I will start off by covering published slime adventures/slime-related NPCs, and then I’m going to list and detail all of the slimes, oozes and jellies from the main D&D monster books from each edition. I also grabbed some cool ones from other products.
Massive List: If you want a list of many, many slimes and where they came from, check this ENWorld thread right here.
Exclusions: I already wrote about Juiblex, demon lord of slimes, so I’m leaving his stuff out of this.
I am not including fogs and living spells, but I do feel the need to talk about one:
In the 3rd edition Monster Manual 3 there is a monster called a chilling fog. If you do dad jokes, I heartily endorse plopping this entity into an encounter and telling the group that it is a chilling fog. Then you say: "Hey guys, you know what this ooze is doing?" Awkward pause. "Just chilling."
Put that one in your back pocket and save it for later.
Slime-Related NPCs
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| The Pudding King |
There are a number of weird people linked to oozes in D&D.
(Dragon #124) Haptooth: A wizard who studies gelatinous cubes and was able to use gelatinous digestive fluid to create a concoction that can protect you from the cube's acid. Haptooth explored Undermountain and he knows a lot about gelatinous cubes. He has a gross wound where his ribs stick out.
(Dragon #127) Lord Xador: An evil noble who punished miscreants by pouring a slime on people that hardened and turned them into living statues for 5-8 days while the ooze consumes the victim's fluids.
(Dragon Annual 1999) Volhon: A slime wizard who invented a slew of really cool slime spells.
(Dragon Annual 1999) Shandrila (human rogue), Fedrico and Javorik (gnome illusionists): A band of adventurers who survived a harrowing encounter with a gray ooze.
(Inner Planes) The Warlock of Ooze: A wizard from Krynn who was accidentally infused with the essence of chaos. He watches over a town in the paraelemental plane of ooze.
(Dungeon #132) Morbion: An ooze master who worships Juiblex. He considers humanoids to be "Slaves of Shape". Morbion teams up with an olive slime and is based out of the “sickstone caves” in the Greyhawk setting.
Ghaunadaur: A Forgotten Realms god of slimes. He’s a drow who was once allied with Lolth but split off to do his own things. His followers are outcasts and rebels. He is an ancient entity, and apparently some people think Juiblex might be an aspect of Ghaunadaur. Tons of info here.
(Dungeonscape) Bol Darus: A drow wizard who worshiped Ghaunadaur. Bol was eventually killed by an ooze, and oozes took over his sanctum. Supposedly the sanctum has treasure stashed in secret rooms and warded areas that the slimes can’t get to.
(Dungeon 192) Kyrzin, Prince of Slime: This is an Eberron NPC. He is linked to the far realm and is something of a godlike entity. Creatures who worship him do so out of fear more than anything.
(Dead in Thay) Therzt, Champion of Ghaunadaur: He’s an evil, insane drow who punishes himself when he fails.
(Out of the Abyss) Glabbagool: An intelligent, somewhat friendly gelatinous cube.
(Out of the Abyss) The Pudding King: An unhinged, slime-covered deep gnome who amassed an army of hundreds of oozes. He actually tears away his human guise and transforms into an ooze.
Bwimb and Bwimb II: The Paraelemental Plane of Ooze was ruled by an “ooze baron” named Bwimb. Bwimb was slain by Tenebrous in the classic adventure, Dead Gods. Bwimb II took over rulership of the realm, and she is believed to be either the spawn or the congealed remains of Bwimb I.
Neither of these entities have ever been statted out. There’s all of these tiny nuggets of information in old products, just one scattered idea here and there. The biggest notes are that Bwimb II is a fairly minor entity and is quite aware of it. She has forged some sort of pact or alliance with Juiblex, and she pines for Ben-Hadar, the good-aligned elemental prince of water. Bwimb is linked to the classic adventure “The Mud Sorcerer’s Tomb”, where it is revealed that she is worshiped by mud sorcerers, who built special boats that can sail on and in mud.
