Ooze, Emotion

This viscous blob of brightly colored goo quivers and pulses in a curious manner.

Emotion Ooze CR 6

XP 2,400
N Medium ooze
Init –3; Senses blindsense 120 ft.; Perception +2; Aura emotion (DC 20)

DEFENSE

AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+6 deflection, –3 Dex)
hp 76 (9d8+36)
Fort +13, Ref +6, Will +11
Defensive Abilities amorphous; Immune mind-affecting effects, ooze traits

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee slam +11 (1d8+7 plus emotional scarring)
Special Attacks compel emotion, emotional scarring

STATISTICS

Str 20, Dex 5, Con 18, Int —, Wis 15, Cha 23
Base Atk +6; CMB +11; CMD 16
Skills Climb +13
SQ compression, emotional attunement, empathic healing

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Compel Emotion (Su)

As a move action, an emotion ooze can release a pulse of psychic energy that causes intelligent creatures within 60 feet to be overwhelmed by the emotion ooze’s attuned emotion (Will DC 20 negates). Each emotion has a special effect on affected creatures, which is described in the corresponding emotional attunement entry (see below). The effects of multiple emotion oozes attuned to the same emotion don’t stack, but a creature can be under the effects of different emotions from different types of emotion oozes at the same time.

A creature affected by compel emotion retains the chosen emotion for as long as it remains within 60 feet of the emotion ooze and for 1d4 minutes thereafter. An affected creature that takes a move action to try to control its emotions can attempt another DC 20 Will save. Success on this Will save removes the effect and grants the creature a +4 circumstance bonus on future saves against that emotion ooze’s compel emotion ability for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting emotion effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Emotional Attunement (Su)

Each emotion ooze is closely attuned to a single emotion. The type of emotion affects its physiology, altering its fundamental nature.

Anger: An emotion ooze attuned to anger glows bright red. Its Strength score increases by 4, it gains Power Attack as a bonus feat, and it has fire resistance 10. A creature affected by an anger-attuned emotion ooze’s compel emotion ability is compelled to take attacks of opportunity against its allies whenever those allies take actions that would provoke an attack of opportunity from a creature.

These count against the number of attacks of opportunity the creature can take each round.

  • Dedication: An emotion ooze attuned to dedication is a deep blue. Its Constitution score increases by 4, it gains Great Fortitude and Toughness as bonus feats, and its natural armor bonus to AC increases by 2. A creature affected by a dedication-attuned emotion ooze’s compel emotion ability is unable to move away from an adjacent opponent unless it succeeds at a DC 20 Will save at the start of its turn. Success allows the creature to move away that round, but does not end the effect.
  • Despair: An emotion ooze attuned to despair is a pale, listless gray. Its Constitution and Charisma scores increase by 2, and it has DR 10/magic and cold resistance 10. A creature affected by a despair-attuned emotion ooze’s compel emotion ability takes a –4 morale penalty on attack rolls and damage rolls.
  • Fear: An emotion ooze attuned to fear is light gray, flecked with darker gray motes swirling about its insides. Its Dexterity score increases by 4, it gains Improved Initiative and Lightning Reflexes as bonus feats, and it gains the evasion rogue class feature. A creature affected by a fear-attuned emotion ooze’s compel emotion ability gains the shaken condition.
  • Hatred: An emotion ooze attuned to hatred is a deep black color, which pulsates violently when it attacks. Its Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores increase by 2, it has acid resistance 10, and its emotional scarring ability deals an additional 4d6 points of damage (instead of 3d6). A creature affected by a hatred-attuned emotion ooze’s compel emotion ability takes a –4 penalty to AC, but gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls.
  • Jealousy: An emotion ooze attuned to jealousy is a swirl of oily green, orange, and brownish red. Its Strength and Dexterity scores increase by 2, and it has DR 5/silver and SR 17. A creature affected by a jealousy-attuned emotion ooze’s compel emotion ability must attempt saving throws to resist all spells cast on it, including harmless and beneficial spells.
  • Zeal: An emotion ooze attuned to zeal is a bright orange color, and grows brighter when the ooze is feeding or has recently fed. Its Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom scores increase by 2, and it has DR 5/magic and electricity resistance 10. A creature affected by a zeal-attuned emotion ooze’s compel emotion ability must succeed at a DC 20 Will save each round or repeat the same actions it took on the previous round. If it is unable to do so (such as if it made a full attack against an opponent that has moved away, or cast a spell that has been expended), it must take actions that mimic those taken in the previous round as closely as possible. Succeeding at this Will save allows the creature to act normally for 1 round, but does not free it from the emotion effect.

