AC 18 (natural armor)
HP 247 (15d20 + 90; bloodied 123)
Speed 50 ft., burrow 20 ft.
Proficiency +5; Maneuver DC 22
Saving Throws Str +14, Con +11, Int +1, Wis +5, Cha +2
Resistances cold damage
Immunities fire damage
Senses blindsight 30 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages —
Tunneler. The worm can tunnel through earth and solid rock, leaving behind a 10-foot-diameter tunnel.
Sense Heat. The worm senses warm-blooded creatures and warm objects within 60 feet.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The worm attacks two different targets with its bite and its tail stinger.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 25 (3d10 + 9) piercing damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it makes a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw . On a failure, the target is swallowed. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained , it has total cover from attacks from outside the worm, and it takes 24 (7d6) acid damage at the start of each of the worm’s turns.
If a swallowed creature deals 35 or more damage to the worm in a single turn, or if the worm dies, the worm vomits up all swallowed creatures.
Tail Stinger. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 19 (3d6 + 9) piercing damage, and the target makes a DC 19 Constitution saving throw , taking 42 (12d6) poison damage on a failed save or half damage on a success.
REACTIONS
Fighting Retreat. When a creature makes an opportunity attack on the worm, the worm attacks with either its bite or its tail stinger.
Combat
The ice worm usually attacks the foe that makes the most noise, though it may also try to swallow a creature that badly injures it. If attacked from one end while in one of its narrow tunnels, it burrows in a tight circle so it can attack with both its bite and stinger. In melee, it retreats and advances in order to get both its attacks in play and to make use of its Fighting Retreat reaction.
Legends and Lore
With an Arcana or Nature check, characters can learn the following:
DC 10: Ice worms are massive, always hungry, and very fast, but also stupid. To escape an ice worm, your best bet is to outsmart it.
DC 15: Ice worm tunnels are usually safe, as the worms seldom return to their old tunnels.
DC 20: Ice worms can be directed, and some underground societies do so for a variety of purposes. Some creatures even hunt ice worms for the gemstones in their gullets.
Gargantuan white ice worms inhabit frozen wastes, tunneling through glaciers and bursting out of snowy ground. Cold-blooded, they require the warmth mammalian prey provide in order to heat their own bodies. They seek out heat sources, and have even been known to swallow travelers’ bonfires and tangle with adult remorhazes. Tundra dwellers covet the furry pelts of ice worms, and frost giants sometimes train the beasts as mounts.
1 About to burst through the wall or ground to attack
2 Excavating a nearby tunnel
3 Crawling through existing corridors and wide caverns, or along the surface of the earth, occasionally rearing up to look for prey
4 Motionless, listening for prey
1 A smooth-walled circular tunnel, 10 feet wide
2 The vibration of grinding stone, getting louder
3 A path of disturbed ground, as if something was tunneling underneath
4 A sinkhole that drops into a purple worm tunnel
Purple worms are a danger to creatures in underground caverns, and occasionally emerge above ground in rocky areas. Ice worms traverse the tundra and sand worms lurk under dunes.
CR 11–16 Purple worm , ice worm , or sand worm
Treasure diamond (5,000 gp)
CR 23–30 2 purple worms , ice worms , or sand worms
Treasure 2 emeralds (5,000 gp each), 3 rubies (5,000 gp each)