Purple WormCR 15 · Gargantuan Monstrosity · Stat Block & Encounter Builder

Gargantuan monstrosity, Challenge 15. AC 18, 247 hit points.

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Armour Class

Hit Points

247

Speed

50 ft.

Challenge

15 · 13,000 XP

Alignment

Unaligned

The card

Stat Block

Gargantuan Monstrosity · Unaligned

Purple Worm

247

15d20 + 90 · 50 ft., burrow 30 ft. · AC from natural armor

Blindsight 30 ft., Tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 9

Languages: —

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
28 (+9)	7 (-2)	22 (+6)	1 (-5)	8 (-1)	4 (-3)

Traits

TunnelerThe worm can burrow through solid rock at half its burrow speed and leaves a 10-foot-diameter tunnel in its wake.

Actions

MultiattackThe worm makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its stinger.

BiteMelee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d8 + 9) piercing damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw or be swallowed by the worm. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the worm, and it takes 21 (6d6) acid damage at the start of each of the worm's turns. If the worm takes 30 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the worm must succeed on a DC 21 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of the worm. If the worm dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse by using 20 feet of movement, exiting prone.

Tail StingerMelee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 19 (3d6 + 9) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw, taking 42 (12d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

How to actually run it

Tactics

The stat block tells you what it can do. This tells you what to do with it.

1Multiattack: The worm makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its stinger.

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Encounter Difficulty

Encounter Builder

How bad is this fight?

Real DMG maths — XP thresholds by level, and the group multiplier that makes crowds so much worse than the raw total suggests.

Purple Worms4Party size4Party level3

Could kill someone — and at high enough numbers, the whole party.

Difficulty

Deadly

104,000 adj. XP · ×2

deadly at 1,600

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Counsel

Purple Worm, Answered

What is Purple Worm's challenge rating in D&D 5e?

Purple Worm is Challenge 15, worth 13,000 XP. Encounter maths multiplies XP by the number of monsters, so a group is deadlier than the raw total — use the calculator on this page.

What are Purple Worm's stats?

AC 18 (natural armor), 247 hit points (15d20 + 90), speed 50 ft., burrow 30 ft.. Ability scores: STR 28, DEX 7, CON 22, INT 1, WIS 8, CHA 4.

Where does Purple Worm fit in an encounter?

As a monstrosity of Challenge 15, it suits a party whose level is in the same range. Adjust party size and level in the builder above to see the difficulty shift live.

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