Tarian Crawlers

Through no fault of your own, you find yourself lost deep underground.

Your torch is dwindling, you haven't seen natural light in quite some time, and panic is

beginning to set in.

Suddenly, you feel a slick tentacle lash across your arm, and as pain radiates outward

from the wound, you discover

you can no longer move.

You are paralyzed, and you now see what's connected to the tentacle, a nine-foot-long

bug, skittering on numerous legs towards you.

This is a carrion crawler, and you are soon to be its dinner, and also possibly a host for its

offspring.

Carrion crawlers aren't one of the more iconic creatures in D&D, but they certainly have

their place in the game's history, and are another one of the few creatures that Wizards

of the Coast doesn't allow people to freely use.

Let's take a closer look at these creepy crawlies.

Carrying crawlers go back to the first Dungeons and Dragon supplement in 1975,

Greyhawk, where they are described as corpse scavengers that use tentacles to paralyze victims.

That basic description would carry on throughout every iteration, as they would be featured

in the AD&D First Edition Monster Manual, the D&D Basic Set, the Second Edition Monstrous

Compendium, and every initial Monster Manual for each following edition.

They would also be featured in other D&D games, such as Baldersgate 1 and 2.

The Dragon magazine published an article on the ecology of the Carrying Crawlers in their 267th edition in 2000.

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