Piercer: Death From Above

Some mad genius at Wizards of the Coast really said, “Hey, why not have a weird slug think that disguises itself as a stalactite?” And then they made that. And they put it in the game. And I have nothing but respect for everyone involved in that process.

Lore: They Are the Ceiling

Clinging to the ceilings beneath the earth, piercers are indistinguishable from ordinary stone. When an unsuspecting victim steps beneath them, they leave their perch and… do as their name suggests.

Piercers are the larval form of another monster called a roper. As such, the two often coordinate their attacks. How?

Dunno. The book forgets about that and starts talking about the piercer’s skin.

While piercers can see, they mainly respond to noise and heat to decide when to strike. Should they miss their shot, they must make its way back up the ceiling slowly. In order to protect itself, it secretes a foul-smelling slime that wards off predators. To maximize hunting success, they’ll gather in colonies; when one piercer slays its prey, the others will swarm the corpse and join in the feast.

This lore is incredibly underwhelming. You can write a single encounter out of it, but that’s all. If you’re looking for a central monster for a deep or entertaining D&D story, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Design: Slug Needle Death Thing

This thing is horrifying and all, but I can’t help but grin when I look at its big wide eye and flat mouth. It just looks so silly when you look at it like that!

I love this thing’s design. It fits the lore (such as it is) incredibly well. If this thing were hanging on a dark ceiling rather than laying on the floor, it would be indistinguishable from a normal stalactite. Dude legit looks like a rock.

Is its face really funny? Yeah. But if this thing is falling at you like a bullet from above, then it’s gonna stop bein’ funny real fast.

Stats: Death From Above

You know those slime things from Dark Souls? The ones that drop on top of you in the Catacombs? Yeah, it’s that.

This is far from a dangerous monster. Both its AC and HP are really low, so your players ought to be able to kill it really quickly. Its primary attack only works if something is standing right beneath it. If it misses, hell even if it hits, it has to climb all the way back up to try again.

Oh, and it takes fall damage each time it tries. Poor bastard might just kill itself before it kills anyone in your party.

Now, to be fair, its Drop attack, if successful, can be really dangerous. For every 10 feet it falls, it does an extra 1d6 damage, capping out at 21(6d6). For an early game player, that can be pretty devastating.

But considering they have a climbing speed of 5 ft per round? It stops being scary after that first time.

Throw enough of these at your players and it could make for a pretty intense encounter. They’ve got to watch the roof of the cave while fighting off the piercers that land around them. All the while, the ones they missed begin their trek back up to try again. It may not be a particularly fun fight, but it can make for a quick scare and it is at least more creative than those ‘hit it ’till it dies’ fights.

Placement

This is definitely one of the weaker monsters on the list. Its design is pretty good, and its stats could make for a worse fight, even if it still isn’t a spectacular one. But that lore is just nothing.

With all that in mind, the Piercer is going to #106 on the Best of the Bestiary!

1. Beholder
2. Death Tyrant
3. Mind Flayer
4. Dragon Turtle
5. Mummy/Mummy Lord
6. Nagas (all three of ’em)
7. Green Dragons
8. Red Dragons
9. Blue Dragons
10. Black Dragons
11. White Dragons
12. Silver Dragons
13. Couatl
14. Behir
15. Aboleth
16. Sea Hag
17. Lamia
18. Bronze Dragons
19. Brass Dragons
20. Copper Dragons
21. Gold Dragons
22. Chuul
23. Kuo-Toa
24. Gibbering Mouther
25. Kraken
26. Intellect Devourer
27. Chimera
28. Death Knight
29. Fomorian
30. Bone Devil
31. Dracolich
32. Faerie Dragon
33. Gelatinous Cube
34. Lich
35. Peryton
36. Orcs (all four of ’em)
37. Magmin
38. Kobold
39. Kenku
40. Hobgoblins
41. Night Hag
42. Green Hag
43. Black Pudding
44. Ankheg
45. Hook Horror
46. Oni
47. Storm Giant
48. Hill Giant
49. Empyrean
50. Efreeti
51. Grimlock
52. Minotaur
53. Dao
54. Cloud Giant
55. Manticore
56. Drow (all four of ’em)
57. Shadow Demon
58. Modrons (all five of ’em)
59. Marilith
60. Drider
61. Aarackockra
62. Azer
63. Demilich
64. Spectator
65. Gray Ooze
66. Ochre Jelly
67. Hydra
68. Marid
69. Harpy
70. Werejackal
71. Otyugh
72. Half-Dragon
73. Cambion
74. Fire Giant
75. Nothic
76. Animated Armor
77. Banshee
78. Basilisk
79. Yochlol
80. Bulette
81. Cloaker
82. Darkmantle
83. Doppelganger
84. Ghoul and Ghast
85. Ettin
86. Medusa
87. Pit Fiend
88. Erinyes
89. Chain Devil
90. Bearded Devil
91. Barbed Devil
92. Spined Devil
93. Ice Devil
94. Mimic
95. Djinni
96. Merrow
97. Nalfeshnee
98. Glabrezu
99. Chasme
100. Grell
101. Barlgura
102. Horned Devil
103. Balor
104. Shadow Dragon
105. Myconids (all four of ’em)
106. Piercer <—————-
107. Werebear
108. Lizardfolk
109. Vrock
110. Dretch
111. Gnolls (all three)
112. Goristro
113. Hezrou
114. Manes
115. Frost Giant
116. Weretiger
117. Werewolf
118. Duergar
119. Quasit
120. Dryad
121. Flumph
122. Goblin
123. Nightmare
124. Wereboar
125. Wererat
126. Githyanki
127. Owlbear
128. Planetar
129. Imp
130. Ogres/Half-ogres
131. Clay Golem
132. Flameskull
133. Displacer Beast
134. Carrion Crawler
135. Githzerai
136. Grick
137. Invisible Stalker
138. Rug of Smothering
139. Bugbear Chief
140. Bugbear
141. Flesh Golem
142. Vine Blight
143. Twig Blight
144. Needle Blight
145. Mephits (all six of ’em)
146. Bullywug
147. Hellhound
148. Ettercap
149. Gas Spore
150. Cockatrice
151. Lemure
152. Homonculus
153. Merfolk
154. Solar
155. Deva
156. Gorgon
157. Hippogriff
158. Griffon
159. Cyclops
160. Centaur
161. Ghost
162. Pegasus
163. Fire Elemental
164. Water Elemental
165. Air Elemental
166. Stone Giant
167. Deep Gnome
168. Dinosaurs (All six of them)
169. Iron Golem
170. Stone Golem
171. Earth Elemental
172. Galeb Duhr
173. Helmed Horror
174. Flying Sword
175. Crawling Claw
176. Violet Fungus
177. Shrieker
178. Gargoyle