Pheromone Aura. If a creature that isn't an undead, construct, or elemental starts its turn within 20 feet of the kikimore, the kikimore can force the creature to make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw if the kikimore isn’t incapacitated. On a failure, the creature suffers from one of the following effects, chosen by the kikimore:
1. Aggression. The creature becomes charmed until the start of its next turn; a creature can choose to fail this saving throw if it wishes. While charmed by the kikimore, the creature has advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature that doesn't have all its hit points. If a creature's saving throw is successful, it is immune to this effect for the next 24 hours.
2. Threat. The creature becomes frightened until the start of its next turn. While frightened, it must immediately use its reaction, if available, to move as far as its speed allows away from the kikimore. The creature doesn’t move into obviously dangerous ground, such as a fire or a pit. If a creature's saving throw is successful, it is immune to this effect for the next 24 hours.
3. Pacified. The creature is charmed, and is incapacitated while charmed in this way. Whenever the charmed target takes damage, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful, it is immune to this effect for the next 24 hours.
Virulent Venom. If the kikimore deals poison damage to a creature, the target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the poison damage taken. If this effect reduces the target hit point maximum to 0, it has disadvantage on death saving throws. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a short or long rest, unless the target is poisoned.
Multiattack. The kikimore makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its stinger.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8 + 6) piercing damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be swallowed by the kikimore. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the kikimore, and it takes 10 (3d6) acid damage at the start of each of the kikimore's turns. The kikimore can have only up to two creatures swallowed at a time. If the kikimore takes 20 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the kikimore must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of the kikimore. If the kikimore dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse by using 10 feet of movement, exiting prone.
Stinger. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6 + 6) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 26 (4d12) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Description
Kikimore
Kikimore workers rarely appear near human settlements, and even then, they only attack when threatened. Is there anything more beautiful than a kikimore — a symbol of hard work, resourcefulness and caution?” — Master Dorregaray in “The Wonderful World of Insectoids"
Insectoid Colony. Kikimores are insectoid monsters that live underground. They usually prefer cooler and dry environment, keeping their distance from warm and damp places, but some subspecies dwell in swamps as well. The kikimores are organized not unlike a termite colony. The queen lays eggs from which soldiers and workers then hatch. Soldiers defend the colony from enemies, while workers build structures and supply food. This division of roles is reflected in their behavior: workers turn aggressive only when attacked or when aggression is artificially induced in them, while soldiers fight any enemy they spot.
Role and Purpose. Life in a kikimore colony is centered around a great, unceasingly procreating female. The landscape around the queen's nest looks like a desert, littered with the remains of unfortunate creatures which unwisely lingered in the area. Not even birdsong can be heard. The beasts' physical appearance underlines their different places in the hierarchy. Workers are smaller, while kikimore soldiers are more massive and protected by thick, chitinous armor. Their horned heads and torsos, as well as the sharp thorns on their legs, clearly identify them as dangerous creatures.
High Proliferation. If left unchecked, kikimore nest can quickly get out of hand. The proliferation rate of the creatures is astonishingly high, as a queen can lay up to two dozen eggs per day, giving birth to a fully grown kikimore in a week or so. Kikimore eggs are thankfully easy to destroy with fire, as they are covered of a bioprotective gel which is extremely flammable. Kikimores are also immune to poison, which make common ways to get rid of vermin inefficient against them. Kikimore nest destruction jobs are a valuable source of income for adventurers, as the destructive and territorial nature of the swarm makes it easy to convince townsfolks to gather a reward to get rid of the nest.
The Threat Below. A few kikimores in town is a nuisance at worst, but left unchecked they may be the downfall of a city. Signs of a kikimore infestation are subtle at start, pets and vermin will start to disappear, a few sightings of strange spider-like creatures might be reported. The work of a kikimore swarm can prove very destructive for a community, as the swarm settles under the town, their countless mandibles will start to chew through rock and earth as they burrow and build tunnels, weakening buildings and eventually collapsing them.
