Our next monster is one that I’ve had on my mind for some time now,  a Giant Antlion! Probably my favorite “Bug” of the American West (not that it gets much competition from the mosquitoes and horseflies of the world) I have always wanted to do something special with a beast like this for some time now.

Most “beasts” from 5th edition tend to lack the well-designed roleplay, mechanics, and lore that a DM really wants to sink their teeth into. Most beast descriptions and mechanics in 5e tend to boil down to essentially what a Russian farmer would tell you about a cow, “Is Cow. Can charge. Has hooves. What more to say?” As a result, I only “gigantify” a beast if I feel it has something unique not yet offered by other similar beasts. The humble antlion, given its ability to place itself at the center of a sandy pit trap and then collapse the pit in on itself to snag its prey, seemed like a great choice for a big monster stat block. This ability, combined with other ambush-predator mechanics, makes an excellent giant beast stat block; and thus, the giant antlion was born (or hatched, I suppose)!

In combat, giant antlions live and die off of their surprise round. The +3 to stealth and advantage on stealth checks gives the antlion a good chance to evade detection by most adventurers in the first tier of play. Once an adventurer steps too close, the antlion will spring forth and attack with its mandibles to snag the juiciest prey. Success or failure, it will then use its bonus action to start generating a Pit Trap around itself, using its reaction to attack any creature that fails its saving throw and slides towards it. It does this each and every round until it downs a creature – taking the body and retreating into the ground with its burrow speed.

Some optional rules I would add to this monster are as follows:

• Any creature with a passive Wisdom (perception) score higher than 15 always detects the depression in the ground where the antlion is buried. With a successful Intelligence (nature) check (DC 10) I would have any creature that inspects the area to deduce that some sort of burrowing creature is lying in wait there. If they roll higher than 15 on the nature check I would add that the trap is that of a giant antlion, in addition to the other information.
• A giant antlion can be pacified with an offering of food. A creature attempting to pacify the antlion can make a Wisdom (animal handling) check (DC 10) to do so, making the check
• The giant antlion gains the benefits from half-cover when it uses its Pit Trap ability, half-burying itself in the sand and dirt (If you want to be especially vindictive, just have its head poke out and give it 3/4 cover).
• Some giant antlions cover their bodies with the indigestible remains of prey. An antlion that has been doing this for some time can amass a thick armor of discarded swords, saddles, and wagon wheels. If you choose to have the giant antlion cover itself in this way, give it an extra 2d10 temporary hit points, and resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage while these temporary hit points exist.
• Whenever the giant antlion drops below 10 hit points, it retreats into the soil. It will attempt to disengage before doing so.

These beasts are found all over Rexfald: the tight runs of a canyon, the soft silt beneath an oil derrick, the grave dirt of a cemetery, or the black sands of a hot spring (bonus points if the player characters are relaxing there without their weapons and armor). These beasts are best encountered least expected, so feel free to use them to shake up an otherwise sleepy wedding on the beach or an especially humdrum foreclosure auction at the old ranch.

If you like this big bug, keep and eye out and join our mailing list! We have a lot more coming soon!

Up next is our elemental cowboy, the Calamity Wrangler, so hop in the saddle for this new ranger of primordial power!

Art done by our fantastic illustrator Roberto Andreas!