Gray Ooze – The Silent Corrosion
“Think that puddle’s harmless? Think again—it’s a Gray Ooze, and it’s hungry for your gear and your flesh!”

The Gray Ooze resembles a viscous, sluggish pool of stone-gray slime that glistens with a faint sheen in dim light. It appears as nothing more than a wet patch on the floor or wall, blending seamlessly with surrounding stonework. Its surface bubbles and pulses almost imperceptibly, revealing hints of internal corrosive activity. When agitated, the ooze extrudes pseudopods of thick, quivering sludge, its form shifting without defined anatomy or expression.
Behavior
The Gray Ooze is a mindless predator, governed entirely by instinct and sensory input. It is slow but relentless, creeping along ceilings, floors, or walls in search of vibrations or heat. Though blind, it “sees” through tremors and heat signatures using a rudimentary form of blindsight. It doesn’t flee, bargain, or hesitate—once prey is sensed, it moves to engulf and dissolve it with single-minded purpose. The ooze is indifferent to pain and will continue to attack until destroyed or its prey escapes.
Habitat
Gray Oozes thrive in ancient ruins, subterranean tunnels, sewer systems, and the crumbling remains of forgotten civilizations. They are particularly common in places where stonework is damp and crumbling—caves, dungeons, or collapsed buildings with little light or airflow. Their passive appearance and stillness make them ideal ambush predators in such shadowed, stagnant environments.
Modus Operandi
Gray Oozes remain nearly motionless until they detect nearby movement or heat. When prey comes close, they lash out with pseudopods that secrete a powerful acid, corroding flesh, metal, and wood with alarming speed. Weapons that strike the ooze risk dissolving, as do metal armors that come into contact with it. The ooze seeks to envelop and digest its prey whole, absorbing nutrients through direct contact and corrosive secretion.
Motivation
The Gray Ooze has no intellect, emotions, or desires beyond feeding. It does not recognize allies or enemies—only food. Driven by a base hunger encoded into its alchemical origins or natural evolution, the ooze consumes indiscriminately. It has no memory, no plans, and no fear. It exists to dissolve, absorb, and survive.
Gray Ooze 5e
Gray Ooze 5e
Gray Ooze, Pathfinder
Gray Ooze

Medium ooze, unaligned
Armor Class 8
Hit Points 45 (6d8 + 18)
Speed 10 ft., climb 10 ft.
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
16 (+3) | 6 (–2) | 16 (+3) | 1 (–5) | 6 (–2) | 2 (–4) |
Saving Throws —
Damage Resistances Cold
Damage Immunities Acid
Condition Immunities Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Frightened, Prone
Senses Blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), Passive Perception 8
Languages —
Challenge 1 (200 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2
Traits
Amorphous.
The ooze can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
Corrode Metal.
When a nonmagical metal weapon hits the ooze, it corrodes after dealing damage.
- The weapon takes a permanent and cumulative –1 penalty to damage rolls.
- If the penalty reaches –5, the weapon is destroyed.
- Nonmagical metal ammunition is destroyed after dealing damage.
- A creature wearing nonmagical metal armor hit by the ooze sees its AC bonus reduced by 1 permanently. The armor is destroyed if its AC bonus is reduced to +0.
False Appearance.
While motionless, the ooze is indistinguishable from a slick, damp patch of stone or masonry.
Ooze Nature.
The Gray Ooze doesn’t require air, sleep, or food. It functions entirely by instinct.
Actions
Pseudopod.
Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature.
Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) acid damage.
- If the target is wearing nonmagical metal armor, its AC bonus is reduced by 1 (see Corrode Metal).
Bonus Actions
Slither Ambush (Recharge 5–6)
The ooze lunges up to 10 feet in a straight line toward a creature it can sense.
- This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.
- If it ends adjacent to a creature, it can make one Pseudopod attack as part of the same bonus action.
- It may use this ability from ceilings, walls, or floors.
Reactions
Acidic Rebound (1/Turn)
When a creature within 5 feet hits the ooze with a melee weapon attack, the ooze splashes acid reflexively.
- The attacker must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 5 (1d10) acid damage.
Combat Tactics
- Ambush predator: Hides motionless on ceilings, walls, or shallow pools using False Appearance.
- Item destroyer: Targets creatures in heavy armor or with nonmagical metal weapons first, seeking to ruin gear before killing.
- Slither Ambush helps it reposition mid-fight, drop from ceilings, or leap over pits and traps.
- Avoids brightly glowing or clearly magical equipment instinctively.
- Fights without fear or hesitation. Will press its attack until destroyed or the prey escapes.
Dungeon Master Tip:
The Gray Ooze is more than a monster—it’s a trap, a gear hazard, and a resource drain. Use it to punish reckless exploration and tempt caution in confined environments. In groups or hidden in terrain, it’s devastating.
Gray Ooze

