Special Conversion Thread: Finishing off the oozes

[Shade]

Here's the penultimate one...

Pudding, Deadly
"This voracious monster resembles a giant pudding. When it sense a living creature, it attacks. A pudding can ooze through cracks and travel along ceilings and walls. When it attacks, its touch dissolves organic matter. Lightning and blows from weapons divide the pudding into two, forming two smaller but equally powerful creatures. Fire and magic missiles inflict normal damage."

And its stats: AC 6, Level 6, THAC0 15, Actions 1, Damage 2d8, Alt. Attack: None, Sp. Defense: Immune to cold, divides, Saving Throw: 14, Move: 6, Intelligence: Non-, Attitude: Neutral, Size: 6' long, Experience: 975.

Originally appeared in Dungeons and Dragons Adventure Game (1999).

 

[Shade]

Note that it appears to have traits of both the black pudding and gray ooze, so we shouldn't need to think too far outside the box on this one.

 

[demiurge1138]

The climbing along ceilings and walls is new to me--do we want to give them spider climb as an Su?

 

[Cleon]

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]

Here's the penultimate one...

Pudding, Deadly
"This voracious monster resembles a giant pudding. When it sense a living creature, it attacks. A pudding can ooze through cracks and travel along ceilings and walls. When it attacks, its touch dissolves organic matter. Lightning and blows from weapons divide the pudding into two, forming two smaller but equally powerful creatures. Fire and magic missiles inflict normal damage."

And its stats: AC 6, Level 6, THAC0 15, Actions 1, Damage 2d8, Alt. Attack: None, Sp. Defense: Immune to cold, divides, Saving Throw: 14, Move: 6, Intelligence: Non-, Attitude: Neutral, Size: 6' long, Experience: 975.

Originally appeared in Dungeons and Dragons Adventure Game (1999).

Isn't this just an Ochre Jelly with slight modification, namely the addition of immunity to Cold damage? It shouldn't take long to convert.

Just increase the movement speed to 20 ft., add Cold Immunity and Spider Climb and that's about it. Maybe change the environment so it isn't just temperate swamps. I'd prefer it if the immunity to slashing, piercing and electricity damage was listed in Special Qualities rather than lurking in the text for Split.

From the SRD:

Ochre Jelly
Size/Type: Large Ooze
Hit Dice: 6d10+36 (69 hp)
Initiative: -5
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares), climb 10 ft.
Armor Class: 4 (-1 size, -5 Dex), touch 4, flat-footed 4
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+10
Attack: Slam +5 melee (2d4+3 plus 1d4 acid)
Full Attack: Slam +5 melee (2d4+3 plus 1d4 acid)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Acid, constrict 2d4+3 plus 1d4 acid, improved grab
Special Qualities: Blindsight 60 ft., split, ooze traits
Saves: Fort +8, Ref -3, Will -3
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 1, Con 22, Int [FONT=&quot]–[/FONT], Wis 1, Cha 1
Skills: Climb +10
Feats: —
Environment: Temperate marshes
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 7-9 HD (Large); 10-18 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —

An ochre jelly can grow to a diameter of about 15 feet and a thickness of about 6 inches, but can compress its body to fit into cracks as small as 1 inch wide. A typical specimen weighs about 5,600 pounds.

Combat
An ochre jelly attempts to envelop and squeeze its prey.

Acid (Ex)
An ochre jelly secretes a digestive acid that dissolves only flesh. Any melee hit or constrict attack deals acid damage.

Constrict (Ex)
An ochre jelly deals automatic slam and acid damage with a successful grapple check.

Improved Grab (Ex)
To use this ability, an ochre jelly must hit with its slam attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict.

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

Skills
An ochre jelly has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.

 

[Cleon]

The climbing along ceilings and walls is new to me--do we want to give them spider climb as an Su?

A few oozes in earlier editions of D&D could do this - see the 2nd edition AD&D version of the Ochre Jelly and Green Slime here. (Incidentally, 2E considered these monsters "Ooze/Slime/Jellies" which were a different monster than "Deadly Puddings", the latter were communal creatures made up of lots of tiny creatures, while oozes & jellies were usually single creatures of the "giant amoeba" type, although green slime was originally a kind of flesh-eating algae-colony.)

 

[freyar]

Boy, it would be nice to make this a little more different from the ochre jelly.

Lightning and blows from weapons divide the pudding into two, forming two smaller but equally powerful creatures. Fire and magic missiles inflict normal damage.

Could it split due to bludgeoning as well based on the original text?
Can I make a really twisted argument that it should have regeneration with lethal damage from fire and force?

 

[Cleon]

Boy, it would be nice to make this a little more different from the ochre jelly.

Could it split due to bludgeoning as well based on the original text?

Yes, bludgeoning should provoke a Split as well, since it's any weapon strike.

Hmm, there's no mention in the Deadly Pudding's original description that Slashing, Piercing or Lightning attacks don't harm it. So how about rewriting the Split description so that these attacks do damage, and the Ooze then divides the remaining HP amongst its two halves, and drop the 10HP minimum?

