Vrah, you had a perception roll back there. Other than this big gelatinous thing, you haven't seen any other living creatures in this cavern. It's kind of got your attention right now. There aren't any fish in this pond (you could correctly assume this thing has been eating them and pretty much anything else that fell in the pond). The ooze is virtually indistinguishable from the stone underneath the pool, except that now it's moving aggressively toward you. As it's risen out of the water, you see bits of trash and debris inside it that haven't been fully digested yet.
Once we get an initiative roll from Kisiki, we'll see what happens next!
I threw together a map for this encounter. The ooze is obviously the big blob out in the water. Shoor is standing where the sword is. The four other drow are where the crossbows are (a couple up on the large rocks, two down near the pool). If the rest of you want to tell me where you are by grid coordinates, we'll try doing it this way. At least a couple of you said you were in the water, so please pick an appropriate spot. The squares are roughly 5 ft. x 5 ft. so lets only have one person per square. You can tell me where you are when you take your first turn, then let me know where you end your turn.
The initiative order is: Tanis, Sarith, Shoor, Petmailer, Kisiki, Vrah, the Drow crossbow guys, then the ooze is last (it has really bad dex)
Thrown attack with rock described below, using Tanis' raw dex modifier: Attack: 9 Damage: 5
(Maybe starting in D5 for Tanis? I was going to say Tanis' action depends where everyone else is, as he might need to pull an ally away from the blob. But it looks like the blob goes last, so everyone can disengage and/or get away, so no need to pull anyone).
Tanis yelps with surprise. He first moves 15' south-southwest to C8. Free action along the way, picks up a rock (a fist or slightly larger-sized rock if possible, not the bigger rocks we are hauling). From C8, he throws it at the ooze. To hit, I used raw dex modifier assuming Tanis is not proficient with rocks! I assumed a 1d4 damage but feel free to adjust that. Also Tanis marks the ooze as his favored foe, adding another 1d4. So I made it 2d4 above. If the damage from the rock is just 1 or 1d2 or something, then replace the first die roll accordingly.
Tanis then retreats northwest with remaining 20' movement, 1 square west of A6 off the map and holds. For future reference, Tanis has a 35' move speed. To be 100% clear - Tanis is NOT attempting to escape. He is backing up to give his fellow prisoners room to scramble away. He makes this obvious from his body language as he faces the blob and goes to pick up another rock to throw at it. (If the blob dies before his next turn, Tanis will immediately drop the rock).
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
A 9 does hit. As your rock smacks it, you see bits of goo knocked off and splatter in the water.
Sarith is up next. I'm going to say he was at F2 and just scoots along the rock face moving toward A2, trying to get away from the thing and possibly slip away if the drow all become distracted.
Shoor draws his sword and rushes down into the water toward the ooze. He shouts out "Kill this thing. Ilvara will be angry if we lose any prisoners." Attack: 11 Damage: 6
As he slashes through it with his sword, more slabs of the ooze are carved off and fall into the water with a hissing sound. Shoor looks down and calls out "My sword! Dammit" as he sees that the ooze's substance has started instantly corroding the metal. He ends his turn at E8
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Petmailer was at F7 before he detected the abnormal movements in the water, turned and saw the gelatinous ooze wafting towards him. He moves out of the water and to D4 beside the cart, picks up a rock and hurls it at the creature.
Attack: 13 Damage: 2
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Your rock hits its target as well, sending quivers through the ooze. It's still moving forward through the water, but it's definitely taken some damage and seems to be having trouble keeping its form in places where it has taken hits.
I'll say I was at F3. Kisiki considers calling on his god's powers that don't require direct communion, but decides that the Elves' disposition toward magic, even in this scenario, is an unknown factor that he doesn't need to test. He runs over to the cart with the others, grabs a rock and pelts the ooze from a manageable range, then moves his remaining speed to keep his distance.
Attack: 14 Damage: 5 ((improvised weapons add str to damage, right? otherwise subtract 1 from damage))
Vrah sees the creature advance and moves from his starting position (F6) and will then quickly move to (D5) and grab the boulder and chuck it at the creature.
