Greasing a Black Pudding - Will this Work?

[frankthedm]

Let him. I see no problem in allowing a stupid tactic to fail miserably and often. Roleplaying-wise, I don't see even a "brainless" fighter jumping in to battle a huge pile of goo with a weapon. In fact, IMO it's very anti-RP to do that.

We gamers have seen "The Blob" and know how little weapons mean to an ooze. "Fighter" comes from a world where virtually everything can be defeated by hitting it really hard, even incorporeal creatures who have no substance can be laid low with a hefty attack from a magical weapon. Not the Black Pudding. Without the Esoteric Knowledge: Dungeonering, most character won’t know what is in store for them until it is too late. Instantaneous Weapon and armor dissolving that by pass equipment HP coupled with nigh indestructibility as far as most common weapons are concerned. Couple that with improved grab and constrict. To an uninformed character, a pudding would not look much worse than a water elemental.

Acid (Ex)
The creature secretes a digestive acid that dissolves organic material and metal quickly, but does not affect stone. Any melee hit or constrict attack deals acid damage, and the opponent’s armor and clothing dissolve and become useless immediately unless they succeed on DC 21 Reflex saves. A metal or wooden weapon that strikes a black pudding also dissolves immediately unless it succeeds on a DC 21 Reflex save. The save DCs are Constitution-based.
The pudding’s acidic touch deals 21 points of damage per round to wooden or metal objects, but the ooze must remain in contact with the object for 1 full round to deal this damage.

Constrict (Ex)
A black pudding deals automatic slam and acid damage with a successful grapple check. The opponent’s clothing and armor take a -4 penalty on Reflex saves against the acid.

Split (Ex)
Slashing and piercing weapons deal no damage to a black pudding. Instead the creature splits into two identical puddings, each with half of the original’s current hit points (round down). A pudding with 10 hit points or less cannot be further split and dies if reduced to 0 hit points.

 

[frankthedm]

Question, the MM entry for oozes state thier whole bodies are primitive sensory organs operating on scent and vibration.

Oh, and I'll pimp my mini thread where i have a few homemade puddings made from black candle wax.

 

[darthkilmor]

Question, the MM entry for oozes state thier whole bodies are primitive sensory organs operating on scent and vibration.

Oh, and I'll pimp my mini thread where i have a few homemade puddings made from black candle wax.

Thats pretty pimp

 

[Herremann the Wise]

@ Herremann the Wise: I'm afraid I *really* disagree with your assessment that "Going around the greased area is out of the question for sure."

Name any "mindless" creature (insect, amoeba, krill....) and give it an area it has difficulty crossing, and on the opposite side it perceives food.....

It will go around such an area.

A black pudding has an intelligence of - and a wisdom of 1. To my way of thinking, this is the absolute bottom of the tree. This is more mindless than just being mindless. Even vermin have a half decent wisdom (somewhere around 10) thus perceiving an obstacle to get around. A Black Pudding to my way of thinking is the epitomy of being truly mindless and would not even realise that there was an obstacle, only food. Having it repeatedly trying to reach its target in exactly the same way seems a reasonable way of "role-playing" this facet of the creature. YMMV.

Let him. I see no problem in allowing a stupid tactic to fail miserably and often. Roleplaying-wise, I don't see even a "brainless" fighter jumping in to battle a huge pile of goo with a weapon. In fact, IMO it's very anti-RP to do that.

As frankthedm points out, his character would not know how nasty these creatures are on gear (even though he as a player and DM certainly does). I suppose that's what I meant by being a good roleplayer. He does not metagame and plays his character to the hilt. I can just imagine Brother Arnanbadullus Skite getting sick of the others dithering and thus launching an heroic assault against the creature in the name of some new deity he has discovered who he believes the creature transgresses the existence of. With luck, someone will hold him back.

frankthedm,
I saw your gargantuan black ooze on coolminiornot and thought "cool". Whoever handed you the 1 had absolutely no class whatsoever nor understanding of a Black Pudding. Pimp away as you feel the need. I just wish I had one of them for this encounter.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

PS: Just to get this right, if this creature actually hits one of my PCs, they take 2d6+4 slam damage plus 2d6 acid damage. The creature then uses its improved grab ability to grapple them (+18 grapple), where if it succeeds, it does a further 2d6+4 +2d6 acid damage.
Is this how constrict works?

 

[frankthedm]

With luck, someone will hold him back.

When you give the initial description of the pudding, describe a thick chunk of metal debris being dissolved in its mass.

frankthedm,
I saw your gargantuan black ooze on coolminiornot and thought "cool". Whoever handed you the 1 had absolutely no class whatsoever nor understanding of a Black Pudding. Pimp away as you feel the need. I just wish I had one of them for this encounter.

Thanks. To make one fast pudding just grab a candle and a soup can lid or other 3 inch disk. Glue whatever you want for a base structure on the lid, dribble wax over it and blam…

PS: Just to get this right, if this creature actually hits one of my PCs, they take 2d6+4 slam damage plus 2d6 acid damage. The creature then uses its improved grab ability to grapple them (+18 grapple), where if it succeeds, it does a further 2d6+4 +2d6 acid damage.
Is this how constrict works?

Yes. And it does get worse, on the next round when it succeeds it’s grapple check, the victim takes [slam with acid] & [constrict with acid]

A successful hold does not deal any extra damage unless the creature also has the constrict special attack. If the creature does not constrict, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals the damage indicated for the attack that established the hold. Otherwise, it deals constriction damage as well (the amount is given in the creature’s descriptive text).


I have always felt constrict piles the damage on a little fast and make the physical damage from constrict be non lethal, to represent someone passing out form being constricted.

 

[cmanos]

Lets start a new thread about D&D recipes.....

Man, we did that way back in 1984 at summer camp.....

 

[Nail]

Having it repeatedly trying to reach its target in exactly the same way seems a reasonable way of "role-playing" this facet of the creature. .

I'm not sure where you are getting this thought from. Perhaps you're thinking of a machine?

I agree that:

Int: - , Wis 1

is different than

Int: -, Wis 10

And the entirety of that difference is in Wisdom, not intellegence. Wisdom is "being in tune with and aware of one’s surroundings". We know the Black Pudding has Blindsight, so perceiving isn't the issue => distinguishing is. The Black Pudding, for example, is unable to distinguish a Commoner from a well-clad Fighter. All it knows is that both are food to be dissolved.

Are you claiming that if you put a wall in front of a Black Pudding, it would never go around it?

Can a mindless creature find it's way to food? Yes it can, and there are many many examples, some of which I've already given. An amobea (probably) has a Wis 1, and yet it can find food, and circumvent obstacles. Q.E.D.

 

[moritheil]

It seems that oozes are, mentally, just giant, overgrown amoebas. If an amoeba can eventually figure out (or randomly wander around) an obstacle, why can't an ooze?

 

[Teydyn]

If an amoeba can eventually figure out (or randomly wander around) an obstacle, why can't an ooze?

IMO its more of a question of "how long" then "if at all". Grease at the wall the HBP is going to climb? 5-10 extra rounds of action till the HBP crawls up.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

OP: I would go with half climb speed if the Ooze has any wall un-greased to climb on.
If, somehow, the Mage figures out how to crease the entire wall which the Ooze attempts to climb, I would go with 10' climb per round as it eats its way to the better food waiting at the top of the climb. This would give the party some time to worry about it coming, work on what to do.. and {with a 'corner' between them and the Ooze} avoid AoO for a while.