Emotional Scarring (Ex)

An emotion ooze’s slam attack deals an additional 3d6 points of damage, which is mental damage like that from mind thrust I.

This is a mind-affecting emotion effect.

Empathic Healing (Su)

An emotion ooze gains fast healing 5 as long as it is within 60 feet of a creature that is affected by its compel emotion ability (or that is otherwise experiencing the emotion to which the ooze is attuned). Though an emotion ooze is otherwise immune to mind-affecting effects, it is healed by emotion effects that match its emotion, regaining a number of hit points equal to the caster level of the effect (or to the ooze’s Hit Dice for abilities with no caster level). The ooze takes an equal amount of damage if it fails a saving throw against an effect that specifically counters its corresponding emotion (for instance, remove fear for fear or good hope for despair).

ECOLOGY

Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, conflict (3–12, often with different attuned emotions)
Treasure incidental

Truly bizarre and alien creatures, emotion oozes are made of ectoplasm that has somehow been granted the spark of life. Though they can’t be categorized as intelligent, emotion oozes have a unique emotional empathy, allowing them not only to respond and react to the emotions of nearby creatures, but also to psychically shape and alter the emotions of others.

Though they are carnivorous, emotion oozes prefer to seek out victims with strong emotions, on which they also feed. As a part of their unnatural biology, they gain a physiological benefit from being exposed to strong emotions. Each emotion ooze is attuned to a specific emotion, and the cause of this connection is unclear. The most commonly accepted theory is that the oozes imprint on the first strong emotion that they are exposed to or that the emotion is imprinted in the ectoplasm, though others believe that the creatures have some control over this bond, and can even change the emotion they’re attuned to given enough time. In addition to their coloration reflecting their attuned emotions, emotion ooze takes on forms that befit the emotion to which they are tied, making it fairly easy for those with knowledge of the creatures to determine each one’s particular emotional attunement on first glance.

Creatures that encounter an emotion ooze find that it mimics their expressions and movements in an unnerving manner, sometimes even duplicating the facial features of the creature as it mimics a smile or growl.

The ooze’s reactions get more extreme when creatures around it express the type of emotion to which the ooze is attuned. The ooze begins to noticeably ripple, pulsing in a sympathetic rhythm and reshaping itself more rapidly than it does when it is on the search for emotional creatures. An anger-attuned ooze might form its pseudopods to look more like jagged spikes, and a despair ooze might reach out fitfully like a creature struggling to escape from a pool of quicksand.

Most animals and unintelligent life forms find an emotion ooze’s imitation and emotional echoes terrifying and flee as quickly as possible. Though some sentient creatures have this same reaction, others find the phenomenon fascinating, and attempt to either experiment with or capture emotion oozes, putting themselves within reach of the hungry oozes‘ grasp. These intelligent creatures are the most common victims of emotion ooze attacks.

Pitched battles draw the attentions of emotion oozes attuned to anger, fear, hatred, or zeal. Such an ooze might join a nearby battle it senses so it can feed off the emotions generated there. The desire to continue causing and absorbing such strong feelings causes the ooze to try to prolong the battle, spreading out its attacks among multiple targets and paying little attention to creatures that aren’t affected by its ability to compel emotion. In the end, the ooze’s hunger might actually be its downfall.

Emotion oozes often dwell in places where strong emotions were felt in the past, suggesting the creatures might have latent psychometric ability. Hatred oozes might live at the sites of massacres, zeal oozes in old temples or political offices, despair oozes in ancient prisons, and so on. If stuck in one place or deprived of emotional connections for a long time, an emotion ooze begins to lose its coloration, becoming a dull white, and eventually hardens and cracks into pieces.

The typical emotion ooze has about the same volume as a human, but its composition makes it significantly lighter, weighing only around 50 pounds.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 5 © 2015, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, John Bennett, Logan Bonner, Creighton Broadhurst, Robert Brookes, Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Thurston Hillman, Eric Hindley, Joe Homes, James Jacobs, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Ben McFarland, Jason Nelson, Thom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Alistair Rigg, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Wes Schneider, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, Mike Shel, James L. Sutter, and Linda Zayas-Palmer.

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