
Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

All Creatures
Abilities | Monsters | NPCs
All | Families | Templates
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Gray Worm

One subspecies that some call unnatural is the gray worm. It is theorized that these cave worms hatched near the corpses of thousands of graves, perhaps deep in the layers of the Darklands that once held large populations at the moment of Starfall. The negative energy associated with the collective extinction of so much life has warped these worms so that they embody the misery and death caused by the cataclysm. They are unique among cave worms in that they prefer not to swallow prey alive, but to eat only dead flesh.

Recall Knowledge - Beast (Arcana, Nature): DC 33
Unspecific Lore: DC 31
Specific Lore: DC 28

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Gray WormCreature 11

Legacy Content

Rare N Gargantuan Beast 
Source Pathfinder #194: Cult of the Cave Worm pg. 67
Perception +8; blood scent, darkvision, tremorsense (imprecise) 100 feet
Skills Athletics +13, Survival +8
Str +7, Dex -1, Con +7, Int -3, Wis +2, Cha -1
Blood Scent The gray worm can smell blood in the air from up to 1 mile away, or in the earth from up to 1,000 feet away.
AC 17; Fort +13, Ref +5, Will +8
HP 248 (negative healing); Weaknesses positive 10
Inexorable The gray worm recovers from the paralyzed, slowed, and stunned conditions at the end of its turn. It's also immune to penalties to its Speeds and the immobilized condition, and it ignores difficult terrain and greater difficult terrain.Shake It Off [reaction] Frequency once per day; Trigger The gray worm would be affected by a condition or adverse effect (such as baleful polymorph); Effect The gray worm negates the triggering condition or effect. Effects from artifacts, deities, or a similarly powerful source can't be avoided in this way.
Speed 20 feet, burrow 40 feet
Melee [one-action] jaws +13 [+8/+3] (deadly 1d10, reach 15 feet), Damage 2d10+10 piercing plus 2d6 persistent bleedMelee [one-action] stinger +13 [+8/+3] (deadly 1d10, reach 15 feet), Damage 2d8+10 piercing plus paralysisMelee [one-action] body +11 [+6/+1] (reach 15 feet), Damage 2d8+9 bludgeoningParalysis (incapacitation, occult, necromancy) Any living creature hit by a gray worm's stinger Strike must succeed at a DC 16 Fortitude save or become paralyzed. It can attempt a new save at the end of each of its turns, and the DC cumulatively decreases by 1 on each such save.Thrash [two-actions] The worm makes a Strike once against each creature in its reach. It can Strike up to once with its jaws and any number of times with its body. Each attack counts toward the worm's multiple attack penalty, but the multiple attack penalty doesn't increase until after it makes all the attacks.

All Monsters in "Cave Worm"

NameLevel
Azure Worm15
Crimson Worm18
Glacial Worm16
Gray Worm11
Juvenile Cave Worm8
Larval Cave Worm Brood10
Purple Worm13
Shadow Worm20

Cave Worm

Source Bestiary pg. 56
Cave worms are gigantic scavengers that bore through the depths of the world, eating whatever material they find. Named for their distinctive colorations, these worms are ravenous and display overwhelming destructive capabilities. Cave worms of different colors and abilities lurk in the more remote corners of the world—tales speak of white worms that dwell within immense glaciers or icebergs and gray worms that burrow through the boneyards of long-forgotten ruins, to name a few.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Belly of the Beast

The adventure need not end simply because the party was ingloriously swallowed whole by a giant cave worm. Perhaps the PCs find an undigested item that helps them survive the inhospitable environ, or maybe the worm regurgitates them in a cavern far off from where they started. Whatever the specifics, you can easily draw from folklore and popular fiction to create your own "belly of the worm" adventure for heroes who wind up on the wrong side of the monster’s scales.

Sidebar - Related Creatures Cave Worm Guardians

Cave worms are notoriously dim witted, driven primarily by purely animalistic needs to feed and reproduce. This hasn’t prevented attempts to use them as guardians for their lairs, if not to tame them. Magic can be used to maintain control over a worm, but gifted, patient, and brave animal trainers can condition cave worms to serve in all manner of roles, such as living siege engines, shocking methods of executing foes, or merely pets.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Notorious Worms

Some societies view the immense cave worms as natural disasters or incarnations of wrathful gods. Cave worms that have been active in a region often become part of that area’s local lore. For example, in the notorious Cinderlands of eastern Varisia, Shoanti have long told tales of Cindermaw, an immense crimson worm viewed by some as worthy of worship, and by others as the ultimate test of bravery.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Ravenous Tunnelers

Cave worms are infamous for being nearly unstoppable and for swallowing their prey whole. A cave worm also ingests earth and minerals as it tunnels. The worm processes some of these minerals, resulting in its armored hide and toxic sting, while it leaves others behind—often including treasure or other valuables that incidentally serve to lure explorers into the worm’s proximity and, more often than not, its gullet. While not completely mindless, cave worms are difficult to train, and most attempts to domesticate them (in theory, a cave worm would make an excellent mining resource) result in disaster.