Myrmidon
Humanoid insectoids known for their militaristic organization and efficient operations. Myrmidons are diligent, tireless laborers bred for cooperation, construction, and endurance. Even outside the hive, their instincts push them toward teamwork and efficiency. Myrmidon workers struggle with individuality after leaving the hive. Many feel unease when acting alone, while others relish independence as a strange new freedom. They often default to teamwork, structure, and clear hierarchies—even in adventuring parties.
CREATURE TRAITS (19 XP)
- Types Size 5 Sapient Bipedal Organism (Humanoid, Myrmidon, Vermin)
- Reach 5 feet
- Speed Land 30 feet
ATTRIBUTES (1 XP)
- +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
LANGUAGES (0 XP)
- Starting Languages: Hivespeech, Undercommon
- Bonus Languages: Any common language.
INNATE ABILITIES (18 XP)
- Bite (1 XP): Myrmidons have an innate bite attack dealing 1d6 piercing damage.
- Burrowing (2 XP): Myrmidons have a 5-foot burrowing speed that allow them to move through loose earth, sand, or soil.
- Darkvision (2 XP): Myrmidons can see in the dark allowing them to ignore concealment created by dim lighting and darkness, but not magical darkness. They cannot see color in darkness, only shades of grey.
- Hive Dependence (-4 XP): Myrmidon workers are conditioned for communal life and rigid hierarchies. When separated from the hive, many struggle with individuality and unstructured social dynamics. They suffer the demoralized 1 and distracted 1 conditions unless they have at least two allies within 30 feet of them.
- Innate Armor (6 XP): A myrmidon has a +3 innate (natural) armor bonus.
- Lesser Hive Telepathy (4 XP): Myrmidons have telepathy 30 ft., but only with willing creatures that share a language.
- Powerful Build (2 XP): Myrmidons count as one size larger when determining carrying capacity and bonuses to combat maneuvers. This doesn't stack with other effects that treat them as larger.
- Skilled Laborer (1 XP): A myrmidon becomes proficient with one Profession or Craft skill of their choice, gaining it as a class skill. If already proficient (already a class skill), they gain a +2 innate (racial) bonus to it instead.
- Tremorsense (4 XP): Myrmidons have Blindsense (Tremorsense) out to 20 feet.
VARIANTS
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ADDITIONAL ABILITIES
Myrmidons begin with their innate traits and can gain additional traits from the following list as feats.
ADVANCED HIVE CASTING (6 XP)
Prerequisites: Myrmidon, hive casting, level 11th
Benefits: You gain feeblemind, permanent image, and repulsion as tier 2 innate magical abilities.
CLIMBER (3 XP)
Benefits: You gain a 20-foot Climb speed and become proficient with the Climb skill (gaining it as a class skill). If already proficient, you gain a +2 innate (racial) bonus to the skill instead.
COOPERATIVE INSTINCTS (2 XP)
Prerequisites: Charisma
Benefits: Whenever you Assist an ally, you grant them a bonus that is 2 points higher than your roll result would normally indicate.
DEADLY GRASP (3 XP)
Prerequisites: Myrmidon
Benefits: You gain Constrict as a tier 1 ability, dealing piercing damage as you bite the target and scrape them with your chitin.
HARDENED CHITIN (2 XP)
Prerequisites: Myrmidon, Con 19
Benefits: Your innate (natural) armor bonus increases by 1.
HIVE CASTING (6 XP)
Prerequisites: Myrmidon, level 7th
Benefits: You gain magic missile, invisibility, and commune with nature as tier 2 innate magical abilities.
HIVE COORDINATION (6 XP)
Prerequisites: Myrmidon, Lesser Hive Telepathy, Level 3rd.
Benefits: As a single action you can choose one ally you can communicate with through your telepathy and reduce their off-guard stage by 1 for 1 round to a minimum of 0.
As a 3-action activity (full-round action), you can do this for all allies within your telepathy range who understand you.
As a 2-action activity you can make a weapon attack against a single creature or object. Regardless whether you hit or not, all allies within your telepathy range that can understand your telepathy gain a +2 competence (insight) bonus on attack rolls against that target until the start of your next turn.
HIVE FRENZY (3 XP)
Prerequisites: Myrmidon, Lesser Hive Telepathy, Level 3rd.
