Hubaris’ Becoming Oozymandias
A Guide to the Bottled Ooze Discovery
“My name is Oozymandias, King of Alchemists;
Look on my molds, ye slimey, and despair!”
At some point in time I decided to make a chart of the different oozes in Pathfinder when I was developing an Alchemist as I was entranced by the Bottled Ooze Discovery. I thought I would share this information with the community and those who are interested in Oozes and non-standard Discoveries.
To help sort through these oozes I have a (kind of) handy spreadsheet as well as colour coding them in this document. The colour values are as follows:
Red (*): You really won’t want to use this ooze, it is generally outclassed.
Orange (**): This ooze is okay and has something worth considering.
Green (***): This is a good option.
Blue (****): This is a solid option, it has something outstanding to its cost.
I hope you enjoy the ride and find the ooze you need to fit your situation.
As to whether or not you need an initial sample… “Creating a bottled ooze requires an extract with a level equal to the ooze’s CR”. No ooze hunting is required, nor Craft Ooze or any other silliness. Just creating the Extract.
When playing PFS the rule for this Discovery is that it may be only used to bottle oozes from the PFRPG Bestiary. Now whether this means you must choose from the single Bestiary is outside my knowledge base as I’m not a PFS player.
Any insight would be appreciated, added and credited.
Good question reader. Why bother with what is a subpar summon monster that can’t be controlled? The answer is simple.
You’re Mad.
That’s right.
You’re Mad.
And it is good.
Don’t worry.
In this case you are taking the noblest of professions, using one of the lesser known abilities to make you table scratch their head and realize that with a little homework you can have massive area control, devastating save or dies, chunky creatures and much more.
Oozes aren’t entirely valuable all the time, but they are valuable some of the time. Even being a few levels behind many of the summons, most creatures, monsters and unintelligent foes can’t deal with oozes. They come with a plethora of resistances, immunities and tricks to make short work of foes that underestimate them. Heck with a proper thrown Extract you can make short work of foes who do know what they are. A paralyzing acid every round trying to engulf the squishy caster is as effective in some instances as a stinking cloud.
Sure you can be using Bombs, or the Excavator Archetype for Battlefield Control; sure you can be a Preservationist, but why would you go the easy route?
Don’t be silly, you already know why.
Bottled Ooze (Su)
Prerequisite: Alchemist 6
Benefit: The alchemist has learned how to preserve a sample of oozes in a sealed bottle, which he can prepare for use as an extract. When the alchemist activates the extract, he actually throws the bottle at a square within 30 feet, releasing the ooze, which reconstitutes and attacks the closest creature. The ooze is not under the alchemist’s control, but is otherwise treated as a summoned creature. The ooze remains for 1 round per caster level, and decays into powder when the duration expires. If the alchemist has the infusion discovery, another character can use the infused specimen. Creating a bottled ooze requires an extract with a level equal to the ooze’s CR (so a CR 4 gray ooze requires a 4th-level extract).
tl;dr
Basically its a Prepared Summon monster that is only limited to oozes. This means that you as a player need to learn a whole new summon list, and more importantly, know which ones won’t just turn on you and your friends afterwards (though you do get your first target free of charge)! That’s where this guide comes in; because no one wants to sift through oodles of oozes.
This Discovery is (generally) overpriced but in the right situation you can have a totally rad creature wreaking havoc on a room.
Oozes all have the following traits unless stated.
Mindless: No Intelligence score, and immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects). An ooze with an Intelligence score loses this trait.
Blind (but have the blindsight special quality), with immunity to gaze attacks, visual effects, illusions, and other attack forms that rely on sight.
Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning.
Some oozes have the ability to deal acid damage to objects. In such a case, the amount of damage is equal to 10 + 1/2 ooze’s HD + ooze’s Con modifier per full round of contact.
Not subject to critical hits or flanking. Does not take additional damage from precision-based attacks, such as sneak attack.
Oozes eat and breathe, but do not sleep.
“They can’t be bargained with, they can’t be reasoned with, they don’t feel pity or remorse or fear, and they absolutely will not stop EVER, until they are fed.”
I guess you can summon an evil wig. It’s a shame the Murderous Command only works on the wearer.
Almost strictly worse version of the melancholic swarm. Resistant to cold instead though.
Like above but with fire instead of cold.
They look this cool to me… They are this cool right?
Nothing too special for the slot. Has amphibious and constrict, though its small size and +3 to attack makes it lackluster.
Boilborn **
Has Death Throes allowing it to explode on death dealing 2d6 and might force leprosy. +4 to attacks, but is tiny. It has Acid Resistance as well. Could be useful against unintelligent animals and monsters.
