I must say this is insanely impressive and I love how you went so in depth with the Oblex and even caught on to how they absorbed the ability to spell cast! Thank you for making this and adding more to their background! For your questions the Oblex is able to go into spaces that don’t have air due to it being a slime. Shapeshifting-wise it is able to hold several forms yes and control them all differently/at the same time. Oblexes do have rebels! They are known to leave the Underdark in search of knowledge, memories, brains, etc. just like the others who are working with the Mindflayers. They can work together even when in freedom and establish their own sort of collective, ex: two elder Oblex decide to work together and consume an entire guild and pull its strings, taking all those that come inside. Soon enough they’d grow and spawn more and more. With the infernal pacts made and deals between the devils and Mindflayers the Oblex could be used as gifts though I never truly put thought into that, I’m sorry. As for operating an army, and I’m so happy you asked this. Yes. Yes they can. Whether it’s a small group of Oblex or an actual army of them which control their own forms/creations, they would be a terrifying force with how they never need to sleep or resupply. All they need is more memories and that’s when their numbers grow.
@AJPickett
6 жыл бұрын
Excellent, thanks for that!
@AJPickett
6 жыл бұрын
May I ask, were you involved in creating this marvelous critter?
@YoloHunt
6 жыл бұрын
I did help with creating the Oblex, it was a great experience being able to do that with WoTC. I’m Nolan Whale by the way, hello!
@AJPickett
6 жыл бұрын
War_Beard Hi Nolan! Awesome work man, thank you.
@YoloHunt
6 жыл бұрын
I’m glad you like it and I hope you have a great time with using them in your games. But there is no need to thank me, I should be thanking you for this wonderful video helping explain a little more about the ooze.
@tatsusama3192
6 жыл бұрын
Towards the end of the video you gave me an idea of having your group of adventurers come into a new town that is having a civil war. They don't know what side to join since both sides have logical arguments. They later find out that no one in the town is an actual person and the civil war is just between two Oblex and their personalities xD
@dragonballtalk8527
6 жыл бұрын
A make a wish kid helped create this so his monster could terrorize us after he's gone
@drakeford3238
6 жыл бұрын
I think one of my favorite ideas from this is a rebel Oblex that escaped to the surface and has spent untold time "borrowing" the memories of master smiths and enchanters, and now practices these trades in exchange for only enough gold to make up for the material cost and a small memory snack from its customers. The players, of course, don't know that. "Happy with the incredible deal, you eagerly clasp the elf's hand for a hearty shake, feeling a jolt of pain streak through your mind as you make contact and take 1d12 psychic damage. Your head feels slightly off for a moment afterward, but you can't quite figure out what's wrong. The elf releases your hand with a satisfied look on his face, thanks you for your business, and informs you that your blade will be ready in about a day and a half's time. Oh, and you'll need to take 1d4 off of all your rolls until your next long rest." It doesn't kill those it feeds on, but it does kill any spawn it might need to create in order to avoid overload. This isn't out of any sense of altruism or kindness, it just has a good thing going and sees little reason to jeopardize its rather cushy position. After all, tasty and exotic snacks come from far and wide just asking to be eaten by it- what Oblex would risk losing that?
@rookieweeabo8575
6 жыл бұрын
So nice of Wizards Of The Coast to give a child from the Make A Wish foundation a chance to work for them! Shows that they really care about their fan base. And also this kid has a very creative mind and hope that they will hire him in the future as a full time author for the world’s greatest roleplaying game! Think of the possibilities of what this guy could come up with in the future! :D
@brosephnoonan223
6 жыл бұрын
RookieWeeabo Assuming the kid can beat cancer...
@rookieweeabo8575
6 жыл бұрын
Oh I am sure he will survive. Especially with the way technology is now, know need to worry my friend. :)
@felixrivera895
6 жыл бұрын
This monster is so versatile it may very well be the next quintessencial dnd monster
@trequor
5 жыл бұрын
Yeah this thing is memorable and versatile on the level of the beholder at least
@ballistics343
3 жыл бұрын
I used one of these as the "haunt" in a haunted house. The players found a mansion full of "ghosts" that looped through their last moments, but were corporeal and impossible to move, and melted into the floorboards when attacked before returning to their loop as soon as the players left the room. Ooblex in the basement. Ate the family. Super fun.
