Gravesnitch (5e Creature)

Gravesnitch

Small ooze, unaligned Armor Class 13 (natural armor) Hit Points 31 (7d6 + 7) Speed 40 ft., burrow 5 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 11 (+0) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 4 (-3) 12 (+1) 7 (-2) Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks Senses passive Perception 11 Languages Challenge 1 (200 XP) Semimorphous. The gravesnitch can move through a space as narrow as 1 foot wide without squeezing. Multiple gravesnitch may fuse; when they do, they combine their current and maximum hit points, they gain a +1 ability score bonus to Strength and Constitution for each individual, and they gain +1 AC and increase by 1 size category when the number of gravesnitch quadruples (e.g. 14 AC and Medium with 4, 15 AC and Large with 16). ACTIONS Multiattack. The gravesnitch makes 4 tooth or claw attacks. Tooth or Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d2 + 1) slashing damage. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 + 3) piercing damage. Skull Trap. The gravesnitch discards its skull and loses its bite attack. Whenever a creature enters a radius of 5 ft. around the skull for the first time on a turn, it must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity save or take 11 (2d8 + 2) piercing damage. The skull has AC 11 and 8 hit points, and stops attacking after 1 hour.

Art by Jonathan Wojcik Using its solid, rodent-like skull to tunnel down through soil, wood or even stone, the gravesnitch consumes entire corpses, especially bone, retaining only choice teeth and talons it distributes to the rest of its malleable, putty-like body. In addition to its defensive collection of teeth and nails, the typical gravesnitch tends to hoard a specific item it finds in or on the dead, such as a particular phalange, prosthetic joints, jewelry, hair of a certain color, or patches of tattooed skin. It maintains one or more hoards of its favorite "treasure" around its territory, and always respects the hoard of a fellow gravesnitch. With its brain tucked away in the leathery nucleus of its amorphous body, the gravesnitch can safely shed its entire skull when necessary, leaving it to reflexively gnash at attackers while it oozes to safety and grows a new head over the course of a few weeks. Resting during the day, it draws its skull completely inside its body and distributes its claws evenly throughout its surface, becoming a prickly sphere until dusk. Multiple gravesnitch may even meld together to protect one another from predation, building a much larger and more powerful creature from their entwined bodies.

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