Medium sized slime that has immunity to fire, though it's -3 to attacks and pitiable 7 hit points makes it less than attractive.
Ooze, Amber **
Won't last long enough for the drain effect, though if you want to force someone to consume it (Diminutive) for the -4 to Will saves it could be usable in a more manipulation-heavy, intrigue campaign.
Swarm, Amoeba ***
It's a swarm and is immune to weapon damage. Nothing too special with its distraction though (DC 11). Go with the Melancholic Ooze Swarm if you want more CC in exchange for the immunity.
For a 1st Level Extract it has a swarm ability that deals Paralysis and Entangle each turn on a failed DC15 Fortitude and Reflex save respectively. Not immune to weapons (only half damage) but can easily lock something down between the paralysis and the entangle effect on its viscous ability.
Apallie *
Decent infiltrator with Alter Self and two natural attacks. Unfortunately being unable to control it leaves a lot to be desired.
Diger ***
Our first Large ooze (but only a 5 foot reach). A 30 foot fly speed (poor), paralysis (DC 17) and engulf, this creature is actually quite a handful. It’s +3 to attack makes it hard to hit with but it has some neat tricks up its sleeve if it manages to catch a flier.
Gelatinous Orb ****
Nasty Save or Suck. It blinds, deafens, suffocates and nauseates 1 target within 50 feet by engulfing their head. The DC is only 13 and it only targets medium or smaller but it can pose a threat to low Reflex targets. A high +7 to attack makes it likely to land. Immune to electricity and trying to remove one is a 50/50 between the new host and the ooze.
Jelly, Tar ***
Immune to fire but has a low hit point pool, though when ignited by a Bomb or other fire based ability it deals high damage for a few rounds by upping its attack (adding fire dice). It has a strong grab and constrict at +6 (+10 for grapple). Enemies who hit it get stuck within 5 feet of it unless they break the tar strand, which can ignite as well.
Jelly, Whip ***
4 tendril attacks at +2 for 1d4 + 1d4 acid and can burn away non-magical, non-metal gear on a DC 14 when it hits. Did I mention it has a 10 foot reach as well? No nonstandard immunities makes it front heavy.
Diseases are too slow to be functional really. Though it is large, the Diger is ultimately better.
Ooze, Garden **
2nd level Extract for a 5 foot radius DC13 Sicken aura. It is alright but tapers off very quickly in terms of usefulness. You might get a level or two off of this then bury it back in the garden.
Slithering Pit ***
‘An answer to those snooty dimensional excavators’ - avr, ooze hunter.
Slow on the ground, but with a +5 to attack, plus 10 foot reach, pull and a decent damage roll (at 1d4 + 4) it can displace people. This is just gravy on its unique ability the ability to turn itself effectively into a small acid pit spell in place of Engulf. Having pseudo engulf at a lower extract slot bumps this up to Blue against multiple small or smaller foes (such as goblins) as it can eat more than one at a time.
No immunity to damage and very low worth abilities. Overall a worse version of the melancholic swarm.
Gelatinous Cube ****
The iconic Gelatinous Cube. Paralysis (DC 20) is effectively a Save or Die. Though its attack roll is not great (+2) it is excellent area control and can Engulf slower targets instead of aiming for an attack. Meaty at 50+ HP as well.
Hungry Flesh ****
Versus piercing or slashing damage it can grow monstrously big quickly. Can feed it up with corpses and enemy (or your own) attacks to make it bigger and badder (though you’re limited in rounds). It has a Grease Trail as it moves (DC 17) and Grab on its slam. If you can be creative with controlling it this can quickly be a staple (especially if you add templates later).
Jelly, Stun **
Same level you can get a Cube or an Advanced Orb. This may have a higher attack roll (+3 instead of +2) and a better Engulf (+1) but the Paralysis DC is 2 worse. Perhaps I’m too hard on it.
Mudbog *
Unless you can trick someone into walking into one, it won't be doing much. Cube it instead. Less HP and worse stats all around, though if you need fire resist it has it.
Nothing too special. Run of the mill Ooze with immunity to acid.
Ooze, Hag Eye ****
Decent bonus if you have a Coven? Naw, there’s more to it than that. Has a high attack roll at +8 with a decently effective Paralysis (DC 17) and 2 sets of Immunities (Acid and Cold). Solid pick if you want a more focused version of the Cube.
Freezing Flow ***
Can stagger and lock creatures in who wander in too close. Vulnerable to fire and immune to cold, this creature has Grab, Constrict and an improved crit range. Stagger is worse than the standard ooze paralysis so I have to knock it down a level, but it is a decent bruiser.
