Sand Ooze

Sand Ooze (CR 20)

Neutral - Large - Ooze

Lore:	K. (Dungeoneer)
40		55
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

33

Perception:
44	+34
Passive	Active

Ambush:

6+

on a d20

• Ambush Notes: Sand Oozes in the right environment (sandy deserts, beaches, etc) have a +4 circumstance bonus on their Ambush Chance roll, at the GM's discretion.

Senses:

• Blind to Vision
• Standard Hearing
• Blind to Smell
• Echolocation 60 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 60 ft.
• Earth Glide 30 ft.

Defense

AC

45

Man Def

45

Monster Health
1,018	509	38
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+22
Refl:	+17
Will:	+17

Strong Against:

• Hardened (½ damage) against all types of Physical damage.
• (Mindless) Immune (no effect): all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, fear, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms)
• (Ooze 1) Immune (no effect): gaze attacks, visual effects, illusions, and other attack forms that rely on sight
• (Ooze 2) Immune (no effect): poisons (tainted, poisoned, blighted), magical sleep (drowsy, sluggish, asleep), paralyzed, stunned, polymorph
• (Ooze 3) Immune (no effect): flanking, prone (quelled, prone, splayed]])
• (Ooze 4) Hardened (½ damage): critical hits, precision damage

Weak Against:

• Vulnerable (1.5x damage) to Cold, Stilling, and Freezeacid

Offense

Size:	Large
10 ft.		10 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+29

Man Off

+33

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Abrasive Maw +29 (4d10+36/x2)
  as abrasion (physical, uncommon)
  plus Abrasive Gorge

Full Attack (Melee):

• 1x Abrasive Maw +29 (4d10+36/x2)
  as abrasion (physical, uncommon)
  plus Abrasive Gorge
• 2x Sandy Slam +29 (4d6+15/x2)
  as abrasion (physical, uncommon)
  plus Abraded

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Sand Blast +29 (4d10+36/x2)
  as abrasion (physical, uncommon)
  (Increment: 100 ft.; Max Range: 500 ft.)
  plus Gritty Mess

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 3x Sand Blast +29 (4d10+36/x2)
  as abrasion (physical, uncommon)
  (Increment: 100 ft.; Max Range: 500 ft.)
  plus Gritty Mess

Siege Damage:

• 1x Shifting Foundations +33 (2d6)
  

Statistics

32

STR

16

DEX

36

CON

—

INT

6

WIS

6

CHA

Skills:

• Perception: 34
• Stealth: 33 (If in an appropriate terrain (sandy desert, beaach, etc) gains a +4 circumstance bonus to Stealth rolls)
• All other skills: 28 (no ranks)

Languages:

Feats:

Special Abilities

Abrasive Gorge (Ex) On successful Sandy Maw attack, plus see below.

Abrasive Gorge is activated anytime the Sand Ooze makes a successful bite attack. In addition, once per encounter as part of a move action, a Sand Ooze may move over and engulf any Large or smaller creatures in its path. Once per encounter, the Sand Ooze may engulf one or more foes as part of their move action, a power made very dangerous due to their ability to Earth Glide merely has to move over the opponents, affecting as many as it can cover. Regardless if they are struck by a bite or swept under by movement, victims can attempt a DC 30 Reflex save to avoid being engulfed by Abrasive Gorge. On a success, they are pushed back or aside (victim's choice) as the mound moves forward (this is forced movement). Engulfed creatures gain the Pinned condition, and are trapped within the Sandy Ooze until they escape (see the rules for escaping a Pin at the condition link) or the Ooze is slain. At the beginning of each of the Sandy Ooze's turns after a creature is engulfed, each engulfed creature takes 4d8+25 points of abrasion (physical, uncommon) damage. Up to four living medium (or smaller) creatures or one large living creature may be Gorged at any time. Creatures that are engulfed do not have line of sight or line of effect out of the Ooze. Creatures that are slain no longer occupy space within the Ooze, allowing more creatures to be entombed by Abrasive Gorge.

Scouring Ingurgitation (Ex) Standard Action

While a Sand Ooze has one or more creatures captured and pinned via Abrasive Gorge, it may choose, as a standard action, to attempt to gring and gnaw them into particles. Like any standard action, this may be performed as the first attack of a full attack action, although Sand Oozes often combine Scouring Ingurgitation with a move action, seeking to get close to a fresh victim while 'chewing' on one or more capruted victims. All creatures suffering the Pinned condition inside this ooze suffers 4d8+25 points of abrasion (physical, uncommon) damage. There is no save against this damage, but damage resistance applies.