Strength Check: 16 To pick it up.
Strength Check to throw it at the creature: 11
[OOC: Roll whatever damage die you think the boulder would do if I hit it.]
The bugbear's rock slams into the side of the ooze, just before multiple crossbow bolts pierce its surface. Whatever force animates this thing and holds its form together cannot overcome all of this damage. Even as it is reaching pseudopods forward, it begins collapsing and it sinks back into the water.
Shoor looks around quickly to make sure the prisoners are still present. Sarith had begun easing away from the group. Shoor points at him with his sword. "Hold where you are murderer. All of you, drop what you're holding." One of the drow starts to set down his crossbow, then notices the others aren't doing so and stands back up sheepishly. Shoor rolls his eyes.
He kicks a boot through the water where the creature had been moments ago. Silt and dirt swirl in the water, along with bits of debris that had been stuck in the ooze, but nothing else is there. "I don't know why Jorlan had such a hard time with one of these. There's not much to them." He looks down at his pock-marked and corroding sword. "Ruined a damn fine sword though. Still, that's better than my face!" He looks to one of the other drow. "Here, give me yours." and he swaps his damaged sword for the drow soldier's sword.
Meanwhile, up in the dining hall, one of the drow says to Phodoxia "We don't keep cats underground. The rats don't eat enough to be a problem. Now quit talking and finish your work. This isn't a field trip."
Kisiki looks at his companions knowingly, but doesn't say anything. It seems like they discovered an interesting bit of information about the burnt-face Elf. He will bring it up once they're all back in the cell.
((Kisiki is from a swamp. Do oozes live there? Can I roll anything for understanding the context of what it was saying?))
It would be more of a religion check to know who the Faceless Lord might be. This kind of creature is an inhabitant of dungeons and caverns more than swamps.
Anyone who wants to make a religion roll can do that. You could also try a nature roll to see if you've encountered a creature like this before and if it behaved similarly.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Vrah Nature check: 12
Wracking his brain trying to think about what he knows about these creatures Vrah gets distracted upon seeing a particularly colorful rock in the water and picks it up.
With that roll, you are well versed in who you think this ooze was referring to.
You know that the title "The Faceless Lord" refers to the demon lord Juiblex. He is the lord of oozes and shapeless thingsand he exemplifies the corruptive nature of the Abyss. Ridiculed by its peers as "Lord of Nothing", the Faceless Lord was, even to them, a demon as revoltingly vile in body as it was inscrutably aberrant in mind. He is disgusting even to other demons and is perhaps the most foul of all demon lords and deities. The lore tells that its natural form is a shapeless, primordial soup of bubbling bile and nauseating fluid bound by a thin epidermis bathed in oil and mucus.
Juiblex was often regarded as one of the weaker demon lords, and the way he normally was, this was accurate. However, all of Juiblex's powers seemed minuscule in the face of his most threatening ability; the power to control any ooze from anywhere. Oozes were inherently tenacious creatures, able to exist in some of the most hostile corners of the multiverse, and all Juiblex had to do was focus his power to control them. In a sense, Juiblex's true form was not the one that dwelt in his abyssal layer but the combined volume of every brainless ooze, slime, pudding, and jelly in existence. The omnipresence of oozes throughout reality raised the question of why he didn't simply takeover the multiverse at his whim. In truth, despite his great intellect, the vastness of Juiblex's true body far outmatched the capacity of his comparatively small mind, and he was incapable of dividing his attention and ordering all of his servants at once. Juiblex's mere presence in an area could make the oozes of the region more aggressive and intelligent, although not necessarily both. Some oozes were no more capable than before but showed signs of malevolent intent rather than mere, mindless hunger, while others gained human levels of intelligence and telepathy without a hint of ill will towards sentient beings. If this ooze was invoking the name of the Faceless Lord, that doesn't bode well for this region of the Underdark.