Gelatinous Cube (Electric) ****
Contains a passive AoE stun effects every 1d4 rounds to everything within 10 feet of it in addition to its paralysis (on hit or Engulf). Immunity to electricity makes it have some defense but not much. Ultimately, area control like the base and Frost variants.
AoE Cold Aura within 5 feet of it (3d6 nonlethal cold) and a surprising Fast Heal 3 when near fire. Immune to electricity and vulnerable to cold, this thing can cause some damage with its standard engulf and paralysis (DC 20) combo. You always get value from this after a few rounds but it is not as devastating as the Electric variant.
2 Immunities (Fire/Cold) with no vulnerability. Aquatic variant of most oozes (has grab and paralysis). Similar to a Hag Eye but with less to attack rolls and different immunities; though with a better paralysis DC at 20. Whether it is worth the 1 level increase in Extracts is questionable.
Ooze, Gray **
2 Immunities (Fire/Cold) with no vulnerability. Has grab and paralysis like its crystal brethren.
Like the ones above, but with a bad poison instead of paralysis and no immunities at all.
Slithering Tracker ****
An intelligent ooze (still immune to Mind Affecting however) with the power of 2 +7 slam attacks, blood drain and a nasty paralysis that checks each round like Hold Monster to break (rendering them staggered after). That and it has a grab that can hit up to Colossal sized creatures. It does have intelligence so you can probably deal with it better.
Doppeldrek **
Grants Beast Shape IV, Monstrous Physique IV, Plant Shape III to itself; but then again you can’t quite control it. Who knows what you’ll get? As a whole it is fairly strong though if the dice favour you.
If only our oozes had better To-Hit... Wait, are your enemies missing Ghost Touch or Force armor? Its 1d8 Strength damage incorporeal attacks will make short work of creatures. It also has a sleep based breath weapon (DC 17) and anti-undead tech built in. Very deadly and also flies.
Cripples any armor and weapons it hits, metal or not. Not great for a 5th level slot, as its slam, engulf and paralysis are the same as the base Cube.
Gibbering Hosts (Black Pudding) [See: Gibbering Mouther] ***
Too high level for its 6 grab attacks to hit, though it has many paralysis attempts and can just fish for criticals. Immune to fire and has gibbering (confusion AoE) and a blind spittle attack (DC 18).
Globster ***
Great immunities (bludgeoning, piercing, acid) and abilities though it requires water as well as a nausea strike (DC 18)… But who needs it to survive for long anyway? If it kills something it can split as well.
Jelly, Ochre **
Strong against slashing and piercing troops. Can easily overwhelm but not entirely worth the Extract unless you have a lot of mooks to deal with who don’t know much about oozes. No paralysis but has a grab and large sized.
Nothing special for a high Extract slot. Infuse can cause some decent damage if it worked but requires too many hoops.
Hungry Fog **
Too low save DC for the Extract level. 6d6 Touch attack hurts. Stagger in the mist is very strong though, despite the low save, easy crowd clearer. Hard to justify an Extract at this point though it is Huge and does fly.
While it deals good damage (8d6 each turn on Engulf), its hard for it to Engulf anything at this point. It tanks well, but is easily avoided.
Ooze, Verdurous ***
Good immunities (Split, Acid, Fire, Mind-Affecting, Slashing, Piercing), strong AoE disable with its DC 20 sleep aura. I can see myself packing a one-off of this.
Lackluster abilities for its Extract level.
Ooze, Id **
2 Immunities (Fire/Cold) with no Vulnerability. Has Lesser Confusion at will and slightly more HP. Not worth the Extract unless its a 1 man boss fight or big monster and a DC20 Lesser Confusion might stick.
Has a -2 circumstance penalty to attacks and damage rolls stench type aura, but it is fairly weak overall and requires you to light it up.
Ooze, Ebon **
An Intelligent Evil Ooze. Its Intelligence might make it more worthwhile than most… Maybe. Huge sized so it does have some value to cover area.
Ooze, Undead **
Has the ability to drop a bunch of Skeletons. Not too bad if you need to clutter and cause some chaos. Not sure if it comes prepacked with any but if not it drops to Red.
Ooze, Emotion ****
Extremely flexible Ooze. Can create havoc with its aura, allowing you one of many options upon creation. Forcing AoO upon allies, penalties to attack rolls, free shaken, this Ooze has a bunch of tools!
There are better CR6 Oozes with Split and better immunities.