I made this guide to research and prepare to write a DMs Guild ooze-based adventure. I'm definitely going to stat out and write up Bwimb II in it.
Where Do Slimes Come From?
The 5e Monster Manual tells us the deal. It says that it is written in the Demonomicon of Iggwilv (!) that oozes are scattered fragments or offspring of the demon lord Juiblex. Juiblex can control oozes and imbue them with intelligence.
In older editions, it is said over and over again that some are created by wizards, and some are the results of spells gone wrong. From the 2e Monstrous Manual: "Warped wizards seek to create life or fashion efficient dungeon scavengers." The origin of the 3e summoning ooze: "The result of a bizarre summoning ritual gone awry".
Ooze Characters
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(Dragon #297) Ooze Para-Genasi: Ooze para-genasi are repulsive and slimy. They are most often neutral with a slight tendency toward evil. They are usually heavy-set, with flabby bodies and sallow skin. Most exhibit a mall number of traits that hint at their ancestry, such as greasy skin or unusually flexible limbs. They have darkvision, a high constitution, resistant to acid and can cast grease once per day.
(Masters of the Wild) Oozemaster: Wizards who have mastered ooze! They have special ooze powers:
- Minor Oozy Touch: Their hands secrete ooze, make things glow, do acid damage, etc
- Oozy Glob: Throws oozy globs!
- Slithery Face: A master of disguise!
- Malleability: Squeezes through cracks with the greatest of ease.
- Indiscernable Anatomy: Your innards are a mystery.
- One with the Ooze: You have blindsight, ooze immunities, and you can't be polymorphed.
(lvl 7) Slime Wave: 15 ft radius cone, covers the targets with green slime.
Forsooth! A 4th edition oozemaster!?
(Dragon #413) Oozemaster: These spellcasters live alone, save for Ghaunadaur's insane whispers that keep them company. They like scouring enemies with acid. They’ve got powers:
- Sudden Slime: A sudden explosion of green slime covers your opponents in corrosive acid. Does acid damage and slows them.
- Experts at foraging and surviving.
- Blessed with protection from oozes and slimes, resistant to acid.
- Scouring Palm: You can secrete acid from your hands. You can melt locks and metal bars, etc.
- Celerity Jelly: You smear the nearby ground with a slick jelly. The zone is difficult terrain for enemies and aids the movement of your allies.
- Pudding Sight! You gain the senses of a pudding!!! Tremorsense until the end of the encounter.
Ooze Adventures
I’m sure there’s many more out there, but here’s the official D&D ooze adventures that I found.
Out of the Abyss
Out of the Abyss has two ooze-related scenarios.
The Oozing Temple: There's a mini adventure in Out of the Abyss where the group ends up stuck in a temple. Their air supply is running out and water is starting to fill the whole place. This is basically a two page dungeon but it feels like a full adventure, it’s pretty amazing.
The Battle for Blingdenstone: Later in the book, the heroes might have to deal with The Pudding King. He lives in the Pudding Court, a cave inhabited by hundreds of ooze creatures. The group needs to raise a force to come in and take care of the Pudding King.
(Dungeon Magazine #132) Caverns of the Ooze Lord
This is set in Greyhawk. There's a cleric named Morbion who worships Juiblex. He has been using an olive slime to infect villagers, turning them into slime zombies. According to this, olive slime and green slime neutralize each other.
(Dungeon Magazine #193) The Gauntlgrym Gambit
In this one, the group is looking for the fabled dwarven city of Gauntlgrym. They're checking out a dungeon in a sinkhole and get up to their neck in oozes.
There's one encounter called the Sea of Slime, where the group has to walk on a toppled statue to cross a chasm. "Viscous sludge fills the abyss beneath the statue, its quivering surface of mottled yellow, green and brown. Worse, there are ooze tendrils coming out of the cracks of the statue!
Dead in Thay
There’s an entire section of the Doomvault devoted to slimes. The wizards are experimenting on them. They’re trying to bind slimes to undead, they’re trying to make them intelligent, all sorts of stuff. There are two memorable ooze entities in this:
- The White Maw: A tall white column that is intelligent, but insane. It can communicate telepathically.
