Amorphous. The ooze can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. It can enter a creature's space and stop there. A creature that starts its turn in the ooze's space must make a DC 19 Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is Engulfed. On a successful save, the creature can use its reaction to move up to half its speed away from the ooze.
Reactive Adaptation. The ooze has a shifting set of damage resistances. It has a number of stored damage resistances equal to its proficiency bonus (5). The ooze starts with three resistances: piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning from nonmagical attacks. Whenever the ooze takes damage of a type it is not resistant to, it gains resistance to that damage type and loses its oldest stored resistance. If the ooze takes damage from a type it is already resistant to, nothing happens.
Adaptive Immunity. If the ooze is hit by the same type of damage for a second time in a row within a single round, it becomes immune to that damage type until it takes damage from a different type.
Engulf. As an action, the ooze can engulf a creature in its space. The engulfed creature is blinded, restrained, and has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the ooze. At the start of the ooze's turn, the engulfed creature takes 5d8 necrotic damage. If the ooze takes 50 damage or more from a single engulfed creature in one turn, it must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it regurgitates all engulfed creatures into an unoccupied space adjacent to it. A creature can escape when the ooze dies.
Multiattack. The ooze makes three Pseudopod attacks.
Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (3d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
Engulf. As an action, the ooze can engulf a creature in its space. The engulfed creature is blinded, restrained, and has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the ooze. At the start of the ooze's turn, the engulfed creature takes 5d8 necrotic damage. If the ooze takes 50 damage or more from a single engulfed creature in one turn, it must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it regurgitates all engulfed creatures into an unoccupied space adjacent to it. A creature can escape when the ooze dies.
Split. The ooze can split into two separate oozes. Each new ooze is one size smaller than the original and has half the original's current hit points, rounded down. The new oozes have a challenge rating of 10. The original ooze's turn ends when it splits.
Description
The Oozes of the Underdark and the Far Realm
The Adaptive Ooze, sometimes called a "Shifting Slime" or "Mimicry Ooze," is a rare and terrifying creature found in the darkest corners of the Material Plane, with its origins tracing back to the horrors of the Far Realm. While most oozes are simple, mindless scavengers, the Adaptive Ooze possesses a strange, almost proto-sentience. It is a perfect predator, a walking evolutionary response to its environment.
Scholars believe the first Adaptive Oozes were created through a magical catastrophe that fused a regular Black Pudding with the chaotic, reality-bending energies of the Far Realm. Unlike other creatures touched by this otherworldly plane, which often go mad or are simply unmade, the ooze's simple, non-sentient form proved to be a perfect vessel for this raw, adaptable magic. It did not think or reason; it simply was.
This primal, reactive nature makes the Adaptive Ooze a perfect fit for the Underdark. Here, in the endless tunnels and forgotten caves, the ooze has thrived. It learns and adapts to the attacks of its prey, making it a particularly dangerous threat to both monsters and adventurers alike. A party of drow scouts might find their lightning spells suddenly useless, or a group of duergar dwarves might be horrified to discover their bludgeoning attacks have no effect. The ooze's ability to split when damaged is a perfect, brutal replication of the classic amoeba, a simple biological function given a horrific magical twist.
While some sages believe the Adaptive Ooze is a failed aberration, a mistake that accidentally stumbled into the Material Plane, others theorize it is an intentional creation of a Far Realm entity. Perhaps it is a "seed" of its plane's reality-warping chaos, dropped into the world to see what it might grow into. Some legends even claim that if an Adaptive Ooze is allowed to consume and adapt enough, it will eventually become a full-fledged Far Realm entity itself, bringing a piece of its alien home to the Material Plane.
The ooze's strange resistance and immunity traits are echoes of its Far Realm origins, a testament to its chaotic and ever-changing form. It doesn't just resist damage; it absorbs and mimics the very force used against it, turning its enemies' strengths against them. This makes it a perfect encounter for high-level adventurers who might think they have seen everything the Underdark has to offer. They will quickly find that against this creature, a single plan will never be enough.
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