Abraded (Su) Successful Sandy Slam attack

Upon a successful Sandy Slam, all struck foes gain Vulnerable (x1.5 times damage) to Abrasion damage. Ouch. This vulnerability persists until the end of the combat, and affected creatures can get the sand out of all their...crevices.

Gritty Mess (Sp) Successful Sand Blast attack

Any time a Sand Ooze strikes a foe with a successful Sand Blast attack, the space that foe occupies is converted to Impeded Terrain. Note that this has little effect upon the victim, as leaving Impeded squares has no cost, and the Sand Ooze itself can Earth Glide below any such impeded terrain and ignore it. Others on the battlefield, however, can quickly find the terrain becoming extremely hard to navigate, especially when you realize that if a square is inflicted with Gritty Mess in two different rounds, all doubly-affected squares become Blocked terrain.

Sand Ooze

Sand oozes are horrible things that seem to have a malevolence far beyond other oozes, as they are mostly formed of sharp, gritty, wet sand. In the proper terrain, a sand ooze is nearly impossible to spot before it grabs you, as they will lie in wait, looking like a pile of sand, and then bite you. Hitting a massive pile of soft, wet sand with a sword isn't much use, either.

Once activated, or while moving around, sand oozes 'inflate' into their battle form, looking like gigantic, slimy, decapitated heads with numerous eye holes and truly massive mouths filled with horrid 'teeth' running with ichor. Their appearance is so terrifying many ciphers and sages have speculated they are intelligent, and doing it on purpose, or were designed by some malign intelligence in the far past to be deliberately scary.

Sand oozes love to 'swallow' enemies and grind them up, or will spit massive piles of damp sand all over the battlefield, or both. They can glide through the earth to ignore their own extrusions during a battle, which are generally horrible in the extreme.

Combat Tactics

Sand Oozes, despite their appearance of huge eyes, are completely blind and have no sense of smell. Instead, what look like eyes are holes, that lead to dozens of 'ear-like' structures that work on the hiss of and crunch of sand or dirt. As a result, Sand oozes are often found in the complete dark, as they cannot tell if there is light or not.

Sand oozes, despite their malevolent appearance, are mindless, which is a saving grace indeed. They will typically lie in wait in sandy terrain, using their incredible Ambush abilities. They will prefer to use their Abrasive Maw and Sandy Slam attacks, hoping to 'swallow' and pin foes with Abrasive Gorge, and if they hit with Sandy Slam, they cause foes to be Vulnerable against their most common damage type, abrasion. This combo, biting and smashing, is plenty to end most melee battles.

If a Sand Ooze has no melee target, and it has somebody pinned with Abrasive Gorge, then it will use Scouring Ingurgitation on its pinned victim(s) and move to attack. If it cannot readily reach (single move) to another melee target, it will instead use Scouring Ingurgitation on its pinned victim(s) and use Sand Blast on the closest ranged foe, rolling at random if there's more than one. If there are no melee targets within a single move and it does NOT have a foe in Abrasive Gorge, then it will make a full attack with Sand Blast, targetting with their echolocation, which ignores conventional line of sight rules.

While using Sand Blast, their Gritty Mess power will QUICKLY make the battlefield a nigh-impassable mess of sandstone-like excresences, which affects them not at all with their echo-location and Earth Glide abilities. They will then move fearlessly to the attack. Once combat has begun, a Sand Ooze will never retreat unless at least one enemy has died while pinned within their grasp, satisfying whatever 'hunger' they possess. If they have killed a foe, and are bloodied, they will seek to flee combat immediately.

Out of Combat

Despite their appearance, Sand Oozes are mindless hazards that can be found almost anywhere. Indeed, since they are susceptible to freezing, it is possible to find Sand Oozes frozen solid and incorporated into buildings in the most unlikely of places, where they make great surprises for unwanted guests. Oozes are mindless, so intelligent monsters can incorporate them into their dungeon decorating in millions of ways. Much like other oozes, Sand Oozes are often used as traps and hazards.

Rewards

XP: 307,200

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 119,667 gp.

Weight: 200 lbs.     Volume: 8 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)