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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sorinth" data-source="post: 9797481" data-attributes="member: 7050650">In my games Ankhegs always came in a pack rather then being a solo monster. Something like a Bulette was the solo burrowing monster, Ankhegs were the wolf pack monsters using hit & run tactics.The two main tactics were pop up outside of melee range of everyone, spit acid, and re-burrow, so the only actions players could really take is to ready a ranged attack. The second tactic was to pop up in melee range attack for the grapple and then re-burrow. When not in solid stone the burrowing doesn't leave a tunnel in the 2024 rules, though leaving behind an unstable tunnel that would collapse in 1d4 rounds when in regular soil can be fun and make the combat feel unique. Also making the collapsed tunnel difficult terrain after it collapses is worthwhile. If the grappled creature is still able to do some real damage to the Ankheg then they dive as deep as they can go with regular movement, spit them out underground, and Dash away leaving the PC buried as the Ankhegs wait for them to die and then eat them later.A low burrow speed isn't actually a bad thing, it forces the DM to use the Dash action to reposition, which gives more time to get the recharge, and helps hide the true number of Ankhegs. And an unknown number of Ankhegs should be one of the goals of the combat as it can really drive up the tension. It also means the PCs just running is a viable tactic but the grapple attack makes it tense as well, and turn order can make for some interesting actions. Going up to 20ft of burrow speed is probably still fine but I don't think it's really needed, the PCs moving 30ft taking the ready action and being able to outrun the Ankhegs isn't actually a bad outcome because at the end of the day an Ankheg encounter ends with the PCs taking some damage and running away that's a success.For the initiative, they will probably be rolling at advantage since they are unseen to start combat so if boosting their initiative I would keep it relatively small. Rolling initiative for each Ankheg is probably worth it since a spread of when they get to go helps the feel/tone of using hit and run tactics and if you boost their initiative value too much it risks them clumping together in the turn order.</blockquote>

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