Concrete
2015-12-10, 05:40 PM
This is my first creation, and thus, I'm not sure how well this monster works, or how clearly I have described it. I can't really decide on a CR either. I plan to introduce my group (lvl 11, reasonably optimized) to it in an upcoming encounter, and would like to hear some feedback first. If you think it would be too challenging, I can probably try to introduce it later, but then again, my players have proven unreasonably crafty so far.
One downside I've already noticed is that it is a very mechanics heavy monster, which would work terribly using theater-of-the-mind style combat, as it comes with a bunch of rules regarding space and reach.
So, please, be as cruel as you need to be towards my baby.
Phalanx Ooze
The room stinks of death and strange alchemical fumes, and you hear the faint echo of a battle, voices screaming, the clatter of armor and marching feet. The pile of discarded armors and weapons on the floor seems to writhe and swell. Before you rises a wall of cracked shields and scraps of armor, between which you can glimpse glistening, oozing flesh. It starts towards you, as ancient, rusted weapons start to protrude from the cracks in its metal shell.
CR ?
XP ?
NE Gargantuan undead ooze
Init -4; Senses blindsight 60 ft.; Perception -3
DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 2, flat-footed 15 (-4 Dex, +5 natural , -4 size, +9 armor)
hp 145 (10d8+100)
Fort +13, Ref -1, Will +0
Defensive Abilities split, Phalanx, ooze traits, Undead Traits
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee slam +12 (2d8+10 plus 2d8 negative energy plus Grab) 4 Spears and assorted piercing weapons+10 (1d8+8)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks Engulfing (2d8+10 damage, plus 1d8 negative energy, and 1d4 Wisdom damage), Encircling.
STATISTICS
Str 24, Dex 3, Con 30, Int --, Wis 5, Cha 5
Base Atk +7; CMB +18 (+22 grapple); CMD 24 (34 vs. bull rush, can't be tripped)
SQ ooze traits, undead traits
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Testudo (Ex)
The Phalanx ooze bristles with old broken weaponry, and is partially covered with ancient rusted armor and shields. As a full round action which does not provoke an attack of opportunity, it can contract upon a 3x3 area , threatening an area of 15 feet to each side, and increasing its ac by +2 against melee attacks and +4 against ranged attacks.. The ooze is considered braced against all charge actions when in this configuration, and can make three attacks of opportunity each round, (in contrast to its normal one), but cannot use its slam attack. Its speed is also reduced to ten feet.
To return to its basic form is an attack action, and creatures adjacent to it a it grows are pushed back as if by a bullrush action. If this fails, the creature is considered encircled, as the ooze grows to its normal size around it.
If a Phalanx Ooze is found already in testudo formation, one must succeed a DC 12 perception check to identify it as anything but a huddled formation of soldiers from a distance. Within 30 feet, however, it is almost impossible to mistake it for anything but what it is.
Encircling (Ex)
The Phalanx ooze is capable of filling 16 squares, and these spaces do not have to be in a 4x4 configuration. As a move action, it can move its mass in up to four squares five feet each, as long as these are still adjacent to each other.
The Phalanx ooze can, if two parts of itself are at opposite sides of its victim, receive a flanking bonus as if the victim was flanked by two different creatures.
In this configuration, however, an ally of the flanked victim can, if in a position to flank one of the flanking parts of the Phalanx ooze, ignore the ac given by the covering pieces of armor, and the ooze’s reach is reduced to five feet against such enemies.
Split (Ex)
Slashing and piercing weapons deal no damage to a Phalanx ooze. Instead, the creature splits into two identical oozes, each with half of the original's current hit points (round down). An ooze with 10 hit points or less cannot be further split, and loses grip of an engulfed character, which ends up prone in square adjacent to it. The Phalanx Ooze dies if reduced to 0 hit points.
If split more than once, the spit parts become half the size of the original ooze, and start losing it’s limited tactical ability. The split parts only have two weapon attacks each round, and can no longer take an encircling action.
Furthermore, it loses its reach when performing a Testudo action.
Every time a Phalanx ooze is split, there is a 50% chance that an Engulfed character is freed. If the creature is not, place it randomly within one of the two oozes. A perception check of 16 can be made by all character observing the split as to discern which ooze their friend is engulfed in.
Engulfing (Ex)
The Phalanx Ooze can, when using its Slam attack, try to perform a grapple action on a character. If the character is pinned by such actions, the Phalanx Ooze drags it into itself, and the character is forced to become part of the Phalanx Ooze. This means three things.
Firstly: If the character is armed, the Phalanx Ooze can attempt a disarm as a swift action every round. If this succeeds, the Phalanx ooze gains an additional attack with the victims weapon, at the Phalanx Oozes base attack bonus. It can only gain two extra attacks this way.
Secondly: A pinned character is moved, unseen within the Ooze, and is used to shield it from harm. When attacking the Ooze, the attacker is allowed a DC 16 perception check. If this check fails, there is a 30% chance that the attack will instead strike the engulfed character.
Thirdly: The character engulfed is constricted, and suffers 2d8+10 plus 1d8 negative energy damage and 1d4 Wisdom damage every round, as the unquiet spirits of the phalanx tear at its body and soul.. The Phalanx Ooze gains temporary hitpoints equal to half the hitpoint damage taken this way.
A Character which manages to break free from the Phalanx ooze ends up prone in a square adjacent to it
Ecology
Environment: Battlefield, Dungeon
Organization: solitary, or pair,
Treasure: Incidental
Once a phalanx of soldiers, destroyed by some vile necromantic weapon, phalanx oozes are often found as a guardians of warrior nercromancers, or dormant on the battlefield on which they fell. When it senses a living creature, it seeks to encircle and engulf it, adding its victims to its mass.
