Astral Projections – By Request: Tardigrades for D&D 5e

October 15, 2018 Linda Whitson Astral Projections, Lore Check 0

Marvel Studios

Design & Play Notes: I hadn’t planned on doing any more Tardigrade stats after writing them for Mutants & Masterminds 3e, FFG Star Wars, and Genesys. However, Greg Vadas-Bedö requested D&D 5e stats via the D20 Radio Facebook page. For ease of prep/play, I opted to not make a distinction betwen tardigrade species’ food sources; any hungry tardigrade can make a meal off the vital fluids of whatever creature is available, whether a treant’s sap or a halfling’s blood. Giant tardigrades might be natural creatures, who will probably not attack unless they’re hungry or feel threatened. Or they may very well be the result of a magic-user’s summons–or even some odd druidic working, if there are indeed tiny ones in the moss carpets and waters of your fantasy world. In these cases all bets on their attitude are off.

Only water-dwelling giant tardigrades have the Swim speed; land- or swamp-dwelling variants just the default speed. For an airborne variant, similar to the Star Wars one linked above, substitute Fly for Swim and possibly add the Hover ability. You may wish to give Darkvision (p. 257, D&D 5e SRD) to waterdwelling tardigrades. As with most of the stats I present here, they haven’t been playtested by me. So if you do use them, please post a comment to let me, and the Gamer Nation, know how they work out.

(GIANT) TARDIGRADE

CL: 3
XP: 700
Type: Large Beast
Alignment: Unaligned
Languages: —

Strength 20 (+5)
Dexterity 12 (+1)
Constitution 10 (+0)
Intelligence 2 (-4)
Wisdom 8 (-1)
Charisma 10 (+0)

Armor Class: 12 (natural armor)
Saves: CON +0, WIS -1
Passive Perception: -1
Proficiency Bonus: +2
Hit Dice: (7d10 +21)
Hit Points: 59
Speed: 20′ OR Swim 30′

Abilities
Vitals Drain: Melee Weapon Attack:+5 to hit, reach 5′, 1 creature. Hit: 5 d10 piercing damage the tardigrade attaches to the target. While attached, the tardigrade doesn’t attack. Instead, at the start of each of the tardigrade’s turns, the target loses 5 d10 hit points due to loss of blood/sap/other vital fluid.
The tardigrade can detach itself by spending 5′ of its movement. It does so after it drains 10 hit points of vital fluid from the target or the target dies. A creature, including the target, can use its action to detach the tardigrade.

Credit: Thanks again to Empty Bacta Tank for technical editing and feedback.

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Linda Whitson

Contributing Writer & Copy Editor at D20 Radio
Linda Whitson is a long-time RPGer, amateur musician & artist, & an officer in the Rebel Legion Star Wars costuming club. Linda met her husband in an AD&D game and they have 2 teenagers, an anime fangirl daughter and a son who plays on his university's quidditch team. She is the Lead Mod of D20 Radio's forums and Copy Editor for the blog. Linda can be reached at GMLinda@d20radio.com

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