- The Ooze Master: A red pillar that flows like viscous fluid. It can pull you into it and turn you into an ooze puddle.
In the Forgotten Realms, there’s an Underdark city named Llurth Dreir. This place is a wreck, home to Ghaunadaur worshipers who fight each other over food. People avoid this city mainly because the avatar of Ghaunadaur actually lurks near this place. More info here.
Slimy Doom
This is a special slime disease from the 4e DMG. "Abyssal parasites devour the internal organs of the victim, turning them into quivering slime." Once this disease gets into the final stages, you turn into infectious slime from the inside out, dying horribly.
Slime Spells
There is an awesome article in Dragon Magazine annual 199: The Slime Wizard by Lloyd Brown III.
Volhom the Slime Wizard apparently lives in Erelhei-Cinlu (a drow city in the Greyhawk setting) and he rides a giant slug. “At home, he crouches amid a court of slimes and jellies that would make Juiblex proud.”
Volhom made a million new spells. Here are some of the ones I liked best:
- (lvl 3) Volhom's Minute Missiles: You fire off small balls of acid, one per round for at least 5 rounds. Does a lot of damage to inanimate objects.
- (lvl 4) Slime Guardian: Your skin glistens with a chromatic sheen, like a soap bubble in the sun. You are covered by a symbiotic slime, bumping up your AC.
- (lvl 4) Wall of Gel! It’s translucent. Creatures trying to pass through must make a save or be paralyzed!
- (lvl 5) Gelatinous Form: The caster becomes a fluid gelatin. You can shift between your form and a shapeless blob.
Some oozes appear in many editions, so I compiled the info into one thing. Judging from which entities get put in the first monster manual of each edition, it seems like the main oozes, slimes and jellies are: Gelatinous cubes, ochre jellies, black puddings and gray oozes.
Assassin Jelly: An urban predator that lurks in sewers near intersections, using tremorsense to pick out lone city dwellers after dusk. They actually follow people to their home and kill them in their sleep. It looks like a street puddle and has an intelligence of 10.
(Dragon #367) Azure Jelly: Living creatures are food for this thing, which freezes prey and devours them. Azure jellies emerge spontaneously from icy places, infused with arcane energy. They have the power to let out a wave that freezes all nearby
(1e MM) Black Pudding: A compound 5 feet in diameter that is composed of groups of single cells. It can flow through narrow openings, under doors, travels on ceilings etc. It has “tiny mouths and silica” that do 3-24 dmg (a lot of damage for 1st edition!). It splits into two when chipped/struck.
In the 4e MM2, it says “this mercurial ooze slithers on the ground like a massive pool of tar, waiting to turn anything it encounters into sludge.' There are also stats for black pudding spawn, which are minions (1 hit point monsters). In a few older books, there’s an elder black pudding, which is a massive, more powerful version.
(4e Open Grave) Blood Amniote: This ooze is composed of the blood of hundreds of creatures that died in close proximity to one another. It has tendrils that grab you and drain your blood. Legend has it that priests of Orcus once unleashed a storm that rained burning blood on two armies. They died and became blood amniotes.
(4e Underdark) Blood Ooze: Spawned from the blood of Torog (a massive, bleeding god-thing that crawls around in the Underdark), the touch of a blood ooze is toxic to living flesh. It can inhabit a living host and has great ability names like "fetid caress" and ”blood infiltration”.
These creatures are created in cauldrons through a ritual requiring the blood of at least 100 good or neutral humanoids, and all of the ichor from a powerful demon ("10 HD or more").
(4e Open Grave) Bloodrot: Undead jellies that form when humanoids are melted by acid. A vaguely humanoid-shaped mass that reeks of blood that squeezes you with 'blood tendrils'. They crave blood of the living.
(4e Open Grave) Bone Collector: These undead oozes kill and scavenge, collecting bones to increase their mass. Three massive bone collectors, said to be over 25 feet in diameter each, inhabit the Underdark.
