Slime of the Week—Seeper (Dominion Rules)
A little late with the Slime of the Week again this week; sorry.
Seeper
Monster — 3 to 6 m in diameter
Offensive Beast Skills:
Slap 6
Engulf 6*
Digest 3*
*New Beast Skills; see below
Defensive Beast Skills:
Accelerated Healing 3
Dodge 2
Movement 2
Non-Combat Beast Skills:
Timing 1
WithIn 7
WithMag 2
Muscle 4
Description. The seeper is a shapeless, sludgy, dark gray blob of organic matter brought to life by some magical energies. They move by slowly seeping across the ground, hence the name, though they are capable of moving along walls and ceilings as easily as floors.
Habitat and frequency. Seepers are usually found underground, in moist caves and dungeons, though they are also occasionally found aboveground in enchanted ruins or in other areas with strong ambient magic. Their frequency varies widely; in some places they are very rare or unique, but in others—especially areas with strong enchantments—they may be very commonly encountered.
Combat. Seepers are not malicious, and attack only when hungry. Unfortunately, they are almost always hungry. They employ little strategy in combat, generally moving to Engulf as many foes as possible first and then using their pseudopods to Slap any other opponents harassing them. Because of its acidic secretions, the seeper's Slap does one extra Injury point if successful. The seeper can have up to two human-sized creatures Engulfed at once.
Magic and priestcraft. Seepers generally lack the intelligence or awareness to practice any Witchcraft or Priestcraft, although rare exceptions may apply.
Engulf (new Creature Skill) Description. Engulf is an Offensive Beast Skill by which an amorphous or malleable Beast attempts to surround an opponent with its own substance. A Beast can only have a certain number of creatures Engulfed at once, this number being specified in its Combat description. The Engulf skill is very similar to the Swallow skill from the Dominion Rules core rules, but has some significant differences.
Skill Roll Rules: The Beast must declare the Engulf action in its Strategy phase. The Beast automatically uses its Movement as part of its Engulf action. If the Beast moves into a space occupied by one or more other characters or creatures, it Engulfs them automatically unless the other character or creature makes a successful Dodge roll subject to a Difficulty Penalty equal to the difference between the Beast's Movement and the opponent's Movement. For example, suppose a seeper with a Movement of 2 attempts to Engulf a human soldier with a Movement of 4. The seeper's Movement minus the soldier's Movement is -2, so the soldier's Dodge roll has a Difficulty Penalty of -2… which is to say, it actually has a bonus of +2.
If the Dodge roll succeeds, the opponent moves to a location adjacent to the Beast. If it fails, the creature is Engulfed within the Beast. Until it breaks free, an Engulfed character or creature cannot leave the location of the Beast, and is carried along with it if the Beast moves. Unless specified otherwise, an Engulfed character or creature cannot breathe, and is subject to the Hold Breath rules. In order to break free, an Engulfed character or creature must make a successful Muscle roll with a Difficulty Penalty equal to the Beast's Engulf skill. An Engulfed character or creature may attack the Beast that is Engulfing it, but all Offensive Combat Skills made by Engulfed characters are also subject to a Difficulty Penalty equal to the Beast's Engulf skill. However, the Beast may not apply any other Defensive Beast Skills against attacks by Engulfed creatures. If the Beast's Injury Penalty is ever greater than its Engulf Skill, all Engulfed creatures are automatically released.
If the Engulfing Beast has the Digest skill, the Engulfed character or creature is subject to Digest rolls every round (see the Digest Creature Skill, below). If the Beast does not have the Digest skill, then Engulfed creature takes no direct Injury from its Engulfment (other than any Injury from failed Hold Breath rolls).
Failure Rules. No roll is needed; see above.
Digest (new Creature Skill) Description. Digest is an Offensive Beast skill that represents the Beast's digestive processes acting on a creature that it has Engulfed or Swallowed.
Skill Roll Rules: In the case of a creature with the Swallow ability, the Digest roll takes the place of the Swallow roll to represent the Injury done or threatened by the Beast's digestive processes. (This allows this digestive damage to be decoupled from the Swallow skill, to represent a Beast that can easily Swallow other creatures but does little damage to them, or one that has difficulty Swallowing but does considerable digestive damage if it does.)
In the case of a creature with the Engulf ability, the Digest roll works similarly. That is, for every round that an Engulfed character or creature spends inside the Beast, the Beast makes one Digest roll. The roll represents the Injury done or threatened by the Beast’s digestive process. Note that this process is involuntary and therefore the Beast does not suffer Action Penalties for it. If the Beast fails its Digest roll, the Engulfed victim takes no Injury Points that round from the digestive process. If the Beast succeeds, the Engulfed victim takes a number of Injury Points equal to the Beast’s Digest roll (subject to any successful WithIn roll made by the victim).
Failure Rules. No roll is needed; see above.
And now the requisite legal stuff:
