Giant termites are found
in subtropical && tropical forests and jungles
where large amounts of vegetation
are available. The nest will consist of
a stone-hard mound about
100 feet in diameter and 200-500 feet high.
There will be numerous circular
openings near the top, each of 5-8 feet
in diameter. These holes
lead to vertical, diagonal and horizontal passages,
which in turn lead to various
chambers underground.
Termites are nocturnal and
shun light. A group of workers numbering
more than 30 will always
be accompanied by 3-16 soldier termites.
While the weak-mandibled
worker is able to bit for only 1-2 points of
damage,
solider termites have strong
jaws and are able to spit an
irritating fluid (similar
to kerosene). This liquid will blind any creature
struck unless a save
vs. Poison is successful.
Blindness lasts for 5-20
rounds.The fluid wiII burn if exposed to flame or
heat, and the effect of
1 quantity spit on a target and ignited will inflict
5-16 points of burning damage.
The fluid can be spit but once per turn.
Range is 1", volume is about
1 pint.
In the lair there will always
be 10 times the number of workers and
soldiers first encountered,
but these creatures will be spread throughout
the nest.
There will be the following
additional giant harvester termites:
| 5-30 | workers/attendants in egg chamber |
| 2-12 | soldier/guards in egg chamber |
| 4-24 | worker/attendants in royal chamber |
| 2-8 | soldier/guards in royal chamber |
| 1 | king (AC 5; MV 6"; HD 6+6; hp 30 or more; #AT +1 <1>; Dmg 3-18; SA double range and quantity fluid spit possible every other round; Size L) |
| 1 | queen (AC 4; MV 3"; HD 8+8; hp 40 or more; #AT +1 <1>; Dmg 5-30, Size L) |
Obviously, the king and queen
termites will be found only in the royal
chamber somewhere near the
bottom of the underground levels of the
nest.The egg chamber will
be nearby.There will be as many eggs in this
chamber as there are workers
and soldiers combined. When either the
egg or royal chambers are
entered by intruders, all regular termites (not
special attendants and guards)
will begin moving to the violated area.
Meanwhile, termites already
there will fight fiercely to protect the place.
All such workers and guards
get a +1 both to hit and to damage. This
applies to workers and soldiers
entering later as well.
Somewhere near the royal
chamber there will be a shaft leading to a
repository well. There,
unusable metal and mineral items are dumped. It
is possible that there will
be incidental treasure there. Such treasure
will be rare and of small
value in most cases.
The worst enemes of giant
termites are formians, for formians are
bigger and more intelligent,
hate termites, and enjoy eating their eggs. If
giant termites detect such
raiders, they will immediately rush to defend
their nest. Communications
between giant termites are usually accomplished
by touching of antennae.
In crisis situations, a broadcast telepathic
call is sent out.
FREQUENCY: [SB]
FREQUENCY: Rare
([Tropical Wilderness Forest])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Dungeon Level I])
NO. APPEARING: 6-60
ARMOR CLASS: 2/10 (head/body)
MOVE: 9"
HIT DICE: 1+2
% IN LAIR: 20%
TREASURE TYPE: [SB]
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-2
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: S (3' long)
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: I | 20
+ 2
King - V | 500 + 10
Queen - VI | 900 + 13
FREQUENCY: [SB]
FREQUENCY: Rare
([Tropical Wilderness Forest])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Dungeon Level I])
NO. APPEARING: 3-18
ARMOR CLASS: 2/8 (head/body)
MOVE: 9"
HIT DICE: 2+2
% IN LAIR: 20%
TREASURE TYPE: [SB]
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: [SB]
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Semi-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: M (4 1/2'
long)
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: II | 50
+ 3