Alchemical Ooze Swarm, Melancholic

Family: Oozes

Medium swarm of Tiny oozes, unaligned

Armor Class 13
Hit Points 23 (5d8)
Speed 25 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1 (-5)	16 (+3)	14 (+2)	1 (-5)	6 (-2)	1 (-5)

Skills Stealth +5
Damage Vulnerabilities acid
Damage Resistances lightning, bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, prone
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius); passive Perception 8
Languages –
Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Special Traits

• Paralyzing Slime. A creature exposed to the swarm’s slime must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 round. While poisoned in this way the creature is paralyzed.
• Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature’s space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a Tiny ooze. The swarm can’t regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.
• Viscous. A creature that starts its turn in the swarm’s space must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save it is covered in sticky globules. Until removed, the sticky patches of goo reduce the creatures speed to half, impose disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, and is subject to the swarm’s Paralyzing Slime at the start of its turn. A creature can remove the sticky globs as an action. If a creature affected by this ability takes acid damage, the goo is removed immediately.

Actions

• Feed. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 0 ft., one target in the swarm’s space. Hit: 10 (4d4) piercing damage or 5 (2d4) piercing damage if the swarm has half of its hit points or fewer, and the target is subject to the swarm’s Paralyzing Slime.

About

Formed from accumulations of runoff from arcane laboratories and regions of magical calamity, alchemical oozes are fist-sized blobs of volatile chemicals. Although composed of unpredictable compounds and toxins, these mobile oozes pose little threat individually, but in polluted quagmires and tainted sewers can collect in numbers great enough to threaten creatures many times their size.

Swarms of the slimes linger in such contaminated areas and seek new accretions of vital solutions, like those found within the bodies of higher life forms, to fuel their erratic life cycles. Found in numerous varieties with a host of differing abilities, these weird, clinging oozes have been differentiated by likening them to the humors said to compose the bodies of living beings.

• Hungry Fluids. Appearing at first to be a collection of tiny blobs of viscous, translucent fluid, alchemical oozes become far more terrifying once their hungry nature becomes apparent. Each swarm is composed of several hundred palm-sized balls of ooze that all scuttle along as a single unit. Different types of alchemical oozes have various unique abilities, though they otherwise share the same statistics below.
• Choleric Ooze Swarm. Choleric oozes are composed of caustic chemicals, and living creatures failing their save against the swarm’s paralyzing slime takes 5 (2d4) acid damage instead of being paralyzed. Wooden or metal objects in contact with the swarm for 1 round take 8 (3d4) acid damage. A choleric ooze swarm has damage resistance to acid and damage vulnerability to lightning, and any amount of lightning damage ends the swarm’s viscous ability.
• Phlegmatic Ooze Swarm. Phlegmatic oozes are composed of volatile mind-altering compounds, and living creatures failing their save against the swarm’s paralyzing slime are stunned instead of being paralyzed. A phlegmatic ooze swarm has damage resistance to cold (instead of acid) and damage vulnerability to fire (instead of acid), and any amount of fire (rather than lightning) damage ends the swarm’s viscous ability.
• Sanguine Ooze Swarm. Sanguine oozes are composed of euphoric hallucinogens, and living creatures failing their save against the swarm’s paralyzing slime are charmed and blinded instead of being paralyzed. A phlegmatic ooze swarm has damage resistance to fire (instead of acid) and damage vulnerability to cold (instead of acid), and any amount of cold (rather than lightning) damage ends the swarm’s viscous ability.