Back in the day, White Dwarf magazine was the British answer to the Dragon, and its regular "Fiend Factory" column was a source of many monsters for early D&D games. In fact, the first edition Fiend Folio (1981) was largely a collection of monsters submitted to WD. This 3e conversion is part of an ongoing project to resurrect some interesting WD monsters that, for one reason or another, fell by the wayside. The goom was a submission of Nigel Proudfooot and appeared in White Dwarf 17 (Feb/March 1980) , in a second Fiend Factory installment detailing monsters that very nearly made it into the Fiend Folio—complete with line art by some of the iconic Fiend Folio artists.

The large, undulating shape rears up, its translucent, limbless form slathered with a wet, glistening slick.

Goom CR 2

goom

Always N Large ooze

Init -4; Senses blindsight 60 ft.; Listen -5, Spot -5

AC 5, touch 5, flat-footed 5
(-1 size, -4 Dex)

hp 17 (2 HD)

Fort +3, Ref -4, Will -5

Spd 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.

Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Base Atk +1; Grp +9

Special Atks adhesive, engulf

Abilities Str 19, Dex 3, Con 17, Int -, Wis 1, Cha 1

SQ ooze traits

Skills Climb +12

Environment underground

Organization solitary

Treasure none

Advancement 3-4 HD (Large), 5-6 HD (Huge)

Adhesive (Ex) A goom exudes a glue-like substance that acts as a powerful adhesive, holding fast any creatures or items touching it, except for items made of stone. As a standard action, a goom can attempt to adhere to a creature up to one size smaller than itself. The goom attempts a grapple that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. If it succeeds in the grapple check, the opponent is stuck fast to the goom and cannot break free while the goom is alive without removing the adhesive first. The next round the goom can engulf an adhered opponent as a standard action. A weapon that strikes an goom is stuck fast unless the wielder succeeds on a DC 14 Reflex save. A successful DC 14 Strength check is needed to pry it off. The save and check DC are both Constitution-based. An application of boiling water thrown on the goom deals 1d4 points of damage to it (and to any creature stuck to it). It also reduces both the Reflex save DC and the Strength check DC to 13 for one round. An application of fire deals damage to both the goom and any creature stuck to it and weakens the adhesive (as above) for 1d3 rounds. An application of universal solvent automatically dissolves the adhesive. A goom can dissolve its adhesive at will, and the substance breaks down 1 hour after the creature dies.

Blindsight (Ex) A goom's entire body is a primitive sensory organ that can ascertain prey by scent and vibration within 60 feet.

Engulf (Ex) A goom can automatically pull an adhered creature up to one size smaller than itself into its body as a standard action. Attacks that hit an engulfing goom deal half their damage to the monster and half to the trapped victim. An engulfed victim must make a DC 10 Constitution check every round on his turn in order to hold his breath. Each round, the DC increases by 1. When the victim finally fails his Constitution check, he begins to suffocate. In the first round, he falls unconscious (0 hp). In the following round, he drops to -1 hit points and is dying. In the third round, he suffocates. Because the goom is not composed of water, spells such as water breathing offer no help in surviving the effect of drowning.

An engulfed victim cannot cast spells with verbal components or use any other item or ability that requires speech. If other characters use edged weapons to attack the goom while it is engulfing a victim, those attacks have a 25% chance of hitting the engulfed victim, and they do no harm to the goom.

The goom is an amorphous creature, in behavior and appearance similar to an ochre jelly and thus clearly a relative of that creature. In combat a goom will attempt to first adhere to an opponent and then engulf the unfortunate creature in the next round.