Aboleth Mite

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Aboleth Mite (CR 10)

The Aboleth Mite is a horrid slimy thing of dark, mottled membranes slathered in stinking and richly acidic mucus. It is frankly impossible for any non-aberrant living thing to emit as much oozing slime as an aboleth does and not die of dehydration. Unluckily for the world, the Aboleth Mite, like all of its horrible tribe of fiends, is indeed an unnatural aberration, and so it survives just fine despite leaving behind gallon upon gallon of its disgusting muck.

An Aboleth Mite looks like a large mound of glistening ooze, and indeed, it is possible to mistake one for an ooze until it is disturbed and it suddenly displays numerous bloody-red eye-things, extrudes oozing tentacles, and hurls itself at you with horrifying speed, sucking mouth ready to slurp up your dissolving remains.

Aboleth Mites are the smallest and weakest of its aberrant clade, and they thrive anywhere and everywhere. They lay eggs constantly, and are disgustingly fertile to boot. They can and will eat anything they can catch, and they are willing to try to catch just about anything they perceive. Aboleth Mites are the hardy explorers and shock troopers for the slimy aboleth, and in aboleth 'society' they are considered utterly disposable. As a result, Aboleth Mites can be found in rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps, sewers, ruins, catacombs, caves, forests, mires, and lots of other places besides. Due to their freakish aberrant physiology they actually don't need water to live, and their slime production, regrettably, is unaffected even if you find a clutch of them nesting in a dry desert gulch.

Aboleth Mites are not very smart, but if any stronger Aboleths encounter them, the greater Aboleth will eat the Mite and thus learn everything that it knows about the local area. In a very real sense, Mites are just the extended eyes and ears and tongues of the Aboleth collective.

General

CR 10 Hit Dice 15

XP 9,600

NE, Medium, Aberration

Init +5; Senses low-light, life-sense (weak), Perception +15

Defense

AC 30, touch 19, flat-footed 25 (+6 armor, +5 dex, +5 natural, +4 deflection)

hp 175

Fort +10, Ref +10, Will +13

Aura: -

SR: -

Special Defenses: -

Immunities: Acid

Weaknesses: -

Offense

Speed 30 ft., Swim 20 ft, Climb 20 ft

Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.

Single Melee Tentacle Lash +15 (2d8+3/x2) Acid Damage + Psychoactive Slime

Full Melee 2x Tentacle Lash +15 (2d8+3/x2) Acid Damage + Psychoactive Slime

Ranged Vile Spurt +15 (2d8+4/x2), range increment 20 feet, Acid Damage + Unctuous Spurt

Special Attacks Psychoactive Slime, Unctuous Spurt

Action Points 0

Statistics

Str 14, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 8

Base Atk +10; CMB +16; CMD 26

Feats -

Skills Stealth +15

Languages Gàbhach, Aquan

Special Abilities

Psychoactive Slime (Ex)

Each time an enemy is successfully struck in melee by an aboleth mite's Tentacle Lash, in addition to taking damage, that enemy must also make a Fortitude save, DC 19, or become Unsteady until the end of the encounter. If a target is already Unsteady from a previous failed save, and it is successfully struck by an additional Tentacle Lash, the target must make a second Fortitude save, DC 19, or become Disoriented until the end of the encounter. Additional attacks cannot make this condition worse than Disoriented. While these conditions can be cured with spells or abilities (such as Restoration or the Paladin's Mercy ability), cured targets are still susceptible to future status conditions inflicted by the aboleth mite.

Unctuous Spurt (Ex)

If a target is successfully struck by the aboleth mite's Vile Spurt, he must make a Reflex save, DC 20, or become Entangled until the end of the encounter. While this condition can be cured with spells or abilities (such as Restoration or the Paladin's Mercy ability), cured targets are still susceptible to future status conditions inflicted by the aboleth mite.

Treasure

sell value of approximately 5,000 gp

Combat Tactics

Aboleth mites are not renowned for their strong sense of self-preservation, but they do try to survive encounters, so that their collective knowledge can serve the greater aboleth collective. As a result, one aboleth mite will always hang well back and support its fellows by using Vile Spurt to target enemy support characters while the rest will rush to the attack. As they close they will all use Vile Spurt on the 'back rows' of any opponents, and then will seek to get flanks and use their Tentacle Lash on melee opponents.

Whenever possible Aboleth Mites will concentrate their Tentacle Lash attacks, not seeking to kill a foe early, but trying to Disorient as many foes as possible. As soon as any foe is Disoriented, it is not attacked further, as the Mites hope it acts as a 'loose cannon' and will seek to move away, to draw Disoriented foes close to their allies. Nasty, really.

If the melee Aboleth Mites are doing poorly, the supporting one will flee early and without hesitation. Despite this frequent-escape behavior, the players still get rewarded for defeating this mite.