Monster Monday - Caustic Cloud

The barbarian roared threateningly at the cloud that loomed overhead, his demand for a fair combat unheeded by the wafting menace as it swiped at him with a dripping tendril. Shots from the ranger and magic from the sorcerer and druid reached the threat without issue but the savage warrior struggled to strike against the bizarre ooze. Suddenly, the bubbles barely visible in the creature's cloudy form began to burst in pop and the barbarian's demands were met - as the caustic cloud plummeted straight atop him. His eyes widened and he attempted to pitch sideways, but was too slow. The cloud slammed atop him and his form was swallowed in the sizzling ooze as he wretched and struggled for freedom. He swam slowly through the ooze, striving futilely in an attempt to escape it as his allies called desperately for him only for the cloud to slowly begin to drift skyward once more, buoyed by bubbles forming within it once more...

Caustic Cloud, Illustrated by SethMonster

A certainly cirrus stalker, it seeks suspects to serves as its supper, sinking through cerulean skies to suspend such suckers in its sinister self.

It has been far too long since I made my own monster, but I'm finally back with an original illustrated by SethMonster and featured over on in video format over on the channel!

The caustic cloud is a concept that came to me after I spent a day caught in the rain at work and was an expression of my irritation at the storms that plagued me. It's also something different than the typical ooze, which are often groundbound if not subterranean creatures. Meanwhile, the caustic cloud is a sky-dwelling slime that descends only in an attempt to feed. While this makes it conceptually more unique to other oozes, a lot of its numbers resemble classic oozes since oozes are such distinct creatures - it's difficult to compare them to anything else. Their AC is abysmal but their HP is abnormally high, and their immunity to critical hits accounts for much of their 'defenses.' The caustic cloud also has immunity to acid damage, which is common but no ubiquitous on oozes with this being based on the classic aspect of acid rain.

In fact, Rain Sense is the caustic cloud's primary sense, allowing it to determine where creatures are whereas its Motion Sense is at a much shorter range than usual because I thought the former was more interesting. I did expand on Rain Sense from my initial design, adding the concept that the caustic cloud can sense creatures for a round after they leave the area. Coupled with its abnormally high fly Speed, this should allow it to chase after prey without too much trouble unless they can find some sort of cover. As another aspect of this acid rain, the caustic cloud can Intensify Rain to deal unlimited use area damage at a high DC. In addition to taking the damage on a failed save, creatures hit by this rain become clumsy 1, reducing their Armor Class as well as their Reflex save - which sets up the caustic cloud to use its Engulf.

Engulf is a classic monster ability, most typically found on oozes, and I decided to include it for the caustic cloud as the main way that it eats. It uses a moderate DC both to avoid the initial effect and to Escape from it but deals unlimited use area damage to creatures trapped in it. However, the main danger of this ability actually comes from the seemingly innocuous Bubble. This covers the caustic cloud's ability to fly but it can also be used to pop all its bubbles so that it can drop on and Engulf creatures. However, this turns Engulf into a single action, which is why I included the flourish trait on this Bubble. Otherwise, the caustic cloud could Bubble, drop onto the party, and then immediately Bubble again to start carrying creatures into the sky all in one turn, which is more than what I wanted it to do.

PF2e Caustic Clouds

Blue's D&D 5e Caustic Cloud

ENCOUNTER HOOKS

Sinister Smog: A new industry has sprouted up in a city recently, but the pollution produced by the factory has been affecting the clouds. This comes to a head when their negligence starts spawning caustic clouds that plague the area - and likely cross paths with the heroes. Once the heroes contend with these threats, they can approach the company to discuss their practices or to bust them up depending on the sort of story you'd like to tell.

A Gathering Storm: The land has been victim to several storms of acid rain recently, ruining crops and harming people. Some conspiracy theorists believe that a wizard has been siccing caustic clouds on them and per usual, they're right. The heroes must disperse the storm of caustic clouds and face their master to solve the issues the townsfolk have been facing.

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Have a monstrous Monday!