In the darkest cesspools and refuse piles, chaos reigns. At the bottoms of dark, forgotten pits of the abyss, there swirls the centuries of filth and magical leftover from countless experiments, both failed and successful. The diseased are tossed down, forgotten and usually (a very different term than “always”) killed by the impact of the miles long fall. These are pits of mad abominations, pools of swirling and wild arcane forces, and a darkness that is lit only by the twisted and accidental powers of insane predators.
Then there are (is?) the slime-thing. Said to look like a man whose features are hidden behind a slick green ooze, they speak in whispers and offer aid to any who require it. While not nearly as powerful as many of the predators in their oppressive environment, the slime-thing has two advantages: its slick slime provides sustenance to those around it and, unlike nearly everything around them, they have some semblance of sapience and sanity. There is strength in numbers and even the insane often realize it is better to guard the precious slime-thing, which offers sustenance freely than predate it and stop its flow of precious slime forever. A few, it is said, have even taken to worshiping these things.
Slime-thing
Medium ooze, chaotic neutral
Armor Class 15
Hit Points 58 (9d8 + 18)
Speed 25 ft.
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
10 (+0) | 8 (-1) | 14 (+2) | 5 (-3) | 10 (+0) | 8 (-1) |
Saving Throws Constitution +5, Intelligence +0
Damage Resistances Acid
Damage Immunities Poison
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, prone
Skills Perception +3, Survival +3
Languages Abyssal
Senses darkvision 120 ft. passive Perception 13
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Special Traits
- Alluring Glow. A slime-thing sheds a green dim light in a 20 ft. radius around itself.
- Sustain the Masses. A slime-thing produces a sustaining slime, disgusting to the taste but which feeds and hydrates any who consume it. It produces enough slime each day to safely sustain up to 20 Medium creatures (or 40 Small creatures or 10 Large creatures) for 24 hours. The slime-thing may produce enough to feed an additional Medium creature beyond this but takes 5 HP worth of damage per Medium dose of slime. This damage can only be healed by going 24 hours without overproducing again or being healed by magical means.
Actions
- Caustic Fists. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage and 4 (2d4) acid damage. If the target is wearing nonmagical metal armor, its armor is partly corroded and takes a permanent and cumulative -1 penalty to the AC it offers. The armor is destroyed if the penalty reduces its AC to 10.
- Behind the Ooze. Each creature within 120 ft. of the slime-thing and aware of it must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to this ability for the next 24 hours.
- Spellcasting. The slime-thing is a 6th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 10, +2 to hit with spell attacks). It has the following cleric spells prepared:
- Cantrips (at will): light, resistance, sacred flame
- 1st level (4 slots): cure wounds, guiding bolt, sanctuary, shield of faith
- 2nd level (3 slots): blindness/deafness, hold person, silence
- 3rd level (3 slots): bestow curse, clairvoyance, mass healing word
Tactics
A slime-thing has little in the ways of goals. It wanders vaguely in the deepest parts of whatever darkness it forms in, avoiding known and obvious dangers. It does not hunger and has little wants or needs. If it finds another creature that does not seem immediately hostile, it will attempt to offer it sustenance if it has enough left in the day to do so. Otherwise, it will approach and mumble kind but vapid phrases in Abyssal.
The creature has a vague empathy for others, and it is here that one approaching a slime-thing (or themselves being approached by one) will find their worries: slime-things are often revered by the abandoned and kept remarkably safe for the sustenance that is freely offered. These worshipers will not take kindly to any perceived threat to a vital supply of food and hydration.
In battle, a slime-thing will often do literally nothing but randomly heal injured combatants (not merely allies) or attempt to feed creatures around it. If itself attacked, it seems to gain a sharper sense of tactics and intelligence, using spells to enhance or heal only perceived allies and trying to retreat out of melee range. If under extreme threat, it will try to drive the attackers away with its Behind the Ooze ability or by rendering them Blind.
Habitat
Slime-things are extremely rare creatures, generally only spotted in the darkest pits of the Abyss. The infinite refuse, carnage, and arcane experiments of the demons feed these pits and produce a number of strange creatures: perhaps the only one that a traveler might truly desire to meet is the slime-thing. Unfortunately for such a traveler, slime-things almost never travel alone.
Able to feed a small tribe or a few larger creatures, and doing so freely, slime-things are often worshiped by the fevered and mad that surround them. Their orders and ideas are simple, often amounting to nothing more than “Cause no harm to a thing unless it brings harm to you” and other edicts promoting passivity and peace. The slime-thing does nothing to enforce such talk, although some tribes punish disobedience with (perhaps ironically) their own violence or a forced exile.
A Rumor
There is tell in the Abyss of a massive slime-thing that has declared itself an emperor, with an army numbering in the thousands composed of numerous discarded, twisted abominations. It is even said it is granting true clerical power to believers but surely this impossible!