Swarm of 1,000 Commoners

gargantuan swarm (Medium humanoids), chaotic neutral

Armor Class: 16 (Natural Armor)

Hit Points: 378 ()

Speed: 40 ft

		Mod	Save
STR	14	+2	+2
DEX	16	+3	+8
CON	22	+6	+11

		Mod	Save
INT	6	-2	-2
WIS	8	-1	-1
CHA	5	-3	-3

Damage Resistances: Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing

Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Prone, Restrained, Stunned

Senses: passive Perception 9

Languages: understands Common but can't speak coherently

CR: 17 (18,000 XP); PB +6

Traits

Swarm: The swarm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a Medium humanoid. The swarm can't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.

Immense Size: The swarm occupies a circular area with a 45-foot radius.

Blood Frenzy: The swarm has advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature that doesn't have all its hit points.

Rampage: When the swarm reduces a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack on its turn, the swarm can take a bonus action to move up to half its speed and make one Dagger Swarm attack.

Living Wall: The swarm counts as difficult terrain for other creatures.

Trampling Swarm: Whenever the swarm enters a Huge or smaller creature's space for the first time on a turn, that creature must make a DC 20 Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 28 () bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone. If the creature succeeds on its saving throw, it takes half as much damage and isn't knocked prone.

Internal Chaos: At the start of the swarm's turn, the sheer chaos and density of the 1,000 panicked commoners within cause them to trample and inadvertently injure each other. The swarm takes 35 () bludgeoning damage, representing individuals being crushed underfoot, accidentally stabbed by their neighbors' flailing weapons, or suffocated in the press of bodies. This damage cannot be reduced or prevented.

Actions

Multiattack: The swarm makes four Dagger Swarm attacks.

Dagger Swarm: Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 0 ft., one target in the swarm's space. Hit: 45 () piercing damage, or 22 () piercing damage if the swarm has half of its hit points or fewer.

Notes

A Gargantuan Swarm of 1,000 Commoners is a horrifying sight – a roiling, churning mass of bodies pressed together in a frenzy of panicked movement and desperate violence. It's not a coordinated army, but rather a collection of ordinary people – farmers, merchants, blacksmiths, bakers – ripped from their lives and thrust into a nightmarish situation. Their faces are contorted with terror, rage, and confusion, and their hands clutch whatever makeshift weapons they could find in their last moments: daggers, knives, improvised clubs, and even farming tools.
The swarm moves with a terrifying, unnatural speed, a wave of flesh and steel that crashes over anything in its path. The air around it is thick with the sounds of screaming, the clang of metal on metal, and the wet thuds of bodies colliding. It's a chaotic, unpredictable entity, driven by primal fear and a desperate, unfocused desire to survive.

Behavior

The swarm is inherently chaotic and uncontrollable. It doesn't follow orders, strategize, or show any signs of higher reasoning. Its primary motivation is to lash out at anything it perceives as a threat, driven by a collective, animalistic panic. It attacks indiscriminately, prioritizing creatures that have harmed it or those that are closest. The swarm will relentlessly pursue a target until that target is dead, or until another, closer threat presents itself. It is just as likely to trample its summoner as it is to attack intended foes.
The sheer mass of bodies makes the swarm incredibly difficult to navigate. Creatures caught within its space are overwhelmed by the press of flesh, constantly battered and shoved. The swarm's attacks are not precise strikes, but rather a flurry of desperate blows from hundreds of individual commoners, each striking out in blind panic.
The swarm exhibits a heightened frenzy when it smells blood. The scent of injury seems to amplify the collective rage and desperation of the commoners, driving them to even greater heights of violence.
The only mercy offered by this horrific entity is that it cannot truly heal or replenish its numbers. It is a dwindling force, doomed to eventually collapse under the weight of its own injuries or disperse as its numbers are thinned. However, until that point, it represents a cataclysmic force of nature, a tide of screaming, stabbing humanity that leaves only devastation in its wake.

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Tags:piercinghumanoidswarm