Tremor-sense: The Burrower Kruthik has tremor-sense out to 60 feet, allowing it to sense vibrations in the ground and detect creatures that are on or in contact with the same surface.
Burrow: The Burrower Kruthik can move through dirt, sand, and rock at half its speed without disturbing the material around it. This allows it to make surprise attacks from below.
Chitinous Armor: The Burrower Kruthik’s exoskeleton is thicker and more resilient than other kruthik variants, providing it with natural armor.
Burrow Strike (Melee Weapon Attack):
Attack Bonus: +6 to hit,
Reach: 5 ft.,
One Target.
Hit: 10 (2d8+2) slashing damage.
If the target is hit, the Burrower can attempt to drag them 10 feet into a hole with it (STR save DC 14 to resist).
Acidic Bite (Melee Weapon Attack):
Attack Bonus: +5 to hit,
Reach: 5 ft.,
One Target.
Hit: 7 (1d8+3) acid damage. The acid deals an additional 2 (1d4) damage at the start of the target’s next turn unless they use an action to wipe it off.
Dig In: The Burrower can move up to 10 feet through solid earth as a bonus action.
Subterranean Retreat: When reduced to half its hit points or less, the Burrower can use its reaction to burrow underground, moving up to its full speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Description
The Burrower Kruthik is a larger, more imposing version of its kin, standing roughly 5 feet tall with a long, thickly armored body designed to break through stone and earth. Its massive, clawed forelimbs are covered in sharp spines and jagged edges, allowing it to burrow through the earth effortlessly. The creature’s chitinous exoskeleton is darker, with streaks of silver running along the ridges of its segmented body, offering both protection and a sense of weight.
The Burrower’s head is broader, with a heavy, insectoid skull featuring curved mandibles that grind and click continuously. Its pale, glassy eyes are smaller than those of other kruthiks, a clear sign that it relies more on its tremorsense than vision. As it moves, the ground trembles slightly underfoot, warning of its impending arrival before it erupts from below to drag its prey into the depths. Acidic saliva drips from its mandibles, corroding the soil around it, and its movements leave deep grooves in the earth.
Kruthiks
Kruthiks are chitin-covered reptiles that hunt in packs and nest in sprawling subterranean warrens. They are attracted to sources of heat, such as dwarven forges and pools of molten lava, and carve out lairs as close to such locations as possible. As they burrow through the earth, they leave behind tunnels—evidence that is often the first clue to the nearby presence of a kruthik hive. Kruthiks also make use of preexisting underground chambers, incorporating them into their lairs when they can.
Kruthiks communicate with one another through a series of hisses and chittering noises. These sounds can often be heard in advance of a kruthik attack. Whenever their lair is invaded, kruthik guards send out an alarm by rapidly tapping the stone floor with their sharp legs.
In addition to having an acute sense of smell, kruthiks can see in the dark and can detect vibrations in the earth around them. They take the scent of their own dead as a warning and avoid areas where many other kruthiks have died. Slaying a sufficient number of kruthiks in one area might cause the remaining hive members to move elsewhere.
Although they can feed on carrion, kruthiks prefer live prey. They kill enemies by impaling them on their spiked limbs, then grind up the flesh and bones with mandibles strong enough to chew rock. When several kruthiks gang up on a single foe, they become frenzied and even more lethal.
Kruthiks abide the presence of Constructs, Elementals, Oozes, and Undead, and they use such creatures to help guard their hive. They are smart enough to barricade some tunnels and dig new ones that keep their neighbors away from their eggs.
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