Creatures I enjoyed reading about that subsist on metallic gear.

Reading about the Rust Monster from DnD and the Feeder/Knifewyrm from Dragonlance has me interested in creatures that depend on an adventurer's equipment or need for equipment to survive and spread instead of conventional ways. Mimicry, burrowing, converting metal to rust; There'd be a lot of interesting ways for a creature to subsist or otherwise use equipment as a facet of its survival; Maybe a symbiotic creature that latches consumes a sword's hilt and acts as a grip that is lighter/sturdier/ergonomic to consume the blade from within but emits magic as a byproduct? Have you homebrewed any creatures that's life revolves around gear items? I'd like to hear it!

My homebrew metal-eating translucent termites.

I was thinking about how gear found in damp caves/dungeons should have wear & tear on them and thought up a creature that makes time-worn equipment look new, to consume more equipment later on. It is a dungeon pest that capitalizes on adventurers expecting to find spotless gear in time-worn subterranean ruins, like a distant relative to the rust monster that's the size of mites and crawls out of the walls in translucent swarms after a sword or other metal piece of equipment lays in a dungeon for long enough of time, then it consumes all of the rust and signs of aging/dulling then inconspicously eats the inside of the sword hollowing it out (leaving an incredibly small hole needing a perception check to spot?) and then hibernating inside waiting for an adventurer to pick it up and hopefully keep it (maybe the light weight is a sign of a speed enchantment? Or masterful balancing and superior materials? Maybe a legendary blade endowed with many mighty enchantments, the least of them being immunity to rust and dulling?) Then awaking at a sign of movement (whether a few meters of travel on foot or a the intense movement of combat should wake them is up to preference) and infesting the rest of his metallic gear. Since the mites are translucent they should be the same color of the metal they've eaten and said color should diminish depending on how long they've hibernated, adding another cool description to the players who enjoy observing monsters. Also noticing the mites only after they've hollowed out a weapon sounds sick; along with if the mites just recently hollowed out a weapon, it could look like liquid metal is flowing from the sword and overtaking an adventurer's belongings! Maybe the weight altering affect should change based on how full the weapon is of mites and how much metal is still in the mites, It starts at normal weight than progressively gets lighter as the metal digests? Maybe their stomach acid emit a glow as they digest the metal (or glowing excrement?), giving the blade a faint glow to make it look enchanted/magical? Then again it'd depend on how thoroughly they've hollowed out the sword before hibernating, the sword could shatter on impact as opposed to just being lighter? (AC/DMG malus or total equipment destruction? Maybe you could get a wizard to use a controlled amount of these to shave off unneeded weight?)

The Ax handle hound eats wooden handles soaked with sweat. They were first named by lumberjacks, whose ax handles they liked to eat. The silhouette if its weird wedge-shaped head and thin spindly body looks vaguely like an ax too, allowing them to blend in under poor lighting.

(I didn't homebrew this. It's a fearsome critter from Pacific Northwest lumberjack lore.)

I've always been partial to rust monsters and aurumvoraxes. Nothing gets adventuring parties quite so rattled as the prospect of critters that will eat their equipment and their treasure. Never did a homebrew but I'd love to see what people have up their sleeves.

I don't believe I have ever used a monster that eats equipment, drains levels, permanently reduces stats, or any other such git behavior. Adventuring is tough and scary enough, without Dm-God also kicking you in the balls.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on July 29, 2023, 01:55:44 PM
The Ax handle hound eats wooden handles soaked with sweat. They were first named by lumberjacks, whose ax handles they liked to eat. The silhouette if its weird wedge-shaped head and thin spindly body looks vaguely like an ax too, allowing them to blend in under poor lighting.

(I didn't homebrew this. It's a fearsome critter from Pacific Northwest lumberjack lore.)

Myths and tales make for solid creature concepts, I oughta read some folklore books to get some ideas for some obscure creatures. Cool folklore!; Sounds like a tale made to scare off loggers if anything else though.