SLITHERING TRACKER – 5e stats

Medium ooze, chaotic evil

Armor Class 14
Hit Points 32 (5d8 + 10)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft., swim 30 ft.

Proficiency Bonus +2
Proficiency Bonus +3 (5th Edition Advanced Mode)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
16 (+3)	19 (+4)	15 (+2)	10 (+0)	14 (+2)	11 (+0)

Skills Stealth +8
Damage vulnerabilities cold, fire
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Condition Immunities blinded, deafened, exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, unconscious
Senses blindsight 120 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages understands languages it knew in its previous form but can’t speak
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Ambush. In the first round of a combat, the slithering tracker has advantage on attack rolls against any creature it surprised.

Damage Transfer. While grappling a creature, the slithering traker takes only half the damage dealt to it, and the creature it is grappling takes the other half.

False Apparance. While the slithering tracker remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a puddle, unless an observer succeeds on a DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation) check.

Keen Tracker. The slithering tracker has advantage on Wisdom checks to track prey.

Liquid Form. The slithering tracker can enter an enemy’s space and stop there. It can also move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.

Spider Climb. The slithering tracker can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Watery Stealth. While underwater, the slithering tracker has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide, and it can take the Hide action as a bonus action.

ACTIONS

• Slame. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) bludgeoning damage.
• Life Leech. One Large or smaller creature that the slithering tracker can see within 5 feet of it must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be grappled (escape DC 13). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and unable to breathe unless it can breathe water. In addition, the grappled target takes 16 (3d10) necrotic damage at the start of each of its turns. The slithering tracker can grapple only one target at a time.
• Life Leech (suggested). The slithering tracker secretes a paralyzing substance that immobilizes one Large or smaller creature that it can see within 5 feet of it on contact. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be grappled (escape DC 13) and paralyzed for 12 hours. Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and unable to breathe unless it can breathe water. In addition, the grappled target takes 16 (3d10) necrotic damage at the start of each of its turns as the slithering tracker covers its entire body and slowly draws all of the plasma from the creature, killing it in the process. The slithering tracker can drain a man-sized creature in one hour and can grapple only one target at a time.

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DESCRIPTION

A slithering tracker is a creature that has undergone a dark ritual to transform into a body of semiliquid sentience, driven by a thirst for revenge. A slithering tracker appears as a transparent, jelly-like ooze that can flow into places where a normal creature can’t go. It is almost impossible to detect normally, unless an observer succeeds on a very difficult Intelligence (Investigation) check. A slithering tracker retains some of the memories and languages of its previous form, but it can’t speak or communicate with other creatures.

COMBAT

A slithering tracker is an ambush predator that uses its stealth and spider climb abilities to surprise its prey. It can enter an enemy’s space and stop there, and it can also move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. When it attacks, it secretes a paralyzing substance that immobilizes one Large or smaller creature that it can see within 5 feet of it on contact. The target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be grappled and paralyzed for 12 hours. Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and unable to breathe unless it can breathe water. In addition, the grappled target takes necrotic damage at the start of each of its turns as the slithering tracker covers its entire body and slowly draws all of the plasma from the creature, killing it in the process. The slithering tracker can drain a man-sized creature in one hour and can grapple only one target at a time. While grappling a creature, the slithering tracker takes only half the damage dealt to it, and the creature it is grappling takes the other half.

HABITAT / SOCIETY

A slithering tracker is a solitary creature that has no interest in other beings except as potential victims. It usually lurks in dark and damp places, such as dungeons, sewers, swamps, or caves. It prefers to hunt at night or in areas of dim light or darkness. A slithering tracker has a keen sense of smell and can track its prey by tasting the ground. It often targets creatures that have wronged it in its previous life, such as enemies, rivals, or betrayers. However, it will also attack any creature that crosses its path if it is hungry or provoked.

Slithering trackers are solitary beasts that possess no attack form capable of harming other trackers, so territoriality is a question of first-come, first-serve. Being the most intelligent of all slimes and jellies, it would seem natural that slithering trackers would establish themselves as the leaders of the rest. But jellies and slimes lack both the means of communication and the intelligence to band together. They remain on the lower end of the monster food chain, serving as scavengers that kill the weak and stupid, leaving the larger creatures for major predators in the dungeons they inhabit.

In fact, slithering trackers often hide themselves in the lairs of large monsters, which are known to kill far more than they can eat at a sitting. The tracker waits until the beast goes to sleep or departs and then it sucks dry the morsels left over.

Many times the victims are merely unconscious instead of dead — at least until the tracker gets to them. And on more than one occasion, monster-slaying adventurers have left a hoard guarded by a comrade, while they go for help, only to return to find their friend mysteriously dehydrated, with all of the treasure still in the lair.

ECOLOGY

A slithering tracker is an unnatural creature that has been twisted by dark magic. It does not belong to any natural ecosystem and has no predators or allies. It feeds exclusively on the plasma of living creatures, which it extracts by leeching their life force. It does not need to eat very often, as it can survive for months on a single victim. However, it will always seek out new prey if given the opportunity.

There are two theories regarding the origin of slithering trackers. The first and most likely one is that slithering trackers are just advanced forms of the other jellies, fortunate enough to have developed a transparent plasma body and a modicum of intelligence. Like most jellies, they reproduce asexually when the time and quantity of food allow for it.

The second, more dubious theory, is that slithering trackers were created, not born. Their high intelligence seems to lead many knowledgeable sages to believe that the creation of a slithering tracker is a hideous process, involving the transformation of a living human being. Certain legends seem to support this assertion, as there are many accounts of dark wizards removing the bones of their enemies, turning them into hulking masses of jelly-like flesh.

While it is certain that no respectable wizard (good or neutrally aligned) would resort to creating such horrors, it is just as certain that there are many practitioners of the darker arts who have performed much worse experiments.

It is possible that somewhere deep in the bowels of some long-deserted wizard’s dungeon, there lies an ancient diary, with a detailed account of the terrifying curse of the tracker.

There are tales of abnormally large slithering trackers that live in the deep recesses of the Underdark. Such monsters are often said to lurk around the edges of great underground civilizations, growing to vast size on the abundance of prey.