Creatures Creature Families Creature Abilities
Creature Adjustments Creature Templates

SFS Standard Diaspora Worm Creature 7

Resembling fanged eels with manes of tendrils instead of eyes, diaspora worms originally ruled the inky depths of the ocean that later became the icy planetoid Nisis. The worms' hostility toward trespassers and lack of observable speech lead most people to consider them mere beasts, but xenobiologists know the worms' tendrils respond to electromagnetic waves, which they manipulate to see, communicate, and interact with their surroundings. Bioelectric radiation from coral samples recovered from the worms' home reef documents millennia of worm culture and history from even before the Diaspora's formation.

Juvenile members of this species are sleek, sinuous, and nimble despite their size. Their electromagnetic manipulation lets them briefly change the molecular structure of water, making it murky like their original depths. Young worms tend to commit brazen attacks, requiring decades of experience to value more complex strategies.

Elite | Normal | Weak

Elite Weak Diaspora Worm Creature 7

Image of a diaspora worm
Source Alien Core pg. 172
Recall Knowledge DC 22 23 24 •
Beast (Arcana)
Beast (Nature)
Perception +15 (electromagnetic sight 300 feet, no vision)
Languages electrocommunication
Skills Athletics +17, Stealth +11, Survival +15
Str +4 Dex +6 Con +4 Int -2 Wis +2 Cha -1
Electrocommunication Diaspora worms communicate by shaping and reading electromagnetic fields. This functions like telepathy with creatures that share this ability.
Electromagnetic Sight Diaspora worms sense their surroundings by reading electromagnetic fields, including disruptions caused by creatures or objects. This is a precise sense within the listed range. Intense fields, such as areas emitting radiation or auras of electricity, make creatures within them concealed to the diaspora worm.
AC 24
Fort +15
Ref +17
Will +13
HP 117
Immunities paralyzed, sleep
Resistances cold 10
Electromagnetic Blindness Diaspora worms that take electricity damage must attempt a DC 23 Fortitude save.
Critical SuccessThe worm is unaffected.
SuccessThe worm is dazzled for 1 round.
FailureThe worm is blinded for 1 round.
Critical FailureThe worm is blinded for 1 round, then dazzled for 1 round.
Speed 5 feet, swim 40 feet
Melee [one-action] jaws +17 (reach 10 feet), Damage 2d10+8 piercing
Melee [one-action] tongue +19 (finessereach 30 feet), Damage tongue grab
Darkwater Veil [one-action] (darknessoccultwater) Requirements The diaspora worm is in water; Effect The worm alters the structure of water within a 10-foot emanation, forming light-absorbing nanotubes. This field moves with the worm and lasts for 1 minute. The emanation deactivates non-magical light sources and automatically attempts to counteract magical light (counteract rank 4, counteract modifier +17). This field also provides cover for creatures inside of it from those outside, and vice versa.
Swallow Whole [one-action] (attack) Medium, 1d10+8 bludgeoning, Rupture 12
Tongue Grab A creature hit by the diaspora worm's tongue becomes grabbed. A creature can sever the tongue with a Strike against AC 19 that deals at least 12 slashing damage. This prevents the worm from using its tongue Strike until it regrows its tongue, which takes 1 day.
Tongue Reel [one-action] (attack) Requirements The diaspora worm has grabbed a creature with its tongue; Effect The diaspora worm attempts to Reposition the grabbed creature toward the worm. If the grabbed creature is brought to within 10 feet or less of the worm, the worm can attempt to Swallow Whole the creature.

All Creatures in "Space Worm"

Space Worm

“Space worm” is a nonscientific term for a xenobiologically complex clade of invertebrate animals and beasts that make their home in the vastness of space. Some, like the diaspora and dust worms, show signs of intelligence and are directly related to each other. Others, like the surnoch, evolved separately, with their origins completely unknown to science.

Other Space Worms

Able to mutate and adapt to nearly any climate, many types of creatures that might be categorized as “space worms” exist across the galaxy, even if it's unclear how they're related to other space worms. Some can survive the depths of space, inhabiting small moons and asteroids or floating endlessly through the cosmos in search of hunting grounds. Others inhabit volcanoes, boiling deep sea trenches, and more mundane terrain on terrestrial planets. While typically solitary, space worms might band together to protect their hunting grounds from outside forces—especially other varieties of space worm.

Diaspora Worm Aggression

Diaspora worms have harassed settlements on Nisis for years, but the expansion of the planet's ice shell and the echoes of galaxy-wide events like the birth of the Newborn have coincided with an explosion of aggressive worm activity. Swarms of worms have flooded the River Between, with some specimens shedding their water dependence to claim new territory in a remarkable instance of accelerated evolution. Scholars suspect that the worms know their ancestral home is at risk of freezing permanently, provoking a surge of expansionism to preserve their species.

Worm Dialogue

Technologies that allow non-worms to communicate with Diaspora worms are complex and rare but highly effective at stopping a worm's attack. Diaspora worms are reluctant to harm the few creatures who speak their language.