General Rules: Monsters - War-Worm Zombie (Template)

War-Worm Zombie (from Dungeon Crawl Classics #29: The Adventure Begins)

Bloated, mucous covered corpses with bubbles of slime gurgling from their mouths, war-worm zombies are the result of war-worm infestations in living creatures. When war-worm zombies are defeated in combat, they "bleed" harmless war-worm larvae. Unless these larvae are introduced into another host, they expire after 1d3 rounds.

"War-worm zombie" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal living creature with a skeletal system.

Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to undead. It retains any subtypes except alignment subtypes and subtypes that indicate kind. It does not gain the augmented subtype. It uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Hit Dice: Drop any Hit Dice from class levels (to a minimum of 1), double the number of Hit Dice left, and raise them to d10s. War-worm zombies have been drained of all fluids. Their dried husks damage more easily than normal zombies. If the base creature has more than 10 Hit Dice (not counting those gained with experience), it can’t be made into a war-worm zombie with a war-worm infestation.

Speed: If the base creature can fly, its maneuverability rating drops to clumsy.

Armor Class: Natural armor bonus increases by a number based on the war-worm zombie’s size:

War-Worm Zombie Size	Natural Armor Bonus
Tiny or smaller	+0
Small	+1
Medium	+2
Large	+3
Huge	+4
Gargantuan	+7
Colossal	+11

Base Attack: A war-worm zombie has a base attack bonus equal to ½ its Hit Dice.

Attacks: A war-worm zombie retains all the natural weapons, manufactured weapon attacks, and weapon proficiencies of the base creature. A war-worm zombie also gains a slam attack.

Damage: Natural and manufactured weapons deal damage normally. A slam attack deals damage depending on the war-worm zombie’s size. (Use the base creature’s slam damage if it’s better).

War-Worm Zombie Size	Slam Damage
Fine	1
Diminutive	1d2
Tiny	1d3
Small	1d4
Medium	1d6
Large	1d8
Huge	2d6
Gargantuan	2d8
Colossal	4d6

Special Attacks: A zombie retains none of the base creature’s special attacks. A war-worm zombie gains an acid gout attack:

• Acid Gout (Ex): Three times per day, a war-worm zombie can launch a gout of acid, a ranged touch attack with a range of 10 feet that inflicts 1d6 points of acid damage to the target.

Special Qualities: A war-worm zombie loses most special qualities of the base creature. It retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks. A war-worm zombie gains the following special qualities:

• Damage Reduction (Ex): A war-worm zombie has damage reduction 5/slashing. war-worm zombies are lumbering masses of flesh.


• Single Actions Only (Ex): War-worm zombies have poor reflexes and can perform only a single move action or attack action each round. A war-worm zombie can move up to its speed and attack in the same round, but only if it attempts a charge.

Saves: Base save bonuses are Fortitude +⅓ Hit Dice, Reflex +⅓ Hit Dice, and Will +½ Hit Dice + 2.

Abilities: A war-worm zombie’s Strength increases by +2, its Dexterity decreases by 2, it has no Constitution or Intelligence score, its Wisdom changes to 10, and its Charisma changes to 1.

Skills: A war-worm zombie has no skills.

Feats: A war-worm zombie loses all feats of the base creature and gains Toughness.

Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground.

Organization: Any.

Challenge Rating: Depends on Hit Dice, as follows:

Hit Dice	Challenge Rating
½	⅛
1	¼
2	½
4	1
6	2
8 - 10	3
12 - 14	4
15 - 16	5
18 - 20	6

Treasure: None.

Alignment: Always neutral evil.

Advancement: As base creature, but double Hit Dice (maximum 20), or — if the base creature advances by character class.

Level Adjustment: -

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