Formian

Formians hail from the plane of Mechanus. They seek to colonize all that they see and incorporate all living things into their hive as workers.

Expansionist in the extreme, formians are dedicated to spreading their colonies until they have taken over everything and their order is unquestioned. To further this end, they attack all other creatures, usually to put them to work building and expanding cities. Formians maintain these “conscripted” workers as well as those mentally dominated by the power of their taskmasters.

A formian resembles a cross between an ant and a centaur. All formians are covered in a brownish-red carapace; size and appearance differs for each variety.

Combat

Formians are generally aggressive, seeking to subdue all they encounter. If they perceive even the slightest threat to their hive-city or to their queen, they attack immediately and fight to the death. Any formian also attacks immediately if ordered to do so by a superior.

Hive Mind (Ex): All formians within 50 miles of their queen are in constant communication. If one is aware of a particular danger, they all are. If one in a group is not flatfooted, none of them are. No formian in a group is considered flanked unless all of them are.

Formian Society

Formians build fabulous hive-cities in which hundreds of the creatures dwell. They are born into their station, with no ability to progress. Workers obey orders given by warriors, myrmarchs, or the queen. Warriors carry out the will of their myrmarch commanders or the queen. Myrmarchs take orders only from the queen herself, although they have different ranks depending on services rendered. These are not positions of power but of prestige. The most prestigious of the myrmarchs guard the queen. Taskmasters are equal in rank to warriors but seldom interact with other formians.

The statistics block below contains details for more than one shape, size, or type of this creature. Use the horizontal scrollbar below it to display the desired one or select from the links below that. Hyperlinks in the names at the top of the column link to descriptions below.

Worker • Warrior • Taskmaster • Myrmarch • Queen

Worker

This creature is about the size of a jackal or bulldog. It looks like an ant, but holds its head and thorax upright. It has humanlike shoulders and arms ending in rudimentary hands with blunt claws.

Workers are the lowest-ranking and most common formians. They exist only to serve, performing all the necessary, lowly tasks that the hive needs done.

While workers cannot speak, they can convey simple concepts (such as danger) by body movements. Through the hive mind, however, they can communicate just fine—although their intelligence still limits the concepts that they can grasp.

A worker is about 3 feet long and about 2½ feet high at the front. It weighs about 60 pounds. Its hands are suitable only for manual labor.

Combat

Formian workers fight only to defend their hive-cities, using their mandibled bite.

A formian worker’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Cure Serious Wounds (Sp): Eight workers together can heal a creature’s wounds as though using the cure serious wounds spell (caster level 7th). This is a full-round action for all eight workers.

Make Whole (Sp): Three workers together can repair an object as though using the make whole spell (caster level 7th). This is a full-round action for all three workers.

Warrior

This creature is about the size of a pony. It looks like an ant, but holds its head and thorax upright. Its mouth features powerful-looking mandibles. The creature has humanlike shoulders and arms ending in powerful hands with sharp claws. Its abdomen bears a stinger.

Formian warriors exist only to fight.

Warriors rank only slightly above workers. They communicate through the hive mind to convey battle plans and make reports to their commanders. They cannot speak otherwise.

A warrior is about is about 5 feet long and about 4½ feet high at the front. It weighs about 180 pounds.

Combat

Warriors are wicked combatants, using claws, bite, and a poisonous sting all at once. Through the hive mind, they attack with coordinated and extremely efficient tactics.

A formian warrior’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 14, initial and secondary damage 1d6 Str. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Taskmaster

This creature is about the size of a pony. It looks like an ant, but holds its head and thorax upright. It does not appear to have a mouth. The creature has humanlike shoulders and arms ending in powerful hands with sharp claws. Its abdomen bears a stinger.

Taskmasters resemble warriors with no mandibles⁠—​no apparent mouth at all, in fact. These formians communicate only telepathically and derive sustenance from the mental energies of those they dominate.

A taskmaster’s duty is to gather and control nonformians for integration into the hive. Put simply, taskmasters enslave other creatures. They do not enjoy controlling others but believe it is the only efficient way to spread the hive to all places, a desirable end for all rational creatures. If a taskmaster can manage to “conscript” a laborer without using its dominate monster ability, it will do so.

Those few souls who have escaped refer to formian hive-cities as “work pits.” While formians are not cruel, they are still emotionless⁠—​and pitiless.

A taskmaster is about the same size as a warrior.

Combat

Taskmasters rely on their dominated slaves to fight for them if at all possible. If necessary, though, they can defend themselves with claws and a poison sting.

