# Worm of Minauros >[!rimg]+ > ![[Placeholder2.png]] <div class="grid-container"><div class="MON">Worm of Minauros</div> <div class="CR">CR 15 (51,200 XP)</div> <div class="SOU">Fiendish Codex 2 pg. 49</div> <div class="SYS">Dungeons & Dragons 3.5</div></div> N Gargantuan Magical Beast **Init** -2 **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., low-light vision; **Perception** +27 #### defense **AC** 19, 4 touch, 21 flat-footed (-2 Dex, +15 natural, -4 size) **hp** 313 (25d10+175) **Fort** +21, **Refl** +12, **Will** +7 **Feint** 34, **Demoralize** 34 #### offense **Speed** 20 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 10 ft. **Melee** bite +35 (4d6+13/19-20 plus grab), sting +33 (2d6+6 plus poison) **Space** 20 ft., **Reach** 15 ft. **Special Attacks** swallow whole (2d8+12 plus 2d6 acid, AC 17, 31 hp) #### statistics **Str** 36, **Dex** 6, **Con** 25, **Int** 1, **Wis** 8, **Cha** 8 **BAB** +25, **CMB** +35, **CMD** 43, **TA** +34, **RTA** +19 **Feats** [[Ability Focus]] (poison), [[Awesome Blow]], [[Cleave]], [[Great Cleave]], [[Improved Bull Rush]], [[Improved Critical]] (bite), [[Improved Natural Attack]] (bite), [[Improved Vital Strike]], [[Multiattack]], [[Power Attack]], [[Vital Strike]], [[Weapon Focus]] (bite), [[Weapon Focus]] (sting) **Skills** Perception +27, Swim +21 #### Special Abilities ### Poison Sting—injury; *save* Fort DC 31; _frequency_ 1/round for 6 rounds; _effect_ 1d6 Str; _cure_ 3 saves #### tactics The worm defends itself if attacked but otherwise takes no interest in mortal prey. It exists only as a punishment for stray or unwary devils, which it attacks with sudden ferocity. Any baatezu foolish enough to cross its path is by definition deserving of its fate. #### ecology **Terrain** Any Wetland (Hell) **Organization** Solitarty (unique) **Treasure** None **Advancement** — The legendary worm of Minauros wriggles eternally through the swamps, bogs, and cesspools of Baator’s third layer, staying out of cities and other settlements. If the party chooses to fight it, treat the worm as a combat encounter. If, on the other hand, a mortal peacefully approaches the creature and volunteers to become its next meal, treat it as a mobile magical location. Only a mortal with an alignment other than lawful evil can gain the power granted by a worm of Minauros. (Lawful evil characters are still admitted to the creature’s maw, but they are then subjected to the normal combat damage taken by a swallowed character. Like any other creature native to Baator, the worm attempts to send the souls of qualifying mortals straight to the Shelves of Despond.) The character must also be able to withstand the damage dealt by several rounds inside the worm’s digestive tract. To gain the benefit of the worm of Minauros, a living mortal must approach it head-on, without weapons, and with her arms held out at her sides in a gesture of supplication. The worm sniffs the air to confirm that the character is in fact mortal. (Devils disguised as mortals are summarily eaten, with all the bite damage that process entails.) The worm then lowers its gate-sized jaw so that the subject can walk straight into its maw. A successful DC 15 Will save is required to follow through on this act of apparent self-destruction. Failure means the character is panicked for 1 minute and must turn and run. Success allows the character to continue into the creature’s gizzard, where for 1d6+1 rounds she takes 2d8+12 points of bludgeoning damage, plus 2d6 points of acid damage, per round. At any time, the character can attempt to cut herself out of the creature’s side by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to deal a total of 25 points of damage to the gizzard (AC 17). However, doing so prevents the character from acquiring the special ability (see below) and causes the worm to initiate combat against any bystanders within sight. Any character who undergoes the digestion process for the full duration is, if still alive, abruptly excreted from the worm’s body. An expelled character is covered in a noxious, acidic slime full of tiny, partially digested chunks of devil flesh. Such a character takes 4 points of acid damage per round until doused with water. Every individual within 30 feet of a character who has just been expelled must make a successful DC 15 Fortitude save or become nauseated for 2d4 rounds. Surviving the digestive system of the worm of Minauros permanently increases the character’s highest ability score by 1. If two or more ability scores are tied for highest, the player chooses which one to increase. Additionally, a bonus of 20% applies to any experience point awards garnered during the character’s current sojourn in Baator. Duration: The ability score increase lasts for 30 days, after which a nonlawful character can renew it for another 30 days by committing an act of obeisance, or a nonevil character can renew it for another 30 days by committing a corrupt act. Characters can continue to make renewals until they become fully evil or lawful. At that point, devils might well show up to engineer their deaths, so that their souls travel straight to Baator.