Page 245 - Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage_Neat

WANDERING MONSTERS ELEMENTAL OOZE
The orb in area 4 weeps a steady stream of ooze channeled
Most of the ooze that flows through this level is harm-
from the Swamp of Oblivion, the border realm between
less elemental waste, but this level is also home to
the Elemental Planes of Earth and Water. This ooze is a
meandering Ghaunadaur worshipers and orog space thick, viscid brown effluvium with streaks of orange, green,
pirates looking for food. You can use the following en- yellow, and black. It smells like rotten eggs and sticks to
counters to harry restless or resting adventurers. anything it touches. The ooze is never more than 5 feet
deep in any given location and is difficult te~rain. It moves
HUGE GRAY OOZE slowly in the direction indicated by the wavy arrows on
The characters encounter six Ghaunadaur-worshiping map 19 and also behaves like it's alive, occasionally extrud-
duergar who were transformed by Halaster's magic into ing harmless pseudopods or amorphous shapes that bear
a single gray ooze with a challenge rating of 8 (3,900 passing resemblances to familiar creatures.
XP) and these changes:
must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be
• The ooze is Huge, with 152 (16d12 + 48) hit points and
a Strength score of 18. restrained by sticky white webs. As an action, a crea-
ture can try to free itself or another creature within its
• As an action, it can make two attacks with its pseudo-
reach from the webs, doing so with a successful DC 20
pods (+7 to hit). On a hit, a pseudopod deals 21 (6d6)
Strength (Athletics) check. A gallon of alcohol dissolves
acid damage, or 42 (12d6) acid damage while the ooze
the webs produced by a single tangier grenade. Other-
is enlarged.
• The ooze has the Enlarge and Invisibility traits below. wise, the webs dissolve on their own after 1 hour, free-
ing any creatures restrained by them.
Enlarge (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). For 1 minute,
the ooze magically increases in size. While enlarged, the ooze EXPLORING THIS LEVEL
is Gargantuan, doubles its damage dice with its pseudopod
attack, and makes Strength checks and Strength saving throws The following encounters are keyed to map 19. Many of
with advantage. the caverns and tunnels are natural formations, while
purple worms dug others long ago. The ooze that flows
Invisibility (Recharges af ter a Short or Long Rest). The ooze
through much of the level smells foul but is harmless
magically turns invisible for up to 1 hour until it attacks, it uses
(see the "Elemental Ooze" sidebar).
its Enlarge, or its concentration is broken (as if concentrating
on a spell).
1. THE RESPLENDENT GROTTO OF
INTELLIGENT BLACK PUDDINGS !CHTHYGLUG THE VOLUMINOUS
The characters encounter two Ghaunadaur-worshiping Halaster has used his magic to tailor these caves to the
drow who were transformed by Halaster's magic into
satisfaction of Ichthyglug the marid.
black puddings, with these changes:
• The black puddings understand Elvish and Undercom- lA. SHIPWRECK
mon, but can't speak. This 50-foot-high cavern contains the wreck of a cog
• Each pudding has an Intelligence of 14 and the follow- (a 54-foot-long cargo vessel with a single mast). The
ing Innate Spellcasting trait: wreck's features are as follows:
Innate Speffcasting. The pudding's spellcasting ability is Intelli- Hull. The ship has broken in half, the shattered bow
gence (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). It can cast aiming northward and the aft section leaning against
the following spells, requiring no components: the east wall. The oak hull is soft and waterlogged, as
though the vessel has been underwater for years, and
At will: dancing lights, mage hand
3/day each: darkness.faerie fire, shield both halves are encrusted with barnacles.
1/day: Melfs acid arrow Mast and Anchor. The mast and anchor have broken off
and lie in the middle of the cave, with the mast point-
SPACE 0ROGS ing toward a shimmering curtain of water to the west.
The characters encounter ld4 + 1 orogs hunting for No Sails, No Rigging, No Crew. The ship's square sail,
easy prey. These orogs were raised in deep caverns on rigging, and crew are all missing. (The sail and the
H'catha, a wheel-shaped planet ruled by beholders and rigging disintegrated long ago.)
the farthest world from Toril's sun. The orogs wear
Characters who search the wreck discover its name
bucket helms resembling bulbous mind flayer heads, carved over the barnacle-encrusted rudder: the Blue
with large, glass-covered eye holes and tentacle-like Opal. A character who learns the ship's name and suc-
breathing tubes. ceeds on a DC 20 Intelligence (History) check recalls
In addition to its armor and weapons, each orog car- that the Blue Opal sank in Waterdeep's harbor a few
ries a tangier grenade. The orogs use these grenades to
years ago under mysterious circumstances, and that
restrain foes before charging into melee. the crew was rescued by merfolk who live in the harbor.
Tangier Grenades. A tangier grenade is an alchem- Armed with this knowledge, a character can examine
ical, nonmagical item with an ovoid resin shell that the hull for signs of foul play and, with a successful
shatters on impact. An as action, a creature can throw DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check, discover a
a tangier grenade at a point up to 60 feet away. Each
square, smooth-cut hole in the aft section below what
creature within 10 feet of a shattered tangier grenade
would have been the water line. A successful DC 16

LEVEL 19 I CAVERNS OF OOZE