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[Shade]

Special Conversion Thread: Finishing off the oozes

Ooze, Marble Pudding
Medium Ooze
Hit Dice: 8d10+40 (84 hp)
Initiative: -5
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.
Armor Class: 5 (-5 Dex), touch 5, flat-footed 5
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+9
Attack: Slam +10 melee (1d6+4 plus 1d6 acid)
Full Attack: Slam +10 melee (1d6+4 plus 1d6 acid)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Acid, adhesive, constrict 1d6+4 plus 1d6 acid
Special Qualities: Blindsight 90 ft., immunity to acid, immunity to cold, mimic stone, ooze traits, split, wallcrawling
Saves: Fort +7, Ref -1, Will -1
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 1, Con 20, Int 1, Wis 1, Cha 1
Skills: Climb +11, Disguise +6* (+14 mimicking stone)
Feats: Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Focus (slam)
Environment: Underground
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 9-15 HD (Medium); 16-24 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: —

The slab of rock exudes slimy tentacles, revealing a pliant body streaked with white and black, giving it the appearance of marble.

Marble puddings are believed by many sages to be a "missing link" between oozes and mimics. As if this theory hadn't caused enough debate among academic circles, a few radical scholars have postulated they may also be related to ropers and storopers. Regardless of their classifications and ties to other entities, marble puddings are deadly enough in their own right.

Marble puddings feed on anything that wanders near, showing no preference for a specific type of prey. They can go weeks between meals.

A typical marble pudding is roughly 5 feet across and a foot thick, weighing some 1200 pounds. Their flesh is denser than most other oozes. They are naturally gray, with streaks of white or black over their surfaces, giving them their distinct “marble” look, but can change their colour and texture to match any kind of background stone.

COMBAT

Marble puddings are not active hunters, preferring to lie in ambush mimicking slabs of rock until prey wanders by, whereupon they attempt to grapple them with an adhesive pseudopod and crush and dissolve their prospective meal. They seldom use their wallclimbing ability to set up an ambush, unless their territory has a lot of flying animals inhabiting it, such as a bats' roost.

Acid (Ex): A marble pudding secretes a powerful acid that can dissolve flesh. Any melee hit or constrict attack deals acid damage.

Adhesive (Ex): A marble pudding's pseudopods can exude a thick slime that acts as a powerful adhesive, holding fast any creatures or items that it touches. An adhesive-covered marble pudding automatically grapples any creature it hits with its slam attack. An opponent can break this adhesive's hold with a DC 18 Strength check, although they must still succeed at a grapple or Escape Artist check to escape the grapple, and if they fail at this the pudding can re-adhere itself as a free action. The check DCs are Constitution-based.

Strong alcohol dissolves the adhesive, but the marble pudding still can grapple normally. A marble pudding can dissolve its adhesive at will, and the substance breaks down 5 rounds after the creature dies.

Constrict (Ex): A marble pudding deals automatic slam and acid damage with a successful grapple check.

Mimic Stone (Ex): A marble pudding can harden the surface of their normally pliant bodies to a rock-like hardness, while changing its color and texture to appear like any stone it is in contact with. In this condition a marble pudding is very hard to distinguish from a chunk of rock, characters who examines the marble pudding can detect the ruse with a successful Spot check opposed by the pudding’s Disguise check. Of course, by this time it is generally far too late.

While mimicking stone a marble pudding cannot move, but gains hardness 8 and is fully aware of its surroundings. A marble pudding can revert to its pliant state as a free action in order to move or attack.

A character with stonecunning can apply that bonus to their Spot checks to notice a camouflaged marble pudding. If they possess skill ranks in Knowledge (geology) or Knowledge (mining) they can substitute that bonus for Spot in the check to notice the monster.

Split (Ex): Blows from weapons and electricity attacks cause a marble pudding to divide into two identical oozes, each with half of the original’s current hit points, rounded down, after subtracting the damage of the attack which caused the split. A pudding with 10 hit points or less cannot be further split and dies if reduced to 0 hit points.

Wallcrawling (Ex): A marble pudding need not make Climb checks to traverse a vertical or horizontal surface (even upside down). It retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class while climbing and opponents get no special bonus to their attacks against it.

Skills: A marble pudding has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened. A marble pudding has a +8 racial bonus on Disguise checks when masquerading as a stone.

Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #251 (1998).