Homebrew Oblex Species Details

“Mind flayers unleash all manner of foul experiments upon the planes with little thought for the consequences. Here, though, I suspect another influence: Juiblex."
— Mordenkainen

 

An oblex is an extraordinarily intelligent ooze created by mind flayers that fed on other creatures' memories. They are capable of using those memories to create replicas of their victims, which they use to further hunt and feed.

Artificial Horrors

By experimenting on the slimes, jellies, and puddings that infest the underdark, mindflayers created a special breed of ooze, the oblex--- a slime capable of assaulting the minds of other creatures. Cunning hunters, these pools of jelly stalk their prey, searching for the memories they so desperately crave. When oblexes feed on these thoughts, sometimes killing their victims, they can form weird copes of their prey, which help them to harvest even more victims for their dark masters.

Memory Eaters

Oblexes feed on thoughts and memories. The sharper the mind, the better the meal, so oblexes hunt obviously intelligent targets like wizards and other spellcasters. When suitable fare comes within reach, an oblex draws it's body up to engulf it's victim. As it withdraws, it plunders the creature's mind, leaving its prey befuddled and confused. An oblex doesn't require sleep.

"An oblex wants memories, but not to serve any end of it's own making. Oblexes are hungry for memories and personalities because they are empty without such nourishment. In this way they serve their creators, the illithids. An oblex in the range of an elder brain's power provides everything necessary for the mind flayers to find choice victims."                           --- Mordenkainen

Oblex Spawn

An oblex devours memories not only to sustain its existence, but also to spawn more oblexes. Each time it fully drains the memories of a victim, it gains the creature's personality--- now twisted by the oblex's foul nature. The more memories an oblex steals, the larger it becomes, until it must shed a personality it has absorbed or else go insane. This act spawns a new oblex. 

Adult and Elder Oblexes

Newly formed oblexes lack the capabilities of their older kin. They seek only to feed on memories and grow until they can impersonate their victims. Older oblexes, called adults and elders, have eaten so many memories that they can form duplicates of the creatures they have devoured from the substance of their bodies, sending them off to lure prey into their clutches while remaining tethered to the slime by long tendrils of goo. These duplicated creatures are indistinguishable from their victims except for a faint sulfurous smell. Oblexes use these duplicates to lure prey into danger or to infiltrate settlements to feed on superior victims.

Oblex Characteristics

Oblexes appear as bulging oozes with pale humanoid faces trapped inside. Young oblexes are tiny and green. As they consume more memories, they grow larger and larger, their color scheme gradually changing from green to red. The ooze gives the appearance of trapped souls representing the countless memories devoured by the oblex. Each humanoid inside is the embodiment of such memories. An oblex's personality is a monstrous stitching together of every fragmented memory. The results vary between oblexes. Some skillfully blend the memories into one powerful consciousness. Others experience problems from large mood swings to utter insanity.

Oblex Quirks

d8	Quirk
1	I think about the memories I have stolen, speculating about my victim's loved ones.
2	I hate going outside. The sun is too annoying.
3	I find the economic system marvelous and love buying and selling things.
4	Children baffle me. I can't understand the concept of age, or procreation.
5	I have learned to laugh. I use this talent in response to all emotional situations, to better fit in with my comrades.
6	I still don’t understand how metaphors work. That doesn’t stop me from using them at every opportunity!
7	I like to daydream about consuming the memories of wizards.
8	I prefer consuming happy memories. It helps fill the void inside of me.

 

Oblex Names:

Oblexes are fascinated by names. They think of them as a single word to summarize an identity. So, they take great time and care to come up with the perfect name for themselves. This can be done through methods of scrambling the names of every person who's memories they have stolen, naming themselves a virtue, and much more. In this way, each name is completely different from the rest. 

Oblex Traits

Your oblex character has these traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma scores each increase by 1.

Age

Oblexes age by consuming memories and personalities. You currently have 1d4 + Int + Cha personalities devoured.

Alignment

Due to being created by the illithids, your alignment should be near lawful evil. However, you may view the world in different ways. Maybe you help other people for personal gain. This may give you a neutral alignment. However, very rarely should your alignment be good.

Size

Oblexes grow larger as they absorb more memories. However, for the sake of the game, your size is medium.

Speed

As an ooze, you move much more slowly than other creatures. Your base walking speed is 20 feet.

Languages

You have learned the languages of those whose memories you have devoured. You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. 

Blindsight

As an ooze, you gain a blindsight radius of 60 feet. You are blind beyond this range.

Ooze Nature

Your creature type is ooze, not humanoid. You can can move through a space as narrow as one inch wide without squeezing. You are immune to being restrained. You don't sleep. Instead, you can spend 6 hours in a dormant state. While in this state, you can perform light activities like keeping watch. You can't be forced to sleep by any means.

Aversion to Fire and Light

You gain vulnerability to fire damage. In addition, when you take fire damage or start your turn in direct sunlight, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks until the end of your next turn. 

Devourer of Thoughts

As an action, you may target one creature you can see within 5 feet of you. It must succeed on a DC 15 wisdom saving throw, or it takes 1d12 psychic damage and becomes memory drained until it finishes a short or long rest or until it benefits from the greater restoration or heal spell. Constructs, oozes, plants, and undead succeed on this saving throw automatically. While memory drained, the target must roll a d4 and subtract the number rolled from any ability check and attack roll it makes. On your next turns, you can use your action concentrating to continue this ability. Each round the target is memory drained beyond the first, the die size increases by one: the d4 becomes a d6, the d6 becomes a d8, and so on until the die becomes a d20, at which point the target becomes unconscious for 1 hour. The affect then ends. When you cause a creature to become memory drained, you gain all of its skill proficiencies and languages for 1 hour. After completely memory draining a target, you have nourishment for a number of days equal to twice the creature's intelligence modifier (minimum of 2). You can use this ability once. You gain additional uses at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th level.

Sulfurous Impersonation

As a bonus action, you can extrude a piece of yourself that assumes the appearance of one medium or smaller creature who's memories you have stolen. The simulacrum appears, feels, and sounds exactly like the creature it impersonates, though it smells faintly of sulfur. You can impersonate up to 1 different creatures at a time, each one tethered to your body by a strand of slime that can extend up to 120 feet away. For all practical purposes, the simulacrum counts as you, meaning that you occupy the simulacrum's and the oblex's space simultaneously. The slimy tether is immune to damage, but is severed if there is no opening at least 1 inch wide between your main body and your simulacrum. The simulacrum disappears if the tether is severed. While your simulacrum(s) are active, you can use a free action on your turn to move them up to 30 feet. You can cast spells, take reactions, attack, and interact with objects from any space occupied by a simulacrum. You can create addition simulacrums at the same time at 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level.