Corpse Worm (5e Creature)

Corpse Worm

Tiny beast, unaligned Armor Class 10 (natural armor) Hit Points 1 (1d4 - 1) Speed 10 ft., burrow 5 ft., swim 20 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 2 (-4) 10 (+0) 8 (-1) 2 (-4) 9 (-1) 3 (-4) Skills Perception +2 Damage Resistances necrotic Senses blindsight 30 ft (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 12 Languages — Challenge 1/8 (25 XP) Amphibious. The corpse worm can breathe air and water. Blood Vision. The corpse worm can see through flesh and blood as if lightly obscured. Swarm. When threatened, the corpse worm may attempt to form a swarm of corpse worms if enough others are nearby. ACTIONS Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4) piercing damage Black Tentacle. The corpse worm manifests a single black tentacle in an unoccupied space within 90 feet. When a creature enters within 5 feet of this tentacle for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, it must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1 bludgeoning damage and be restrained by the tentacle until the end of its next turn. The tentacle disappears after 1 minute, or after attacking a creature.

A necrotic invertebrate that feeds off blood and has a preference for fresh corpses. These creatures normally reside within planes where rivers of blood flow freely, such as Baator, and use these as their primary home when corpses aren’t available. On other planes, swarms of corpse worms spontaneously form in the bodies of massive creatures, and when they run out of room they begin to seek out new bodies to feed off of en masse. Alone, however, they are utilized by alchemists and necromancers in their pursuit of understanding the ways of death. The corpse worm is eel-like, but with an elongated beak that splits into four jaws for a face. Closer inspection reveals the insides of their jaws feature rows upon rows of teeth, and that each segment of their face bears three waxy eyes similar at first glance to those of a human. When exposed to blood, however, the pupil of a corpse worm contracts into an X and enables it to see through dead tissue. The skin of a corpse worm may come in a variety of colors and patterns; however, they tend to adopt features similar to the corpse they were born in. Most are either a pale blue-green with a darkened face, or a burnt reddened-black; many breeds feature specific additional features, such as slashes of white along their back or blood red bellies with pale spots down the sides.

---

Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → 5e Creatures