FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Cold Civilized Forest], [Cold Civilized Swamp], [Cold Civilized Plains])

FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Temperate Civilized Forest], [Temperate Civilized Swamp], [Temperate Civilized Plains])

FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Tropical Civilized Forest], [Tropical Civilized Swamp], [Tropical Civilized Plains])

FREQUENCY: Rare ([Dungeon Level I])

NO. APPEARING: 1-2 (10-40)
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 12" (3")
HIT DICE: 1/4 (2 HP)
% IN LAIR: 25%
TREASURE TYPE: [SB]
NO. OF ATTACKS: Nil
DAMAGE/ATTACK: Nil
SPECIAL ATTACKS: [SB]
SPECIAL DEFENSES: [SB]
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: S
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: I | 7 + 1

SAVES: 16.17.18.20.19

This small worm,
only 1 inch long,
is greatly feared by wizards because it is attracted to paper in all forms.
It can smell scrolls, maps, arcane tomes, and spell books at a distance of 60 feet.
Normally a dull gray color, <semantic>
a bookworm's chameleonlike abilities enable it to instinctively blend into any background.
Its AC is due to its great SPEED and agility,
motionless,
it is AC 9.

The bookworm surprises initially 95% of the time.
If the victim can see invisible things,
the bookworm's chances are reduced to 50%.
Note that these chances apply even to creatures normally hard to surprise (i.e., rangers and monks),
because of its small size, SPEED (very great in proportion to its size),
and inoffensive nature.
If the bookworm does initially gain surprise, <link>
it may then be discovered (25%) on the outside of a victim's leg or pack;
otherwise,
it will remain unnoticed unless the victim bearing paper hears the creature's noisy munching (base 50% chance per round). <adjust for thieves & keen-eared individuals>
A feeding bookworm is motionless until attacked.
After any 1 attack it will flee (if possible) by first jumping 10 feet and then crawling back to its lair at top SPEED.

A bookworm will always be attracted to the largest volume of paper in an AREA.
It can burrow through dead wood or leather at a 3 inch rate and through a leather scroll case or pack in 1 segment but cannot digest living matter of any type.
It will destroy spell books and scrolls at the rate of 1 spell level per round (i.e., 5 roujnds for a scroll of a single 5th-level spell).
A bookworm lair is always a library or storeroom of some kind,
whether in use or long-forgotten.
When a bookworm is encountered,
there may be undamaged paper items remaining (30% chance);
a map (20%),
scroll (30%),
arcane work (of magic-user level 5-10 20%), <>
or normal spell book (of magic-user level 1-8 10%). <>
If spell books of either type are indicated,
they should be appropriate for the determined level of the magic-user but will be 0-90% destroyed by the worms (1d10-1).

<image: they are longer than 1 inch, and not a dull gray>