Initiative for the ooze: 11
Shoor's initiative: 23
4 Drow with crossbows13 (group initiative)
Sarith's initiative (drow prisoner) 6
Vrah, you had a perception roll back there. Other than this big gelatinous thing, you haven't seen any other living creatures in this cavern. It's kind of got your attention right now. There aren't any fish in this pond (you could correctly assume this thing has been eating them and pretty much anything else that fell in the pond). The ooze is virtually indistinguishable from the stone underneath the pool, except that now it's moving aggressively toward you. As it's risen out of the water, you see bits of trash and debris inside it that haven't been fully digested yet.
Once we get an initiative roll from Kisiki, we'll see what happens next!
Kisiki Initiative: 11
The Lizardman balls his fists and looks at the strange amorphous stone rising out of the pool.
((sorry just got home a bit ago))
I threw together a map for this encounter. The ooze is obviously the big blob out in the water. Shoor is standing where the sword is. The four other drow are where the crossbows are (a couple up on the large rocks, two down near the pool). If the rest of you want to tell me where you are by grid coordinates, we'll try doing it this way. At least a couple of you said you were in the water, so please pick an appropriate spot. The squares are roughly 5 ft. x 5 ft. so lets only have one person per square. You can tell me where you are when you take your first turn, then let me know where you end your turn.
The initiative order is: Tanis, Sarith, Shoor, Petmailer, Kisiki, Vrah, the Drow crossbow guys, then the ooze is last (it has really bad dex)
Thrown attack with rock described below, using Tanis' raw dex modifier: Attack: 9 Damage: 5
(Maybe starting in D5 for Tanis? I was going to say Tanis' action depends where everyone else is, as he might need to pull an ally away from the blob. But it looks like the blob goes last, so everyone can disengage and/or get away, so no need to pull anyone).
Tanis yelps with surprise. He first moves 15' south-southwest to C8. Free action along the way, picks up a rock (a fist or slightly larger-sized rock if possible, not the bigger rocks we are hauling). From C8, he throws it at the ooze. To hit, I used raw dex modifier assuming Tanis is not proficient with rocks! I assumed a 1d4 damage but feel free to adjust that. Also Tanis marks the ooze as his favored foe, adding another 1d4. So I made it 2d4 above. If the damage from the rock is just 1 or 1d2 or something, then replace the first die roll accordingly.
Tanis then retreats northwest with remaining 20' movement, 1 square west of A6 off the map and holds. For future reference, Tanis has a 35' move speed. To be 100% clear - Tanis is NOT attempting to escape. He is backing up to give his fellow prisoners room to scramble away. He makes this obvious from his body language as he faces the blob and goes to pick up another rock to throw at it. (If the blob dies before his next turn, Tanis will immediately drop the rock).
(Let me know if that works).
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
A 9 does hit. As your rock smacks it, you see bits of goo knocked off and splatter in the water.
Sarith is up next. I'm going to say he was at F2 and just scoots along the rock face moving toward A2, trying to get away from the thing and possibly slip away if the drow all become distracted.
Shoor draws his sword and rushes down into the water toward the ooze. He shouts out "Kill this thing. Ilvara will be angry if we lose any prisoners." Attack: 11 Damage: 6
As he slashes through it with his sword, more slabs of the ooze are carved off and fall into the water with a hissing sound. Shoor looks down and calls out "My sword! Dammit" as he sees that the ooze's substance has started instantly corroding the metal. He ends his turn at E8
Petmailer, you're up.
Petmailer was at F7 before he detected the abnormal movements in the water, turned and saw the gelatinous ooze wafting towards him. He moves out of the water and to D4 beside the cart, picks up a rock and hurls it at the creature.
Attack: 13 Damage: 2
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Your rock hits its target as well, sending quivers through the ooze. It's still moving forward through the water, but it's definitely taken some damage and seems to be having trouble keeping its form in places where it has taken hits.
Kisiki is up next, then Vrah
I'll say I was at F3.
Kisiki considers calling on his god's powers that don't require direct communion, but decides that the Elves' disposition toward magic, even in this scenario, is an unknown factor that he doesn't need to test. He runs over to the cart with the others, grabs a rock and pelts the ooze from a manageable range, then moves his remaining speed to keep his distance.
Attack: 14 Damage: 5
((improvised weapons add str to damage, right? otherwise subtract 1 from damage))
Vrah sees the creature advance and moves from his starting position (F6) and will then quickly move to (D5) and grab the boulder and chuck it at the creature.
