Ant, Giant (Knight)

This hulking, wide-headed ant is the size of a horse, its antennae twitching and mandibles scarred.

Knight Ant CR 4

XP 1,200
N Large vermin
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent, tremorsense 30 ft.; Perception +1

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 9, flat-footed 17 (+8 natural, –1 size)
hp 42 (4d8+24)
Fort +9, Ref +1, Will +2
Immune mind-affecting effects

OFFENSE

Speed 50 ft., burrow 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee bite +7 (1d8+5 plus grab), sting +7 (1d6+5 plus poison)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

STATISTICS

Str 20, Dex 10, Con 21, Int —, Wis 13, Cha 11
Base Atk +3; CMB +9 (+13 grapple); CMD 19 (27 vs. trip)
Feats Coordinated Defense B, Toughness B
Skills Climb +13
SQ hive guard

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Hive Guard (Ex)

Knight ants gain Coordinated Defense as a bonus feat, and giant ants from the same colony also gain this feat when adjacent to a knight ant. As a standard action, a knight ant can use its oversized head to provide total cover to creatures behind it or sharing its space, as if wielding a tower shield.

Poison (Ex)

Sting—injury; save Fort DC 17; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d4 Str; cure 1 save.

ECOLOGY

Environment any warm
Organization solitary, pair, scouting party (2 plus 1d4 giant ants), colony (3–8 plus 10–100 workers, 3–12 soldiers, and 1 queen)
Treasure none

Giant ants are as industrious as their normal-sized kin. While their nests generally don’t consist of thousands, their greatly increased size more than compensates.

Knight ants use pheromones to organize the complex work and protection of their colonies, identifying insects of their own or allied colonies and warding off intruders. They have a specialized physiology, including both enhanced pheromone glands and an especially wide, oversized head. The sheer size of its head allows a knight ant to block off entire tunnels within the hive in order to protect its fellow ants. It remains in place long enough to fend off invaders, even at the cost of its own life.

A knight ant is 10 feet long and weighs approximately 1,100 pounds. Its head is 7 feet across, and the flanges on the sides make it appear slightly concave.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 5 © 2015, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, John Bennett, Logan Bonner, Creighton Broadhurst, Robert Brookes, Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Thurston Hillman, Eric Hindley, Joe Homes, James Jacobs, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Ben McFarland, Jason Nelson, Thom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Alistair Rigg, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Wes Schneider, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, Mike Shel, James L. Sutter, and Linda Zayas-Palmer.

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