Optional: Kikimore's Venom
The venom emitted by kikimore warrior is one of the most tenacious toxin known to man. Its effects are instantaneous and lasting, liquefying organs and inflicting serious internal injuries after mere seconds:
- Kikimore Venom (Injury). This poison must be harvested from a dead or incapacitated kikimore warrior. A creature subjected to this poison must make on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 13 (2d12) poison damage and is poisoned. The poisoned creature must repeat the saving throw every 24 hours, taking 13 (2d12) poison damage on a failed save. Until this poison ends, the damage the poison deals can't be healed by any means. The poison lasts until it is cured by a lesser restoration spell or similar magic.
- Kikimore venom costs 450 gp per dose.
Kikimore Queen
Queen of the Deep. Kikimore Queens are amongst the largest and most formidable insectoid breeds to ever plague the world, so large and terrifying that she can beat a giant prey into submission and dig entire networks of spacious tunnels in a region. Growing larger than a townhouse, these kikimores are an ancient species that had lived below the ground long before the arrival of mankind, where she was said to stalk and entrap whole herds of deep rothé and umber hulk into its ravenous mouth, or fight and kill larger prey such as fomorians in single combat. With civilization flourishing over time, the echoes of life reached to the kikimore’s deep burrows, intriguing the queens as to what might cause such promising ruckus.
Insect Abomination. Life in a kikimore colony is centered around a great, unceasingly procreating female. The queen bears more resemblance to the soldiers, mainly because of her bulky body. She is a mass of insect abominations with no eyes, which would be useless at the bottom of her dark lair. The pieces of flesh that resemble ribs and hang from her abdomen can either be ovipositors or atrophied limbs that have no use in her function as a constant reproducer. Once the kikimore queen subdues her prey with flesh-dissolving venom, the monster would begin to drink up the liquefied innards of its victim.
Fooling Kikimores
Naturalists know that kikimores can communicate with long lasting pheromones, marking areas as dangerous or as a source of food. A character that has proficiency with Alchemist's Tools or Herbalism Kit, and access to the proper equipment, can prepare an oil from the pheromone gland of a kikimore. The oil has a value of 60 gp when it comes to crafting (see crafting rules p.187 of the Player's Handbook).
Kikimore Oil. One bottle of oil is enough to cover the ground in a 20-foot square, lasting for 24 hours, unless washed away by water prematurely. Once applied to a surface the oil can have one of the following effect, chosen at its creation:
- Threat: A kikimore that enters the area or ends its turn there must succeed on a DC 12 Intelligence saving throw or become frightened until it leaves the area.
- Food: When a kikimore comes within 60 feet of the area, the creature must succeed on a DC 12 Intelligence saving throw or use its movement on each of its turns to enter the area. When the creature has done so, it can’t willingly move away from the area. If an affected creature takes damages or is otherwise harmed, the affected creature can make an Intelligence saving throw to end the effect on itself.
Lair and Lair Actions
The lair of a kikimore queen usually consists of an unstable network of tunnels and caverns, deep below the ground. Navigating this labyrinth is a challenge on its own, as the risk of getting lost or be victim of hidden pitfalls and cave-ins is a constant threat. Deep inside the lair, in complete darkness, lies the eggs chamber, filled with countless clutch of kikimore eggs and the kikimore queen.
A kikimore queen encountered in her lair has a challenge rating of 9 (5,000 XP).
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the kikimore queen takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the kikimore queen can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Part of the ceiling collapses above one creature inside the lair. The creature must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone and buried. The buried target is restrained and unable to breathe or stand up. A creature can take an action to make a DC 10 Strength check, ending the buried state on a success.
- The lair trembles violently for a moment. Each creature on the floor of the lair must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone. Kikimores automatically succeed the saving throw
- A swarm of kikimore hatchlings emerges from a clutch of eggs. The swarm fills a 20-foot-radius space centered on a point the kikimore queen chooses within 60 feet of it. The swarm remains until the kikimore queen uses this lair action again, or dies. A creature that starts or ends its turn in the swarm's space takes 7 (2d6) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage.
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