Avatar of Shoth

Gargantuan aberration (shoth), lawful neutral

Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points 341 (22d20 +110)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
20 (+5) 9 (-1) 20 (+5) 18 (+4) 20 (+5) 22 (+6)

Saving Throws Constitution +12, Wisdom +12, Charisma +13
Skills Insight +12, Perception +12, Persuasion +13
Damage Immunities acid, cold, fire
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, prone
Senses blindsight 60 ft., truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 22
Languages all, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 21 (33,000 XP)

Special Traits

  • Absorbent. When the avatar damages a creature, it absorbs a portion of that creature’s knowledge and power. As a bonus action, it can recreate any action available to a creature it damaged within the last minute. This includes spells and actions with limited uses or with a recharge. This recreated action is resolved using the avatar’s statistics where applicable.
  • Amorphous. The avatar, including its equipment, can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
  • Legendary Resistance (3/day). If the avatar fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
  • Soothing Aura. Any creature hostile to the avatar that starts its turn within 30 feet of the avatar must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on all attack rolls until the end of its next turn. Creatures with Intelligence 3 or lower automatically fail the saving throw.
  • Innate Spellcasting (Psionics). The avatar’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell casting DC 21, +13 to hit with spell attacks). It may cast the following spells innately, requiring no components:

Actions

  • Multiattack. The avatar makes three oozing tentacle attacks.
  • Oozing Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 31 (4d12 + 5) bludgeoning damage and 14 (4d6) acid damage.
  • Legendary Merge. A shoth with less than half its maximum hp can merge with any other shoth creature within 10 feet, adding its remaining hp to that creature’s. The hp gained this way can exceed the normal maximum of that creature. The avatar can accept any number of such mergers.
  • Acid Wave (Recharge 5-6). The avatar rises up and crashes down, releasing a 20-foot radius wave of acidic ooze. Each creature in the area must make a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, a creature takes 67 (15d8) acid damage and is knocked prone. On a success, a creature takes half the damage and isn’t knocked prone.
  • Consult the Zom (1/day). The avatar uses its action to consult its weighty zom for insight. The zom flashes brilliant crimson and white light. Each creature within 120 feet who can see the avatar must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of its next turn. Each creature of the avatar’s choice within 120 feet that speaks a language must succeed on a DC 20 Charisma saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn as the avatar telepathically utters a short expression that is particularly meaningful to that creature.

Legendary Actions

The avatar can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The avatar regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

  • At Will Spell. The avatar casts one at will spell.
  • Oozing Tentacle. The avatar makes one oozing tentacle attack.
  • Acid Wave (Costs 2 Actions). The avatar uses Acid Wave, if it is available.

Lair

The Dripping Place is an enormous vessel that houses the avatar of Shoth itself. The massive ship is made from slime-exuding metal plates and is powered by mysterious, magical energy. The avatar pilots the ship from its central chamber. The Dripping Palace only arrives on worlds where the shoth have met extreme opposition. Wherever the palace goes, a force of oth paladins goes with it.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the avatar takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the avatar can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

  • The avatar melts into the ooze of its lair, becoming invisible and teleporting to an unoccupied space within 100 feet of it. The invisibility lasts until the end of the avatar’s next turn.
  • The ooze covering the floor within 60 feet of the avatar ripples and forms into dozens of grasping pseudopods. Each non-shoth creature that starts its turn in the area must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be grappled and restrained by the pseudopods. A creature, including the target, can take its action to remove the pseudopod from the target by succeeding on a DC 15 Strength check. The pseudopods dissolve when the avatar uses this lair action again or when the avatar dies.
  • The avatar telepathically communicates with any creature with 0 hp within 120 feet of the avatar. That creature sees an indescribably beautiful unfolding pattern of stars and is immediately restored to 1 hp. A creature restored this way is charmed by the avatar until the end of its next turn. While charmed by the avatar, that creature is incapacitated and must move up to its speed toward the avatar on its turn.

