one, nothing suggests that such information might be incorrect. In both appearance and smell, the creatures appear to be the stillthrashing but rotting corpse of some deceased worm or snake of incredible size, or possibly a naga. Despite what its appearance would suggest, what common knowledge—even its own name—attests, the ghoul worm is not undead, nor does it bear any relationship to true ghouls. The only thing it has in common with its namesake is its food preferences (and sometimes its habitat). The ghoul worm feeds on humanoid and giant corpses, preferably those a week to two weeks old. Sometimes ghoul worms come to cemeteries to eat recently buried bodies. As such, many areas plagued by these terrible beasts post a watch over their cemeteries to keep the graves from being defiled. A ghoul worm tears up a whole graveyard when it arrives looking for food. They are the bane of necromancers, who usually attempt to kill them on sight, as do most champions of death, who do not wish to see the dead disturbed. A ghoul worm does not care if the corpse is animated or not—an undead humanoid or giant not too long out of the
grave provides just as good a meal as one the ghoul worm digs up itself. These aberrations live nocturnal lifestyles. They spend the day in caves or holes, hunting at night on the surface. A ghoul worm will not willingly come into the sunlight. In fact, it squeals and screams if the rays of the sun fall upon any part of its body. When it isn’t foraging through a cemetery, the ghoul worm stalks and kills its prey, then drags it back to its grisly lair to wait for the corpse to decompose to its liking. Thus, a ghoul worm’s lair is usually filled with rotting corpses waiting to be devoured. Its home also may contain three to four eggs that it nurtures; these eggs take almost a year to hatch. The creatures establish their lairs near roads, towns, or other sources of food. They seem to prefer giant carcasses most of all, but they learn quickly that giants make dangerous prey. Ghoul worms are hideous. Their skin has the pale greenish white color of a decaying corpse, and their flesh hangs on them in drooping folds that appear to be rotting off them. Their misshapen, humanlike heads are surrounded by squirming tendrils that help them hold objects (but are not useful in combat, except to make their appearance all the more horrific). The flesh on a ghoul worm’s face is darker than on the rest of its body, and its wide mouth bristles with long, jagged teeth like mispounded nails protruding from the back of a board. Its dark eyes flare with a fiery redorange when it strikes. Sages and akashics studying the varied lifeforms of the Lands of the Diamond Throne have determined that ghoul worms are distantly related to nagas: dramojh-created fusions of humans and serpents into chimerical beings. However, no records show any dramojh influence on ghoul worms. Thus, learned folk conjecture that the ghoul worms are an offshoot of the naga—perhaps nagas themselves are in a state of flux. Ghoul worms speak a few words of Common. They are always Unbound.
Combat The ghoul worm’s preferred method of attack is to surprise its foes with a sudden strike. It can coil itself up and lunge forward with incredible speed. The creature’s sudden appearance can stun foes, making them perfect targets. The bites from its foul mouth carry disease and infection, and it can also slam a foe with its long tail, then coil around to suffocate it with a few squeezes of its horrid body. Once a ghoul worm kills a single humanoid or giant foe, it attempts to make off with its prize rather than continue to fight. Horror (Ex): If it can achieve surprise, the sudden appearance of a ghoul worm is horrifying. Those who see it must succeed at Will saving throws (DC 14) or remain stunned for 1 round. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The save DC is Charisma based.
