Mature Slime Crawler — Paralysing Carrion Hunter
A twelve-foot carrion hunter whose four venomous pseudopods paralyse prey before it feeds.
A Mature Slime Crawler is the adult stage of the Larval Slime Crawler. By maturity its caterpillar-like legs are fully developed, its oily larval coating is gone, and the four grasping tentacles beneath its mouth have become long pseudopods that exude paralytic venom. Adults are voracious, territorial and perfectly willing to turn from carrion to fresh meat.
At a Glance
Run It Tonight
The crawler should appear where bodies or waste have already attracted it. Let the party find drag marks, stripped carrion or paralysed vermin first. In battle, the creature does not focus on dealing the most damage—it lashes several targets, waits for one to stop moving, then tries to feed while the rest are still fighting.
Rules by Edition
Mature Slime Crawler
Large Aberration, Unaligned
AC 15; Initiative +2 (12)
HP 68 (8d10 + 24)
Speed 30 ft., Climb 20 ft.
16 (+3)
15 (+2)
16 (+3)
1 (−5)
15 (+2)
6 (−2)
Skills Perception +4
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Scent 30 ft.; Passive Perception 14
Languages —
CR 3 (700 XP); PB +2
Traits
Spider Climb. The crawler can climb difficult surfaces, including ceilings, without an ability check.
Feeding Frenzy. The crawler has Advantage on attack rolls against Incapacitated creatures.
Actions
Multiattack. The crawler makes two Pseudopod attacks and one Bite attack.
Pseudopod. Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 10 ft. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) Bludgeoning damage. The target makes a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, it has the Paralyzed condition until the end of its next turn.
Bite. Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 5 ft. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) Piercing damage.
Paralytic Flurry (Recharge 5–6). The crawler makes one Pseudopod attack against up to four different creatures within reach.
Mature Slime Crawler
Large aberration, unaligned
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 68 (8d10 + 24)
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
16 (+3)
15 (+2)
16 (+3)
1 (−5)
15 (+2)
6 (−2)
Skills Perception +4
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages —
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Traits
Spider Climb. The crawler can climb difficult surfaces, including ceilings, without making an ability check.
Actions
Multiattack. The crawler makes two pseudopod attacks and one bite attack.
Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed until the end of its next turn.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage.
Mature Slime Crawler CR 4
XP 1,200
N Large aberration
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +10
Defense
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+2 Dex, +6 natural, −1 size)
hp 19 (3d8+6)
Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +5
Offense
Speed 30 ft., climb 15 ft.
Melee 4 tentacles +3 (1d4+2 plus paralysis) and bite +3 (1d6+2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with tentacles)
Special Attacks paralysis (2d4 rounds, DC 13)
Statistics
Str 14, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 1, Wis 15, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 17 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Climb +14, Perception +10
Ecology
Environment any land and underground
Organization solitary, pair, cluster (3–5), or nest (8–12 plus 10–20 larval slime crawlers)
Treasure none
Mature Slime Crawler
Large Aberration
Hit Dice 3d8+6 (19 hp)
Initiative +2
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares), climb 15 ft.
Armor Class 17 (−1 size, +2 Dex, +6 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple +2/+8
Attack tentacle +3 melee (1d4+2 plus paralysis)
Full Attack 4 tentacles +3 melee (1d4+2 plus paralysis) and bite +3 melee (1d6+2)
Space/Reach 10 ft./5 ft. (10 ft. with tentacles)
Special Attacks paralysis
Special Qualities darkvision 60 ft., scent
Saves Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +5
Abilities Str 14, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 1, Wis 15, Cha 6
Skills Climb +14, Listen +8, Spot +8
Feats Combat Reflexes, Skill Focus (Spot)
Environment land and underground
Organization solitary, pair, cluster or nest
Challenge Rating 4
Treasure none
Alignment always neutral
Paralysis (Ex)
A tentacle hit forces a DC 13 Fortitude save or paralyses the target for 2d4 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Behaviour
Mature slime crawlers are voracious carrion hunters rather than patient ambushers. They patrol battlefields, sewers and refuse-rich margins looking for bodies. Once they find food, they defend it aggressively against almost anything not recognised as another slime crawler.
Adults tolerate others of their own kind well enough to form clusters and nests, but this is proximity around food rather than sophisticated cooperation.
Signs Before Initiative
- Corpses have been dragged into narrow tunnels and stripped unevenly.
- Long, many-legged tracks cross walls as readily as floors.
- Small animals lie alive but motionless with tiny punctures in the skin.
- A refuse pit is strangely free of ordinary scavengers.
- Fresh carrion disappears overnight without signs of chewing at the site.
If Violence Starts
The crawler tries to touch as many enemies as possible with its pseudopods. Once one target is paralysed, it bites and feeds rather than continuing to spread damage efficiently. This makes it dangerous but predictable: rescuing the paralysed victim can pull the crawler’s attention away from the rest of the party.
Counterplay
Stay beyond pseudopod reach and avoid letting several characters cluster within 10 feet. Paralysis protection or strong Constitution saves matter more than raw armour. Because the crawler is driven by hunger, thrown carrion can sometimes buy time or redirect it.
Life Cycle
Slime crawlers begin as slick-bodied larvae whose tentacles grapple rather than inject venom. Their legs strengthen over the following months, the oily coating disappears, and the tentacles become longer paralytic pseudopods. By roughly twenty weeks, the creature is fully mature.
Large nests therefore contain both stages at once. The larvae make movement hazardous with slime while the adults disable prey for the whole nest.
Using a Mature Slime Crawler in an Encounter
The battlefield feeder. Bodies from a recent battle begin disappearing before burial crews can reach them.
The sewer nest. Paralysed rats and dogs mark the tunnels leading toward a growing colony beneath a town.
The corpse wagon. A plague cart is attacked not for the drivers, but for what it carries.
The nursery. An adult protects a chamber filled with dozens of larval slime crawlers and half-eaten carrion.
Related Life Stage
See the Larval Slime Crawler for the earlier slippery grappling stage, or return to the Aberration Bestiary.
Rules Sources and Licensing
The Pathfinder-style mature slime crawler derives from Tome of Horrors Complete, © 2011 Necromancer Games, Inc., published and distributed by Frog God Games. The 5.5e/2024, 5e/2014 and D&D 3.5e blocks are compatibility adaptations created for this entry.