Homebrew Gelatinous Cube Species Details
"The dungeon's floors were spotless. That should have been our first clue." - from the Journal of Jaster Hollowquill, on his first exploration of Undermountain.
Gelatinous cubes scour dungeon passages in silent, predictable patterns, leaving perfectly clean paths in their wake. They consume living tissue while leaving bones and other materials undissolved. A gelatinous cube is all but transparent, making it hard to spot until it attacks. A cube that is well fed can be easier to spot, since its victims' bones, coins, and other objects can be seen suspended inside the creature.
Gelatinous Bodies
Gelatinous cubes slink along the ground and use their transparent bodies to feed on creatures or objects that can be dissolved. Since not every substance can be digested, some cubes have coins, metal gear, bones, and other debris suspended within their quivering bodies.
When becoming adventurers, gelatinous cubes learn how to shape their body to use armor or weapons and they enjoy carrying their equipment or looted treasures inside themselves. However this results in them having smaller bodies than non-adventurous gelatinous cubes.
Slow Death
Oozes like gelatinous cubes kill their prey slowly. They engulf creatures to prevent escape and torture them to death with their acidic bodies. Although this behaviour gives a victim's comrades a chance to come to their rescue before it is too late, gelatinous cubes still prefer this way of dealing with their enemies because they can use these dissolved creatures as nourishment.
Life Underground
Most gelatinous cubes live in dark dungeons and are well suited for life underground. They are always aware of their immediate surroundings and do not have to rely on eyes to see in the dark.
Although oozes do not build houses underground, they often return to some kind of lair where they spend most of their time after having wandered around enough.
GELATINOUS CUBES IN THE FORGOTTEN REALMS
Gelatinous cubes usually do not take part in society and are rarely spotted above ground. They prefer to dwell in dungeons or dirty sewers underneath large cities.
In rare cases, some gelatinous cubes gain enough sentience to go on adventures and explore the world above. As monstrous adventurers, they struggle to be accepted by society and are often driven out of towns and cities.
Gelatinous Ooze Names
Gelatinous cubes often have names that resemble the sound of ooze dripping down from a ceiling or a wall.
A gelatinous cube may have a name similar to one of these: Blob, Flop, Drip, Blib, Blub, Wob or Klob.
GELATINOUS CUBE BACKGROUNDS
Backgrounds that are most appropriate for gelatinous cubes include the outlander or the hermit.
Gelatinous cubes usually wander dungeons or sewers in search for food. They live a life far from society and are not really accustomed to everyday life. When gelatinous cubes gain sentience and start to go on adventures, they usually draw a lot of attention from other adventures and townsfolk who are not used to seeing these creatures above ground.
Gelatinous Cube Traits
Your gelatinous cube character has the following racial traits.Ability Score Increase
Your Constitution score increases by 2, and one other ability sore of your choice increases by 1.
Age
Gelatinous cubes reach maturity by age 5. As long as a gelatinous cube has a source of food, it can survive indefinitely. You are immune to magical aging effects.
Alignment
Most gelatinous cubes tend towards a neutral alignment.
Size
Gelatinous cubes are usually about 7 feet tall. They have cube-shaped, gelatinous bodies that weigh between 250 and 300 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 20 feet.
Blindsight
You have blindsight up to 60 feet, but you are blind outside of this range.
Pseudopods
You can form up to two pseudopods, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal acid damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. Your pseudopods count as light melee weapons.
Transparent
You are hard to spot due to your transparent body. You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks that rely on sight while not carrying, wearing or wielding equipment.
Gelatinous Body
You are able to pick up objects by moving over them and you can carry equipment up to a volume of 7 cubic feet inside of your gelatinous body. Additionally, you can use an action to drop some or all of the equipment you are carrying, wearing or wielding and it only takes an action for you to don armor if you are carrying it inside of your body.
You also do not need to sleep and are immune to being blinded or deafened. When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours in an inactive, motionless state, rather than sleeping. In this state, you appear inert, but it doesn’t render you unconscious, and you can see and hear as normal.
Ooze Cube
You take up your entire space. Other creatures can enter the space, but a creature that does so is subjected to your Engulf and has disadvantage on the saving throw. Creatures inside you can be seen but have total cover.
A creature within 5 feet of you can take an action to pull a creature or object out of you. Doing so requires a successful Strength check, and the creature making the attempt takes 1d6 acid damage. The DC for this check equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus.
You can hold only one Medium creature or up to four Small or Tiny creatures inside you at a time.
The damage increases to 1d8 at 6th level, 1d10 at 11th level, and 1d12 at 16th level.
Engulf
You can use your bonus action to prepare to engulf other creatures. While moving during this turn, you can enter Medium or smaller creatures' spaces. Whenever you enter a creature's space, the creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus.
On a successful save, the creature can choose to be pushed 5 feet back or to the side of you. A creature that chooses not to be pushed suffers the consequences of a failed saving throw.
On a failed save, you enter the creature's space, and the creature takes 1d6 acid damage and is engulfed. The engulfed creature can't breathe, is restrained, and takes 1d6 acid damage at the start of each of your turns. When you move, the engulfed creature moves with you.
An engulfed creature can try to escape by taking an action to make a Strength check. The DC for this check equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a success, the creature escapes and enters a space of its choice within 5 feet of you.
The damage increases to 1d8 at 6th level, 1d10 at 11th level, and 1d12 at 16th level.
Languages
You can read, and write Common but you can't speak. However, you can communicate by deforming your pseudopods into the shape of objects or letters.
Comments