@anthonywoodruff6191
6 жыл бұрын
So my idea using the oblex involves the party finding a sanitarium, patients walking around with makeshift iv bags. Eventually the party will figure out that the patients are all oblexes and their body is in the iv bags.
@trequor
5 жыл бұрын
That's a great idea
@enxman7697
6 жыл бұрын
First things that came to my mind: Relationships between those and Jubilex. -Maybe the mentioned rebels inside Illithids are part of a cult of the archdemon. -Maybe the most ancient ones are his generals (it seems to me that Jub has the power to increase the intelligence of the oozes near him, maybe he has bestow that powers to some of those already-genious oozes) -A more intricate plot: X oblex spawn are moving toward a ritual location for fuse together. If the PC stops the ritual they'll become an adult or ancient oblex. If not there will be an avatar of the archdemon manifested on the material plane. Occurs also to me that the oldest can hold some lost lore and secrets... -Maybe they're willing to bargain OR they are now seeking another part for complete a scheme of knoledge (and here comes a creature that has affinity: What about one or more nothic servant of this ooze mastermind?) -Bonus: Thinking of servants of this intelligent ooze, came to my mind the old Oozemaster prestige class of 3.0 -The "no really need food" part also has made me compare the thing with the other "classic ageless mistermind", the lich. Maybe one of those has obtained or created the oblexes (even better an alhoon) BUT what will happen if this mind predator enter in contact with a phylactery? BIG curiosity for me. It will drain off the lich? If so, will the lich personality prevail and gain control of the ooze body? Maybe one oblex is trapped inside a special library of a wizard council from where it's possible extract some memories for consultation; -It's possible that the ooze is hurted in the process, maybe even dying? The council needs adventurers for find a way for heal it (if the wizards are evil ones they'll just try to give to him PC and NPC) or to find and trap another one for replacement? -It's a dangerous process those "readings"? U have to clash in some way against the will of the monster (or maybe the willS) or even enter in his mind (like in a dream realm)? What if it seems simple and safe but in truth the ooze is slowly corrupting the minds of the wizards (standard plot: One it's not using the library and notices strange behaviours in his collegues and flee seeking for help), maybe the thing has even let them to trap him by porpouse with this gol in mind... -If there is that possibility of have it "taint other minds around", it's really impossible for one of those things to gain control of a mind flayer collectivity? The PC may enter an old ruin and face a civil war between the "corrupted flayers" and the "illithids loyalists" (ideal if the party is too low level for fight an illithid city as whole... that of course if the oblex has not start is insurgence corrupting directly the elder brain!) Last suggestion: What if, absorbing the mind of good people, maybe of a saint, it will be affected back and became neutral of good? That can gave birth to one of the strangest patrons for the party. -Writing the word "patron" spranged in my mind: The strongest oblith can be used as a Old One patron for warlocks!!! ....sorry for the papyrus xP
@DaisZX
6 жыл бұрын
Character idea: an oblex spawn cast out for being too independent that firmly believes it is the person it is a copy of that has somehow been transformed. The memory gap and memory hunger could be rationalized as the result of a metamorphosis. It would start as benevolent and desperate for aid then enter denial and horror as its true nature becomes apparent. That would be a fun npc.
@brosephnoonan223
6 жыл бұрын
DaisZX This is especially true if the spawn is actually a dead person, or perhaps even more so if it is a memory of a living one.
@CidGaius
4 жыл бұрын
An Oblex that runs an inn. The whole inn and he’s “friendly”
@parisnumberone4967
3 жыл бұрын
The whole inn is what?
@parisnumberone4967
3 жыл бұрын
Wait a sec
@CidGaius
3 жыл бұрын
@@parisnumberone4967 It’s friend Just lay your head down on a pillow and forget alllll your troubles.
@parisnumberone4967
3 жыл бұрын
What's the price?
@CidGaius
3 жыл бұрын
@@parisnumberone4967 a few copper and a little knowledge. It operates in a wizard college town. It takes a little bit from each guest. Turns out students like affordable housing
@charlesrussell467
6 жыл бұрын
This Thing could very well be the the big bad reoccurring villain In a campaign for years
@charlesrussell467
6 жыл бұрын
Now that I think of it it could after years of fighting the players perfectly recreate the pcs. Literally fighting yourself.
@brosephnoonan223
6 жыл бұрын
Make sure to have the ol' "No! I'm the real one!" moment.
