Special Conversion Thread: Finishing off the oozes

[Cleon]

Interesting. I generally use the Sovelior & Sage SRD for faster navigation, their cube is listed as Large but 15 ft per side and 50,000 lb. Meanwhile, the 3.5 MM has the 15 ft cube as Huge (which makes more sense), but still only 4HD. What's happened here? Huh.

Ummm, anyway, let's just base it on the 10 ft cube. 4HD for Huge is almost ridiculously low, and 5HD isn't much better. So 20 ft across and 20,000 lb? That's ok by me.

Well, 10 short tons is fine by me.

Let's see, a 10' cube is a thousand cubic feet. A 20 foot diameter ooze of the same volume would (assuming it approximates a flat disc) be ... a little over a yard tall.

That seems reasonable.

However, I'm thinking we should consider making it Huge, since it'll spill over from a Large creature's 10 ft. Space on all sides.

EDIT: Oh, and the 3E Black Pudding is 15 ft. across and Huge - it would seem odd to have a bigger, metal-plated ooze with a smaller size category.

 

[freyar]

Huge is fine by me. It's a little wimpy for the size, but I agree with your logic.

 

[Cleon]

Huge is fine by me. It's a little wimpy for the size, but I agree with your logic.

Updated.

I gave it a "half size boost" of +4 Str, +2 Dex since I didn't want it to become too feeble.

 

[Shade]

Huge is fine by me. It's a little wimpy for the size, but I agree with your logic.

Same here.

 

[Cleon]

Same here.

Good!

So we just need a description and background and they're done.

 

[freyar]

For background, "The original slithering hoards were shaped from captured gelatinous cubes by devious wizards. They are now used as treasure guardians by all manner of wealthy creatures, from those same wizards to businessmen to dragons."

 

[Cleon]

For background, "The original slithering hoards were shaped from captured gelatinous cubes by devious wizards. They are now used as treasure guardians by all manner of wealthy creatures, from those same wizards to businessmen to dragons."

Hmm, do we need to say only wealthy creatures use them as treasure guardians? Non-wealthy creatures would be unlikely to have treasure worth guarding!

I'd also like to mention their occasional use as "booby trap" tribute:

The slithering hoard was created by the Red Wizards of Thay, who adapted gelatinous cubes for the unique and insidious task of paying retribution to their enemies. The hoard was hidden in weak ceramic jars and then secreted among tributes and ransoms sent to various states and rich persons, where, once it was deposited among a true treasure hoard, would dissolve its container and adapt the treasure around it, becoming a nasty surprise for the recipients.

While looking at The Wyrmskull Throne I also rechecked the size and it clearly says a Slithering Hoard is a "20’ diameter sphere". Should we change the size and weight? I think I'd rather modify the description a bit so it switches between spherical and treasure-mound forms.

How's this:

A huge mound of coins, weapons and bits of broken metal slithers across the ground. Gaps open between pieces of metal here and there, revealing the mound's interior is a translucent mass of living gel.

Slithering hoards are omnivorous oozes related to gelatinous cubes. A slithering hoard's gelatinous body exudes a sticky slime which it uses to cover itself in coins, small weapons, armour pieces, and other bits of metal. The hoard's outer coating serves as protective armor and as "teeth" to grind food. It will use other detritus if no metal is available (stones, bones et cetera), but this may affect its armor bonus.

The first slithering hoards were shaped from gelatinous cubes by devious wizards. Most of their descendants live as wandering scavengers, devouring anything edible that comes within their reach. Slithering hoards are as at home underwater as they are on land. They can swim by assuming a manta ray like shape and flapping through the water.

Unlike most oozes, slithering hoards possess a dim cunning and can learn (or be taught) very simple behaviors based on their instinct to avoid harm and acquire food. For example, hoards learn to hide in the places with the most prey, and will adapt their camouflage to the surroundings. Slithering hoards are occasionally used as guardians by wealthy creatures, from those same wizards to businessmen to dragons.

An average slithering hoard weighs around 20,000 pounds, although much larger specimens are not uncommon. These amorphous creatures have no fixed shape. An immobile slithering hoard looks like a mound of treasure or scrap metal about 20 feet across and a yard thick. Such a hoard can expand itself into a 20 foot diameter sphere, which lets it move by rolling about, or spread into a manta-ray like shape with a wingspan of 30 feet or more.

COMBAT
A slithering hoard attacks by lashing out with one or two pseudopods or engulfing foes in its body. It usually disguises itself as a mound of treasure and strikes at any opponent that comes within its reach. They are cunning enough to learn other ways to attack - such as swimming up beneath small boats and engulfing them.

 

[Cleon]

Oh, I added the Amphibious trait, since they appear to be capable of living underwater.

 

[freyar]

The text is fine.

But here we go again on amphibious. The only places it's described implies that it's for aquatic critters to get about on land (see chuul and skum in the SRD). So do you want to make this aquatic? In addition, the aballin, which is much more likely to be in/around water than one of these isn't aquatic or amphibious. Can we just leave that off?

 

[Cleon]

The text is fine.

But here we go again on amphibious. The only places it's described implies that it's for aquatic critters to get about on land (see chuul and skum in the SRD). So do you want to make this aquatic? In addition, the aballin, which is much more likely to be in/around water than one of these isn't aquatic or amphibious. Can we just leave that off?

We had this argument and established that the Amphibious trait does not require the Aquatic subtype, as shown by the SRD stats for the Toad.