(1e MM2) Crystal Ooze: This ooze is a variant of Grey ooze that is 75% invisible underwater. Blows from weapons do only 1 point of damage per hit to it.
In the 2e MM, it says that crystal oozes can exist out of water for several hours. They spawn pods, which hatch in 7-10 days. They will eat their own offspring.
(1e MM2) "Deadly Pudding" This is a category that lists brown puddings, dun puddings and white puddings. All of these things do a lot of damage., anywhere from 5-20 (5d4), up to 7-28 (7d4).
- Brown Pudding: Dwells in marshes. Tough skin, doesn't destroy metal, does destroy leather and wood.
- Dun Pudding: Found in arid regions, dissolves leather, eats metal half as fast as black puddings.
- White Pudding: Cold-dwellers, 50% chance they are mistaken for snow and ice. Do not affect metal, dissolve animal/vegetable in one round.
(1e MM) Gelatinous Cube: These clear cubes of ooze clean carrion from underground passageways. They are transparent and difficult to see. They can't digest potions, daggers, such material remains in body for several weeks before being cast out. It can paralyze you. You are "anesthetized for 5-20 melee rounds" as digestive secretions digest you.
In the 2e MM2 it says that sometimes, they reabsorb their spawn. In this article on the wizards site, we get a few variants:
- Half-Farspawn Gelatinous Cube: So… a being from the far realm mated with a cube. How about that? This cube can assume the form of a grotesque, tentacled mass.
- Gelatinous Cube Monk: This cube trained in a monastery for years, honing its skills and achieving inner peace. Speed 45 feet! Flurry of blows! Maybe it learned this stuff by consuming a monk?
This is written by Ed Greenwood and is framed inside a scene where a wizard named Haptooth is holding a lecture on gelatinous cube to other wizards and sages. Haptooth claims to have created an antidote to the gelatinous cube paralyzation effect. Stuff we learn:
- Gelatinous cubes are also known as an “athcoid.”
- The Zoo of Amn has or had a gelatinous cube for at least 12 years.
- Gelatinous cubes have no thoughts, respond automatically
- They are attracted to vibrations and warmth.
- Merging: Two can merge into one greater cube. Double cubes are 10 x 10 x 20, more of a rectangle. Eventually it divides again. Contact with a third cube causes division, they can't combine more than two.
- To Reproduce: A cube must grow to sufficient size, then split into two.
- They anesthetize their prey via a gummy secretion which is absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin of the victim.
- They can't digest metal.
- They can move about underwater with ease, but their poison is diluted.
- Haptooth's Antidote: It removes the paralysis within 1-4 rounds. Has no effect on other forms of paralysis. Not magical! Derived from the digestive juices.
(3e MM 5) Graveyard Sludge: When this sludge kills a creature, that creature’s remains rise up as a slightly more powerful than normal zombie in d4 rounds. It can give bonuses to nearby undead. They form spontaneously in graveyards, and suck spiritual energy from cadavers.
Gray Ooze: This ooze resembles wet stone and corrodes metal. It is immune to spells! The largest ones are intelligent and develop psionic abilities.
(Dragon Annual 1999) The Ecology of the Gray Ooze
This one contains a story about two gnomes and a human trying to loot a chest in a cave, but a gray ooze kicks the crap out of them. Factoids:
- No Surprise: You can't sneak up on a gray ooze because it "sees" everywhere at once.
- Gray oozes reproduce asexually by budding. They eat a large meal, and release a pod the size of a small stone. In 2-3 days, the stone hatches a new gray ooze. The ooze absorbs the stone shell and wanders off in search of food.
- Gray oozes are roughly oval in shape and they can climb stairs, but not walls. They move very slow and can go for weeks between meals.
- Their surface is covered in pits and grooves. It is like a pit viper, detects heat at a range of 30 feet.
- In combat, it strikes like a snake. It devours carcasses completely. Once at you’re -20 hp, you can't be raised or resurrected.
- It cannot detect cold-blooded creatures such as reptiles, insects, and arachnids.
- Psionics: Some grey oozes have psionic powers.
- Their mucous coating is a valuable ingredient in making oil of acid resistance. It must be harvested within 5 rounds of its death.
In the 4th edition Monster Manual 2, it says that gray oozes are major nuisances in archaeological expeditions. In 4e, their main attack is called "bone melt". Each time a gray ooze hits you, your defenses go down by 2.
(MM) Green Slime: A strange plant growth found in subterranean places. Although they cannot move, they slowly grow. They can sense vibrations and attach to living flesh. In 1-4 rounds after attachment, the victim becomes green slime and can’t be resurrected. Green slime can be scraped off, frozen or burned. Cure disease spells kill them. Other forms of attack don't harm it. There are reports of huge slimes and colonies of dozens of them.
In the 2nd edition Monstrous Manual, we learn that sunlight dries green slimes out and eventually kills them. They are an infestation that all creatures avoid. Once a green slime has infected an area, it tends to grow back, even after being frozen or burned away.
(2e MM) Mustard Jelly: A young wizard tried to polymorph herself into an ochre jelly and her spell failed. She became the first mustard jelly. Mustard jelly is yellowish-brown, translucent and has a faint odor of mustard plants. They can secrete a vapor in a 10-foot radius that makes you lethargic – you move at half-speed. It can divide itself at will. Cannot move through tiny spaces or climb ceilings. Immune to normal weapons. Magic missiles cause a mustard jelly to grow and heals it. Cold does half damage, and it is harmed normally by other attacks.
(2e MM) Ochre Jelly: A giant amoeba that seeps through cracks, devouring flesh and cellulose. They travel on walls and ceilings. Lightning bolts divide them.
(MM2) Ooze Paraelemental: Also called a mud elemental, this is a liquid mass of dark, writhing tendrils. It uses its tendrils to constrict.
(MM2) Olive Slime: A strain of monstrous plant life akin to green slime. Olive Slimes feed on animals, vegetables and metal. It exudes a numbing poison and spreads over victim's body. sending tendrils into the body to feed on the host. It ultimately attaches to the spinal area and the host transforms into a slime creature in 1-2 weeks.
The 2nd edition Monstrous Manual says that the victim might not notice that the slime is on them. in 2d4 hours, the victim's main concern is how to feed, protect and sustain the olive slime. The victim keeps its bond with the slime secret from allies.
(Plane Below) Primeval Ooze: A weapon made by the primordial built to consume agents of the gods, primeval oozes roam the elemental chaos. A primeval ooze is ever-hungry and it envies advanced creatures. It uses pseudopods to pull you inside it. When you hit it, a cyst pops and sprays burning acid. It can eject a torrent of slime that immobilizes. They can't speak, but understand the primordial language.
(3e MM 2) Reason Stealer: This thing is brownish-yellow. It steals your intelligence and then it can roughly mimic your shape, in a vague and blobby way. It can't talk, but can randomly mumble words in that creature's language. That is awesome. All of that lasts one day. It can even cast your spells, use your ability score/skills/plus to hit! I think this one is my favorite.
(Planar Handbook) Shadow Jelly: A pool of undulating darkness, a non-sentient shadow that feeds on life and light. Made from concentrated shadow-stuff, shadow jellies drain all of the warmth and life from its target.
(Dragon 367) Shadow Slime: These slimes dwell in the Shadowfell and they can extinguish lights and drain your lifeforceA shadow slime attaches to a victim, and when it is struck, the victim takes half the damage. They are cunning and stealthy.
(MM2) Slime Creature: These are the metamorphosed hosts of olive slimes, vegetable creatures linked symbiotically with the olive slime. When they hit someone, there is a 10% chance that they infect their opponent with olive slime.
In the 2nd edition Monstrous Manual, they are also known as "slime zombies". The symbiotic bond to their host is secure within 200 miles. To return a slime zombie to normal, you need a limited wish spell! When dropped to 0 hp, they become a puddle of olive slime.
