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Cave Worm

Creature 13 — animal

AnvilSnareLANDAQUATICSUBTERRANEANanimalpoison

The most common and infamous of the cave worms gives its name to the entire family—a much-feared monster wandering the twisting tunnels of the Darklands that is capable of carving out entire cave systems. Tunnels bored by a cave worm don't always last long after these creature's passage, and areas where they nest are maddening mazes of passageways that lead nowhere, yet navigating the labyrinth to find the worm's central nest often yields amazing treasures left behind by the worm's prior victims

Source: pathfinder-monster-core

Perception +20; darkvision, tremorsense (imprecise) 100 feet
Skills athletics +30
Str
+9
Dex
-1
Con
+7
Int
-5
Wis
-1
Cha
-1
AC 32 Fort +28 Ref +21 Will +21
HP 270
Speed 40 feet, burrow 40 feet, swim 20 feet

Offense

Melee Jaws (deadly-2d10, reach-15, unarmed) +28, Damage 3d10+15 piercing plus Improved Grab
Melee Stinger (agile, poison, reach-15) +28, Damage 2d12+15 piercing plus Purple Worm Venom
Melee Body (reach-15) +26, Damage 1d10+13 bludgeoning
Ranged Regurgitate (brutal) +26, range increment 60 feet, Damage 1d4 bludgeoning plus Regurgitate

Abilities

Tremorsense (Imprecise) 100 feet — Tremorsense allows a monster to feel the vibrations through a solid surface caused by movement. It is an imprecise sense with a limited range (listed in the ability). Tremorsense functions only if the monster is on the same surface as the subject, and only if the subject is moving along (or burrowing through) the surface.
Inexorable — The cave worm recovers from the Paralyzed, Slowed, and Stunned conditions at the end of its turn. It's also immune to penalties to its Speeds and the Immobilized condition, and it ignores difficult terrain and greater difficult terrain.
Slough SkinFrequency once per day

Trigger The cave worm would be affected by a condition or adverse effect (such as Cursed Metamorphosis)

Effect The cave worm negates the triggering condition or effect by sloughing an outer layer of its skin. Effects from artifacts, deities, or a similarly powerful source can't be avoided in this way.
Cave Worm Venom (poison) — Saving Throw DC 32 Fortitude

Maximum Duration 6 rounds

Stage 1 5d6 poison damage and Enfeebled 2 (1 round)

Stage 2 6d6 poison damage, and enfeebled 2 (1 round)

Stage 3 8d6 poison damage and enfeebled 2 (1 round)
Fast Swallow
Regurgitate — The purple worm can violently regurgitate a creature or boulder it has swallowed to make a ranged Strike. The Strike deals bludgeoning damage depending on the size of the projectile:

Tiny 2d6+13 bludgeoning{2d6+13}

Small 3d6+13 bludgeoning{3d6+13}

Medium 4d6+13 bludgeoning{4d6+13}

Large 5d6+13 bludgeoning{5d6+13}

Huge 6d6+13 bludgeoning{6d6+13}

A regurgitated creature takes falling damage from the height of the target or from 20 feet, whichever is greater.

Boulders occupy space in the worm's stomach as a creature of equivalent size, and purple worms often have several boulders swallowed. A purple worm can use a single action to swallow a new boulder.
Rock Tunneler — A cave worm can burrow through solid stone at a Speed of 20 feet. It can leave a tunnel if it desires, and it usually does.
Swallow Whole (attack) — Huge, 3d6+9 bludgeoning, Rupture 24

The monster attempts to swallow a creature of the listed size or smaller that it has grabbed or restrained in its jaws or mouth. If a swallowed creature is of the maximum size listed, the monster can't use Swallow Whole again. If the creature is smaller than the maximum, the monster can usually swallow more creatures; the GM determines the maximum. The monster attempts an Athletics check opposed by the grabbed creature's Reflex DC. If it succeeds, it swallows the creature. The monster's mouth or jaws no longer grab a creature it has swallowed, so the monster is free to use them to Strike or Grab once again. The monster can't attack creatures it has swallowed.

A swallowed creature is Grabbed, is Slowed 1, and has to hold its breath or start suffocating. The swallowed creature takes the listed amount of damage when first swallowed and at the end of each of its turns while it's swallowed. If the victim Escapes this ability's grabbed condition, it exits through the monster's mouth. This frees any other creature grabbed in the monster's mouth or jaws. A swallowed creature can attack the monster that has swallowed it, but only with unarmed attacks or with weapons of light Bulk or less. The swallowing creature is Off-Guard against the attack. If the monster takes piercing or slashing damage equaling or exceeding the listed Rupture value from a single attack or spell, the swallowed creature cuts itself free. A creature that gets free by either Escaping or cutting itself free can immediately breathe and exits the swallowing monster's space.

Effect: Engulf and Swallow Whole

If the monster dies, a swallowed creature can be freed by creatures adjacent to the corpse if they spend a combined total of 3 actions cutting the monster open with a weapon or unarmed attack that deals piercing or slashing damage.
Thrash — The worm makes a Strike once against each creature in its reach. It can Strike up to once with its jaws, up to once with its stinger, and any number of times with its body. Each attack counts toward the worm's multiple attack penalty, but the multiple attack penalty doesn't increase until after it makes all the attacks.
Improved Grab

WORKS WELL WITH

SniperLAND / SUBTERRANEANA ranged ally can keep pressuring foes from outside the worm's threatening reach while Thrash punishes anyone who stays adjacent.
FlankerLAND / SUBTERRANEANA mobile skirmisher can slip behind targets that the worm's reach and Grab force to stay engaged at the front.
WeaverLAND / SUBTERRANEANA debuff caster can layer save-based effects onto targets already pressured by the worm's poison, compounding the Fortitude tax.

PUNISHES

✖ clumping✖ melee reliance✖ standing still
Skip a second heavy melee Anvil; the worm's reach and Thrash already dominate the front line without needing another bruiser competing for the same space.
Works well with · Punishes · Pairing advice Unlock with Tactics

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Stat block data sourced from the Foundry VTT PF2E system under the Apache License 2.0. Source book: Pathfinder Monster Core.

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