Way of the Oozes (5e Subclass)
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Way of the Oozes
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“Slime girl adv” made by Aleksei Vinogradov |
Monks following the Way of the Oozes seek to strengthen their own body by turning into large, “humanoid”, oozes. They are one of the most versatile persons out there, only surpassed by some druids. They also are masters of combat control, able to grapple more than 8 creatures at a time. Most humanoids, however, frown upon these monasteries, as they have good bonds with most undercommon races and are technically not humanoids, but oozes.
Monk Tradition
If you choose this tradition at level 3, your body turns into a goo-like substance. You no longer need to breath and only need 4 hours of sleep, like the trance of the elves. Your race also changes to ooze, instead of humanoid.
The pigments in your goo body can take on any color you want. Some even couple their mood together with their body color!
Corrosive Body
Starting at 3rd level, you can spend 2 ki points to start “sweating” for 1 hour, leaking acid all over your body. Your unarmed strikes deal acid damage instead of bludgeoning damage. Additionally, creatures grappled by you take 1d4 acid damage on the start of your turn. Creatures attacking you with a melee attack also take 1d4 acid damage. This scales with your Martial arts die. However, any nonmagical weapon or armor made of cloth, leather, hide, wood, or other organic material that you hold or wear is destroyed after 1 minute.
Ooze Body
Also starting at level 3, you can control your body in a whole new way, allowing for a lot of interesting “mutations”. As a bonus action, you can expend 1 ki point to gain or replace one of your mutations. You can't have more than one mutation active at once. The mutations are split up in different categories.
- Quality of life mutations. These mutations make your life just a tad easier.
- Amorphous You can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing.
- Biosynthesis When you hit an enemy with your unarmed strikes, you heal for half the damage dealt. This can only be used once per turn.
- Blindsight You change the way you see your surroundings. By constantly vibrating your head slightly, you emit an inaudible frequency and detect its reflection. Using this, you can perceive your surroundings up to 60 feet away, regardless of light. You are blind beyond this radius, however, and cannot perceive light, color, or any other visual phenomenon. You can't be blinded by light, but while you are deafened you also have the blinded condition.
- Corrode Metal Any nonmagical weapon made of metal that hits you corrodes. After dealing damage, the weapon takes a permanent and cumulative -1 penalty to damage rolls. If its penalty drops to -5, the weapon is destroyed. Nonmagical ammunition made of metal that hits you is destroyed after dealing damage.
- You can eat through 2-inch-thick, nonmagical metal in 1 round.
- Stretchy Your reach doubles. In addition, when reaching vertically, such as to grab a ledge, you can add twice your height, instead of half your height.
- Transparency If you haven't moved on your turn when you attempt to hide, your coloration dissolves and you become transparent until you move, make an attack, fall prone, or cast a spell with a somatic component, either voluntarily or because of some external effect. While transparent, you can attempt to hide even when only lightly obscured or even in plain sight. While lightly or heavily obscured, Wisdom (Perception) checks made to see you have disadvantage and you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. When you attempt to hide in plain sight, anything you are wearing or carrying may cause disadvantage on the Dexterity (Stealth) check or even completely prevent you from being able to do so.
- Body form mutations. These mutations change the structure of your slime, allowing you to do all kinds of fun stuff. You can only have one of these modifications at the same time.
- Adhesive You can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check. Additionally, creatures have disadvantage against trying to knock you prone or disarming you. Lastly, if your unarmed strike hits, you may use your bonus action to grapple the creature.
- Fluid Form Your movement is unaffected by difficult terrain and you can spend 5 feet of movement to automatically escape from nonmagical restraints, such as manacles or a creature that has you grappled.
- Hardened Form Your outer slime layers turn into a hard, glass-like substance, giving you a +2 to your AC.
- Extra attack mutations. These mutations give you other means of attacking, or more attacks.
- Acidic Step You leak goo while you walk, creating a 5ft wide acidic line. Creatures walking through this line take 2d4 acid damage. This also applies to creatures starting their turn in this line. This damage scales with your Martial arts die. The line vanishes after 1 hour. This mutation may grant creatures advantage on ability checks made to track you or determine your location.
- Extra Arms You gain an extra pair of arms, which are the equivalent of getting an extra attack option.
- Extra Heads You gain an extra head. As long as you have more than one head, you gain advantage on. While you have more than one head, you have advantage on saving throws against being blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, stunned, and knocked unconscious.
- Whenever you take damage equal or more than 1/4th of your maximum hit points in a single turn, one of your heads die. If all your heads die, you are blinded, deafened and knocked unconscious until you grow a new head, which takes 1d4 hours.
- Sticky Throw You may lose 5 hit points to make a ranged attack (range 20/60) slinging a part of your body on the ground. This goo quickly spreads to cover a 5ft area. Every creature starting or ending its turn in the goo needs to make a Strength (Athletics)) or Dexterity (Acrobatics)) check against your spell save DC or be restrained. They may use their action to redo this saving throw, ending the condition on a success. If you have the Acidic Step mutation, or have activated your Corrosive Body ability, they take an additional 1d4 acid damage on the start of each of your turns. This damage scales with your Martial arts die.
