Journal Entry 202404a
Monster Monday... Purple Worm
Monster Monday
The underdark is a dangerous place filled with dark corners, traps, and some of the foulest creatures you will ever come across. At its core, the underdark represents a fundamental part of Dungeons and Dragons. Over the years, it has evolved to much more than just caves in the earth.
Last week, I featured a monster that I lamented was difficult to run due to its size. Well on this Monster Monday, I am cranking it up a notch by featuring the purple worm.
These creatures cover 20 feet of ground and have a 10 foot reach. When they burrow into the ground, they consume solid rock and leave a 10 foot hole behind them. They can swallow an adventurer whole and with their tremorsense, they will know about you long before you know about them.
This week’s encounter includes an enormous map to fit the purple worm
Purple Worm encounter idea…
Medium encounter for five 12th-level characters (13,000 XP)
The party enters an enormous cavern with a ceiling that disappears into the darkness. Every footstep on the hard stone echoes. Several piles of stone and other debris are scattered throughout the area.
Environment
Lighting Some of the walls of this cavern contain luminescent fungi. They provide only dim light throughout the western part of the cavern. The eastern part of the cavern is completely dark.
Holes The hole in the western part of the cavern cannot be seen until the party moves around the pile of debris.
The hole descends 50 feet below. The edges are smooth rock and difficult to climb.
The base of the hole turns to the east and connects to the other hole in the Purple Worm lair.
A successful DC 18 Nature check will reveal that the hole was likely made by a Purple worm.
Piles These piles are mostly excrement left behind by the purple worm as it burrows the stone and feeds on those that enter this chamber. There is a mixture of stones and wretched filth and an assortment of small creatures that feed on such things.
Mixed in with the mess are a number of gems. If the party spends more than a minute looking through the piles, the activity alerts the Purple Worm in the east.
Tactics
Purple Worm Once the purple work senses visitors, it enters the hole in its lair and emerges in the main cavern. The rumble of its movement can be felt with a passive Perception of 12. The purple worm surprises anyone that does not detect its movement.
The purple worm first bites the closest enemy and then uses its stinger on that same enemy or the next closest one if the initial target was swallowed.
Treasure
Digging through the debris for an hour unveils 3d6 500 gp gems and 2d6 1000 gp gems.
The piles are so vile, any creature participating in the search must make a DC 15 Constitution save ortake 2d10 poison damage.
🎲Roll initiative!! 🎲
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Unrelated question for Old Grey Beard: in Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium. Certain weapons (such as flame tongue) have encounter attack power listed as: weapon level +3 vs Reflex. This would be 13 vs reflex at level 10 (player could get item at level 6 or 7) but 13 wouldn’t even hit Lv 3 monsters with low Reflex. So do you add anything to this? Half level of user or weapon enhancement?
Years ago playing AD&D my friend was terrified of the purple worm. It’s ability to engulf a victim with a hit roll 4 or more higher than needed to hit or any natural 20 made it so overwhelming. Any creature swallowed died in 6 rounds. Truly horrifying for any player running a character they put so many Saturday mornings into getting to level 15.