@AnewishWarlok
6 жыл бұрын
Gonna definitely be using this monster, and it’s first being shown to the players will have to be a as human kid named Nolan. Proud of WOTC for doing this for a Make a Wish kid. Mad Props to Nolan for the idea, I see a long future for the Oblex.
@brosephnoonan223
6 жыл бұрын
Level 7 Warlock How long till you're Level 8 Warlock?
@dogle9258
6 жыл бұрын
So... Your telling me this is T1000 from Terminator, and Cyberdyne at the same time :O R.I.P. my party.
@TomasPabon
4 жыл бұрын
I'm writing a campaign up and I wanna make the BBEG an ancient, massively intelligent Oblex.
@harvey7184
4 жыл бұрын
hows that going?
@TomasPabon
4 жыл бұрын
@@harvey7184 Oh, dude we're on our 10th session and it's actually going really fucking well so far
@jacobwilson8579
6 жыл бұрын
Perfect time to bring up my creation the yellow Ooze aka living gold that blinds into caves and mines where it pretends to be gold veins before striking an adventurer after they put away their weapon and start taking out a pickaxe
@cheeseymann
3 жыл бұрын
My favorite way I've been running this creature is in an on the road tavern. I pitch the tavern as a place between cities that caters to travelers, however all the occupants are tendrils of the oblex aside from a couple people. I have a couple regular npc travelers in there to make the players suspicious as they dissapear... but none of you remember them leaving or going upstairs ( they got eaten lol) the oblex uses its "limb people" to try to coerce the party into staying the night or at least singleing out players to attack. Perhaps the "bartender" asks a pc to grab something from the cellar in return for a free drink only to spring a trap on the player once downstairs. Your players will go in expecting the standard end of the day tavern routine and will end up spending the night trying to get out alive. If they dont leave immediately they will probly not get thier full rest in either. Allowing you to thoroughly stress our your players.
@trequor
5 жыл бұрын
Last week I ran a one shot where my two players (we were shorthanded) got to choose CR10 monsters to play and I sent a party of adventurers to kill them. One player chose an Elder Oblex and dear god that was a fantastic choice. I asked him to pick a lair and he decided he would be impersonating a family running a hot springs resort (to hide the smell of sulfur). It was such a great encounter that I am totally stealing it to use elsewhere in another campaign. He roleplayed the whole thing like a champ. He was both the couple running the front desk as well as several patrons using the springs themselves. His main mass was in a cavern below the springs and he used a network of small holes to send tendrils through. It was an incredible encounter and would have been very creepy for a group of players that didn't know that an Oblex was present. The natural smell of the hot springs hid the sulfur stink of the creature, the steam hid the tendrils that controlled the puppets, and the water itself offered some protection against the Oblex' weakness to fire.
@smoothknyte
4 жыл бұрын
Perhaps he really was an oblex and you all were his playthings :P
@selwrynn6702
5 жыл бұрын
I love the idea of a party stumbling into a small village that they slowly realize is totally run by Oblex.
@SeraphimKnight
6 жыл бұрын
Following on that siege weapons train of thought... What if they morphed into a ballista or trebuchet and their spawn morph into the ammo for that weapon? Throwing oblex spawns right into the enemy fortifications would be absolutely terrifying and effective.
@walterbunn280
5 жыл бұрын
Ehhh... outright, an Oblex seems like the perfect counter for the mind flayers. They don't have a brain for the mind flayer to physically chomp on, and their collective sense is more of a raw emotional maelstrom. They don't really have a coherent thought process open to confusion or manipulation. Rather they seem like they're in a state of constant confusion, with conscious thought being an incidental consequence of the differing personality fragments coming into a consensus of some sort. It would be very easy for a oblex to hate the mind flayers and turn on them very quickly.
@bleddynwolf8463
3 жыл бұрын
thats going to be the next story beat in my underdark campaign, thanks
@Battleguild
6 жыл бұрын
Give the Oblex a modified Bag of Holding (x2 carrying capacity, maybe), and theoretically it could literally walk among the populace as the main body hides within the bag.
@AJPickett
6 жыл бұрын
That would have to be a very special bag of holding, as usually doing something like that would be fatal. But it's such a sneaky thing to do, there should be a way :)
@Battleguild
6 жыл бұрын
AJ Pickett Nah, it just happened to find a Deluxe version. 😏
@Zaprozhan
5 жыл бұрын
@@AJPickett Not all of the creature is inside the bag.
