Howler Wasp

Image by Steve Prescott, © Wizards of the Coast. Accessed at the Monster Manual IV Art Gallery here

[Oh, Monster Manual IV. It was widely reviled by the fan community at the time, and it does have some questionable decisions. The sample lairs, the 50 pages devoted to Spawn of Tiamat. But there’s a fair amount of cool monsters to be found within it, and it’s generally much better balanced than MMIII.]

Howler Wasp
Hovering in the air is a creature with the head of a
monkey and the body of a great insect. Its forelimbs are sickle-shaped claws,
and venom beads from its stinger menacingly.

Howler wasps are
the creation of an eccentric wizard, having been intended as guard animals but
having escaped captivity and spread throughout the world. They are noisy and
territorial creatures, and fight violently to protect their hives. Such hives
are made out of thin layers of material similar to those of paper wasps, but
this “paper” frequently contains bone meal and the hides of their victims as
well as wood pulp and mud. Howler wasps are carnivores, and provision their
larvae with ample supplies of meat to fuel their growth.

In combat, howler
wasps typically seek to overwhelm an enemy with multiple attacks. They are
intelligent enough to rely on flanking tactics, and several of them typically
swarm the same opponent at once. If a howler wasp is overwhelmed, it frequently
will spray pheromones on its aggressor. These chemicals are all but undetectable
to most creatures, but inspire other howler wasps to even more furious
violence.

Howler Wasp Queen
This bloated, bear-sized creature has an insect-like
body with the head of a baboon and claws like scythes. Its wings seem too small
to lift it off of the ground, but they buzz furiously.

The queen of a
howler wasp hive is not born different—instead, she climbs to her position
through increased diet and by bullying her way to the top. Any howler wasp
female can become a queen, and failed queens are sometimes found roaming
outside of a hive, having achieved their tremendous growth but being unable to
destroy their rival. Howler wasp queens are rarely found outside the hive
otherwise, and they are always attended by other howler wasps that feed with
her, mate with her and rear her babies.

Howler Wasp     CR
1
XP 400
CN Small
aberration
Init +1; Senses
darkvision 60 ft., Perception +5
Defense
AC 13, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+1 size, +1
Dex, +1 natural)
hp 11 (2d8+2)
Fort +1, Ref
+2, Will +4
Offense
Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)
Melee bite +3 (1d3-1), 2 claws +3 (1d4-1),
sting +3 (1d3-1 plus poison)
Ranged inciting pheromone +3 touch (incite)
Statistics
Str 9, Dex
13, Con 12, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +1; CMB
-1; CMD 10 (14 vs. trip)
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Fly +11, Perception +5
Ecology
Environment warm and temperate land
Organization solitary, pair, raid (3-16) or hive
(16-64 plus 1 queen)
Treasure incidental
Special Abilities
Inciting Pheromone (Ex) Once per day as a
swift action, a howler wasp can spray pheromones on a target to encourage its
peers to attack it. Treat this as a ranged touch attack with a range of 15 feet
and no range increment. A creature struck by this pheromone is not injured in
any way, but howler wasps and howler wasp queens gain a +2 morale bonus to
attack rolls and damage rolls against it for 10 minutes. The pheromone can be
washed off with at least a gallon of water.
Poison (Ex) Injury—sting; save Fort DC 12; effect 1d3
Dex damage; duration 1/round for 4
rounds; cure 1 save. The save DC is
Constitution based.

Howler Wasp Queen       CR
6
XP 2,400
CN Large
aberration
Init +4; Senses
darkvision 60 ft., Perception +11
Defense
AC 17, touch 9, flat-footed 17 (-1 size, +8 natural)
hp 68 (8d8+32)
Fort +6, Ref
+2, Will +7
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee bite +10 (1d6+5), 2 claws +10 (1d8+5 plus
grab), sting +10 (1d6+5 plus poison)
Ranged inciting pheromone +5 touch (incite)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with claws)
Statistics
Str 21,
Dex 11, Con 18, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +6; CMB
+12 (+16 grapple); CMD 22 (26
vs. trip)
Feats Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception), Vital Strike
Skills Acrobatics +7 (+15 when jumping), Perception +11
SQ wing assist
Ecology
Environment warm and temperate land
Organization solitary or hive (1 plus 16-64 howler
wasps)
Treasure incidental
Special Abilities
Inciting Pheromone (Ex) See above. A
howler wasp queen may use its inciting pheromone three times per day.
Poison (Ex) Injury—sting; save Fort DC 18; effect 1d4
Dex damage; duration 1/round for 4
rounds; cure 2 saves. The save DC is
Constitution based.
Wing Assist (Ex) Although a howler wasp queen
cannot fly, its wings do help support its weight. It gains a +8 racial bonus on
Acrobatics checks made to jump, and never takes damage from falling.