Purple worm
Gargantuan monstrosity · Challenge 15
For four level 12 characters, 1 purple worm is a Moderate fight under the 2024 rules.
How many purple worms for a party of four?
The most purple worms that fit each difficulty. A dash means even one is too many.
| Level | 2024 rules (XP budget) | 2014 rules (stays below…) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Moderate | High | Medium | Hard | Deadly | |
| 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 11 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 12 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 13 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | 1 | 1 |
| 16 | 1 | 1 | 3 | – | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Mixed party or different size? Use the encounter builder; it handles any combination.
Questions
What CR is a purple worm in 5e?
A purple worm is challenge rating 15, worth 13,000 XP. It is a gargantuan monstrosity with an armor class of 18 and 247 hit points on average.
How many purple worms should I use against a level 12 party?
For four level 12 characters under the 2024 rules: up to 0 for a Low encounter, 1 for Moderate and 1 for High.
Is a purple worm a good fight for level 3 characters?
Not really. Even one purple worm (13,000 XP) is beyond the High budget of four level 3 characters (1,600 XP).
Monsters of similar challenge
Adult green dragon
CR 15 · Huge dragon · 13,000 XP
Adult black dragon
CR 14 · Huge dragon · 11,500 XP
Iron golem
CR 16 · Large construct · 15,000 XP
Adult blue dragon
CR 16 · Huge dragon · 15,000 XP
Vampire
CR 13 · Medium undead · 10,000 XP
Storm giant
CR 13 · Huge giant · 10,000 XP
Statistics from the System Reference Document 5.1. Full stat block: see the SRD or your rulebook.