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Thousand Thieves

Good help is hard to find. For a master thief unable to find competent accomplices, sometimes the only way to execute the perfect heist involves becoming an entire guild of tiny creatures. Those who purposefully transform in this way favor scuttling creatures such as centipedes or spiders. On occasion, a thousand thieves instead forms when a community of pack rats discovers a dead scoundrel's body and fights over his ill-gotten gains. These swarm striders make use of their swarm form to enter homes, vaults, and other targets with ease.

Recall Knowledge - Aberration (Occultism): DC 37
Unspecific Lore: DC 35
Specific Lore: DC 32

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Thousand ThievesCreature 16

Uncommon Medium Aberration Swarm
Source Monster Core 2 pg. 313
Perception +13; darkvision, tremorsense (imprecise) 30 feet
Languages Aklo, Common, Sakvroth, Shadowtongue
Skills Acrobatics +14, Deception +12, Occultism +10, Society +12, Stealth +16, Thievery +16, Underworld Lore +14
Str +4, Dex +8, Con +7, Int +6, Wis +5, Cha +4
Items sterling thieves' toolkit, +2 greater striking dagger

AC 24 all-around vision; Fort +9, Ref +15, Will +11
HP 220; Immunities precision, swarm mind; Resistances physical 15, poison 15; Weaknesses area damage 15, splash damage 15
Discorporate When the thousand thieves is reduced to 0 HP, their constituent creatures collapse, scattering on the ground under their space and each adjacent square. If even one of the creatures gets away, the thousand thieves can eventually re-form over 1d10 days (potentially longer in areas where there are few invertebrates).The scattered invertebrates must be destroyed within 1 round to destroy the thousand thieves permanently. The invertebrates have a collective pool of HP, typically equal to 55 HP, and the same AC, saves, immunities, resistances, and weaknesses as the thousand thieves. The invertebrates can't take actions but they escape automatically once the round elapses. At the GM's discretion, clever means of trapping or eliminating the creatures might be sufficient to destroy the thousand thieves.

Speed 35 feet, climb 30 feet
Melee [one-action] dagger +16 [+12/+8] (agile, finesse, versatile S), Damage 3d4+10 piercing plus clinging remnants and liquid deliriumMelee [one-action] fist +16 [+12/+8] (agile, finesse, nonlethal, unarmed), Damage 1d4+10 bludgeoning plus clinging remnants and liquid deliriumRanged [one-action] dagger +16 [+12/+8] (agile, thrown 10 feet, versatile S), Damage 3d4+10 piercing plus clinging remnants and liquid deliriumRanged [one-action] vermin dart +14 [+9/+4] (range increment 40 feet), Damage 3d8+10 piercing plus clinging remnants and liquid deliriumOccult Innate Spells DC 21; 6th detect scrying, invisibility, knock; 3rd illusory disguise (at will); Cantrips (6th) detect magic, know the way, read aura, telekinetic hand
Clinging Remnants A thousand thieves's melee Strikes and ranged Strikes made against targets within their weapon's first range increment deposit biting vermin on the target, dealing 4d4 persistent piercing damage.Draw Bugs [one-action] (healing) The thousand thieves draws more arthropods from the environment around them to reconstitute some of their damaged body. They regain 20 HP. At the GM's discretion, the thousand thieves doesn't recover HP in areas where there aren't enough arthropods to call to themselves.Liquid Delirium (poison) Saving Throw DC 21 Fortitude; Maximum Duration 6 rounds; Stage 1 4d6 poison and stupefied 1 (1 round); Stage 2 4d6 poison and stupefied 2 (1 round); Stage 3 4d6 poison, stupefied 2, and fascinated by a random object (1 round); Stage 4 unconscious with no Perception check to wake up (1 round)Scuttling Shift [two-actions] The thousand thieves reverts to a swarm using Swarm Getaway, Sneaks up to their Speed, coalesces into their normal form, and Hides. This movement doesn't trigger reactions.Sneak Attack The thousand thieves deals an additional 3d6 precision damage to off-guard creatures.Squirming Injection [one-action] The thousand thieves Strides. If they end their movement sharing a space with a creature, they deal dealing 6d6 piercing damage (DC 21 basic Reflex save) and exposing the target to liquid delirium. The thousand thieves can Climb instead of Striding.Swarm Getaway [one-action] (concentrate) The thousand thieves collapses into a shapeless swarm of their constituent creatures. They drops all items in their possession but up to 3 Bulk of held, worn, or carried objects. In this form, the thousand thieves can't use attack actions and can't cast spells, but they can move through areas small enough for their constituent creatures to fit without having to Squeeze. As the swarm moves, the thousand thieves carries their objects if they can fit through the spaces the swarm moves through. The thousand thieves automatically dons any of the objects they desire when they reform. If the thousand thieves is hidden, Swarm Getaway doesn't reveal their location. They can use the same action to coalesce from their swarm shape back into their normal form.

All Monsters in "Swarm Strider"

Name	Level
Skittering Slayer	8
Thousand Thieves	16
Worm Prophet	12

Swarm Strider

Source Monster Core 2 pg. 310
All living creatures eventually become worm food. Yet if a creature perishes while gripped by overwhelming emotion or unfinished business, its flesh can become infused with those obsessions or a simple refusal to perish, infecting whatever detritivores feast on the body. As they feast, the invertebrates awaken to a type of collective intelligence, including some of the dead creature's memories and motivations. Once the body is stripped bare, the vermin swarm together and intertwine to recreate the dead creature's form out of thousands of wriggling bodies. These reborn are known as swarm striders.