About

The avatar of Shoth is a gargantuan, oozing pile connected to two droths by viscous appendages. A massive pulsing zom sits in the center of its body, and it is from there that the laws and edicts of Shoth emanate. The avatar’s zom is a powerful magical artifact, which stores, creates, and disseminates the rules and tenets of the shoth across the planes of existence. Through this zom, the avatar can communicate telepathically with any shoth over any distance and across any plane. The zom magically returns to Shoth if the avatar is slain.

Abandon or Persist. The avatar of Shoth is often called to worlds where the shoth have been unsuccessful in convincing a populace to dissolve with them. Though the shoth possess infinite patience, in certain circumstances Shoth determines it is no longer necessary to pursue a certain form of life.

Alternatively, Shoth may decide to take extreme measures to encourage willingness to step into a zolv. On numerous occasions, Shoth has sent its avatar to destroy all other life on a world to force the reluctant race’s hand.

The shoth can be villains or allies. They play the long game with new races, often arriving in small numbers, and allying first with the less intelligent creatures. The shoth might help a small clan of goblins overcome a few nasty trolls with whom they share a cave. Similarly, the shoth may offer a powerful spell to an elvish court, which grants the elves advantage over their enemies. They may offer to liberate slaves, assist with the construction of a city, or help win a long, difficult war.

Whatever their aid, their final offer is always the zolv.

The Shoth

Be at peace, lose your bones, be one with the shoth.

The shoth are an aberrant race of oozing humanoids from outside the known planes. Their leader, and namesake, is a creature with god-like powers whose gelatinous body floats like a star in a distant galaxy. The shoth have no home world; instead, they wander the universe inside massive oozing vessels capable of interplanar travel. The largest of these vessels, the Dripping Palace, contains an avatar of Shoth itself.

The singular purpose of all the shoth is to dissolve willing, sentient life in great bubbling pools called zolvs. Far from being war-like and dominating, the shoth instead form close relationships with creatures, assisting those creatures in whatever way they can.

The shoth provide assistance, wisdom, riches, and guidance until the object of their attention accepts the greatest offer the shoth can make-absolute co-mingling. In this way, the shoth increase both their knowledge and their numbers. They have been known to work for a millennia or more before making the offer of the zolv.

The process of dissolving oneself in a zolv is not painful or unpleasant. The creature wades into the thick protein bath and is flooded with calm and peaceful emotions. Slowly, the creature submerges itself, and its body is dissolved, rising again as a vaguely-humanoid ooze.

The shoth follow a strict code of laws recorded in magical spheres called zoms. Each shoth carries its own zom, to which it telepathically refers often. Only the shoth can fully understand the zom’s sigils and sounds, though magic such as the comprehend languages spell gives the caster some measure of understanding. The laws of Shoth are actually the collected wisdom of all the disparate sentient species who have been dissolved over the aeons.

The shoth divide themselves into different castes according to their age. Newly dissolved shoth are called soozes, while shoth who have persisted a century or more earn the title oth.

These elders serve as generals in the shoth armies or as scholarly wizards who pursue magical knowledge to add to the collective.

The few who live for 500 years or more become droths. These massive piles of ooze no longer appear humanoid, instead looking like smaller versions of Shoth itself. Droths are required for the creation of zolvs and, therefore, are usually the last to arrive to a world.

Trustworthy. The shoth are true to their word. They are interested in gaining the trust of others and do not employ trickery, deception, or intimidation to obtain it. Once the shoth have targeted a creature or group for dissolution, they are true friends and allies.

Never by Force. Though the shoth have many laws recorded in the zoms, the overarching law states that creatures must agree to be dissolved without force or coercion. The zolv is the last step in the relationship, and it is never offered before the shoth are confident the creature will accept.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Creature Codex. © 2018 Open Design LLC; Authors Wolfgang Baur, Dan Dillon, Richard Green, James Haeck, Chris Harris, Jeremy Hochhalter, James Introcaso, Chris Lockey, Shawn Merwin, and Jon Sawatsky.

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