Myrmecoleon, The Starving Paradox

Large Beast, Neutral

Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 136 (13d10 + 65)
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.

Saving Throws DEX +5, CON +8
Skills Perception +4, Stealth +5
Damage Resistances Psychic, Poison
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 14
Languages Understands Common and Sylvan, but cannot speak
Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)

TRAITS

Hunger of Two Worlds

The Myrmecoleon’s digestive system is an unnatural hybrid, unable to properly process meat or grain. As a result, it suffers disadvantage on saving throws against Poison and Necrotic damage, and cannot benefit from healing potions or any healing effects that rely on food. It also takes 1d6 necrotic damage at the start of its turn if it has not consumed at least 5 pounds of food or drink in the last 24 hours.

Dual Nature

The Myrmecoleon’s body is split between lion and ant physiology. It can take actions or reactions only in ways that benefit its hybrid form. For example, it may use its Ant-Lion Charge to pounce like a lion, but it can only consume non-lion food (e.g., grains or water), despite its lion instincts. This causes its actions to often be chaotic and unpredictable.

Keen Smell

The Myrmecoleon has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

ACTIONS

Multiattack

The Myrmecoleon makes three attacks: one with its Lion’s Bite, one with its Ant Mandibles, and one with its Claws.

Lion’s Bite

Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 19 (2d10 + 5) piercing damage.

Ant Mandibles

Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 15 (2d8 + 5) slashing damage. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Claws

Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage. If the target is Medium or smaller, it must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be grappled by the Myrmecoleon (escape DC 16). The Myrmecoleon can only grapple one creature at a time.

REACTIONS

Counterstrike of Desperation

When the Myrmecoleon is hit by a melee attack, it can use its reaction to make an immediate Ant Mandibles attack against the attacker. If this attack hits, the target is additionally poisoned until the end of its next turn.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS

The Myrmecoleon can take 2 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The Myrmecoleon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

• Ant-Lion Charge (Costs 1 Action). The Myrmecoleon dashes up to its speed in a straight line. If it moves at least 20 feet in a straight line and ends within 5 feet of a creature, it can use its Lion’s Bite attack against that creature.
• Sniff Out Prey (Costs 1 Action). The Myrmecoleon can make a Perception check (with advantage if tracking prey by smell).
• Frustrated Roar (Costs 2 Actions). The Myrmecoleon lets out a horrible, mixed roar and chitter. Each creature within 15 feet must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of the Myrmecoleon until the end of its next turn.

TACTICS

The Myrmecoleon uses its Dual Nature to confuse opponents by unpredictably switching between its lion and ant instincts. It begins combat by attempting to ambush or charge using its Ant-Lion Charge to engage in melee, hoping to grapple weaker opponents and inflict damage with its Lion’s Bite.

If cornered, the Myrmecoleon relies on Frustrated Roar to disorient and frighten foes, allowing it to retreat to more advantageous positions. It will often try to pick off the weakest target first, using its Claws to maintain a grapple while chewing on smaller prey.

Despite its massive size and strength, the Myrmecoleon’s nature makes it unrelenting but unpredictable. It will rarely stop moving, using the terrain around it to its advantage—skittering up walls or around obstacles with Climb to attack from surprising angles.

SPELLS

The Myrmecoleon is not inherently magical but uses its abilities in a way that mimics the effects of magic. When dealing with creatures of the natural world, it can use the following abilities, as if they were innate magical powers:

• Ant Colony Call (Recharge 5-6). The Myrmecoleon calls upon its connection to the ant world, summoning a swarm of ants to surround its enemies. The swarm appears within 15 feet of the Myrmecoleon and can attack a creature with a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 3d6 piercing damage, half on a success.

ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTIONS

The Myrmecoleon thrives in places of natural decay—dry deserts, open plains, and deep caves. Its hybrid nature allows it to utilize its environment in unique ways, both as a predator and a scavenger. It uses its Keen Smell to track prey across long distances and can hide in plain sight amidst other creatures of its habitat, like ants or lions.

Terrain: The Myrmecoleon can climb walls and rocky surfaces, which can create additional unpredictability in combat. It prefers to attack when it has high ground or an elevated position to pounce upon its prey, though it often fails to consume its kills because of its dietary incompatibilities.

LEGENDARY RESISTANCES (2/Day)

If the Myrmecoleon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

TREASURE

The Myrmecoleon hoards items related to both lions and ants: scraps of meat, bones, and grains. It rarely partakes in eating them, though, instead stockpiling its finds in secluded, hidden caves. Treasure might include gems embedded in its lair walls, remnants of once-powerful hunters who succumbed to its hunger.

Myrmecoleon

This towering beetle-like horror has thick carapace segments and massive mandibles that leak sizzling acid.

Source Bestiary 4 pg. 198
Originally posted in Archives of Nethys

This monstrous, insect-like beast resembles a huge beetle with gleaming black armored plates. Around its head and neck the chitin forms a great mane of jagged spikes. Its insides swirl with acidic juices.

Myrmecoleons live in remote areas where they claim large territories of wilderness as their hunting grounds. They’re often drawn to far-flung ancient ruins and sites of mythic power, and sometimes act as guardians of such places. This has led some sages to theorize that some myrmecoleons aren’t born but are spontaneously created by sites thrumming with mythic power.

These creatures only rarely interact with others of their kind – and these interactions usually end in brutal and destructive death matches. Myrmecoleons are cannibals and readily eat those they defeat. When fighting, these insects put on great displays to intimidate rivals or other threats.

Myrmecoleons are known to roll in the corpses of their prey, impaling the bodies upon their carapaces and leaving them there to rot. Why they perform this gruesome act remains unknown. Those who have studied the creature to understand its rudimentary intelligence hypothesize that it might be some sort of a display to showcase its strength to others of its kind, or even be one part of an elaborate mating ritual.