Creeping Carpet (Swarm)

Mistaking a creeping carpet swarm for ivy and like plants is easy to do. After all, this carnivorous colony is distantly related to such vines. However, a skilled survivalist can distinguish a creeping carpet first by its serrated leaves, and then by the ruddy root clusters at the base of each stem. On the other hand, a hapless traveler staying overnight in a ruin infested with a creepy carpet swarm will likely not know the danger they are in until it is too late.

Messy Eater: Unlike other predatory plants the vines of a creeping carpet swarm do not simply entrap their prey and bath them in caustic juices. The vicious tangle is much more proactive. After constricting a potential meal the individual plants work together to crush the life from it. Then the serrated leaves saw into its body, drawn back and forth like a sawblade by the swarm’s writhing motion. The creeping carpet pushes and pulls until it tears the corpse apart. These smaller chunks are easier to hide away at the swarm’s core where the vines’ blood-stained roots bore into the meat and draw sustenance as it putrefies.

Creeping Carpet

Medium swarm of tiny plants, unaligned

Armor Class 13

Hit Points 36 (8d8+8)

Speed 30ft

Climb 30ft (hover)

Str 13 Dex 16 Con 13 Int 2 Wis 7 Cha 4

Damage Reistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing

Damage Vulnerabilities fire

Condition Immunities harmed, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, stunned

Senses blindsight 60ft, passive Perception 8

Languages -

Challenge 1 (200 XP)

False Appearance

While the plant remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal collection of vines.

Swarm

The swarm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a Tiny plant. The swarm can't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.

Actions

Constrict

Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 0 ft., one target in the swarm's space. Hit: 14 (4d6) bludgeoning damage, or 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage if the swarm has half of its hit points or fewer, and the target is grappled (escape DC 12). Until this grapple ends, the creature is restrained, and the swarm can't constrict another target. At the beginning of each of the creeping carpet's turns the creature it has grappled automatically takes 14 (4d6) bludgeoning damage.