Giant Centipedes

When hunting, centipedes use their natural coloration to remain un-seen until they can drop on their prey from above or crawl out of hiding in pur-suit of food. They attack by biting their foe and injecting a paralytic poison. Their poison can paralyze a victim for 2-12 (2d6) hours, but is so weak that vic-tims of a centipede bite are permitted a +4 bonus to their saving throw. Due to its own small size, the giant centipede is less likely to resist at-tacks and receives a -1 penalty to all its saving throws. Although a single giant centipede rarely constitutes a serious threat to a man, these creatures frequently travel in groups. When more than one centipede is encountered, the monsters will fight independently, even to the point of fighting among themselves over fallen victims.

The centipede behaves like most other insects, roving from place to place in search of food. It has no set territory or dwelling. The centipede simply goes where its hunger leads it. It is an aggressive and hungry carnivore that must eat at least once a day to survive. Hungry cen-tipedes will sometimes turn to cannibalism.

Giant centipedes have several natural advantages, such as their poison and protective coloration, which allows them to compete with other small predators for game. Their poison confers upon them a certain immunity from being hunted, but hungry and skilled animals such as wolves and large predatory birds have been known to hunt them effec-tively in lean times. Their preferred targets are small mammals which can be easily over-come by their very weak poison. If they are very hungry, however, they have been known to attack anything that moves, including humans.