@codypatton2859
5 жыл бұрын
@@AJPickett If the oblex requires breathing, I think the Bag of Holding has 2 hours of air so if anything it would be a short term solution.
@trequor
5 жыл бұрын
@@codypatton2859 I don't see why they couldn't breathe through their simulacrums. They are considered to be in the space of a simulacrum.
@Bear551590
2 жыл бұрын
My Oblex character/s is an individual, hyper intelligent entity that is simultaneously mimicking all thirteen members of a council that rules over an underground city. It infiltrated the council by slithering up through the drain pipe and assassinating one of the members. It then Impersonated this council member and then memory drained, assassinated, and replaced each of the other 12. It has been in control for ~70 years; simply memory draining each new member that is voted in before dispatching of them and replacing their guise. It's city thrives under its strict population control. When the council doesn't need to be in the public eye it slithers it's way through the city, impersonating any of its thousands of personalities to keep aware of every single person in the city. If someone isn't a functioning benefit to society, they become another cast-off personality to the Oblex and a forgotten memory of an old acquaintance drained from everyone who knew them.
@johnpellegrinoconnors3843
4 жыл бұрын
Hey AJ, here's a concept for you. In your Mindflayer video you mentioned Mindflayer rebels that would break the loop of Mindflayer's dominating the multiverse. Well, Ooblexes do absorb the memories of those it eats. Which is the thing that the Mindflayers fear would spell their own doom, a Mindflayer with the memories and personality of it's host. I think it would poetic to have this creature that was created by the Mindflayer that fulfills one of their species' greatest fear and then ends up overthrowing their creators.
@JoyeuseCurtana
4 жыл бұрын
It has shades of the Elder Things vs The Shoggoths from H.P. Lovecraft's at the Mountain's of Madness if that goes down, so I could see it happening in a module where one flayer colonies oblexes go rogue and consume most of the mind flayers and then go about their nefarious business for hundreds of years before people stumble in and find some mindflayer outside in stasis and a few more mummified dead ones and then deeper in it's just oblexes in their true forms because they weren't even expecting anyone to show up, then they start pumping out mindflayer clones when you get too near.
@probablynotasith5355
3 жыл бұрын
Evil idea: A roadside tavern run by an Oblex, characters wake up the following day with clones of themselves wandering around the tavern acting just as confused as they are.
@Giggles474
3 жыл бұрын
I used the oblex as an assassin, eating an mimicking his way up the ranks of a castle under siege to get to the king. It was a nice session long chase around the castle once they found him with him comstantly ambushing and and retreating using cracks on the walls, latrines and disguises
@joeyuzwa891
4 жыл бұрын
oblex are sooooooo versatile. in terms of game making and variety, they’re unmatched imo
@tatsusama3192
6 жыл бұрын
DnD Beyond did a video on this earlier this week. I was confused cuz I swear I had heard it's name before. You covered it better though. Good show, old chap
@tatsusama3192
6 жыл бұрын
Ps. 9:05 ... My Ex
@nickmoore784
3 жыл бұрын
Evil combo, a rogue Oblex takes refuge in the den of a false hydra. Split the prey and lure in more by mimicking key individuals in the city.
@Caseyuptobat
6 жыл бұрын
Terrifying thought, but what if an Oblex ate the memories of an Incubus/Succubus?
@YoloHunt
2 жыл бұрын
I won’t humor such a thought since your mind has the answer.
@matthewreagan4937
6 жыл бұрын
I am so impressed with this channel. Your narration and imagery when you're explaining lore has me awestruck at times. Please, never stop making these videos. They really get my imagination going when I watch before bed. Well done, Mr. Pickett! Liked and subscribed!
@antwan1357
6 жыл бұрын
The Oblex comes into contact with a deity just once . Their are plenty of deities who have been captured id imagine another deity using a oblex to get information about what it needs or a demon Lord trying to gain secrets of deities.
@mattnerdy7236
6 жыл бұрын
Bravo AJ, Nolan's monster is absolutely terrifying. Cant wait to here the stories how the Oblex TPK's.
@ARreckless14
6 жыл бұрын
A kid from make a wish foundation, paved the base idea for this monster. Good for you little kid! And great job aj, yet again!
