Pyrocline Wurm
Beast · no Crown (Meridian)
T5d12Sovereign
A forty-foot worm that swims through solid stone by liquefying it with concentrated light-heat, erupting without warning in explosions of molten rock.
Tier 5 · Role Sovereign · Pool Vigor 6 / Vitality 100 · AC 14 · ATK +8 · Save DC 19 · Dmg d12
| Stat | Score | Mod | Die |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body | 22 | +6 | d12 |
| Mind | 6 | -2 | -d3 |
| Sense | 14 | +2 | d4 |
| Heart | 12 | +1 | d3 |
| Cunning | 14 | +2 | d4 |
| Fate | 14 | +2 | d4 |
Passives
Magma Body
Immune to fire damage. A creature that strikes the wurm in melee takes 1 Vigor damage from the heat.
Stone Swimmer
Burrows through solid stone at 40 ft per round, leaving tunnels of cooling glass. Cold quenches it: while taking cold damage it cannot burrow.
Declarations
Declared in the enemy tactical window and resolved at the start of its next turn. Any Vitality it loses first forces the disruption roll: on a 1 the declaration is lost.
Volcanic Eruption
The wurm bursts up from below in a spray of molten rock. Each creature within 20 ft makes a Body save (DC 19); on a failure it takes 1d12 damage and is knocked prone, on a success it takes 1 Vigor damage. The eruption point becomes difficult terrain of molten glass.
Reactions
Submerge
When reduced below half its Vitality, the wurm dives into the stone and cannot be targeted. It resurfaces within 60 ft after 2 rounds, usually with an eruption.
Tactics
GM tactics
Pyrocline wurms erupt from underground without warning, dealing massive fire damage. They bite and body slam surface targets, then submerge to reposition. Their unpredictability makes them terrifying -- there is no warning before they surface.
Running it
Rules
- Shield of Tier + Heart mod over a Vitality pool of 10 + 18 x Tier. Full Vigor at combat start; at the start of its turn it regains 1 Vigor. Dead at 0 Vitality.
- A hit rolls d12. A crit rolls two: 2d12.
- Crits on a natural 18+ (Cunning 14).
- Two attacks in a normal turn.
- Sovereign: 2 Sovereign Actions a round, spent after other combatants' turns, on top of its attacks.
- Any Vitality lost while a declaration is pending forces its disruption roll; on a 1 the declaration is lost.
- Never checks morale: it fights to 0 Vitality or to the exit written into its lowest phase.
- NPCs never take wounds.