thedmtoolchest

Rotting Crawler | CR 10 Fifth Edition #MonsterMondays

Added 2021-06-14 16:45:13 +0000 UTC

Rotting Crawler

“The bugs were everywhere! We were so focused on them that we didn’t know it was upon us until it dragged Franklin into the trees. His screams still haunt me to this day.”

— Hogard Stonebeard, adventurer

Rotting crawlers are nightmares created from the muck of the swamps and held together with the bones of the dead. Its sticky appendages allow it to climb into the trees with the grace and ease of any spider.

Only the most powerful necromancers can form these atrocities, using them as guardians of their reclusive swamp lairs. Their victims rarely see the rotting crawler coming as it blends into the swamps and bogs perfectly, waiting in ambush.

Undead Nature. A rotting crawler doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.

Breeding Ground. Worms and bugs slither through the mud and ooze that defines the rotting crawler’s form. The gathering swarms of insects that feed on them become attuned to the creature, and it can send them towards new sources of food.

Necrotic Feeding. The necrotic energy that binds a rotting crawler enables it to feed on the rot and decay around it, giving it new strength.