Family: Oozes
Medium ooze, unaligned
Armor Class 8
Hit Points 22 (3d8 + 9); Wound Threshold N/A
Speed 10 ft., climb 10 ft.
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
12 (+1) | 6 (-2) | 16 (+3) | 1 (-5) | 10 (+0) | 2 (-4) |
Skills Stealth* +2
Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, prone
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 10
Languages –
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)
SPECIAL TRAITS
- Amorphous. The ooze can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing (see Adventurers, Combat).
- Corrode Metal. Any nonmagical weapon made of metal that hits the ooze corrodes. After dealing damage, the weapon takes a permanent and cumulative -1 penalty to damage rolls. If its penalty drops to -5, the weapon is destroyed. Nonmagical ammunition made of metal that hits the ooze is destroyed after dealing damage. The ooze can eat through 2-inch-thick, nonmagical metal in 1 round.
- False Appearance. While the ooze remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an oily pool or wet rock.
ACTIONS
- Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) acid damage, and if the target is wearing nonmagical metal armor, its armor is partly corroded and takes a permanent and cumulative -1 penalty to the AC it offers. The armor is destroyed if the penalty reduces its AC to 10.
ABOUT
Amorphous oozes are similar in some respects to a large mass of amoebae. To a humanoid, they’re sticky, hungry globs, able to move and reproduce in strange ways (by mitosis, spore emission, or both). They mainly live in the Netherworld and other humid environments to avoid drying out.
These life forms seem to lack any intelligence and act purely out of reflex, but they’re able to solve problems in their own way, using their strange bodies.
Section 15: Copyright Notice
The Creatures Rulebook for the Fateforge Role-Playing Game Copyright © 2021 Studio Agate.
Gray Ooze

A seemingly mundane puddle, patch of moist stone, or glistening rock is suddenly revealed to be more as a terrible pseudopod lashes out.
[This content was created for the Pathfinder rules by Paizo Publishing LLC and is part of the Pathfinder RPG product line.]
Slinking their way through cold swamps and bleary marshlands, or sometimes even dungeons and caverns, gray oozes consume any organic materials they encounter. Despite its lack of intelligence, the gray ooze is a most problematic creature due to its transparency. While the ooze cannot easily climb walls or swim, its habit of lurking in the thick mud that lines the banks of marsh pools or lying in harmless-looking pools on dull-colored dungeon floors makes it dangerously easy to overlook and step on.
Some sages believe that the gray ooze is the result of a failed alchemical experiment, while others postulate that the first gray oozes spontaneously arose from a cesspit of magical detritus. Of course, these theories that gray oozes are not living organisms, but rather the alchemical result of an unfortunate mixture of rare caustic fluids and magical waste, are derided by many who dwell in areas plagued by the creatures but which do not have a long history of magical pollution.
Gray Ooze CR 4
XP 1,200
N Medium ooze
Init –5; Senses blindsight 60 ft.; Perception –5
DEFENSE
AC 5, touch 5, flat-footed 5 (–5 Dex)
hp 50 (4d8+32)
Fort +9, Ref –4, Will –4
Defensive Abilities ooze traits; Immune cold, fire
OFFENSE
Speed 10 ft.
Melee slam +6 (1d6+4 plus 1d6 acid and grab)
Special Attacks acid, constrict (1d6+1 plus 1d6 acid)
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 1, Con 26, Int —, Wis 1, Cha 1
Base Atk +3; CMB +6 (+10 grapple); CMD 11 (can’t be tripped)
SQ transparent
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Acid (Ex)
The digestive acid that covers a gray ooze dissolves metals and organic material, but not stone. Each slam and constrict attack deals 1d6 additional acid damage. Armor or clothing worn by a creature grappled by a gray ooze takes the same amount of acid damage unless the wearer succeeds on a DC 20 Reflex saving throw.
A wooden or metal weapon that strikes a gray ooze takes 1d6 acid damage unless the weapon’s wielder succeeds on a DC 20 Reflex save. The ooze’s touch deals 12 points of acid damage per round to wooden or metal objects, but the ooze must remain in contact with the material for 1 full round in order to deal this damage. The save DCs are Constitution-based.
Transparent (Ex)
Due to its lack of vivid coloration, a gray ooze is difficult to discern from its surroundings in most environments. A DC 15 Perception check is required to notice the gray ooze. Any creature that fails to notice a gray ooze and walks into it automatically suffers damage as if struck by the ooze’s slam attack and is immediately subject to a grab attempt by the ooze.
ECOLOGY
Environment cold marshes and underground
Organization solitary
Treasure none
Variant Gray Oozes
The gray ooze adapts readily and swiftly to changes in environments, the simple structure of its primeval form and its method of using fission to reproduce all but ensuring that such changes occur.
Crystal Ooze (CR 4): The crystal ooze is an aquatic variant that dwells in deeper waters than most commonly found in the gray ooze’s beloved swamps. A crystal ooze has the aquatic subtype and a Swim speed of 30 ft. The crystal ooze lacks the gray ooze’s constrict ability, but it does secrete a paralytic toxin that causes those whom it strikes to become paralyzed for 3d6 rounds if they fail a Fortitude saving throw (the save DC is Constitution-based).
Id Ooze (CR 6): Perhaps the strangest variant gray oozes are those that have developed a rudimentary Intelligence, including the ability to communicate telepathically with other oozes, or even the ability to blast enemies with pulses of raw mental power. Id oozes are advanced gray oozes with an Intelligence score of 2 (and thus gain skill ranks and feats -typically 4 ranks in Stealth, Improved Initiative, and Toughness), can communicate basic empathic information with other id oozes within 100 feet via telepathy, and can use lesser confusion at will as a spell-like ability (CL equals the id ooze’s HD).