D&D 5E Rot grubs

[FormerlyHemlock]

D&D is a role playing game. We play a role in a story. Killing the Tarrasque with a rot grub is not a good story.

You're kidding, right? I can't imagine a more interesting way for the (RAW) Tarrasque to die. (It's not a very interesting monster, by RAW.)

Stories like that are why I play D&D. There was this one time when I thought they were going to TPK against a Chain Worm until the monk whipped out his Bag of Devouring...

 

[Tony Vargas]

The thought occurs: a druid can now kill the Tarrasque at 2nd level simply by wildshaping into a rot grub!

That reminds me of a shape-changing duel in my old AD&D campaign. Mind you, it had nothing to do with shapechange or polymorph, it was a shamanistic Druid PC fighting an evil snake-spirit guarding a step-pyramid a realm of dreams. He'd figured out that he could shapechange while lucid dreaming (honest, it was still D&D). It went like the wizards' duel from Sword in the Stone, rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock with shapes. The last round went: Rot Grub! ...Fire Elemental.

 

[Lidgar]

So glad to hear the RG is back. It was one of my favorite pics...

 

[MechaPilot]

So glad to hear the RG is back. It was one of my favorite pics...

I always enjoyed the picture, but rot grubs are a monster I will never use. I hate the gotcha monsters like rot grubs and door worms.

 

[Jester David]

I've never felt sorry for the tarrasque before... but having it killed like a bot fly larvae infested monkey is a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone or anything.

 

[darjr]

I hear kobolds like to chuck fragile ceramic jars full of rot grubs.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Unless there's a specialized swarm druid subclass, I don't believe druids can wild shape into swarms.

I don't think anyone in this thread suggested wildshaping into a rot grub swarm.

Even if the DM rules differently, that seems like an instance where the tarrasque would use its legendary resistance.

Yeah, probably. As a player you'd need to find a way beforehand to get it to burn its Legendary Resistances on other things somehow.

Even if it chooses not to, it's going to mess up the rest of the party (or surrounding villages/terrain) in the 338 combat rounds it will take the swarm to slowly kill the tarrasque.

By "swarm" I assume you mean "rot grub", since a rot grub swarm that lands a hit on the Tarrasque would do 8.75 points of damage per round and therefore kill it about four and a half times faster than a single rot grub would.

And nobody cares if the Tarrasque spends half an hour tearing up wilderness terrain. If it somehow appeared in the middle of a village and started eating cows/people/houses, then that destruction is all on whoever made it appear there (e.g. the DM), not on the person who managed to eventually kill it.

 

[Demetrios1453]

And nobody cares if the Tarrasque spends half an hour tearing up wilderness terrain.

The dryads would.

Heck, it's the tarrasque. Given how much it would tear up, I can see some Archfey even getting upset....

 

[Jester David]

I don't think anyone in this thread suggested wildshaping into a rot grub swarm.

You mentioned wild shaping.
You can't wild shape into a single one. It doesn't exist: there's no stat block.

By "swarm" I assume you mean "rot grub", since a rot grub swarm that lands a hit on the Tarrasque would do 8.75 points of damage per round and therefore kill it about four and a half times faster than a single rot grub would.

I suppose it could attack every round. Still, with a +0 to hit, it needs that 20.

And nobody cares if the Tarrasque spends half an hour tearing up wilderness terrain. If it somehow appeared in the middle of a village and started eating cows/people/houses, then that destruction is all on whoever made it appear there (e.g. the DM), not on the person who managed to eventually kill it.

If the tarrasque is tearing through the wilderness, why are the adventurers fighting it?
Unless lives are at stake, there's no drama and no story. The tarrasque has to be a threat or the PCs are just, well, murder hobos. Or big game hunters.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

The dryads would.

Heck, it's the tarrasque. Given how much it would tear up, I can see some Archfey even getting upset....

Fortunately, Archfey have access to lots and lots of rot grubs, among other tools.