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CREEPS (Ultimate Omnivore, no really, they even eat rocks!)
These creatures are stocky and squat insects with a 12 segment forked abdomen (kinda like an earwig). They have 6 powerful but small legs which splay out to the sides with a small set of tough hairs along the underside which aid in climbing and burrowing. The upper part of their body is upright, with an elongated head hanging back down from the top, with a long spine-like crest across the top. Their mandibles are made of a bio-mineral with similar properties to adamantine (created from the rock they digest as they burrow, see below) and are extremely elongated, resembling a pair of scythes, which they use as both tools and weapons, equally good at cutting and burrowing through rock or flesh. A sticky acid sprays forth from their mouth whenever they burrow, assisting them in cutting through rock as tough as basalt with alarming speed (10ft burrow through rock, 30ft through earth), and dealing minor but painful damage when they attack. They have a psionic hive mind which allows the Queen and any males within 100ft to 'see' anything a worker or warrior is doing at any given time. Males and the queen have independent intelligence scores, but multiple workers and warriors behave under a single intelligence score and always act as if a single entity. They are usually seen outside the hive in scouting groups (1-3), foraging groups (2-5 workers, 1-3 warriors) or harvesting groups (4-10 workers, 2-5 warriors). Larger groups are referred to as Swarms which will almost always be directed by at least 1 male, depending upon size (or perhaps even a queen, but that is rare). Swarms are extremely dangerous on account of their fierce attack, large numbers and worrying intelligence, and as such should be avoided by all but the toughest and best prepared of folk.
Worker (70% of hive population): These are tiny creatures, standing nearly 2ft tall and 3ft long, and weighing only 15lbs. Their mandible scythes are about 1 ft long, 3 inches wide across the base, tapering to a curved point at the end, which is serrated for the last 3 inches of length. They are usually very skittish, and prefer to burrow their way to safety than to fight unless they feel cornered or the hive/queen is at risk.
Warrior (25% of hive population): These are small sized, standing at 3ft tall and 5ft long and weigh over 40lbs, stockier than workers and with broader, more powerful mandible scythes. They are far more aggressive than the workers, preferring to stand and fight than to run away, often protecting the workers they are with and only retreating once their charges are safe.
Both workers and warriors have low animal intelligence in small groups (3 or less), but have been known to exhibit problem solving and tool use in larger numbers (4-10 = int 4, 11-20 = int 6, 21+ = int 8).
Male (5% of hive population): These creeps are medium sized, and stand in a more upright posture at about 7ft tall, weighing around 70lbs. Their mandible scythes are no larger than those of the worker's, but their front 2 legs are longer in propotion to their bodies and are used like rudimentary arms with simple, pincer-like hands at the end. Males have an individual mind (int 10), apart from the hive, and are the only creeps to have been observed communicating with other species in anything approaching a civilised manner. Although the species lacks vocal chords, they can chitter and clack a variety of sounds with various body parts, which along with simple psionic telepathy can be used to communicate effectively with many intelligent creatures to some extent. Often this communication occurs when the hive wishes to avoid trouble, and some males become well known to villages and towns where they collect tribute in the form of garden and cooking waste in return for the hive's benevolence and protection.
Males are also the generals when a hive goes to war, they telepathically command segments of the hive, to allow the hive mind to split into swarms, each one capable of independant choices and actions. This means a hive can display complex and ingenious strategies and tactics when really pushed. This is highly unusual though, since the hive is rarely in the sort of danger where it need be that openly aggressive. Males can use some psionic powers as psi-like powers (2 level 1 powers, which ones are up to the DM), which they fuel by the number of workers and warriors they have under their control. Although this psionic ability is limited, it can cause a nasty shock if unexpected.
When it comes to mating, males compete heavily to gain the favour of the queen. This rivalry is not always borne out in a fight however, often a battle of wits or a race to find the best food source will suffice to prove a particular male's dominance over the others. Once chosen, the male enters the royal chamber, where both his mind and body (and possible even it's soul) are completely consumed by the queen. This fertilises the year's clutch.
The Queen: The big momma herself is indeed a sight to behold (although only a very small number of people have ever seen one and lived to tell the tale). She is large sized, being 10ft long 6ft high at the head, weighing over 600lbs, with a bloated abdomen and an extra set of legs at the front with scythes much like those of her mandibles, which are 2ft long and completely smooth. She has a fierce intellect (int 20) but can only influence the hive itself, since scouts, foragers, harvesters and even most swarms go beyond her psionic range to perform their functions. She is constantly hungry and often in a little pain due to her almost continuous egg-laying (6/hour average), and this is a large part of the reason that anything or anyone which even attempts to communicate with the queen is likely to be ripped apart. If you wanna talk to a creep, talk to a male.
The queen is considered a psion telepath, having access to many psi-like telepathy powers, along with one or two more directly offensive ones and one or two useful others (again, which ones should be DM choice).
There are many stories of queens having particularly powerful or impressive males of sentient races brought before her, which she consumes instead of a male creep to reproduce. According to the stories, this is the only way a queen will lay a female egg, which is taken away by 3 males and a few dozen warriors and workers to be hatched in a brand new royal chamber. This chamber is often dozens, if not hundreds of miles from the current hive, and becomes entirely independant the moment the female hatches. This new queen will exhibit mental and physical aspects of her 'father', and pass these things onto her brood, meaning every hive shows subtle but distinct differences in appearance.
Lifespans: Workers and warriors can live to be 3 or 4 years old if they're lucky, but most aren't. Their average life expectancy is around about 6 months due to accidents and predation. Males can live to be 40, but will usually die far earlier by either failing or succeeding to win the right to mate. Males known to communicate frequently with other species often live long lives though, as it seems they are considered important (or possibly distasteful) enough by the queen to keep alive. A queen has no lifespan limit that anyone has ever been able to determine, there are hives on the outskirts of dragon lands which have been around as long as any dragon remembers.
Foodchain: Many predators subsist on a diet including workers and warriors (perhaps even the odd male if they're feeling lucky) as long as they're powerful enough to catch and consume them without issue. The tough chitinous exoskeleton contains little calorific value but is a wonderful source of essential minerals, and the soft juicy internals of a creep are one of the highest energy-mass foods known, making them perfect for creatures like dragons who enjoy a compact but energising meal. The sheer abundance of creeps in only a single hive could sustain a dragon indefinitely with only a little care and prudence.
Creeps are immune to non-magical poisons and diseases, and will eat just about anything including animal and vegetable matter in any state, minerals (consumed whenever they burrow) and even adventuring equipment (hehehe). More often than not, they will target carrion and rotting vegetation first, preferring it for some unknown reason. As such the most common sightings of creeps are after large battles and climatic catastrophies, but have been sighted often enough on the edges of farmland in the late spring, where they will eat the muck spread on the fields, and even young livestock on occassion.
Very rarely, a hive will come across a prodigious amount of food which is close enough for the queen to reach (she generally dislikes moving from her royal chambers at the heart of the hive). When this happens, the entire hive acts as one under the guidance of the queen, and undermines the entire area by creating a chasm beneath. This is collapsed to create a creep-crater, filled with the lovely edibles from the surface, and is set upon by the entire colony in a feeding frenzy of horrific proportions which may last up to 3 days. There are tales of entire towns disappearing into a creep-crater, and history tells grim tales of such occurences and the following purges led against the offending hive. Nobody is even vaguely aware of a reason why a queen may suddenly opt to commit such a heinous act, but speculation has sparked countless debates and studies for generations on the topic.