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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tyrol" data-source="post: 1966055" data-attributes="member: 18213">Yesterday I encounted an Ooze with the Split ability for the first time since switching from 2nd edition 4 or 5 years ago.  It was a Black pudding, a huge creature.Unfortunately, controversy arose while battling with the ooze.As the battle began, the wizard succeeded at a knowledge check and recalled that black pudding split when struck by piercing or slashing weapons.  His character quickly informed us of his knowledge.  As a Barbarian who only uses axes, this left me thinking hurriedly.  From somewhere (I don't recall whose character suggested it), a suggestion quickly arose to force the ooze to split for multiple benefits.  Splitting it would enable the wizard's area effect damage spells to hit multiple ooze targets, as well as reduce the ooze's size and therefore its grappling effectiveness (it had grappled another party member and was quickly decimating him).   Actiing on this idea, my character attacked with his slashing axe, causing the ooze to split.Here's where the controversy occurred.  To the shock of the party, when the ooze split, the DM placed a second HUGE ooze on the battle board.  The entire party had assumed the ooze would reduce in size when split (conservation of mass, as well as 2nd edition precedence, where oozes did decrease in size when split, but could also re-combine themselves into a single ooze).  Obviously, the DM had a different interpretation of what is written in 3.5, noting that the Split ability did not mention a reduction in size, The split ability reads:  Nowhere in the ooze subtype, split ability, or black pudding description does it suggest an ooze is reduced in size, nor does it explain the details of a size reduction (as one might expect).Yet the HP, which some percieve as a reflection of size (HD could potentially determine ooze size?), were halved.  It just didn't quite make sense to most of the party that the ooze would not reduce in size (even if this reduction only occurred after a number of splits, not just 1), especially because of the fact that they did reduce in size in previous editions (2nd).  3.5 and 3.0 appeared to be exactly the same, regarding the split ability, so the most recent edition with a clear distinction is 2nd.  Is there any clarification on Oozes, splitting, and size changes anywhere?  If not, what do people think? Is there a topic buried somewhere discussing this?Many thanks,Tyrol</blockquote>

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