Svirf Riding Slug

Medium beast, unaligned

Neon green slime and goop slide off of this slithering mollusc’s jellylike hide as it slinks towards you, acid frothing from what must be its mouth.

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 22 (3d8+9)
Speed 15 ft., climb 15 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
13 (+1) 10 (+0) 16 (+3) 1 (-5) 7 (-2) 3 (-4)

Skills Stealth +4
Senses blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 8
Languages
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

Special Traits

  • Bred for Convenience. While svirf riding slugs are notoriously stupid and also stubborn (more so than even mules!), they have been bred over generations to understand the commands of svirf riders.
  • Conveniently Sticky. Svirf riding slugs have been cultivated over the years to produce just the right amount of sticky slime. Riders of these creatures require no special saddle to ride a slug and do not fall from the slug, even when it is hanging upside down from the ceiling. A character riding a svirf riding slug can, as a bonus action, nudge a specific part of the riding slugs’ flank to cause it to excrete a specific enzyme that renders the slime inert for 1 round and allows the rider to dismount sans any sticky residue.
  • Slimy Stealth. The slime excretion of svirf riding slugs can be controlled by the rider-the svirfneblin may have suffered a set-back with svirfdozers, but the notion of avoiding most of the underworld’s threats is a sound one. If the slugs exert slime, they gain advantage on any Dexterity (Stealth) checks, but individuals tracking them via Wisdom (Survival) also gain advantage.
  • Weapon stalks. Generations of selective breeding have resulted in svirf riding slugs having a set of easily agitated mutation-capabilities. By rubbing them with svirf slug mutator (see new equipment), a svirfneblin can cause the slug to grow up to one additional set of 2 stalks that exceed in length that of their eyestalks in one day. When a one-handed, non-heavy melee weapon is held in place while these rapidly forming stalks grow (a rather tedious process sans an appropriate harness), the stalk grows around this weapon, granting the snail a melee weapon attack at +3 to hit, with the appropriate damage and damage type. Some scholars believe that this is the origin of the infamous flail snail, but no one can be sure. Svirfneblin are currently experimenting with the formula and their slugs, trying to get slugs to dual-wield weapons or hold on to heavy or two-handed weapons, but so far to no avail. If a weapon stalk gets severed or if the weapon needs to be exchanged, a second application of svirf slug mutator causes the stalks to revert.

About

With the troubles of Svirfdozers indelibly marking the history of svirfneblin, there is a sensible aversion to the creation and use of mechanical vehicles. After the fall of the last network of Amber Roads during the Confluence, most undergnomes have taken to adapting the Underworld to their advantage and developed a pervading fondness for riding slugs. Virtually every svirfneblin enclave, regardless of its technological prowess, boasts stables and pens of mollusc mounts for traversing the endless caves of Aventyr.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Underworld Races and Classes © 2017 AAW Games LLC; Designers: Thilo Graf and Mike Myler