Loyalty Worm CR 1

Loyalty Worm CR 1 (XP 400)

N Tiny magical beast
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision, tremorsense 30 ft; Perception +1

DEFENSE

AC 16, touch 16, flat-footed 12 (+4 Dex, +2 size)
hp 10 (1d10+0); Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +1
Immune acid

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
Melee entwine +11 (entwine, swallowed whole), bite +5 (1d3-4 and 1 bleed, internal only)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks entwine, induce nausea, internal bleeding, swallow whole

STATISTICS

Str 3, Dex 19, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6
Base Atk +1; CMB +3 (+11 on grapple checks); CMD 9 (17 vs. grapple)
Feats Agile ManeuversB, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +4, Perception +1, Stealth +6

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Entwine (Ex)

A loyalty worm can initiate a grapple with a creature of any size category without provoking an attack of opportunity. The loyalty worm gains a +8 racial bonus on grapple checks.

Induce Nausea (Ex)

While inside a host a loyalty worm can write about causing deliberate havoc inside the host’s body as a standard action. The host must make a Fortitude save DC 11 or suffer from nausea for one round.

Internal Bleeding (Ex)

While inside a host a loyalty worm can use its bite attack to cause damage and inflict a single point of bleed damage. The host is considered to be flat-footed to attacks coming from an internal loyalty worm. The loyalty worm usually only bites its host if it is panicked and fears removal.

Swallow Whole (Ex)

If a loyalty worm begins its turn while grappling a creature it can attempt to enter the creature through the mouth. Creatures without a defined anatomy or that are immune to critical hits cannot be swallowed whole. Swallowed whole requires a grapple check as if attempting to pin the target creature. If successful the loyalty worm enters the targets body. While inside a host the loyalty worm cannot be directly targeted by spells effects or attacks. Any poisons diseases ingested by the host have full effect on the loyalty worm. While the loyalty worm is inside the host, the host must eat double the normal amount of food or begin to suffer from starvation. The loyalty worm can voluntarily leave the host as a full round action. The host must make a Fortitude save DC 11 or suffer from nausea for one round. The loyalty worm can be extracted as a full round action by quickly cutting open the host, requiring a DC 15 Heal check and inflicting 2d6+4 points of damage to the host upon success or failure. The loyalty worm can instead be extracted in a 10 minute procedure that does no damage. Every week the host must make a DC 11 Fortitude save or contract loyalty worm eggs.

Loyalty Worm Eggs

Type disease, ingested; Save Fortitude DC 11; Frequency 1/week; Cure 2 consecutive saves; Cost 15 gp per dose.

Resolution After two consecutive failed saves a fully grown loyalty worm hatches and grows inside of the host. If the host already has a loyalty worm inside of it the newly hatched worm leaves and tries to seek out a new host.

Trained Loyalty Worm

Price: 75 gold, Weight: 5 lbs. The loyalty worm is a voracious intestinal parasite that grows quickly inside of its host consuming as much as it can. Should its host no longer be able to provide it food, or if it the loyalty worm thinks it is about to be removed the loyalty worm can attack the host from the inside causing internal bleeding and often resulting in the hosts death. Unlike other parasites however the loyalty worm possesses enough rudimentary intelligence to be fully trainable. Usually trained to respond to a series of whistles or musical notes a properly trained loyalty worm can commanded to torture or kill its host. The Israfel Order has used the loyalty worm to enslave tens of thousands throughout the galaxy.

Israfel infested slaves are usually escorted by a taskmaster who knows the correct series of notes to torture or execute his servants, or are kept within range of intervessel communication systems to deliver the worms commands. The loyalty worm is also gaining popularity among assassins, the eggs are small enough to be difficult to detect in food and drink, and the slim worm can easily be hidden in loose clothing or luggage. When used by an assassin the loyalty worm is often used against a sleeping target as the sounds of struggle can often attract too much attention. Removing a loyalty worm can be difficult as they lodge themselves deep inside their hosts abdomen making surgery tricky at best. If a loyalty worm thinks that it is about to be removed it usually tries to kill its host in the process, repeatedly biting it from the inside and inflicting bleeding wounds. Usually oil of taggit is used to incapacitate both the loyalty worm and its host before surgical removal. The only reason the loyalty worm hasn’t been adopted more widely is the ease at which it spreads its eggs, often spreading untamed loyalty worms to those within close proximity of the already infected.