Monsters of Magic The Gathering: Wurm

Wurms are flightless snake dragons. There, that's it, right? Except they aren't and describing them as such does a great disservice to these creatures. Wurm are the iconic 'big creature' for the Green color in Magic and you know you're in for some big, hungry sunnovabitch when something is the iconic 'big creature' in a color already know for large, primal beasts! Over the years they've become less and less dragon-like and increasingly more like giant worms.

Novablast Wurm by Michael Komarck.

"Okay Bob, I hear your say, you also wrote about Hellions so what's the big difference? They're both worm-thingies, right"? Well yes, they are both giant worm-shaped creatures. That is indeed true. However, the Wurm is to the color Green what the Dragon is to the color Red and that is a big deal.

Implementing Wurms into your game is all about making them the more primal, land-bound counterparts to dragons. Both creatures share a similar niche: they are giant, impossibly powerful monsters. However, here are some key points:

• Wurm are likely to grow larger than most dragons.
• Wurms usually have a burrow speed, as they never fly. The dragon may rule the air but the big bad Wurm? He's the king of the surface and underground.
• Dragons become more intelligent and cast spells the older they get. Wurms? Not so much. They only grow bigger, meaner and tougher. Fitting with the themes of Green in MTG, where a Dragon gain spells a Wurm gains an even stronger resistance to magic until it just bounce off it's armor-plated body.
• Some Wurm are blind. Doesn't really matter, as they can hunt by smell and vibration.
• Rather than a breath weapon (barring some exceptions), a Wurm would have the ability to roar and creating shockwaves or create earthquakes. This is it's more primal, simpler equivalent to the dragon's breath.

So what's the take on all this? Simple: think more wild animal or kaiju and less magnificent dragon. The Wurm is a Green creature, a monster of the earthy soil and primal forests.

Here's my quick attempt at putting together some Wurm stats in Basic Fantasy:

Armor Class:	18
No. Of Attacks:	1 Bite and 1 Tail
Movement	80’ Burrow, 60’
Save As:	Fighter of HD
Morale	9
Treasure Type:	H

Wurm Age Table
Age Category:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Hit Dice:	4	6	8	10	12	14	16
Attack Bonus:	+4	+5	+6	+7	+8	+9	+9
Damage Reduction:	1	2	2	2	3	3	4
Bite:	3d4	3d6	3d8	3d8	3d10	3d10	3d10
Tail:	1d8	1d10	1d10	1d10	2d6	2d6	2d6
Save vs Magic**:	+4	+4	+4	+5	+6	+7	+8

*A Wurm's saving throw versus spells increase with Age.