Unlike many undead creatures, the Phalanx Ooze appears to recreate the tactics it used when it was a unit of soldiers, and is capable of closing its ranks in such a way that it might appear as a unit of soldiers huddled together from a distance.
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One downside I've already noticed is that it is a very mechanics heavy monster, which would work terribly using theater-of-the-mind style combat, as it comes with a bunch of rules regarding space and reach.
So, please, be as cruel as you need to be towards my baby.
Phalanx Ooze
The room stinks of death and strange alchemical fumes, and you hear the faint echo of a battle, voices screaming, the clatter of armor and marching feet. The pile of discarded armors and weapons on the floor seems to writhe and swell. Before you rises a wall of cracked shields and scraps of armor, between which you can glimpse glistening, oozing flesh. It starts towards you, as ancient, rusted weapons start to protrude from the cracks in its metal shell.
CR ?
XP ?
NE Gargantuan undead ooze
Init -4; Senses blindsight 60 ft.; Perception -3
DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 2, flat-footed 15 (-4 Dex, +5 natural , -4 size, +9 armor)
hp 145 (10d8+100)
Fort +13, Ref -1, Will +0
Defensive Abilities split, Phalanx, ooze traits, Undead Traits
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee slam +12 (2d8+10 plus 2d8 negative energy plus Grab) 4 Spears and assorted piercing weapons+10 (1d8+8)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks Engulfing (2d8+10 damage, plus 1d8 negative energy, and 1d4 Wisdom damage), Encircling.
STATISTICS
Str 24, Dex 3, Con 30, Int --, Wis 5, Cha 5
Base Atk +7; CMB +18 (+22 grapple); CMD 24 (34 vs. bull rush, can't be tripped)
SQ ooze traits, undead traits
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Testudo (Ex)
The Phalanx ooze bristles with old broken weaponry, and is partially covered with ancient rusted armor and shields. As a full round action which does not provoke an attack of opportunity, it can contract upon a 3x3 area , threatening an area of 15 feet to each side, and increasing its ac by +2 against melee attacks and +4 against ranged attacks.. The ooze is considered braced against all charge actions when in this configuration, and can make three attacks of opportunity each round, (in contrast to its normal one), but cannot use its slam attack. Its speed is also reduced to ten feet.
To return to its basic form is an attack action, and creatures adjacent to it a it grows are pushed back as if by a bullrush action. If this fails, the creature is considered encircled, as the ooze grows to its normal size around it.
If a Phalanx Ooze is found already in testudo formation, one must succeed a DC 12 perception check to identify it as anything but a huddled formation of soldiers from a distance. Within 30 feet, however, it is almost impossible to mistake it for anything but what it is.
Encircling (Ex)
The Phalanx ooze is capable of filling 16 squares, and these spaces do not have to be in a 4x4 configuration. As a move action, it can move its mass in up to four squares five feet each, as long as these are still adjacent to each other.
The Phalanx ooze can, if two parts of itself are at opposite sides of its victim, receive a flanking bonus as if the victim was flanked by two different creatures.
In this configuration, however, an ally of the flanked victim can, if in a position to flank one of the flanking parts of the Phalanx ooze, ignore the ac given by the covering pieces of armor, and the ooze’s reach is reduced to five feet against such enemies.
Split (Ex)
Slashing and piercing weapons deal no damage to a Phalanx ooze. Instead, the creature splits into two identical oozes, each with half of the original's current hit points (round down). An ooze with 10 hit points or less cannot be further split, and loses grip of an engulfed character, which ends up prone in square adjacent to it. The Phalanx Ooze dies if reduced to 0 hit points.
If split more than once, the spit parts become half the size of the original ooze, and start losing it’s limited tactical ability. The split parts only have two weapon attacks each round, and can no longer take an encircling action.
Furthermore, it loses its reach when performing a Testudo action.
Every time a Phalanx ooze is split, there is a 50% chance that an Engulfed character is freed. If the creature is not, place it randomly within one of the two oozes. A perception check of 16 can be made by all character observing the split as to discern which ooze their friend is engulfed in.
Engulfing (Ex)
The Phalanx Ooze can, when using its Slam attack, try to perform a grapple action on a character. If the character is pinned by such actions, the Phalanx Ooze drags it into itself, and the character is forced to become part of the Phalanx Ooze. This means three things.
Firstly: If the character is armed, the Phalanx Ooze can attempt a disarm as a swift action every round. If this succeeds, the Phalanx ooze gains an additional attack with the victims weapon, at the Phalanx Oozes base attack bonus. It can only gain two extra attacks this way.
Secondly: A pinned character is moved, unseen within the Ooze, and is used to shield it from harm. When attacking the Ooze, the attacker is allowed a DC 16 perception check. If this check fails, there is a 30% chance that the attack will instead strike the engulfed character.
Thirdly: The character engulfed is constricted, and suffers 2d8+10 plus 1d8 negative energy damage and 1d4 Wisdom damage every round, as the unquiet spirits of the phalanx tear at its body and soul.. The Phalanx Ooze gains temporary hitpoints equal to half the hitpoint damage taken this way.
A Character which manages to break free from the Phalanx ooze ends up prone in a square adjacent to it
Ecology
Environment: Battlefield, Dungeon
Organization: solitary, or pair,
Treasure: Incidental
Once a phalanx of soldiers, destroyed by some vile necromantic weapon, phalanx oozes are often found as a guardians of warrior nercromancers, or dormant on the battlefield on which they fell. When it senses a living creature, it seeks to encircle and engulf it, adding its victims to its mass.
Unlike many undead creatures, the Phalanx Ooze appears to recreate the tactics it used when it was a unit of soldiers, and is capable of closing its ranks in such a way that it might appear as a unit of soldiers huddled together from a distance.
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