Amorphous. The amorphous Guardian can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
Enchanted Ooze. All of the Amorphous Guardian's attacks are treated as magical for the sake of overcoming resistances and immunities.
Humanoid Ooze. The amorphous guardian takes on a permanent form of a humanoid clad in heavy armor when serving its duty, the outer layer of ooze hardening and assuming a desirable color to appear as plate or splint armor, or something similar. Further, the weapons it bares are made from its own hardened ooze, the amorphous substance within allowing the ooze to continually reform or regrow whatever is necessary should its equipment be broken.
Guardian Bond. The amorphous guardian is an animated guardian created to defend a creature, object, or location, and as such is specially made to accomplish this task. This creature can telepathically communicate with its creator or one deemed its master (typically through the possession of a magical item bound to the guardian) at a range of 300 feet. It will always recognize its creator and its master, and while not particularly intelligent, can converse telepathically with them.
Immutable Form. The amorphous guardian is immune to the polymorph and any spell which would permanently alter its shape.
Ooze Armor. The amorphous guardian's body and armor are ultimately made of congealed and hardened acid-enriched ooze. Any creature that engages in a grapple or that makes an unarmed attack against the amorphous guardian suffers 11 (2d10) acid damage upon hitting the ooze or initiating the grapple and at the start of each of its turns so long as they are grappling the ooze.
Spider Climb. The amorphous guardian can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Unusual Nature. The amorphous guardian does not need to breathe. It eats and drinks by absorbing fluids and matter, and can ingest most organic substances as food or drink.
Multiattack. The Amorphous Guardian makes two attacks with its Hardened Ooze Blade or Hammer, Pseudopod, or Acid Spit.
Hardened Ooze Blade. Melee Natural Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage plus 16 (2d10 + 5) acid damage. Any time a creature is dealt damage by this attack, it must succeed a DC 16 CON saving throw, suffering an additional 10 (1d10 + 5) acid damage from lingering acid excreted from the blade at the start of their next turn, or no damage on a successful one.
Hardened Ooze Hammer. Melee Natural Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage plus 12 (2d6 + 5) acid damage. Any time a creature is dealt damage by this attack, the creature must make a DC 16 CON saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn. If the creature fails its save and is of medium or smaller size, the guardian may also knock them prone.
Pseudopod. Melee Natural Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage plus 16 (2d10 + 5) acid damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 16). Until this grapple ends, the target takes 11 (2d10) acid damage at the start of each of its turns.
Acid Spit. Ranged Natural Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 60/180 ft., one target. Hit: 23 (5d6 + 5) acid damage.
Humanoid Form. As a bonus action, the Amorphous Guardian can alter its shape to any other desirable humanoid shape so long as it remains a medium sized creature. This does not alter its ability scores or actions, but can allow it to change its physical appearance, including coloration and armor style. It will typically only do this when it is deemed necessary for completing a mission (such as appearing as an armored dwarf or orc to move through a city unnoticed), or when ordered to by its creator or master.
Ooze Form. As a bonus action, the Amorphous Guardian can assume an amorphous ooze form, allowing it to treat itself as one size smaller and to ignore all difficult terrain. While in this form, the amorphous guardian can only use its pseudopod and acid spray attacks. While in this form, the amorphous guardian is immune to being grappled and restrained and immediately escapes a grapple or restraint if it was in one when it assumed this form. It will generally revert as soon as this form is no longer more useful.
Carapace Burst (Recharge 2 Turns). As a reaction to being hit by a melee attack the Amorphous Guardian can cause the struck section of hardened ooze carapace to rupture and erupt, causing all creatures within a 10 foot cone aimed at the attacker to make a DC 16 DEX saving throw. Each creature takes 11 (2d10) piercing damage plus 11 (2d10) acid damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful save.
Counterattack. The amorphous guardian may make a weapon attack as a reaction to being attacked by a creature it can see within melee reach or within range of its acid spit.
Description
Inventive wizards always find new ways to defend their treasures, and the Amorphous Guaridan is one such inventive means of defense. Creatures forged from arcane ritual that bestows a lesser spirit a host body in the form of a specially crafted ooze, these guardians serve as loyal protectors of their charge, whatever or whoever that charge might be. Often created using only fragments of a soul to prevent personal identity or morality from interfering with their purpose, but while retaining more complex capacity for thought than lesser oozes, these entities are sculpted into a shape that serves not only the purpose of being an armored guardian, but also to aesthetically match their creator's desired image.
Amorphous Guardians are costly to create, but not nearly so expensive as golems, which makes them a preferable alternative for the budget minded mage. Further, their unique capacities granted from their ooze body give them some unique advantages over golems and constructs, as they can more readily navigate complex mazes and hazard rife towers. The creation process of these guardians involves around 2,000 gold pieces worth of rare minerals and metals dissolved into an existing ooze, and the use of either a soul cage or another means of calling forth a near-mindless spirit to bind within it. The process takes around one week to complete, most of which being used to progressively inject the ooze with the necessary material components to bind a soul to. Colloquially, this process is referred to as baking the guardian, as heat and cold are employed to adjust the ooze's body to the hardening and liquefying cycles needed to form its armor and weaponry.
After this process is completed, a single hardened piece of the ooze is extracted and put into a crystal vial to serve as its command item, this singular piece being fashioned into an accessory of some sort and magically augmented to never rejoin its original body, mostly to prevent unwanted hazards that presented themselves in the early eras of these creatures' creation. After made into a command item, these accessories are generally well guarded and kept on an overseer's person to serve as the ooze's master.
While considered loyal to their purpose and their cause, there is no inherent bond an Amorphous Guardian has to its charge, only to the orders given through its command item. So, one who gains control over this item can easily redesignate the guardian's purpose, assuming they can successfully attune to it before being dispatched by the guardian.
When an amorphous guardian is slain, it is relatively easy to reconstitute by a talented mage, so long as the command item remains in tact. By being dispatched, only the spirit used to control the ooze is released, so a mage capable of gathering at least half of the guardian's remains can easily bind a new body and supplement any missing material at a great discount compared to creating a whole new guardian.
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