Ceiling Ooze

Family: Oozes

Large ooze, unaligned

Armor Class 9
Hit Points 95 (10d10 + 40); Wound Threshold N/A
Speed 10 ft., climb 10 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
17 (+3)	8 (-1)	19 (+4)	2 (-4)	10 (+0)	5 (-3)

Skills Perception* +6, Stealth* +5
Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder; non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, prone
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 16
Languages –
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Amorphous. The ceiling ooze can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing (see Adventurers, Combat).
• Cunning Action. On each of its turns, the ceiling ooze can use a bonus action to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.
• Oil Spit. The ground in a 5-foot radius around the ceiling ooze is covered in a slippery, oily substance. Each creature entering or ending its turn in this area must succeed a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
• Spider Climb. The ceiling ooze can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The ceiling ooze makes two pseudopod attacks.
• Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage plus 9 (2d8) acid damage. If the target is Large or smaller, it is grappled (escape DC 14).

ABOUT

The ceiling ooze is a Netherworld predator that mostly hunts by staying put, adhered to the tunnel ceilings. It lets filaments and pseudopods dangle, with which it usually catches insects, but it won’t turn down larger prey. It is also known to spit out an oily liquid that makes the ground extremely slippery.

SPECIAL OPTION

It isn’t rare for these creatures to form colonies, stuck together edge to edge over large surfaces. They create synergy with each other and develop a kind of instinctual cooperation. Therefore, if the leader uses this optional rule, they gain the following trait:

Pack Tactics. The ooze has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of the ooze’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.

SPECIAL OPTION

The leader can use this option to make combat more dynamic and devious. If a ceiling ooze uses its oil spit (see the Oil spit trait) on a slope, any creature made prone on this ground slides down an equal distance to the movement made before falling. It can then get up as per normal movement rules. Knowing this, some particularly powerful or vicious individuals use ceiling oozes as traps in some structures. The floor is then designed to drop intruders into chasms, prison cells, or spike pits.

Training Ceiling Oozes

In some shops, young ceiling oozes kept in jars can be bought to be raised in places that need protection.

During their growth, these creatures are exposed to different stimuli that condition their behavior.

Ooze trainers utilize various scents and fragrances, with each distinct smell corresponding to an order. There are different strategies for choosing the scents. Some choose an expensive and rare perfume that only they use. Others prefer a more mundane scent, but one which intruders are unlikely to have on them (garlic, aged cheese, etc.). Some mischievous guardians-proud of their superior intellect-might even display riddles at the entrance of a tunnel that describe either the scent or how to create it… which might be nothing more than a ruse by a nefarious individual to lead undesirables into enraged oozes!

The oozes typically learn three behaviors:

• Hide. The ooze retracts its pseudopods and stays inert for 10 minutes. It will only react if attacked.
• Flee. The ooze withdraws as if frightened, doing its best to escape the source of the scent.
• Kill. The ooze attacks the source of the scent until its target is killed.