Lakuma

Large ooze, unaligned

Armor Class 16 natural armor
Hit Points 105 (10d10+50)
Speed 25 ft., swim 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	13 (+1)	20 (+5)	1 (-5)	5 (-3)	1 (-5)

Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 7
Languages –
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Amphibious. Lakuma are amphibians and can breathe air and water.
• False Appearance. While the lakuma remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from the surface of a body of water. A creature with a swim speed can sense a lakuma as through it had blindsight with a range equal to its swim speed.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The lakuma makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its slam.
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage.
• Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludegoning damage, and the target is grappled (DC 14 to escape) and must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the target is also restrained, and begins suffocating. A suffocating creature has a number of rounds equal to their Constitution modifier before their hit points are reduced to zero from suffocation. A Lakuma can grapple up to one large sized creature, two medium sized creatures, or four small sized creatures.

ABOUT

There are few sea creatures as feared as the lakuma. Appearing as a flat sheet of water, the lakuma are virtually invisible in the open ocean. While most sea creatures can sense and avoid a lakuma through its movement in the water, most swimmers and fishermen are not so perceptive. A lakuma knows to swim near ports, finding a good spot in which to wait for fishing vessels and swimmers before dragging creatures into the depths to devour them, often leaving bits of its victims as the only proof of its presence.

Semirigid Shape. Unlike most oozes, which are wholly amorphous, the lakuma must maintain its round, mostly flat shape. It glides mostly on the surface of the ocean, though it has limited flexibility to follow the surge and swell of the water’s surface.

Pleasant Offerings. Though these creatures are violent and deadly, there are a few known methods to deal with them. First, fishermen will sometimes make offerings to make the laukma happy. Offerings maybe something as simple as chum, while other more elaborate offerings may be made. Some local wise men can even appeal to the spirits for the ability to bind a lakuma to service. In such cases, a bound lakuma can become a boon to the defense and operation of fishing villages.

A cleric, druid, or warlock may be able to learn a variation of the geas spell that allows them to bind a specific creature, like the Lakuma, to its service for 30 days per casting. The creature does not need to understand you for this spell variation.