(2e MM) Slithering Tracker: Transparent plasma-draining jellies that move silently, seep through cracks, and prefer to attack sleeping or unconscious creatures. They secrete a substance that paralyzes you for 12 hours, during which it devours your plasma. Your corpse will look dehydrated. These things are actually created in a hideous process involving a living human being wherein dark wizards remove the bones of their enemies, turning them into hulking masses of jelly-like flesh.
(3e MM3) Snowflake Ooze: This does not need a safe space and it is not a "cuck". It's pretty much just a snowy ooze with a cold aura that does d6 cold damage to creatures who start their turn next to it.
(3e MM3) Spirit Ooze: Ravenous, incorporeal creatures created when wisps of matter from insubstantial undead congeal into a single amorphous entity. They have little sentience and are elusive.
Stunjelly: Relative of the gelatinous cube. These were originally designed by a forgotten mage to resemble a stone wall. Light passes through it and it smells like vinegar. They reproduce by fission, making a horrendous rending sound. It carries around undigested metals and can't slither under doors.
(Monstrous Compendium Annual 2) Stone Pudding: Solid and sluggish, a thick lump that hides on ceilings. It drops on you and absorbs your flesh over 1-10 rounds. They can't eat metal/wood/leather. Their remains are used as ingredient in oil of acid resistance.
(Monstrous Compendium Annual 2) Subterranean Pudding: A colony of hundreds of living organisms in a single pudding that has sensory organs on its underside. Sages believe that they are all altered black puddings. They don't divide, they split into two, each half just as powerful as the original.
- Gray Pudding: More corrosive than black pudding, gray puddings dissolve their victims completely. They are susceptible to flesh to stone spells – it slows them.
- Dense Pudding: These puddings are slow, dark blue, easy to spot, and ooze secretions that corrode living flesh. Those hit by a dense pudding must make a save or succumb to a "debilitating disease" (which is not described).
(3e MM3) Summoning Ooze: An ooze with glowing arcane symbols. It can summon monsters. That is a really cool idea.
(3e MM3) Teratomorph: Another huge, powerful ooze. It lives deep underwater, but sometimes it washes up on the beach. Portions of it flickers with light. These things are infused with chaos, their very presence can tear holes in the fabric between the planes! When it hits you, you roll on a chart for a special effect, such as causing "tiny portions of the opponent' anatomy to vanish" or being polymorphed into a random new form.
Every round that you are close to a teratomorph, you make a save or be shifted to another plane! When it moves, it fires off random spells. There's a chart for that too. My first instinct was to ignore this thing because its name doesn't match the others (maybe they should have called this a Chaos Ooze or something) but I'm glad I didn't overlook it.
(Dragon Magazine #127) Xador's Fluid: If it hits, it combines with living skin, hardening to rock. The victim is solidified, as if coated with plastic. Make a save - success keeps it out of your nose and mouth. Fail: You pass out in one round, die d4 rounds later! While attached, it drains 1 hp per turn. After 5-8 days, it reliquifies and divides in two. Barkskin spells destroy Xador’s Fluid. A blow with a weapon shatters Xador’s fluid, but it also harms the victim.
Xador’s Fluid was named after Lord Xador, an evil noble who used this stuff to punish miscreants. Their hardened forms were displayed as statues until they died. You can use Xador’s Fluid as armor if carefully apply it to yourself for five rounds to apply. You can wear only normal clothing under it. It’s painfully tight and you can't sleep while wearing it.
Links
TONS of 5e ooze stats free right here.
DMs Guild New 5e Ooze Stats (pay what you want)
Dungeon Dozen Ooze Table
Awesome ideas for oozes - Alchemical oozes, Violet Ooze, etc.
5e Slime Creature Stats
2 comments:
The Middle Finger of Vecna has some great homebrew OOZE material!
http://mfov.magehandpress.com/2017/03/the-oozemasters-apprentice.html
Egad, you aren't kidding. I added a link to it, that is an awesome article. Thank you!
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