Roiling Oil ***
Good fire damage in an area and can easily cause some pain on lower AC targets if you bomb your own ooze. The concealment also causes some good battlefield control.
Narrow water based ooze. Yay. Use its variant.
Narrow water based ooze. Yay. Still meh.
Its symbiosis is really good as a buff or as a weapon to opponents. For allies it can grant: the fire subtype, spell resistance (17), and telepathic abilities, as well as its SLAs (at will detect thoughts and searing light 3/day). Since it dies shortly after spawning (Minimum 16 rounds) you don't have to worry yourself about a forcible intruder.
Actual depiction of a Tear of Burning Flame
Because Bottled Ooze does everything based on CR there is really no reason you cannot apply templates to your creatures. That being said, many GMs are wary of templates and you should ask before this is considered.
The one you will use the most if allowed is the Advanced Template, providing a +2 across the board to attacks, save DCs, hit points per hit die, and more.
If you can’t convince them to allow Templates try to let them allow Advanced as it allows for the mid class oozes to scale a little better as some have unique abilities not seen in other oozes.
There are more templates than Oozes so bear with me on this. This will take time.
“Don’t worry, it’s immune to bludgeoning and piercing.”
Ooze Master Alchemist (Archetype)
Ooze Obsession
The ooze master has a deep seated obsession with oozes and due to this kinship feels the need to experiment and create oozes for benign or malignant purposes. However this obsession prevents them from pursuing other fields of study.
At 1st level the ooze master gains the Bottled Ooze Discovery, ignoring all prerequisites. Oozes they summon with this Discovery can be controlled with the hit dice from their Craft Ooze feature. When they throw a Bottled Ooze they gain a bonus to their attack roll equal to their Intelligence modifier. At 14th level all oozes created through the Bottled Ooze Discovery gain the Advanced template.
This ability replaces Throw Anything, Mutagen and Persistent Mutagen and the ooze master cannot select the Mutagen, Cognatogen (or similar) Discoveries.
Extra Samples
The ooze master spends more time preparing their ooze samples instead of various other alchemical powers. They only gain a number of bombs per day equal to ½ their class level + their Intelligence modifier instead of the usual amount. Instead they gain an additional Extract slot per Extract level that can only be used to prepare Bottled Oozes.
This ability alters Bombs and Alchemy.
Craft Ooze
Using the power of alchemy the ooze master can create what many alchemist fail to grasp.
At 6th level they gain Craft Ooze as a bonus feat, and she may control a number of hit dice worth of oozes made with this feat or with their Bottled Ooze Discovery equal to 2 + 2 Hit Dice of oozes for every 1 Intelligence modifier they have.
This ability replaces the Discovery at 6th level.
Experimental Blood
The ooze master chooses to become their obsession and increase their ability to work with oozes. At 2nd level they gain Resist Acid 5. At 5th and every 3 levels after they may select an additional energy type to gain Resist 5. In addition, at each such interval, the resistance against any one energy type increases by 5.
This replaces Poison Use, Swift Poisoning, Poison Resistance and Poison Immunity.
It makes me feel real cool and professional.
Honestly anything that wants a little bit of BFC but doesn’t want to go Excavator. It is a single Discovery for decent versatility. Check out an Alchemist guide for real information to this question.
Well not every Alchemist has or wants Bombs. Some such as the Promethean trade away Bombs and some such as the Vivisectionist may want some BFC despite not having Bombs at all. That and Bomb Discoveries (especially the Stink Tree) eat a lot of Discovery options, this is only one (albeit a lot weaker).
Mainly just futureproofing in case a valuable one comes up. As of right now the majority are outclassed unless you have a generous GM who allows for multiple CR ⅓’s or ½’s to be stuffed in a single Extract.
Despite being a liberal reader already I would have to say no to this, they aren’t Summon Spells or Summon Monster SLAs at all (already the line between Extracts and Spells is sticky). They just act similar to one and act as summoned creatures for effects (such as Dispel Magic). It's a Supernatural Ability and not a spell either way.
Not particularly. They can’t benefit from morale bonuses but they can from other effects such as luck (Prayer) and untyped (Haste) so it just depends on the spells your party has.
No idea. I just made it for fun. Obviously because it is Homebrew ask your GM anyway. I would love to hear if you have any experience with it and how it goes.
I hope you enjoyed the ride through the oozes of Pathfinder.
All images are not by me, I am only an ooze fiend not an artist. Links to the image search on the image itself.
Please give a shoutout in the thread for questions so I can make a real FAQ, I’ll update occasionally as I’m building a new ooze-user to play with.
Last Major Update:
Up to Bestiary 5
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