I am interested as to how deadly this burrowing worm attack has been in practice for your players. Has it claimed many PCs for the worm god's legions or are they dealing with it nonchalantly? What effect has it had on combats and tactics? Do they have a healer with a silver scalpel constantly waiting in the rear for a spot of quick battlefield surgery?
Alter Self => Troglodyte
they do have the silver dissection instruments from Filge's lab, but haven't used them. One PC started taking Int damage from a Kyuss worm. It was a close call.
They made thier saves
They made thier saves
What saves? I didn't think there was a save...
Half-ogre with +1 amulet of natural armor. Completely immune. Fun to overrun, grapple, and otherwise rub myself all over kyuss spawn in my delicious safety.
Remember Kids! Always ask your DMs if DR blocks kyuss worms! (Seriously, stop and think about it)
Remember Kids! Always ask your DMs if DR blocks kyuss worms! (Seriously, stop and think about it)
Here's my take on that one. There are in reality three kinds of DR. There's the kind of DR that thick constructs and heavily armored things have, that comes from having a hard surface that soaks damage and is tough to punch through. This kind would block worm damage, since they only do 1 hp and so wouldn't have the gnawing power to get past this kind of defense.
There's also two other types of DR however, which would not save the victim. One type is DR from instantaneous regeneration such as is had by lycanthropes and some undead, where a wound slashes the creature and instantly closes as soon as the weapon leaves the body. For the instant regenner, the worm would enter the body and begin to munch its way brainward and while the damage would be healed immediately after, it would not impede the worm's entry into the body. The last kind of damage reduction is the kind granted by classes like the barbarian, which represents that the character is a bit tougher than average and responds better to injury and thus it tends not to affect him as much. He can break a kneecap and keep fighting, it just doesn't phase him in the same way. This guy would just be burger. He might not mind so much that there's a worm eating through his body, but it doesn't change the fact that one is--and that he's gonna' be getting real cozy with it soon.
Granted, as always this makes me wonder why there's so many D20 mechanics that do the same thing. What is being tough? Well sometimes it's DR, but then sometimes it's AC, or other times it's HP, or maybe natural armor. In my games anything that lessens the impact of a blow is DR. Anything that might deflect a blow or cause it to miss is AC (though Defense is IMO a better word choice). Ability to withstand great amounts of pain and affliction are represented variously by a high Constitution (and hence Fort save) or by feats like Toughness and Endurance. This way if a creature has really thick skin or is wearing full plate armor it has a DR. Creatures that regenerate have the regenerate special ability. Guys who are tough have high Constitutions. It really avoids alot of problems.
My party has only had the initial encounter with them in Blackwall Keep. The monk readied actions to attack the worms, and crushed them every time. Then, the cleric turned the spawn and they just sat in the corner, cowering, while the rest of the party pounded on them.