Infected, Giant Ant
- Armor Class
- 3 [16]
- Hit Dice
- 5
- Attacks
- Bite (1d6+2)
- Special
- disease, regeneration, invisibility, hold/grab, illusion, charm
- Move
- 15 (3)
- HDE/XP
- 5/240
Description
Infected are beings parasitized by the spores of an infectious mind.
It has no consciousness of its own but its mental faculties contribute to the collective consciousness of its network, sharing all knowledge telepathically.
Physically, they appear as individuals with the top surface of their body covered with brown mushrooms. This fungal infection causes the destruction of its eyes which is partially compensated by its other senses and the sharing of information through its network; nonetheless, they are more sluggish than before the infection. Due to the toxins produced, the strength of an infected increases and it becomes numb to pain, allowing the infected to sustain more damage before being incapacitated. The collective mind is unaffected by charm, hold, and illusions. As they are blind, infected are not affected by darkness, invisibility, nor blindness.
Becoming infected does not result in death, and infected continue to behave in ways that ensures its individual survival as well as the collective survival. A Cure (Cause) Disease spell can be used to destroy the parasites, but it will leave the infected in a catatonic state until a cure wound spell is used. A Regenerate spell is also needed to restore vision.
Giant ants are often the first victims of a blooming infectious mind.
However, infected giant ants do not contribute much to the collective mind and will often wander aimlessly until smarter creatures join the network. Due to morphological differences, infected giant ants are not blind.
Other giant ants shun them.
See Also
Other creatures grouped under Infected: Infected, Giant Rhinoceros Beetle, Infected, Humanoid, Infected, Owl Bear, Infected, Zombie.
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.