Severed Appendages with Malicious Will
Habitat: Any; Treasure: None
Swarms of crawling claws are typically animated by depraved necromancers. Occasionally, these grotesque swarms arise from mass graves or after tragedies, refusing to let their murderers escape their grasp.
Crawling claws are severed hands that move and act of their own murderous accord. These deathless appendages can spring to life from the severed limbs of killers and villains, and sinister magic-users might animate crawling claws as foul servants. Crawling claws appear in a variety of forms, from decaying human hands to the fresh appendages of animals or monsters.
Is it possible for any creature, any living being, to be inherently evil? Such an assertion may itself facilitate the committing of evil acts. By defining a person as evil, we give them free rein to behave as they will, absolving them from the wickedness of their words and the evil of their hands.
—Ansolm Haas, The Isolation of Evil
Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature’s space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a Tiny creature. The swarm can’t regain Hit Points or gain Temporary Hit Points.
Swarm of Grasping Hands. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 5 ft. Hit: 20 (4d8 + 2) Necrotic damage, or 11 (2d8 + 2) Necrotic damage if the swarm is Bloodied. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it has the Prone condition.