Though many swarm striders are accidental creations, a few rare mortals purposefully transform themselves into swarm striders through powerful rituals. Most often, this process involves specially preparing a grave with ample scavengers and enchanting the site with occult magic to anchor their soul until it can live within the swarm. Through transformation, these intentional swarm striders seek out the power to slip past any defense or claim the virtual immortality of an ever-regenerating horde, as a swarm strider can reconstitute their form from even a single worm. However, the transformation inevitably scars the creature—often causing emotional detachment, the disintegration of old taboos, and a dissociated sense of self now that one mind has become a thousand. In their transformed state, even the best-intentioned swarm strider might embrace villainy and lose any semblance of their former selves over the span of many years.

Swarm Strider Abilities

A swarm strider gains the aberration and swarm traits. They lose any traits that represent their former life, such as human and humanoid, though they usually remain the same size, keep the same items, and use the same weapons as they did before their rebirth. Swarm striders typically have the following abilities.

Darkvision

Tremorsense 30 feet (imprecise)

All-around Vision

Clinging Remnants A swarm strider's melee Strikes and ranged Strikes made against targets within their weapon's first range increment deposit biting vermin on the target, dealing 1d4 persistent piercing damage, increasing to 2d4 at 5th level, 3d4 at 10th level, 4d4 at 15th level, and 5d4 at 20th level.

Discorporate When the swarm strider is reduced to 0 HP, their constituent creatures collapse, scattering on the ground under their space and each adjacent square. If even one of the creatures gets away, the swarm strider can eventually re-form over 1d10 days (potentially longer in areas where there are few invertebrates).
The scattered invertebrates must be destroyed within 1 round to destroy the swarm strider permanently. The invertebrates have a collective pool of HP, typically equal to 1/4 of the swarm strider's maximum HP, and the same AC, saves, immunities, resistances, and weaknesses as the swarm strider. The invertebrates can't take actions but they escape automatically once the round elapses. At the GM's discretion, clever means of trapping or eliminating the creatures might be sufficient to destroy the swarm strider.

Immunities precision, swarm mind Resistances resistance 2 to physical and poison, increasing to 5 at 5th level, 10 at 10th level, 15 at 15th level, and 20 at 20th level.

Weaknesses weakness 2 to area damage and splash damage, increasing to 5 at 5th level, 10 at 10th level, 15 at 15th level, and 20 at 20th level

Draw Bugs [one-action] (healing) The swarm strider draws more arthropods from the environment around them to reconstitute some of their damaged body. They regain the listed number of HP, which is typically 5 HP, increasing to 10 at 5th level, 15 at 10th level, and 20 at 15th level. At the GM's discretion, the swarm strider doesn't recover HP in areas where there aren't enough arthropods to call to themselves.

Squirming Embrace [one-action] The swarm strider Strides. If they end their movement sharing a space with a creature, they deal 1d6 piercing damage to the creature, with a basic Reflex save. The save DC is the high spell DC for the swarm strider's level. The damage increases by 1d6 at 4th level and every 3 levels thereafter. The swarm strider can Burrow, Climb, Fly, or Swim instead of Striding if they have the corresponding movement type.

Swarm Shape [one-action] (concentrate) The swarm strider collapses into a shapeless swarm of their constituent creatures. They drops all items in their possession. In this form, the swarm strider can't use attack actions and can't cast spells, but they can move through areas small enough for their constituent creatures to fit without having to Squeeze. They can use the same action to coalesce from their swarm shape back into their normal form.

A Swarm's Hoard

A swarm strider often cradles an assortment of trinkets and talismans within their undulating body, along with clothing and armor that’s flexible enough that it might fit through cracks when the creature discorporates. Any other valuables are buried, often hidden beneath several feet of soil in the swarm strider’s lair. Thus, recovering the creature’s wealth often requires a shovel, determination, and hours of backbreaking labor.

Fantastical Feasts

Otherworldly beings and magical environments can spawn truly fantastical swarm striders. The Sarkoris Scar’s soil imparts fiendish features and malevolent impulses, especially to swarm striders that feast on demon flesh. Beings comprised entirely of blood-drinking moths aren’t unheard of in Gebbite society. There are even swarm striders of chameleonic birds said to live near First World rifts.

Split Personality

Even though a swarm strider has a collective intelligence and many memories from their past life, the nature of that intelligence can shift over time. Each of the constituent creatures acts like a specific neuron within a brain, and as they’re lost or replaced, the associated facets of the swarm strider’s personality might change. Destroying most of a swarm strider might leave the regenerated whole with amnesia. Likewise, if two or more depleted swarm striders combine, their personalities often meld into a whole new identity.

Swarms of Different Forms

In the right environments—particularly where other invertebrates are most common—swarm striders might be composed of unlikely critters. The following are several possible variants.

Bookworm: Born students trapped in labyrinthine libraries, these swarm striders voraciously consume knowledge—including the spellbooks and scrolls of those damaged by their Squirming Embrace!

Cicada: These noisome swarm striders often hibernate for years at a time, and their screeching is known to counteract auditory effects.

Lamprey: A kraken’s corpse or awakened whalefall can seep intelligence into the lampreys that feast on their flesh, creating aquatic swarm striders with prodigious size and reach.

Leech: This bloodsucking swarm strider usually forms from a fresh corpse exsanguinated in a leechinfested swamp, gaining both the ability to swim and to deal persistent bleed damage instead of piercing damage.

Wasp: Stinging and buzzing, a wasp strider flies, moving much faster in the air than on the ground.

Archives of Nethys

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Thousand Thieves

Elite | Normal | Weak
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Thousand ThievesCreature 16

All Monsters in "Swarm Strider"

Swarm Strider