Bug-Bear Matriarch

gargantuan monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class: 18 (Natural Armor)

Hit Points: 310 ()

Speed: 10 ft., burrow 10 ft.

		Mod	Save
STR	22	+6	+6
DEX	6	-2	-2
CON	24	+7	+12

		Mod	Save
INT	6	-2	-2
WIS	14	+2	+7
CHA	10	+0	+0

Skills: Perception +7

Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing

Immunities: charmed, frightened, prone

Senses: darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 17

Languages: —

CR: 13 (10,000 XP); PB +5

Traits

Immobile Core: The matriarch cannot take the Dash, Disengage, or Climb actions and has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws. She is too massive to be knocked prone or moved against her will.

Chitinous Regrowth: At the start of each of her turns, the matriarch regains 10 hit points unless she took fire or acid damage since her last turn.

Hive Matron: All bug-bears within 60 feet of the matriarch gain advantage on saving throws against being frightened or poisoned and deal an additional 3 poison damage with melee attacks.

Spawning Brood: At the start of her turn, the matriarch spawns Bug-Bear Larva in unoccupied spaces within 15 feet of her. These larvae act immediately after her on the same initiative. These rapidly growing spawn are a defense mechanism, used only when she is under threat. Normally, the matriarch lays eggs that hatch and grow slowly. Each larva evolves into a Bug-Bear Juvenile at the start of its second turn, and each juvenile evolves into an adult Bug-Bear at the start of its second turn. The unstable adult dies at the end of its second turn, collapsing into chitin and bile. When a creature evolves, it gains the full hit point total of its new form. These unstable forms cannot be healed. If reduced to 0 HP at any stage, the creature dies and does not evolve further.

Legendary Resistance (3/Day): If the matriarch fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.

Actions

Mandibles: Melee Attack Roll: +11, reach 5ft. Hit: 28 () Piercing damage. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. While poisoned in this way, the target cannot take reactions.

Resonant Buzz (Recharge 5–6): The matriarch vibrates her massive carapace to release a subsonic hum. Each creature of her choice within 30 feet that can hear it must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be deafened for 1 minute and have disadvantage on attack rolls until the end of their next turn.

Legendary Actions

The matriarch can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. She regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.

Birthing Spasm: She spawns 1 additional larva in a space within 10 feet.

Buzz Pulse: Each creature within 10 feet must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn.

Mandible Snap (Costs 2 Actions): The matriarch makes one Mandible attack

Notes

Vast, grotesque, and immobile, the matriarch is less a creature and more a biomechanical engine of reproduction. Buried in the deepest chamber of the hive, her bloated body pulses with internal brood-growth, birthing countless larvae in defense of her lair.
The matriarch is the heart and mind of the bug-bear hive. She is rooted in place, her ovipositor fused into a biological throne of hardened resin and dead siblings. Pheromones from her body shape the behavior of the entire colony—from birthing cycles to tactical coordination. Though capable of devastating attacks, she rarely needs to defend herself; her children die by the dozen to shield her.
Succession: When a matriarch dies, the hive descends into chaos. Larvae run amok, juveniles turn feral, and adult bug-bears roam aimlessly. However, within each hive, one Bug-Bear Juvenile is always "seeded" with the genetic potential to become a new matriarch. If the old queen dies and the hive does not collapse completely, this juvenile will retreat, molt over several days, and become a new queen—if she survives.
Hive Collapse: If no juvenile reaches metamorphosis, the hive structure collapses permanently. Without pheromonal control, the bug-bears become little more than monsters—feral, territorial, and doomed to die off within a few months.

The Bug-Bear Brood

A grotesque fusion of insect and bear, bug-bears are hulking monstrosities born from ancient magical tampering in deep subterranean hives. Though they resemble no known natural species, their social structure and lifecycle parallel those of eusocial insects, with a powerful queen-like matriarch at the core of each colony.
Bug-bear hives operate with eerie precision. Each creature is bred for a specific function—larvae serve as helpless feeders and future soldiers, juveniles as scouts and expendable shock troops, and adults as frontline warriors and guardians. Despite their monstrous appearance, bug-bears exhibit surprising coordination and resourcefulness, often ambushing prey or enemies with hive-level tactics.
The colonies themselves are sprawling labyrinths of hardened resin and organic material, exuding warmth, pheromones, and a low ambient hum. Matriarchs anchor the colony from its deepest point, continuously birthing new larvae to feed and protect the hive. Other members of the species function as extensions of her will, guided by scent, vibration, and instinct.
Wherever bug-bears spread, local ecosystems are swiftly disrupted—predators avoid the area, carrion beetles and scavengers follow the swarm, and hunters speak in hushed tones about the tunnels breathing just beneath the forest floor.
Bug-bears are blind to morality, acting on biological instinct and pheromonal command. Their presence in a region often indicates a nearby hive, hidden in caverns, ruins, or even buried forests, where chitinous tunnels wind through the earth like a festering wound.

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