Purple worm

Publication history

The purple worm was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the D&D game.

Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)

The purple worm was one of the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974), where they were described as huge and hungry monsters that lurk beneath the surface.

The mottled worm, a relative of the purple worm, first appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Blackmoor (1975).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

The purple worm appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as a 50-foot-long (15 m) burrowing worm constantly in search of food, that can swallow human-sized creatures whole.

The mottled (purple) worm appeared in Dragon #68 (December 1982).

Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)

This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the purple worm, in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977), the Expert Set (1981 & 1983), and the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

The purple worm appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989), and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993), along with the mottled purple worm.

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

The purple worm appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000).

The purple worm is further detailed in Dragon #282 (April 2001), in "The Ecology of the Purple Worm."

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)

The purple worm appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003).

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-2014)

The purple worm appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008). It was later revised in the Monster Vault set released under the D&D Essentials brand (2010).

Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition (2014-)

The purple worm appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2014).

Description

The purple worm is akin to an enormous (5 feet wide and tall and 80 feet long) and bizarre earthworm. As its name implies, it is a deep purple color, with a pale yellow underbelly. Separating the yellow part from the purple are hard crests extending down its sides. It is well armored and segmented. One end terminates in a large toothed mouth with slit-like eyes above it and dragon's ear-like limbs at the sides; at the other end is a deadly stinger. The creature is often depicted as bursting out of the ground and arching itself in a distinctive pose.

Purple worms spend their time burrowing through the underground and seek to consume any organic matter they find. Their favored and most feared method of attack is swallowing prey whole. Many groups of adventurers have succumbed to such a fate, disappearing down a purple worm's gullet one after the other. They can also attack with their tail stinger, and by grabbing and grappling with prey.

Purple worms cannot speak. They are regarded as neutral in alignment, since their aggressive nature is the result of instinct rather than maliciousness.

Novels

A battle with a purple worm that has swallowed a powerful magic sword is described in the novel Extinction by Lisa Smedman.

Other publishers

The purple worm is fully detailed in Paizo Publishing's book Dungeon Denizens Revisited (2009), on pages 40–45.