Legendary Resistance (1/Day). If the brood queen fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Tunneler. The brood queen can burrow through solid rock at half its burrowing speed and leaves a 10-foot-diameter tunnel in its wake.
Multiattack. The brood queen makes one Bite attack and two Foreleg attacks.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 5) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) acid damage. If the target is a Huge or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 16). Until this grapple ends, the brood queen can Bite only the grappled creature and has advantage on attack rolls to do so.
Foreleg. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) piercing damage.
Acid Spray (Recharge 5–6). The brood queen spits acid in a line that is 60 feet long and 5 feet wide, provided that it has no creature grappled. Each creature in that line must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 28 (8d6) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Burst Forth (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). While underground, the brood queen burrows at least 10 feet straight and breaks through a ground or wall's surface. During this move, it can enter Large or smaller creatures' spaces. A creature whose space the brood queen enters must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw. On a successful save, the creature is pushed 5 feet to the nearest space out of the brood queen's path. On a failed save, the creature falls prone and takes 15 (3d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage. If the brood queen remains in the prone creature's space, the creature is also restrained until it's no longer in the same space as the brood queen. While restrained in this way, the creature, or another creature within 5 feet of it, can make a DC 15 Strength check. On a success, the creature is shunted to an unoccupied space of its choice within 5 feet of the brood queen and is no longer restrained.
The brood queen can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The brood queen regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Move. The brood queen moves up to half its speed.
Impale. The brood queen makes one Foreleg attack.
Lay Broodling Egg. The brood queen lays 1d6 broodling eggs. The broodling eggs appear in the nearest spaces within 10 feet of the brood queen. Each broodling egg has an AC of 5 and 10 hit points. A broodling egg hatches before the start of the brood queen's next turn. When a broodling egg hatches, an ankheg broodling appears within 5 feet of the hatched egg and immediately acts that turn. The ankheg broodling is friendly to the brood queen and its allies and hostile to all non-ankheg creatures.
Command Ankheg (Costs 2 Actions). The brood queen targets 1d4 allied ankhegs it can see within 30 feet of it that can see and hear the brood queen. The target uses its reaction to move up to half its speed and make one melee attack.
Description
An ankheg brood queen is very rarely seen, as it spends most of its time deep underground, where it is well protected by its brood.
Egg layer. The brood queen is about three times the size of a normal adult ankheg and has a huge bloated abdomen filled with egg sacs. When threatened, it will lay eggs from which broodlings will hatch, and they will immediately protect their queen.
Fiercely Territorial. The brood queen is cunning and very paranoid. Its territory stretches for miles, and it will actively hunt down any other potential brood queen threat, even if it is its progeny.
Director. If ankheg attacks appear to be coordinated and organized, chances are a brood queen is behind them. Adventurers may be hired for the dangerous task of finding its lair and killing it.
Lair and Lair Actions
A brood queen’s lair is a sprawling network of underground tunnels and enormous caverns beneath vast fields and wild forests. The lair will be surrounded by smaller burrows and lairs occupied and patrolled by ankhegs. The brood queen’s central nest contains 10d6 broodling eggs.
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the brood queen takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the brood queen can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- The brood queen causes 1d6 ankheg broodlings to hatch from broodling eggs within 60 feet of it. The ankheg broodlings immediately act that turn.
- The brood queen regains 20 hit points.
- The brood queen emits a piercing shriek. Each non-ankheg creature within 30 feet of the brood queen must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or become deafened for 1 minute. A creature that fails the save by 5 or more is also stunned until the end of the brood queen's next turn.
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