Ankheg, Juvenile
- Armor Class
- 1 [18] (underside 3 [16])
- Hit Dice
- 2 or 3
- Attacks
- Bite (1d6+1)
- Special
- hold/grab (1d4/round), acid spit (2d6) 1/day
- Move
- 36 Burrow 18
- HDE/XP
- 3 or 4/60/120
Description
The ankheg is a large insect-like monster with a taste for fresh meat, that spends most of its life burrowing beneath the fertile soil of forests and farmlands. An ankheg has six legs, and most of them have brown carapaces, though some are yellow or yellow and brown in various mottled patterns. Adults are up to 10 feet long and weigh about 800 pounds.
An ankheg burrows using its legs and mandibles. They usually do not leave usable tunnels behind them, the loose dirt collapsing behind them; however, the can construct a tunnel if they wish, burrowing at half speed to do so. They often dig winding tunnels as a kind of lair, which can be 40 feet below the surface.
Groups of ankhegs may occupy the same territory but will not cooperate with each other; the treasure type given should be divided among all the ankhegs in a group.
An ankheg usually lays in wait 5 to 10 feet beneath the surface, until it detects the vibrations of approaching prey with its antennae, when it will burrow up to strike.
If an ankheg succeeds at its bite attack, it can hold on and inflict 1d4 points of damage each round automatically; a saving throw must be made to escape the monster's grip. However, against "soft" prey (those wearing little or no armor) it may choose to release its grip and strike again, potentially doing greater damage. Furthermore, so long as the victim of its bite is small or medium in size and weight, the ankheg can drag it backwards, possibly even underground where the victim can be released and allowed to suffocate in the loose dirt.
An ankheg can spit acid once per day at a range of up to 3 feet, doing 2d6 points of acid damage on a successful hit. This ability is only used if the monster is desperate, like when it has been reduced to fewer than half its hit points for example, or frustrated, like when it has repeatedly failed to hit with its bite attack.
See Also
Other creatures grouped under Ankheg: Ankheg, Adult.
Source note: This creature is converted from The Basic Fantasy Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent and Benign – Omnibus Edition, 1st Edition Release 4, © 2010–2025 Chris Gonnerman, R. Kevin Smoot, James Lemon, Matt Sluis, and Contributors. The Basic Fantasy Field Guide textual material is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International; this page adapts that creature to White Box.