Shoal Ooze

Family: Oozes

Gargantuan ooze, unaligned

Armor Class 9
Hit Points 232 (16d20 + 64)
Speed 10 ft., swim 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20 (+5)	8 (–1)	19 (+4)	1 (–5)	10 (+0)	5 (–3)

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Damage Immunities acid
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, prone
Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages —
Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +4

SPECIAL TRAITS

• False Appearance. Until the shoal ooze attacks, it is indistinguishable from a large school of fish.
• Ooze Nature. The shoal ooze doesn’t require sleep.
• Symbiotically Bound. The ooze and the fish’s life force have become entwined. They share statistics as if they were one creature and can’t be separated.
• Water Breathing. The shoal ooze can breathe only underwater.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The shoal ooze uses Mesmerizing Spiral. It then makes three Pseudopod attacks and uses Engulf.
• Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage, the target is grappled (escape DC 16).
• Engulf. The shoal ooze engulfs one Huge or smaller creature grappled by it. The engulfed target is restrained and unable to breathe unless it can breathe water, and it must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw at the start of each of the ooze’s turns or take 21 (6d6) acid damage. If the ooze moves, the engulfed target moves with it. The ooze can have two Huge creatures or up to eight Large or smaller creatures engulfed at a time. An engulfed creature, or a creature within 5 feet of the ooze, can take its action to remove the engulfed creature from the ooze by succeeding on a DC 16 Strength check, putting the engulfed creature in an unoccupied space of its choice within 5 feet of the ooze.
• Mesmerizing Spiral. The fish inside the shoal ooze swim rapidly in a hypnotic spiral. Each creature within 20 feet of the ooze that can see the fish must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be incapacitated for 1 minute. While incapacitated, its speed is reduced to 0. The incapacitated creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the Mesmerizing Spiral of all shoal oozes for the next 24 hours.

ABOUT

Hundreds of small silver fish school together in a tightly-packed sphere inside this enormous, near-invisible ooze. The shoal ooze is a deadly, ocean-dwelling predator that thrives in symbiosis with a school of acid-resistant fish.

In return for the ooze’s protection from predators, the fish lure prey toward the ooze. When sharks or other would-be predators approach, the schooling fish swim in mesmerizing spiral patterns, allowing the ooze to surprise the hunters and devour them. As the ooze’s acid dissolves its engulfed victims, the fish eagerly gobble up tiny pieces.

Obscure Origins. Merfolk scholars believe these fish were once native to volcanic seas, eventually growing resistant to acidic environments.

Encounters between an ocean-dwelling ooze and the fish long ago allowed them to develop their symbiotic relationship. The deranged—some say visionary—lich who created the first giant shark bowl ooze may have been inspired by studying the shoal ooze.

Inextricably Linked. The fish live entirely inside the ooze, including hatching offspring. When the school—and its surrounding ooze—gets too big, part of the school splits off, forming a new shoal ooze. Small shoal oozes might combine into a larger shoal ooze, securing themselves against predators.