Gray ooze
| Gray ooze | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Characteristics | |
| Alignment | Neutral |
| Type | Ooze |
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the gray ooze is an ooze. It resembles a thick, viscous puddle of gray sludge, roughly 6 to 8 inches thick and up to 14 feet across, and often closely resembles wet stone or an amorphous rock formation.
Publication history
The gray ooze first appeared in the original Dungeons & Dragons set (1974), and also appeared in the supplement Eldritch Wizardry (1976).
The gray ooze appeared in the D&D Basic Set (1977, 1981, 1983) and Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991).
The gray ooze appeared in first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the original Monster Manual (1977).[1]
The gray ooze appeared in second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989),[2] reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993) under the "ooze" entry.[3] The psionic variant of the grey ooze appeared in The Complete Psionics Handbook (1991). The creature was expanded on in Dragon Annual #4 (1999).[4]
The gray ooze appeared in the third edition Monster Manual (2000) under the "ooze" entry,[5] and the version 3.5 Monster Manual (2003).
Characteristics and habits
Gray oozes, like most oozes, are underground dwelling, mindless scavengers who drag themselves around caves and sewers and absorb and digest whatever they find. Unlike some other oozes, it cannot move on ceilings or walls, and hence is left to slide its way along floors. The gray ooze attacks by striking like a snake until prey is either dead or unconscious, and it then moves on top of them to digest them from within. It is immune to cold and fire. The gray ooze's acidic secretions corrode metal at an alarming rate, and in addition to giving the creature a method of destroying opponent's weapons and armor, blacksmiths also sometimes use jarred gray oozes to meld ore into the right shape. Gray oozes reproduce by breaking small driplets off of themselves after a meal, which later grow into gray oozes themselves.
Gray oozes cannot speak.
They are neutral in alignment.
References
- ↑ Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977)
- ↑ Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume One (TSR, 1989)
- ↑ Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 1993)
- ↑ Richards, Jonathan M. "Ecology of the Gray Ooze: Ooze There?" Dragon Annual #4 (TSR, 1999)
- ↑ Williams, Skip, Jonathan Tweet, and Monte Cook. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)