Worm That Walks (CR 26)
Medium Aberration
Alignment: Any evil
Initiative: +8 (+4 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative); Senses: Blindsight 300 ft., Listen +21, and Listen +24
Languages: rarely speaks, knows all languages learned in life or since
AC: 47 (+4 Dex, +8 bracers, +3 ring, +2 amulet, +20 insight) touch, flat-footed 43
Hit Dice: 23d8+49 (152 hp)
Fort +11, Ref +14, Will +17
Speed: 30 ft.
Space: 5 ft./5 ft.
Base Attack +17; Grapple +17
Attack: +4 staff +15 melee
Full Attack: +4 staff +15/+10 melee
Damage: +4 staff 1d6+4
Special Attacks/Actions: Spell-like abilities, engulf, frightful presence
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 14 (18 with gloves), Con 13, Int -, Wis -, Cha -
Special Qualities: SR 36, discorporate, immunities
Feats: Brew Potion, Combat Casting, Craft Staff, Craft Wondrous Item, Heighten Spell, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Maximize Spell, Quicken Spell, Scribe Scroll, Spell Penetration, Toughness; Epic Feats: Improved Spell Capacity (10th), Improved Spell Capacity (11th)
Skills: Concentration +22, Craft (alchemy) +28, Knowledge (arcana, Listen +21, Listen +24, Move Silently +24, Spellcraft +28, local, nature, and religion) +28
Advancement: As character
Climate/Terrain: Any
Organization: Solitary
Treasure/Possessions: As character
Source:
Epic Level Handbook
A worm that walks generally enters combat with haste, mirror image, displacement, globe of invulnerability, and shield in effect. It prefers to fight opponents with its offensive spells, but if forced into melee, it proceeds to use engulf ability as potent dissuasion.
Spells: A worm that walks can cast any spells it could cast as a character. This sample worm was a 23rd-level wizard (spells per day: 4/12/6/6/6/5/5/5/5/4/1/1). The last spell slots are 10th-level and 11th-level slots respectively, and are available for 0-9th level metamagic spells.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day - animal friendship (vermin), animal growth (vermin), animal messenger (vermin), animal shapes (vermin), animal trance (vermin), colossal vermin (as giant vermin, but it can increase the creature's size from Large to Gargantuan and from Huge to Colossal), creeping doom, giant vermin, summon swarm (vermin), summon vermin (as summon nature's ally, except it summons 10 HD of vermin per level), and vermin plague (as insect plague). Caster level 20th; save DC 9 + spell level.
Engulf (Ex): A worm that walks can choose to engulf an opponent who is no more than one size category larger than itself. The worm attempts to embrace its victim, and with a successful melee touch attack, the victim is immediately swallowed up and surrounding by a mass of vermin, taking 100 points of damage as the biting vermin nibble away at their latest meal. A victim who spends a full-round action can break free of the embrace and move up to half its speed away from worm if desired, but can do nothing else. Otherwise each round a victim remains embraced, it takes another 100 points of damage. Constructs are immune to this attack.
Spells: The worm that walks can cast any spells it could cast when a living character. It also gains several related abilities.
Frightful Presence (Su): When a worm that walks engulfs a victim, witnesses must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the worm's HD + the worm's Cha modifier). Those who make the save are shaken. Those who fail by 5 or fewer points are frightened. Those who fail by 6 to 10 points are panicked. Those who fail by 11 or more points are cowering. See the Condition Summary for descriptions of all these conditions, which last for 1d4 rounds. Those who have seen a worm use this attack before gain a +5 bonus on their saving throws. The victim of the worm's engulf attack has a -5 penalty on his other saving throw.
Discorporate (Ex): If gravely threatened, a worm can discorporate as a free action, simply falling into a pile of individual vermin that slither quickly away, making their escape by burrowing into the earth, slipping through holes in the wainscoting, or the like. So long as any of the component vermin survive, they can breed and create a new body to house the wizard's intelligence and personality.
Discorporating is a dangerous tactic, because once separated, the vermin are treated no differently than other vermin. Also, the worm stands a good chance of losing all its equipment. However, discorporation almost assures that at least one maggot (if not dozens) will manage to crawl away, and so provide for the worm's continued existence.
Ooze Traits: An ooze is amorphous or mutable creature. Oozes are immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, and polymorphing. They have no clear front or back and are therefore or subject to critical hits or flanking. Oozes are blind but have the blindsight special quality. Note: Unlike most other oozes, a worm that walks has an Intelligence score and thus is not immune to mind-affecting effects.
Possessions: Scrolls of fireball (10th-level caster), teleport without error, acid fog, incendiary cloud, shapechange, wail of the banshee, Bigby's clenched fist, horrid wilting, maze, summon monster IX; potions of cure serious wounds, alter self, haste, fly. Other magic gear: amulet of total armor +2, bracers of armor +8, ring of protection +3, +4 staff, rod of absorption, gloves of Dexterity +4, headband of intellect +6, pink ioun stone, wings of flying.