No. Enc.: 1 (1)
Alignment: Evil (any)
Movement: 40' (120')
Armor Class: 6 (only take half-damage from crushing/blunt weapons)
Hit Dice: 1 to 12
Attacks: As primary-palp number
Damage: 1d6 per Primary-palp
Save: MU 1 to MU 12
Morale: equal to HD (3HD=Morale 3)
Hoard Class: Trinkets & Trash (adhered into place within folds of their flesh by globs of partially solidified mucus)
Blind imbalanced denizens of the Deep Places, Yoggidam squirm through the frigid ooze of subterranean waterways hunting after the flesh of any who stray within their reach. Vicious, mindless and malleable in the extreme, Yoggidam writhe and wriggle through the dim, dark places below forever on the prowl for fresh meat to despoil, dissolve and digest.
Constantly in motion, Yoggidam can never rest, never stay still. Their monstrous metabolisms require them to feed constantly; every hour they go without food causes them 1 hit point of damage.
Devoid of visual senses (immune to visual effects), incapable of hearing or registering most vibrations (thus immune to sound/voice effects), devoid of any sort of tactile sensitivity (immune to pain), Yoggidam rely entirely upon their sense of taste and smell. Their flabby, pointed tongues flick and flash out of their maws similar to giant snakes. These hyper-sensitive appendages enable them to detect edible flesh within a ten mile radius in water and within (1d4) miles on land. They perceive nothing else. At all. (Immune to charms, most enchantments, and all mind-altering effects).
Creatures of immense and intense appetites, Yoggidam prowl the deep waters as scavengers and opportunists, slowly growing stronger and bigger and more aggressive as they accumulate HD and more upwards, closer to the sources of edible flesh they can sense above them.
A Yoggidam can squeeze and compact itself enough to force itself under a doorway or barrier with only 1" of clearance within (1d10) minutes. They can also attempt to burst down doors and the like as though they possessed a STR of 12 or better (gaining 1 point of STR every 2 HD).
Potions and poisons rarely have any effect upon a Yoggidam--their rampant metabolisms break down these sorts of substances before they can do much, if any damage or effect. (Save vs Poison +6).
Yoggidam attack by spurting a noxious, sticky dishwater-gray digestive fluid at their prey. They can spray one such glob of goo per Primary-palp, with the option to split their attacks among multiple enemies/victims as they wish. Each glob of digestive fluid causes (1d6) damage and forces those struck to Save or suffer an additional (1d6) on the following round as the stuff continues to dissolve their flesh. The fluid goes inert after the second round.
Yoggidam are sometimes harvested by certain subterranean societies for use in crafting very expensive armor and other high-end items. These things cannot be raised in captivity, so they must be baited and trapped or hunted down, both very dangerous (but lucrative) enterprises.
That's getting on for nightmarish and evokes dark spaces and unknown worlds very well. It's much more than just a monster too.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely nightmarish things. Like most of our monsters, these things are often more than just some random tactical encounter or excuse for violence. There's plenty of combat opportunity with these things, of course, but they also could present quite a number of other challenges such as disruption of established industries due to someone figuring out how to use the digestive juices of a Yoggidam to treat fungal filaments to make fabrics, or something along those lines. There is a functional ecology at work in the Deep Places and one of the real opportunities for adventurers is to figure out how best to develop or make use of these things...and then to cope with the disruptions, repercussions and consequences that follow.
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