A formian taskmaster’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Dominate Monster (Su): A taskmaster can use a dominate monster ability as the spell from a 10th-level caster (Will DC 17 negates), although the subject may be of any kind and may be up to Large size. Creatures that successfully save cannot be affected by the same taskmaster’s dominate monster ability for 24 hours. A single taskmaster can dominate up to four subjects at a time. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Dominated Creature (Ex): A taskmaster is never encountered alone. One dominated nonformian creature always accompanies it (choose or determine randomly any creature of CR 4).

Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 15, initial and secondary damage 1d6 Str. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Myrmarch

This creature is about the size of a light horse. It looks like an ant, but holds its head and thorax upright. Its mouth features powerful-looking mandibles, and it wears an elaborate bronze helmet. The creature has humanlike shoulders and arms ending in humanlike hands. Its abdomen bears a stinger.

Myrmarchs are the elite of formian society. Much more than those beneath them, these creatures are individuals, with goals, desires, and creative thought. Very rarely do these thoughts conflict with the wishes of the queen, though⁠—​most myrmarchs are still very loyal to her.

Myrmarchs are commanders in formian armies and leaders in formian communities. They are the hands of the queen, carrying out her direct orders and making sure everything goes as she desires. Myrmarchs also have a secondary role: stamping out chaos wherever and whenever they can. Those who foment disorder, and particularly creatures that revere or exemplify it (such as slaadi), are the hated foes of myrmarchs.

A myrmarch is about is about 7 feet long and about 5½ feet high at the front. It weighs about 1,500 pounds. Its claws are capable of fine manipulation, like human hands. Each myrmarch wears a bronze helm to signify its position (the more elaborate the helm, the more prestigious the position).

Myrmarchs speak Formian and Common.

Combat

Myrmarchs’ claws are like hands and thus serve no combat purpose. Myrmarchs occasionally employ javelins for ranged attacks, coated with poison from their own stingers.

They fight intelligently, aiding those under them (if any such are present) and commanding them through the hive mind. If chaotic creatures are present, however, a myrmarch is single-minded in its quest to destroy them.

A formian myrmarch’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 20, initial and secondary damage 2d6 Dex. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Spell-Like Abilities: At will⁠—​charm monster (DC 17), clairaudience/clairvoyance, detect chaos, detect thoughts (DC 15), magic circle against chaos, greater teleport; 1/day⁠—​dictum (DC 20), order’s wrath (DC 17). Caster level 12th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Queen

This creature looks like a gigantic, bloated ant. Its legs seem atrophied and nonfunctional.

The formian queen sits at the center of the hive-city, her bloated form never moving from the royal chamber. She is served and guarded by the most loyal myrmarchs.

The formian queen cannot move. With her telepathic abilities, though, she can send instructions to and get reports from any formian within her range. She is about 10 feet long, perhaps 4 feet high, and weighs about 3,500 pounds.

The queen speaks Formian and Common, although she can communicate with any creature telepathically.

Combat

The queen does not fight. She has no ability to move. If necessary, a team of workers and myrmarchs (or dominated slaves) haul her enormous bulk to where she needs to go. This sort of occurrence is very rare, however, and most of the time the queen remains within her well-defended chambers.

Despite her utter lack of physical activity, the queen can cast spells and use spell-like abilities to great effect in her own defense as well as the defense of the hive-city.

Spells: The queen casts arcane spells as a 17th-level sorcerer.

Typical Sorcerer Spells Known (6/8/7/7/7/7/6/6/4, base save DC 15 + spell level): 0⁠—​acid splash, arcane mark, daze, detect magic, light, mage hand, read magic, resistance, touch of fatigue; 1st⁠—​comprehend languages, identify, mage armor, magic missile, shield; 2nd⁠—​hypnotic pattern, invisibility, protection from arrows, resist energy, scorching ray; 3rd⁠—​dispel magic, heroism, nondetection, slow; 4th⁠—​black tentacles, confusion, detect scrying, scrying; 5th⁠—​cone of cold, dismissal, teleport, wall of force; 6th⁠—​analyze dweomer, geas/quest, repulsion; 7th⁠—​summon monster VII, vision, waves of exhaustion; 8th⁠—​prismatic wall, temporal stasis.

Spell-Like Abilities: At will⁠—​calm emotions (DC 17), charm monster (DC 19), clairaudience/clairvoyance, detect chaos, detect thoughts, dictum (DC 22), divination, hold monster (DC 20), magic circle against chaos, order’s wrath (DC 19), shield of law (DC 23), true seeing. Caster level 17th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Telepathy (Su): The queen can communicate telepathically with any intelligent creature within 50 miles whose presence she is aware of.

Source: Monster Manual (version 3.5), page 108.