Benefits: You gain Haste II and Rage II as innate magical powers with the Buff, Debuff, Emotion, Enchantment, and Mental types rather than the normal types. You can only target yourself and any creature that can understand your innate telepathy.
- Tier 2: You apply the Mass Effect upgrade to your Haste and Rage, but they are still subject to only affecting those who understand your telepathy and are within range of it.
- Tier 3: Your Haste and Rage increase to tier 4.
- Tier 4: You can activate your Hive Frenzy's Haste and Rage simultaneously as a full-round action.
HIVE MIND AURA (3 XP)
Prerequisites: Myrmidon, Lesser Hive Telepathy, Level 3rd.
Benefits: You and all allies within your innate telepathy range that can understand you gain a +1 competence bonus to Initiative, Perception, and Sense Motive rolls per ally within this aura (max +2 per tier).
LEAPER (3 XP)
Prerequisites: Myrmidon.
Benefits: You gain Great Leap with the Heroic Landing upgrade (total tier 3).
MENTAL MOTIVATOR (6 XP)
Prerequisites: Myrmidon, Charisma, Lesser Hive Telepathy, Level 7th.
Benefits: You gain the ability to inspire your hive mates with inspire courage III or inspire competence III. This is a purely mental performance and only those within your telepathy range who understand your telepathic speech can be affected. You have a number of rounds of this performance per day equal to half your level + your Charisma modifier (min 1).
POWERFUL BUILD (2 XP)
Prerequisites: Strength, cannot have the Wings innate feat.
Benefits: Your powerful build increases to tier 2 the first time you take this.
- Tier 2: As tier 1 but you're also treated as one size larger for the purposes of combat maneuvers you make.
- Tier 3: As tier 2 but you're also treated as one size larger for thr purposes of wielding weapons and dealing damage with your innate weapons.
- Tier 4: You lose the effects of tier 1-3 and grow one size category gaining all the adjustments of the new size.
QUEEN ASCENSION
Prerequisites: Myrmidon adult, Hive Frenzy, Mental Motivator, cannot have Wings, character level 13th.
Benefits: Your neural structure partially mimics that of a formian queen granting you the following benefits:
- Increase telepathy range by +30 ft.
- Once per day, you may use Hive Frenzy as a move action
- You gain a +2 innate bonus on Leadership score but only if your cohort and the majority of your followers are myrmidons.
SONIC RESISTANCE (4 XP)
Benefits: You gain Resistance 2 vs sonic effects.
TELEPATHIC ASSISTANT (4 XP)
Prerequisites: Intelligence, Lesser Hive Telepathy
Prerequisites: You can use Assist to aid allies within range of your Telepathy without having to be within reach of them. If you have any other ability that functions as Assist, a GM may rule you're able to apply this effect to it as well (such as Quick Assist).
TRUE TELEPATHY (4 XP)
Prerequisites: Intelligence, Lesser Hive Telepathy
Prerequisites: Your telepathy range increases to 60 ft. and no longer requires a shared language.
TUNNEL SCOUT (2 XP)
Benefits: You gain favored terrain for subterranean locations.
TUNNELING (4 XP)
Benefits: Your Burrowing ability increases to tier 3, increasing the burrowing speed to 3 spaces (15 feet). If you take this a second time, the burrowing speed only increases to 4 spaces (20 feet) but gains the Tunneling upgrade twice.
VENOM (6 XP)
Prerequisites: Myrmidon, Deadly Grasp or Bite, character level 5th
Benefits: As a swift action, you can envenom one of your innate weapons (including Constrict if you have it) using natural venom your body produces. Your body produces only up to a number of doses per day equal to 1/2 your character level + Constitution modifier (min 1).
Poison: injury, Save: Fortitude (DC 10 + ½ your character level + Con modifier); Frequency: 1/round for 3 rounds; Critical Failure: +2 stages of Clumsy, max damage; Failure: +1 stage of Clumsy, 1d6 nonlethal poison damage; Critical Success: -1 Stage of clumsy (cured if reduced to 0); Cure: 1 save
WINGS (6 XP)
Prerequisites: Myrmidon, Leaper.
Benefits: You gain a 30-foot fly speed.