.Vile Vermin
As often happens, editors had to prune a few bits from my Book of Vile Darkness manuscript for space reasons. I thought I'd resurrect a couple of those bits here.

The giant cockroach and giant maggot descriptions were cut from Chapter Eight: Evil Monsters -- if you look hard enough, you might still find references to one of them elsewhere in the book!

Thanks to Bill Slavicsek at Wizards of the Coast for allowing us to post these vermin. They're sure to add to the overall ookiness of your campaign.

GIANT COCKROACH
Medium Vermin
Hit Dice: 4d8+12 (30 hp)
Initiative: +4 (Dex)
Speed: 40 ft.
AC: 20 (+4 Dex, +6 natural)
Attacks: Bite +8 melee
Damage: Bite 1d6+5
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Stench
Special Qualities: Tremorsense, vermin
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 21, Dex 18, Con 16, Int --, Wis 10, Cha 2
Skills: Climb +17, Hide +14, Move Silently +10
Feats: Power Attack

Climate/Terrain: Temperate and warm land and underground
Organization: Swarm (3-10) or aggregate (11-20)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 5-8 HD (Medium), 8-16 HD (Large)

Exceedingly dangerous, giant cockroaches are fast, resilient, and tough. They usually live in areas near water, and often where decaying organic material can be found. In truth, however, one can find them anywhere it is warm.

Giant cockroaches vary in appearance from brown to black to gray. They are oblong, with six legs and very long antennae. Their exoskeleton usually has a shiny or oily appearance due to their secretions.

A few types of giant cockroach can fly with average maneuverability and a speed of 60.

COMBAT
Giant cockroaches are far more aggressive than their normal-sized cousins, belligerently attacking almost anything that moves.

Stench (Ex): Cockroaches secrete from various glands oily chemicals that nearly every form of animal life finds offensive. All creatures (except cockroaches) within 30 feet of the vermin must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 15) or be overcome with nausea. This effect lasts for 10 rounds and deals 1d6 points of temporary Strength damage.

Tremorsense (Ex): Giant cockroaches can automatically sense the location of anything within 60 feet that is in contact with the ground.

Vermin: Immune to mind-influencing effects.

GIANT MAGGOT
Small Vermin
Hit Dice: 2d8+2 (11 hp)
Initiative: +1 (Dex)
Speed: 20 ft.
AC: 13 (+1 size, +1 Dex, +1 natural)
Attacks: Bite +2 melee
Damage: Bite 1d3
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: None
Special Qualities: Vermin
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +0
Abilities: Str 7, Dex 13, Con 13, Int --, Wis 10, Cha 2
Skills: Climb +10, Hide +13, Spot +10
Feats: Weapon Finesse (bite)

Climate/Terrain: Temperate and warm land and underground
Organization: Swarm (2-5) or infestation (6-11)
Challenge Rating: 1/2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 3-4 HD (Small), 5-8 HD (Large)

Giant maggots are larval forms of various giant insects. They feed on decaying living matter, and are thus found around corpses of large beasts and other creatures -- hydras, dragons, giants, dinosaurs and so on -- as well as in large amounts of excrement or decaying plant matter.

The life span of the giant maggot is short. They hatch from shiny white eggs about 1 foot long and over the course of two weeks grow to about 3 feet in length before entering into their insect form.

These creatures appear to be white or gray worms, sometimes with tiny legs that make them look like pale caterpillars. Some types of maggots can live and breathe in water.

COMBAT
Giant maggots attack living creatures in self-defense, or, occasionally, as predators if food in the local area becomes scarce.

Vermin: Immune to mind-influencing effects.

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