AC 14 (natural armor)
HP 33 (6d8 + 12; bloodied 16)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 12
Skills Stealth +4
Damage Resistances damage from nonmagical weapons
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages —
Camouflage. The grick has advantage on Stealth checks made to hide in rocky terrain.
Spider Climb. The grick can use its climb speed even on difficult surfaces and upside down on ceilings.
ACTIONS
Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 12). Until this grapple ends, the grick can’t attack a different target with its tentacles.
BONUS ACTIONS
Beak. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature grappled by the grick. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Combat
The grick tries to attack with surprise, seizing its prey with its tentacles and attacking with its beak. It climbs to safety if it’s bloodied and not grappling a creature.
Legends and Lore
With an Arcana or Nature check, characters can learn the following:
DC 10: Gricks are dangerous, subterranean ambush predators. Travelers in remote caverns must watch the walls and ceilings.
DC 15: Gricks are an invasive species from another plane, but with their natural camouflage and ability to see in the dark, they are perfectly adapted to life underground.
DC 20: There is a strange plant variant of the grick that looks like a giant flower.
An invasive species from a nightmarish plane, the grick is a nasty ambush predator that lurks in lightless environments near watering holes or clusters of edible fungi. It resembles a huge, glistening worm until it attacks. As it lunges forward, its front portion splits into four flailing tentacles surrounding a hissing beak.
Ravenous Eaters. Gricks breed quickly where food is plentiful, often overwhelming deep dwarf or shadow elf settlements. Some cavern systems are devoid of all animal life except gricks, which will hibernate as they wait for new inhabitants to move in.
Grimlock Guardians. In some areas, gricks are kept in check by grimlocks who use them as guard beasts. A grick can’t be trained, but it generally stays where it is put and attacks intruders who pass near. Occasionally, a grick grows so large and hungry that it threatens the grimlock settlement it once protected.
Behavior
1–3 Clinging motionless to a wall, ledge, or ceiling
4 Hiding behind debris, rubble, or furniture
5 Devouring its last victim
6 Guarding the entrance to a grimlock cave
1 Scattered bones
2 DC 12 Perception check: sucker marks on stone
3 DC 12 Perception or Investigation check: signs of a body being dragged
4 A gossamer-thin shed skin
Gricks hunt in caverns and other rocky areas.
CR 0–2 grick
CR 3–4 2 gricks ; grick and gibbering mouther or mimic ; grick and 1d4 grimlocks
Treasure 150 gp, 250 sp, writing supplies, incomplete bestiary (75 gp)
CR 5–10 giant grick ; giant grick and 2 gricks
Treasure scattered supplies (100 gp), saddle bags containing 200 gp and 30 pp