Part One: Monsters of the Diamond Throne
Arathad Colossal Ooze Hit Dice: 30d10+270 (435 hp), dying/dead –10/–28 Initiative: –3 Speed: 20 feet AC: 21 (–4 size, –3 Dexterity, +18 natural), touch 3, flat-footed 21 Base Attack/Grapple: +22/+48 Attack: Tentacle +28 melee (3d6+10) Full Attack: 8 tentacles +28 melee (3d6+10) Space/Reach: 20 feet/15 feet (Face/Reach: 20 feet by 20 feet/15 feet) Special Attacks: Combat adaptations, trail of destruction Special Qualities: Blindsight 400 feet, DR 10/good (or 25/+3), immunity to acid and fire, ooze traits, SR 30 Saves: Fort +19, Ref +7, Will +11 Abilities: Str 30, Dex 4, Con 28, Int —, Wis 12, Cha 7 Skills: — Feats: — Environment: Any Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 18 Treasure: Standard Advancement: 31–50 HD (Colossal) Level Adjustment: +6 An arathad, also known as a dramojh battle ooze, looks like a large, bluish-white blob. It has a tough outer membrane that is as hard as stone to the touch yet flexible enough to contain its liquid interior. These creatures leave in their wake a trail of devastation that forms a path as wide as they can reach. Though few exist, their great size and mighty combat abilities have allowed them to overcome most opponents. Rightly feared as perhaps the deadliest creatures spawned by the dramojh, these machines of pure destruction creep across the land seeking to fulfill commands given to them in the final days of their masters’ reign. In battle, an arathad displays its true abilities. Driven by powerful magic, its inner core can produce and deploy a bewildering array of attacks. By drawing on the abilities of creatures it has absorbed, an arathad can belch gouts of fire from draconic heads suspended on long tentacles, spurt acid from pores it opens on its body, spray an area with a horde of grasping feelers to grab prey and drag it into its interior, and so forth. Battle oozes are mindless creatures that lack the capacity to do anything more than devour and destroy whatever stumbles into their path. They were forged in the hellish
workshops of the dramojh empire in the final days of the dragon scions’ war with the giants. They were designed to spearhead a last, decisive push to break the giants’ momentum and turn the tide of the war against them. This plan failed when a band of heroes penetrated the dramojh spawning pools and destroyed most of these creatures before they could be unleashed. The few that did emerge to spread horror across the land are a testament to the apocalyptic level of destruction that the dramojh were on the verge of loosing upon the world.
Combat Arathads never employ complex tactics or other plans in battle. Instead, they merely march forward in search of new victims and fresh targets for their destructive urges. With their daunting array of abilities and powerful attacks, they have no need for subtle methods or clever stratagems. Combat Adaptations (Su): A dramojh battle ooze can duplicate almost any attack that a creature it has devoured could utilize. It gains spellcasting ability by drawing on magical energy, and it learns to duplicate organs, both mundane and arcane, that grant it a variety of extraordinary, spell-like, and supernatural abilities. This adaptability means that no two of these creatures are alike. When using one as part of an adventure, you need to determine which talents the creature can currently employ. The table below lists a variety of effects and abilities that a battle ooze might obtain. Roll three times to identify the talents that a specific ooze possesses, rerolling any duplicate results. Alternatively, you can simply pick three abilities that suit your needs. d20 Ability 1–4 Improved Grab (Ex): A battle ooze with this ability can transform its tentacles into a horrid, squirming mass of smaller but equally strong, grasping limbs. This cluster of tentacles allows a battle ooze to make a free grapple check that does not provoke an attack of opportunity when it hits an opponent with a melee attack. This transformation takes place as the battle ooze strikes its foe. 5–6 Breath Weapon (Su): A battle ooze with this ability can duplicate the head and the breath weapon of a creature that it defeated and consumed. A battle ooze’s breath weapon is a 60-foot cone that deals 15d6 points of damage, with a Reflex save for half damage (DC 10 + half ooze’s HD + ooze’s Dexterity modifier, or 22 for a standard battle ooze). Determine its energy type by rolling 1d8 each time it uses this ability, referring to the various breath
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