Non-Combat Effects of Certain Spells

[Cheesegear]

From my homebrew campaign (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?632266-Archipelago-Campaign-The-Sirasi-Isle).

I want my players to come across a profane altar, at this stage, it's probably going to be an altar to Baphoment or Yeenoghu.
The monster in the room is an Ochre Jelly, with the Fiend subtype, rather than Ooze.

I want to encourage my players to burn a Level 1 spell slot on Bless or Protection From Good and Evil. But I don't know what the mechanical and/or roleplaying rewards should be, especially in regards to how it affects the Daemonic Ooze.

[rel]

how about imposing disadvantage on the monster

[Mastikator]

Is it too obvious that casting bless makes the ooze non-demonic?

[Cheesegear]

Is it too obvious that casting bless makes the ooze non-demonic?

And turns it into an Ooze? Or just ends the encounter immediately by dissolving the Ooze itself?

[Unoriginal]

I want to encourage my players to burn a Level 1 spell slot on Bless or Protection From Good and Evil.

Why do you want to encourage this, just to know?

[Cheesegear]

Why do you want to encourage this, just to know?

Mostly I want to encourage my players to think that not everything needs to be combat. Or, with creative use of roleplaying and spellcasting, they can potentially make ensuing fights easier. Even if I don't have something written down as a specific solution, I still want my players to think creatively, and not just focus around combat to be the end-all solution to any room or challenge.

[Unoriginal]

Mostly I want to encourage my players to think that not everything needs to be combat. Or, with creative use of roleplaying and spellcasting, they can potentially make ensuing fights easier. Even if I don't have something written down as a specific solution, I still want my players to think creatively, and not just focus around combat to be the end-all solution to any room or challenge.

Well the thing is, an Ooze is pretty much by definition a combat encounter, being both mindless and hostile, even if you can have environmental effects that let you sidestep combat or if you can use stealth.

I think you'll be better off to accomplish your goal if rather than an Ooze, you'll have some kind of shadow or blood-red cloud come out of the altar and affect the PCs, the shadow/cloud being invulnerable to both weapon and spells.

That way, it'll show that a) this shadow/cloud is not something that can be defeated by combat and such require another solution b) show the link between the altar's magic and what's hurting the PCs.

[Cheesegear]

Well the thing is, an Ooze is pretty much by definition a combat encounter...

That's...
That's...
'If you don't want a combat challenge, have you tried not putting a monster in the room?'

I feel so stupid.

[Mastikator]

Maybe put the ooze behind some force barrier? If the altar is destroyed the ooze is freed to attack the players. If bless is cast the ooze turned into an angelic ooze that grants the players some boon and then disappears. Dunno what's an appropriate boon. Maybe an inspiration point?

[Unoriginal]

That's...
That's...
'If you don't want a combat challenge, have you tried not putting a monster in the room?'

I mean plenty of monsters can easily do non-combat challenges. It's just that oozes are generally not equipped for that.

Could be part of a puzzle, certainly, but if the puzzle involves fighting it's still a combat encounter.


I feel so stupid.

No reason to feel stupid.