Strength Check: 16 To pick it up.
Strength Check to throw it at the creature: 11
[OOC: Roll whatever damage die you think the boulder would do if I hit it.]
The bugbear's rock slams into the side of the ooze, just before multiple crossbow bolts pierce its surface. Whatever force animates this thing and holds its form together cannot overcome all of this damage. Even as it is reaching pseudopods forward, it begins collapsing and it sinks back into the water.
Shoor looks around quickly to make sure the prisoners are still present. Sarith had begun easing away from the group. Shoor points at him with his sword. "Hold where you are murderer. All of you, drop what you're holding." One of the drow starts to set down his crossbow, then notices the others aren't doing so and stands back up sheepishly. Shoor rolls his eyes.
He kicks a boot through the water where the creature had been moments ago. Silt and dirt swirl in the water, along with bits of debris that had been stuck in the ooze, but nothing else is there. "I don't know why Jorlan had such a hard time with one of these. There's not much to them." He looks down at his pock-marked and corroding sword. "Ruined a damn fine sword though. Still, that's better than my face!" He looks to one of the other drow. "Here, give me yours." and he swaps his damaged sword for the drow soldier's sword.
As the ooze is fading away, you all (those of you on the cavern floor) hear that strange voice again in your head.
"Forgive my failure, master...."
Meanwhile, up in the dining hall, one of the drow says to Phodoxia "We don't keep cats underground. The rats don't eat enough to be a problem. Now quit talking and finish your work. This isn't a field trip."
Kisiki looks at his companions knowingly, but doesn't say anything. It seems like they discovered an interesting bit of information about the burnt-face Elf. He will bring it up once they're all back in the cell.
((Kisiki is from a swamp. Do oozes live there? Can I roll anything for understanding the context of what it was saying?))
It would be more of a religion check to know who the Faceless Lord might be. This kind of creature is an inhabitant of dungeons and caverns more than swamps.
Anyone who wants to make a religion roll can do that. You could also try a nature roll to see if you've encountered a creature like this before and if it behaved similarly.
Religion: 8
Nature: 18
Vrah Nature check: 12
Wracking his brain trying to think about what he knows about these creatures Vrah gets distracted upon seeing a particularly colorful rock in the water and picks it up.
Kisiki,
With that roll, you are well versed in who you think this ooze was referring to.
You know that the title "The Faceless Lord" refers to the demon lord Juiblex. He is the lord of oozes and shapeless things and he exemplifies the corruptive nature of the Abyss. Ridiculed by its peers as "Lord of Nothing", the Faceless Lord was, even to them, a demon as revoltingly vile in body as it was inscrutably aberrant in mind. He is disgusting even to other demons and is perhaps the most foul of all demon lords and deities. The lore tells that its natural form is a shapeless, primordial soup of bubbling bile and nauseating fluid bound by a thin epidermis bathed in oil and mucus.
Juiblex was often regarded as one of the weaker demon lords, and the way he normally was, this was accurate. However, all of Juiblex's powers seemed minuscule in the face of his most threatening ability; the power to control any ooze from anywhere. Oozes were inherently tenacious creatures, able to exist in some of the most hostile corners of the multiverse, and all Juiblex had to do was focus his power to control them. In a sense, Juiblex's true form was not the one that dwelt in his abyssal layer but the combined volume of every brainless ooze, slime, pudding, and jelly in existence. The omnipresence of oozes throughout reality raised the question of why he didn't simply takeover the multiverse at his whim. In truth, despite his great intellect, the vastness of Juiblex's true body far outmatched the capacity of his comparatively small mind, and he was incapable of dividing his attention and ordering all of his servants at once. Juiblex's mere presence in an area could make the oozes of the region more aggressive and intelligent, although not necessarily both. Some oozes were no more capable than before but showed signs of malevolent intent rather than mere, mindless hunger, while others gained human levels of intelligence and telepathy without a hint of ill will towards sentient beings. If this ooze was invoking the name of the Faceless Lord, that doesn't bode well for this region of the Underdark.