Can I make a really twisted argument that it should have regeneration with lethal damage from fire and force?

It's twisted enough to tempt me, but there's no support for Regeneration in the description.

Now, I think I'll copy over the Ochre Jelly writeup and start modifying it into the Deadly Pudding.

Edit: Another change I can make is reducing its Size to Medium, since the Deadly Pudding is only 6' long (matching the AD&D2E Ochre Jelly), while the 3E Ochre Jelly is a Large 15' diameter. I'll drop its Str & Con to those of a Gray Ooze for the size reduction.

 

[Cleon]

Deadly Pudding
Size/Type: Medium Ooze
Hit Dice: 6d10+30 (63 hp)
Initiative: -5
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.
Armor Class: 5 (-5 Dex), touch 5, flat-footed 5
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+5
Attack: Slam +5 melee (2d4+1 plus 1d4 acid)
Full Attack: Slam +5 melee (2d4+1 plus 1d4 acid)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Acid, constrict 2d4+1 plus 1d4 acid, improved grab
Special Qualities: Blindsight 60 ft., camouflage, immunity to cold, ooze traits, split, wallcrawling
Saves: Fort +7, Ref -3, Will -3
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 1, Con 21, Int [FONT=&quot]–[/FONT], Wis 1, Cha 1
Skills: Climb +9
Feats: —
Environment: Any temperate or arctic land and underground
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 7-9 HD (Medium); 10-18 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: —

A deadly pudding is typically about 6 feet long and 4 feet wide, with a thickness of about 3 inches, but can compress its body to flow through cracks as small as half an inch across. A typical specimen weighs about 250 pounds.

Combat
A deadly pudding attempts to envelop and squeeze its prey, they often use their wallclimbing ability to drop upon their victims from above.

Acid (Ex)
A deadly pudding secretes a digestive acid that dissolves only flesh. Any melee hit or constrict attack deals acid damage.

Camouflage (Ex)
Deadly puddings are of a colour and texture matching the ground of their native environment, so an arctic-dwelling pudding looks like a snowdrift, a swamp-dwelling one resembles a mudslick, a desert-dwellin pudding appears as a khaki pile of dried earth, and so on. It takes a DC 15 Spot check to notice a deadly pudding which matches the terrain. If a deadly pudding moves from one terrain type to the other it can change its appearance to match its new habitat, this process takes about a week.
A character can use their bonus in Knowledge (nature) or Survival instead of Spot for the skill check to notice a camouflaged deadly pudding.

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

Improved Grab (Ex)
To use this ability, a deadly pudding must hit with its slam attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict.

Split (Ex)
Blows from weapons and electricity attacks cause a deadly 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. The deadly pudding will re-integrates after the combat is over, it takes a move-equivalent action by each fragment to rejoin into a whole.

Wallcrawling (Ex)
A deadly 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 deadly 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.

Changes from Ochre Jelly:
Reduce Size to Medium; Increase Spd to 20 ft.; Change to Gray Ooze's Str 12 & Con 21; Add Immunity to Cold; Add Spider Climb; Modify Split to remove immunity to damage & HP minimum and add bludgeon-splitting; Reduce CR to 4 to compensate for smaller Size & loss of slashing/piercing electricity immunity; Change Spider Climb to Wallcrawling; Add Camouflage; Change Environment.

 

[Shade]

You're off to a great start.

Rather than spider climb, let's give it this ability we've given to a few creatures...

Wallcrawling (Ex): A deadly 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.

 

[Cleon]

You're off to a great start.

Rather than spider climb, let's give it this ability we've given to a few creatures...

Wallcrawling (Ex): A deadly 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.

Works for me, I've changed the previous post accordingly.

Now I also fancy expanding the range of habitats deadly puddings live in. I'm tempted to make it "Environment: Any temperate or arctic land and underground", since this seems to be a "generic pudding" and AD&D has puddings, slimes and jellies that live in everything from frozen forests to sweltering deserts. The arctic land makes sense, considering its immunity to cold.

What do you think?

EDIT: I'm also wondering about giving it camouflage colouration that provides a racial bonus to Hide in its current environment. I know the original write-up did not mention this, but some AD&D Deadly Puddings had this feature (e.g. the arctic White Pudding resembled a snowdrift, the desert-dwelling Dun Pudding was khaki-coloured and I imagine the swamp-loving Brown Pudding looked like a mudslick. Maybe something like:

Camouflage (Ex)
Deadly puddings are of a colour and texture matching the ground of their native environment, so an arctic-dwelling pudding looks like a snowdrift, a swamp-dwelling one resembles a mudslick, a desert-dwellin pudding appears as a khaki pile of dried earth, and so on. It takes a DC 15 Spot check to notice a deadly pudding which matches the terrain. If a deadly pudding moves from one terrain type to the other it can change its appearance to match its new habitat, this process takes about a week.
A character can use their bonus in Knowledge (nature) or Survival instead of Spot for the skill check to notice a camouflaged deadly pudding.