Giant Ticks!

Inspired by a post on Jeff's blog, here's my 4e take on the giant tick. In this case, I'm tackling it as a hazard rather than as a monster, so I guess that makes it more the "noticeable larger than normal but perhaps not truly giant" tick. I'd peg it as about six inches long, not huge by any means, but pretty scary when you think about it.

Barrow Tick, Level 6 Hazard

A barrow tick is a common dungeon predator, particularly in areas where ogres, trolls, and giants dwell. The tick attacks the first creature that moves within 10 feet of its position. It leaps out in a blur of movement and attacks with a poison that deadens the victim's sense of touch, making it possible for the tick to feast undetected.

One the tick attacks, it slowly drains the victim's blood. Unless the tick is removed or killed within a minute of its initial attack, the victim loses 2d10+8 hit points. Each time the victim takes a short rest while the tick is still present, he loses another 2d10+8 hit points. If the victim is unlucky enough to take a long rest without noticing the tick, the poor sod loses all his healing surges and is at 1 hit point when the rest ends. The tick, for its part, departs after such a feast.

The tick makes Stealth checks to remain hidden from view, but any close examination of the victim reveals its presecence. The next time the victim takes damage, he also realizes that he has lost blood (the DM should inform him of his new hit points total) and may make Perception checks to notice the tick on him. The tick is general clever enough to attack itself to the victim's back or some other spot that makes it hard to notice.

Barrow Tick: +8 attack vs. Reflex, Stealth +14, speed 5, AC 18, Fortitude 16, Reflex 15, Will 13, the tick suffers a -4 penalty to all defenses while it is attached to a victim, hit points 1, though the barrow tick never takes damage from an attack that misses; 2d10+8 damage on initial exposure, another 2d10+8 after each short rest.

Edit: Changed damage from 25% of max to a normal damage expression. Since this is a level 6 hazard, I aimed it to do about 25% of a 6th level PC's hit points. That makes it scale easier. I can just adjust the damage upward or downward for different levels.