Black Pudding

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Black Pudding (CR 7)

Black Puddings are the most commonly encountered of the oozes, and that alone makes them noteworthy. Black Puddings are extremely hard to kill completely, and after a battle with a swarm of puddings, baby puddings are usually spawned by the dozens over the next several weeks, as random spots and spatters scattered in the battle will slowly grow into more of the vile things.

Like all oozes, black puddings are horrifying things. They are not really alive, nor are they dead, nor are they even undead. They simply exist in an unquiet state of hungry growth. Puddings never sleep or rest or do anything else like an actually-living creature will do. Black puddings are a lot 'thicker' than many other oozes, although they are more runny than gelatinous cubes. Due to their heavy, gelid consistency, in their resting state they form a heaping mound of midnight semi-liquid matter about ten feet across and easily seven or eight feet high. They move with a eerie sucking flow and can cling to about anything that can resist their acid matter, which is very little indeed aside from solid stone.

Black puddings are incredibly dangerous, and will cause a strong response if sighted near any intelligent creatures' lairs. Puddings are to be found and eradicated as fast as possible, before they find their way into your house one dark night and eat you.

GENERAL

CR 7 Hit Dice 10

XP 3,200

N, Large, Ooze

Init +3; Senses Tremorsense 60 ft, Perception +11

DEFENSE

AC 25, touch 15, flat-footed 21 (+5 armor, +4 dex, +5 natural, +1 deflection)

hp 102

Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +6

Aura: -

SR: -

Special Defenses: Immunity to piercing and half damage from slashing weapons, Acidic Matter, Portion Control

Immunities:

• all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms) (an ooze with an Int score loses this trait)
• gaze attacks, visual effects, illusions, and other attack forms that rely on sight
• precision damage, critical hits, flanking
• poison
• sleep
• polymorph, paralysis, stunning

Weaknesses: -

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.

Space / Reach: 10 ft. / 10 ft.

Single Melee Pseudopod Smash +13 (1d8+9/x2) Acid Damage + Gorge

Full Melee 4x Pseudopod Swarm +13 (1d6+3/x2) Acid Damage + Gorge

Ranged -

Special Attacks Gorge

Action Points 0

STATISTICS

Str 16, Dex 1, Con 22, Int -, Wis 1, Cha 1

Base Atk +7; CMB +12; CMD 21

Feats -

Skills -

Languages -

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Corrosion (Ex)

Once per round as a free action, the Black Pudding may attempt a Sunder maneuver against the first creature it successfully strikes. This is a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The Black Pudding makes a combat maneuver check (CMB +12) versus the target's CMD. If successful, the first non-broken item on this list becomes corroded, gaining the Broken condition:

• Shield
• Armor
• Weapon/Item held in main hand
• Weapon/Item held in off-hand
• Boots
• Helmet
• Belt
• Bracers

If none of the above items are present, or all of them are broken, the Sunder maneuver has no effect. Since the Black Pudding is mindless, it must always follow this sequence and may not choose a more effective item from the list to corrode first. Note that, unlike a normal Sunder attack, this attack does not deal base weapon damage, since the Black Pudding already dealt normal attack damage prior to making the sunder.

Gorge (Su)

When a black pudding hits a foe with a Pseudopod attack (either Smash or Swarm) it may 'pour itself' along the length of that pseudopod and enter the space of the struck creature. This is mechanically handled in-game as the ability to make a five foot step after any such attack (e.g. only usable once per round, not usable if you've already moved this round, etc). The black pudding may only use this ability against creatures it has struck -- if a 5-foot Gorge step would take them into a space with a creature they struck and a creature they haven't struck, the pudding must adjust the step to only include the struck creature. If it cannot do so, it can't use the Gorge ability. Being inside a pudding's space this way does not impede either the pudding or the victim in any way, except that the victim takes 2d6 acid damage at the end of any move action the pudding makes which leaves them inside the pudding's space, to a maximum of once each combat round. This effectively adds 2d6 acid damage to their attack which they used to trigger Gorge, and may cause considerably more damage than that if victims do not move away from the pudding.

Portion Control (Su)

Once per encounter, as a triggered free reaction, upon being struck by a piercing or slashing weapon, a Black Pudding will split from one Large creature into four Medium creatures in the same space. Once split, each Pudding can and will move and attack independently using the same initiative. Each one has one fourth of the ORIGINAL hit point total of the Black Pudding (round down), has only five feet of reach, but otherwise does full damage with all attacks. This effectively serves as a full heal and quadruples the creature's damage, so, don't do this unless you're really sure about it.

TREASURE

sell value of approximately 2,375 gp

COMBAT TACTICS

Black Puddings are utterly mindless. They sense motion or warmth, they move toward it and attack. They will not use five foot steps to attain extra opportunity attacks with their reach, nor will they bother with flanks except by accident. If they are able to use Portion Control, all four of the new oozes act independently, moving to the closest prey and attacking with vigor. Note that Pseudopod Swarm is four melee attacks, and can be used against any and all targets the Pudding can reach, up to four attacks on a single target is allowed.