- Head mutations. You can only have one of these modifications at the same time.
- Shark Head Your swimming speed increases by 10ft (20ft while also having the Shark Tail mutation) and you gain a bite attack which deals 1d6 acid damage. Being underwater imposes no penalties on your movement or attacks.
- Dog Head You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell, and you gain a bite attack which deals 1d6 acid damage.
- Leg mutations. You can only have one of these modifications at the same time.
- Shark Tail You gain a swimming speed equal to your normal speed, but can only move while prone while on land. Being underwater imposes no penalties on your movement or attacks.
- Snake Tail Instead of two legs, you have one long, snake-like tail. Your speed increases by 10 feet. Additionally, you gain the Constrict attack, which counts as a Monk weapon attack; this attack deals 2d4 Acid damage, has a reach of 10 ft and the target is grappled. Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and you can't constrict another target. If you have the Acidic Step mutation, they keep taking an additional 2d4 acid damage on the start of each of your turns. This damage scales with your Martial arts die.
- Tentacles Your legs turn into 4 tentacles, which have a reach of 10ft and count as unarmed strikes. You can use these tentacles like Mage Hand. Additionally, you can use your tentacles to grapple creatures instead of making an unarmed strike. You can grapple only one creature per tentacle. You may take this mutation a maximum of two times for a maximum number of 8 tentacles.
- Full Mutations. You can turn into any beast, humanoid or monstrosity no bigger than one size larger than you. Turning into another creature costs an amount of ki points equal to double its CR (minimum of 1). You keep all your statistics in addition to gaining the speed, features and actions of that creature, but nothing else. You also can’t cast any spells if you wouldn’t be able in your normal form or while being in a non-humanoid form. You may turn back into your normal form over the course of six seconds (or one round). Lastly, due to your slimy form, you will never be able to fly, other than with magical means.
- To discern that you are not a member of their race, a creature can use its action to inspect your appearance and must succeed on an Intelligence (Investigation)) check against a DC of 15.
- Examples:
- Dog Mutation Costs 1 ki point Your anatomy changes to that of a domestic dog. You gain the Dog Head mutation and gain a speed of 40 ft.
- Ooze Mutation Costs 5 ki points (medium variant) You turn into a medium Gelatinous Cube. You gain the Engulf attack. You move up to your speed. While doing so, you can enter Medium or smaller creatures' spaces. Whenever you enter a creature's space, the creature must make a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC.
- On a successful save, the creature can choose to be pushed 5 feet back or to the side of the cube. A creature that chooses not to be pushed suffers the consequences of a failed saving throw.
- On a failed save, you enter the creature's space, and the creature takes 3d6 acid damage and is engulfed. The engulfed creature can't breathe, is restrained, and takes 6d6 acid damage at the start of each of the cube's turns. When the cube moves, the engulfed creature moves with it.
- An engulfed creature can try to escape by taking an action to make a Strength check against your spell save DC. On a success, the creature escapes and enters a space of its choice within 5 feet of the cube.
- Warhorse Mutation Costs 1 ki point Your anatomy changes to that of a warhorse. Your hooves deal 1d6 bludgeoning damage. If you move at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hit it with a hooves attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, you can make another attack with its hooves against it as a bonus action. and gain a speed of 60 ft. Additionally, creatures may use you as a mount.
- The only real limit is your imagination!
Body Control
Starting at 6th level, you can have two mutations active at any given time. This changes to 3 mutations at level 10, 4 at level 14 and 5 at level 18.
Additionally, you may use a bonus action to “engulf” a weapon you’re holding. A weapon engulfed in this way counts as a unarmed strike, while retaining all its benefits. You can’t be disarmed when you hold a weapon in this way, but can’t hold anything else. You can use another bonus action to end the effect. The Corrode Metal mutation also applies to these weapons.
Ooze Resistance
At 11th level, after you make a long rest, you gain resistance against two damage types. You may choose out of: acid, bludgeoning, cold, fire, lightning, poison, piercing and slashing. You keep these resistances until you take another long rest, after which you may choose two new resistances.
Oozyficate
At 17th level, you can turn a grappled beast, humanoid or monstrosity into an ooze version of itself. When you pay a number of ki points equal to double its CR, the creature needs to make a wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC. If the creature fails its saving throw, you convert the creature into a loyal servant. If he succeeds his saving throw, he can’t be converted for the rest of its life. You can only use this ability once per long rest and you can only have a maximum of one converted creature in this way.
This ability works just like Dominate Monster or any other dominate spell. This only works against beasts, humanoids and monstrosities and is indefinite. The type of the creature turns into ooze. A converted creature also becomes a Way of the Oozes monk with a level equal to its CR and is able to choose it's own modifications.
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