Deconstructed: Acid Burrower

IN THIS FIRST column in the series, I’m going to look at the same Adversary many of you found first when browsing through the Adversaries section of the Core Rule Book (CRB), the Acid Burrower.

This Solo Adversary is a handful against tier 1 characters, and has come up as an Adversary that punches well above its weight when comparing it to the number of Battle Points (BP) it costs to put one out there.

I wanted to start with this Adversary because there are some things on this character sheet that are implied, but might be forgotten or ignored by those who are used to stat blocks that are more spelled out. It’s important to understand this because there are nuggets buried in each stat block that you should pay attention to.

It is an Acid BURROWER. It has digging claws, “Burrow” as one of its Motives & Tactics, “Tremor Sense” as an Experience, and an “Earth Eruption" action. While there are no specific rules in the core book for burrowing and moving during its Spotlight, all of these things point to it being able to move underground. You could describe it as a trembling of the ground (it is horse-sized after all) or even cartoonishly breaking up the earth as it moves beneath the characters’ feet. You might describe its hunting ground as being covered with sinkholes prior to the characters ever catching sight of one of these beasts, or that the ground (or caves, or fields, or forests) being scarred where its acidic spray might have melted things it came in contact with. We can gather all that from the keywords used in the stat block.

It has Relentless (3), which is huge, and sometimes trips up new GMs. Relentless allows you to spotlight the Acid Burrower three times per GM turn, but you must spend a Fear each time (unless it is the first Adversary spotlighted). This means it can potentially attack a lot. 

Now that we’ve addressed Relentless, we see that it can be spotlighted often during combat, but what is it doing during those spotlights? 

More likely than not, the Acid Burrower starts Hidden from the party so that it can burst from the ground using its Earth Eruption, marking a Stress to begin the combat. Any non-flying creature that it has knocked over is Vulnerable. Back up in the Motives & Tactics it says “drag away.” So that’s what it should try to do. Spend a Fear to spotlight the Acid Burrower a second time.

We’re going to improvise a little here and make an attack roll with advantage against a target that is Vulnerable. If this attack hits, then instead of doing damage we’ll Restrain the target and maybe even have them mark a Stress instead, especially because of what will happen next. Spend another Fear to spotlight it for its third time to make this horse-sized insect retract into its burrow with its meal. 

If all the characters succeeded against its Earth Eruption then it would use its Acid Spray on the adversaries in front of it on its next spotlight as a warning, then use its final spotlight to burrow away, waiting on another opportunity to strike. With its Tremor Sense experience, it knows where the party is as long as they’re not flying. In a forest, maybe the party might start having to climb trees and traverse the area without touching the ground.

Assuming it has snatched a character, its claws are now occupied and it has retreated into its narrow tunnel backwards. Why? The other characters are going to come after the Acid Burrower and it needs to be ready to fend off followers. Now might be a good time to describe the acrid smell of this insect and the darkness the restrained character finds themselves in and offer them the spotlight. If the character attempts to escape, use the Acid Burrower’s Difficulty for whichever action roll the character might attempt. Maybe they use their Strength to push away or their Finesse to wiggle free.

If characters jump into the tunnel the Acid Burrower has made, chasing after their comrade, you might (if you’re full on Fear) consider taking the spotlight back once a few have entered the tunnel to use its Spit Acid Action. This is great for enclosed spaces like an Acid Burrower’s tunnel. And if the characters get a hit off on this insect, remember the Acid Bath Reaction. If it has someone Restrained while others attack it, they are going to be in bad shape by the end of this battle, and it makes getting into Melee range of the Acid Burrower even more of a pain. In an enclosed space like a tunnel, I might only say it affects those in Melee range of the Acid Burrower instead of a Close range, but keep in mind the acid puddles that form, making staying in melee a dangerous proposition.

Daggerheart Deconstructed is written by Chris Davidson, author of RightKnight's Guide to Making Custom Adversaries, one of the authors of Incredible Creatures, and Additional Writer for the Daggerheart Core Rule Book.