| Hit Dice: | 28d10+140 (294 hp) |
| Initiative: | –3 |
| Speed: | 30 ft. (6 squares), fly 50 ft. (poor), swim 90 ft. |
| Armor Class: | 3 (–4 size, –3 Dex), touch 3, flat-footed 3 |
| Base Attack/Grapple: | +21/+44 |
| Attack: | Slam +28 melee (4d6+16 plus entropic touch) |
| Full Attack: | Slam +28 melee (4d6+16 plus entropic touch) |
| Space/Reach: | 20 ft./15 ft. |
| Special Attacks: | Entropic touch, portalwake, warp reality |
| Special Qualities: | Blindsight 240 ft., detect law, dimensional instability, immunities, ooze traits, spell resistance 32 |
| Saves: | Fort +14, Ref +6, Will +4 |
| Abilities: | Str 32, Dex 5, Con 20, Int —, Wis 1, Cha 1 |
| Skills: | — |
| Feats: | — |
| Environment: | Any aquatic and underground |
| Organization: | Solitary |
| Challenge Rating: | 16 |
| Treasure: | Standard |
| Alignment: | Always neutral |
| Advancement: | 29–36 HD (Gargantuan); 37–84 HD (Colossal) |
| Level Adjustment: | — |
Teratomorphs lurk in the watery depths of the sea and in underground caverns. Normally, they spend most of their time floating on underwater currents, but sometimes these currents wash them ashore. Occasionally they come ashore of their own volition to search for food.
A teratomorph is a shapeless horror the size of a cottage. Its body consists primarily of thick, translucent, iridescent slime coating coils of opaque tissue that shift and move, as though constantly in a state of flux. Beneath its slimy hide, bursts of energy occasionally flash, lighting portions of its form momentarily. Sections of the ooze periodically emit beams of light or crackling energy, while other sections fade into smoke or vanish altogether.
A teratomorph gains nutrients by infesting living creatures with the force of chaos. The very act of transforming another creature with its entropic touch sustains and nurtures the ooze’s growth. But a creature does not have to come in contact with a teratomorph to experience its entropic effects. In fact, the monster’s very presence can unravel reality and tear holes in the fabric between planes. Unlucky creatures that pass too close to a teratomorph sometimes find themselves transported to other planes with no means of returning.
Powerful spellcasters have long sought ways to harness the powers of the teratomorph. Unfortunately, portions of the ooze that are separated from the main body do not last long, dissolving into nothingness after only a few hours. The otherworldly matter that makes up the body of a teratomorph remains unstable until enough of it is concentrated in one place that its mass defeats the internal forces working to tear it apart. This effect probably explains why teratomorphs smaller than Gargantuan are never encountered. When such a creature reaches 84 Hit Dice, it immediately splits into smaller oozes, each with 28 Hit Dice.
The teratomorph is a mindless creature. When it isn’t eating, it is on the move looking for something to eat. It surges forth to attack any Small or larger creature that passes within range of its blindsight, but it ignores creatures smaller than this.
A teratomorph attacks by extruding a massive wave of chaotic protoplasm to smash its prey. Not only does this attack deal extensive bludgeoning damage, it also infuses the creature touched with raw chaos.
Entropic Touch (Su): The entropic energy that surges through a teratomorph’s shapeless body causes horrible transformations in living creatures that come into contact with it. If a creature struck by a teratomorph’s slam attack fails a Fortitude saving throw (DC 29), its body transforms in some way, causing one of the following effects:
| 1d20 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1–7 | Physical Mutation. The touch of the teratomorph transforms the opponent’s anatomy, resulting in 1d6 points of Strength drain or Dexterity drain (50% chance for each). |
| 8–13 | Tissue Annihilation. The touch of the ooze causes tiny portions of the opponent’s anatomy to vanish, resulting in 2d4 points of Constitution drain. |
| 14–18 | Fleshwarp. The opponent’s flesh temporarily warps before returning to normal. This painful process deals 5d20 points of nonlethal damage. |
| 19 | Bonding. The ooze sticks to the target and automatically succeeds at a grapple check. Each round thereafter, the teratomorph can attempt a new grapple check (grapple bonus +44) to deal 4d6+16 points of bludgeoning damage. The opponent must succeed at a new Fortitude saving throw (DC 29) each round that the teratomorph deals damage to avoid further effects from the entropic touch. (If this result comes up more than once, roll again.) |
| 20 | Absorption. The opponent is entirely absorbed by the ooze. An absorbed creature dies instantly and leaves behind no trace of a body, so only a miracle, true resurrection, or wish spell can restore it to life. Absorbing a creature grants the ooze a new permanent hit die. |
Portalwake (Su): The presence of a teratomorph places tremendous strain on the borders between the planes, causing tears and rips to appear nearby. Each round, one creature within a 120-foot radius of the teratomorph, chosen at random, must make a Reflex saving throw (DC 19) or be moved to a random plane as though by a plane shift spell.
Warp Reality (Su): The potent chaotic energy that surges through and out of a teratomorph’s body can have amazing effects on the surrounding terrain. When the monster is at rest, this energy is calm, but when the monster moves or attacks, the energy lashes out in a 120-foot emanation. These ripples of chaos cause the surrounding terrain to warp and writhe, imposing a –4 circumstance penalty on attack rolls and Dexterity checks for all creatures in the area except the teratomorph.
Every round that this reality warp persists, there is a 10% chance that the chaotic energy manifests in a more dramatic manner. Such chaos manifestations duplicate spell effects. Roll 1d20 and refer to the appropriate line on the following table to determine the spells effects produced. All these effects function as the spells of the same names (caster level 20th; save DC 10 + spell level), except that they affect all the appropriate targets (except the teratomorph) within the warp reality area and last for 1 round.
| Roll | Result |
|---|---|
| 1–4 | Entangle and obscuring mist |
| 5–8 | Color spray and glitterdust |
| 9–12 | Stinking cloud and spike growth |
| 13–14 | Spike stones and cloudkill |
| 15–16 | Insect plague and mind fog |
| 17–18 | Acid fog and transmute rock to mud |
| 19 | Fire storm and reverse gravity |
| 20 | Earthquake and prismatic spray (roll once for all affected creatures) |
Detect Law (Su): A teratomorph has a continual detect law ability (as the spell) with a range of 20 feet.
Dimensional Instability (Su): Each time an opponent strikes a teratomorph with a weapon, there is a chance that the portion of the creature’s body struck simply doesn’t exist at that instant. Any melee or ranged attack directed at the teratomorph has a 20% miss chance that cannot be avoided with spells such as true seeing or true strike. Dimensional anchor negates this ability, reducing the miss chance to 0% for the duration of the effect.
Immunities (Ex): A teratomorph is immune to lightning, acid, and all spells with the chaotic descriptor.
Source: Monster Manual II, page 194. This creature’s statistics block has been updated to version 3.5 as given in the D&D® V.3.5 Accessory Update for Monster Manual II and corrected for errata.