Gargantuan swarm of tiny beasts, unaligned
Armor Class 10 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points 825 (special)
Speed 20 ft.
Proficiency Bonus +2
Proficiency Bonus +2 (5th Edition Advanced Mode)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 (-3) | 10 (+0) | 11 (+0) | 1 (-5) | 9 (-1) | 1 (-5) |
Damage Resistance Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing
Condition Immunities Charmed, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Prone, Restrained, Stunned
Senses Blindsight 10 Ft., passive Perception 10
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
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 insect. The swarm can’t regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.
Ignore Armor. The swarm can ignore any protection granted by armors.
ACTIONS
- Bites (swarm has more than half HP). Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 0 ft., one creature in the swarm’s space. Hit: 14 (4d6) piercing damage.
- Bites (swarm has half HP or less). Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 0 ft., one creature in the swarm’s space. Hit: 7 (2d6) piercing damage.
5th Edition Advanced Mode
Limiting the power of a character and making the overall difficulty of the game harder, does not reduce the creativity, indeed it does quite the opposite.
The Game Master has the option to use any and all of the instances proposed in this guide, or just some of them according to their preference.
It is the lack of something that move and motivate characters, not the abundance of it
DESCRIPTION
A swarm of piranha ants is a mass of tiny, carnivorous insects that act with a collective intelligence. They are similar to the swarms of army ants in the jungle, but in many ways they are worse. Their mandibles can tear through flesh and bone with ease, and their venom can cause intense pain and paralysis. A swarm of piranha ants is always on the hunt for prey, and will not stop until they have consumed everything in their path.
A piranha ant’s head is disproportionately larger than that of other ant species. Its sharp mandibles are serrated. The creature is a dull gray or black in color, allowing it to easily blend in with stone, the dirt of the street, or the shadows. A swarm of piranha ants can move through any opening large enough for a single ant, and can occupy the same space as another creature. A swarm of piranha ants is immune to most conditions that affect individual creatures, such as being charmed, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, or stunned. A swarm of piranha ants is also resistant to physical damage from weapons or spells, but vulnerable to fire and area effects that can disperse or destroy many ants at once.
COMBAT
A swarm of piranha ants relies on its sheer numbers and ferocious attacks to overwhelm its enemies. It can bite any creature in its space, dealing piercing and poison damage that is reduced if the swarm has lost half or more of its hit points. A swarm of piranha ants can also use its ability to obscure vision and movement to its advantage, creating a distraction or a cover for escape. Some swarms of piranha ants may have additional abilities depending on their type, such as acid, disease, or flight.
Piranha ants are vicious in combat. They only strike unsuspecting opponents, often waiting until their prey is fast asleep before attacking. This guarantees at least one round of free attack due to surprise. When attacking, the entire colony swarms over the victim, each ant ripping off a hunk of flesh and moving on, making room for others of its kind to attack in turn. Combat with a piranha ant colony is therefore treated as if the victim were battling a single creature.
HABITAT / SOCIETY
Piranha ants live in a mobile colony, making temporary homes in large buildings. They are led by a slightly larger than normal queen in charge of egg production. There are several winged males in each colony, but the vast majority are infertile female warriors.
Together, the thousands of piranha ants making up a colony have a single collective consciousness. Each ant communicates instantly with the others of its colony, and the creatures coordinate attacks with ruthless efficiency.
Piranha ants can be found in almost any environment where insects thrive, such as deserts, forests, grasslands, hills, swamps, underdark, or urban areas. Piranha ants may be natural or unnatural in origin, depending on the circumstances. A natural swarm of piranha ants may form due to environmental factors, such as drought, famine, or pollution, that cause the ants to migrate or multiply rapidly. An unnatural swarm of piranha ants may be created by magic, such as a spell or a magic item that summons or controls ants.
Piranha ants send out scouts to scour the city for likely targets; they prefer humans living alone. Once a likely target is found, the colony moves into the target building, often living between the walls or in unused basement or attic rooms, well out of sight. Scouts are sent throughout the building to keep an eye on the intended prey. When the time is right (usually after the victim has gone to bed for the night), the ants silently enter the victim’s room en masse. More often than not, the victim is slain before he knows what’s going on. The ants pick the victim’s body clean of flesh and leave as silently as they came.
In winter, piranha ants go to ground, holing up in some out of the way place. The queen lays eggs during the winter, which hatch by winter’s end. After a brief larval stage, the pupae are sealed into cocoons from which they emerge by spring, ready to join the colony in swarm attacks.
ECOLOGY
Piranha ants play an important role in the ecosystem, as they help with decomposition and pest control. However, piranha ants can also pose a threat to crops, livestock, and people if they become too large or aggressive. Piranha ants may be attracted to certain substances or conditions that provide them with food or shelter, such as blood, carrion, honey, light, or warmth. Piranha ants may also be repelled by certain substances or conditions that harm or annoy them, such as smoke, vinegar, citronella, or cold.
Piranha ants take care to leave no traces of their attacks behind. After an attack, usually only a skeleton remains of the ants’ prey. Slain ants are themselves eaten by the surviving colony members; this not only makes use of a food source but also prevents anyone from finding the bodies and figuring out what caused the victim’s death.
Piranha ants are at the top of the food chain. While many creatures eat individual ants, none attack the colony as a whole. Piranha ants have many natural predators and enemies that can reduce their numbers or drive them away, such as birds, bats, frogs, lizards, spiders, ants, wasps, or fire.