Editing Rot Grub

[[File:Rot grub swarm.png|thumb|Nurgle has considered suing for copyright infringement over these guys]]
'''Rot Grubs''' are a species of voracious, predatory annelids native to the worlds of [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. They were born when [[Gygax]] realised that there were ''no'' hiding places too foul or disgusting for his players to overlook in pursuit of treasure, so he came up with a [[Gotcha Monster]] just to punish them. Rot Grubs are maggot-like scavengers that infest offal, dung, carrion, and similar masses of decomposing organic matter; when disturbed, they will launch themselves at living flesh, burrowing rapidly inside and then chewing a quick but painful route to their host's heart. Unless burned or cut out (which could kill you), they would reach the heart and then eat it within a number of rounds/turns, which would most certainly kill you.

Often considered one of the nastiest - and most embarrassing - ways to lose a PC, especially given how overpowered their abilities were in earlier editions of the game. The <strike>Sons</strike>Spawn of [[Kyuss]] were created when Michael Mcdonald, a reader of White Dwarf Magazine decided "hey, rot grubs are fun; but it'd be even more fun if anyone they kill then turns into a worm-infested [[wight]] who can infect the other players with rot grubs too!"

This nasty little bug first appeared in the 1977 [[Monster Manual]]. [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] would flesh this out (or, in) in "The Ecology of the Rot Grub" [[Dragon Magazine]] #122 (June 1987). Second Edition carried this to the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) and then in the Monstrous Manual (1993), both times under the "Worm" entry. [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|3e]] didn't get around to it at first, such that it became a ''[[Tome of Horrors]]'' opportunity; much later in 2007, Hasbro restored it, in singular and swarm versions, for [[Environment Book Series|Dungeonscape]]. This would set a precedent; it likewise wouldn't show up in [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition|4e]] until the [[Monster Manual]] 3 and the [[Book of Vile Darkness]], and was delayed until [[Volo's Guide to Monsters]] to make its [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition|5e]] debut.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Rot grub attack.jpg
Rot grub 1.jpg
Rot grub MCV2.jpg
Rot grub PF.png|Pathfinder
Rog Grub 5e.jpeg|5e Grubs infested Zombie
</gallery>

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category: Monsters]]