@wolfosaurus8801
6 жыл бұрын
Respectfully, I believe that in Mordekainen's Tome of Foes in the description of the oblex sulphurous impersonation "For all practical purposes, the simulacrum is the oblex". The oblex shouldnt be able to use weapon attacks known by the simulated creature nor should it have a separate initiative roll. This does however mean that the oblex can use its eat memories attack from the space of a simulacrum up to 120 feet away from the main body of the oblex which is still pretty scary.
@trequor
5 жыл бұрын
I don't see why they shouldn't be able to use weapon attacks. It makes sense considering that they absorb all the proficiencies of their prey. It's also not at all overpowered considering that the pseudopods are better than most any weapon that they might wield. It would basically be for flavour or as a ruse
@brosephnoonan223
6 жыл бұрын
Honestly the best new monster in ages. Its so immeshed in the mind flayer identity that is works as only the malevolent mind of such creatures. It eats people, so it can become people, so it can lead people to its masters so they can experiment on them, so they can then dispose of them, feeding people to the ooze. Its like... All the worst parts of the Doppleganger meets the episode of Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy where that brain eating brain monster compels Billy to feed it the minds of the town. Its invasion of the body snatchers in mechanical form. Its... Beautiful in its devilish power and uses! This thing is the DM dream monster! It does more than learn, it KNOWS. Its not like a Doppleganger where it tries to mimic its mark but due to fundamental differences in morality and mentality the ruse can be seen through with relative ease. This thing HAS the exact memories of whatever it drains... Imagine being a humble Dwarf off on a wild adventure, and while your gone the miners in your home town accidentally knock down a wall that puts them base to base with an Oblex, which quickly consumes EVERYONE in his town. Rumors, spread by the Oblex, speak of a horror in the mine and calls to adventurers go out! Now when the dwarf hero here's about this and returns with his group of stalwart adventurers, he's greeted by friends and family that desperately warn him about the danger in the mine... Mother, father, sister, brother, child hood sweetheart, neighbors, favorite school teacher, the stray cat that lived outside the tavern! Everyone, everything is a fucking ooze! This is exactly the kind of shit the Cerulean Sign is terrified of because you may not even be able to tell through a cursory look into the minds of the Oblex replacements... Man, what if like... You gave the mentality of a beholder? Where its like "I want to be perfect. I will be perfect. I am perfect. When I am EVERYONE and EVERYTHING it will be perfect. Join me, let your mind join all of this, and you'll be perfect too!". Or or or! Have that be the catalyst for a Haunted One backstory! "Yeah, I had to kill literally everyone I ever cared about because a fucking ooze ate them. I still hear their screams and see their pleading faces in my sleep, melting in holy fire and ooze. It kept making them, over and over again until I collapsed the mine shaft with all the dynamite I could find..." This monster is fucking GOLD, *FUCKING GOLD!*
@YoloHunt
2 жыл бұрын
You honor me with such kind illustrious words. I can’t help but agree with every note you make about my monster. I truly wanted to terrify people with this creature, for it’s meant to do far more than act as a simple villain or boss. An Oblex is a world ending threat if given time and the resources.
@RazeAVillage
6 жыл бұрын
I love the oozes. I think that's because, irl, I have a phobia of slimy things, so they actually turn my stomach.
@zenith110
2 жыл бұрын
I introduced them like the X-Parasites from Metroid Fusion as "Thought Parasites" The players were able to get them out of their bodies, but they fled! Only to return after feeding on other creatures to terrorize them when they ambush the party later! One for each party member ;)
@cameronpearce5943
6 жыл бұрын
Crazy idea, but Playable Oblex Spawn and Playable Elemental Oozes as two subraces of playable Ooze.
@DeggaTheDev
6 жыл бұрын
Cameron Pearce I had the same idea. If you were to write out a level progression sheet and where you get more of the abilities as you level up, I think it would be an amazing player race.
@brosephnoonan223
6 жыл бұрын
Oh god, fuckin slime girls would be Canon, can we not?
@DeggaTheDev
6 жыл бұрын
Heimskr, Prophet of Talos Too late. Hahaha
@cameronpearce5943
6 жыл бұрын
Join the Monster Musume side, you know you want too
@aubreyackermann8432
4 жыл бұрын
Since some tieflings already smell of sulfur, would an obilex that had possessed someone to look around immediately target them? That would be interesting ...
@coolguythecool1039
5 жыл бұрын
My group has a oblex pc. I can’t wait for the first session.
@mal35m
5 жыл бұрын
AJ Pickett After hearing the description of the oblex I can't help but think of Rimuru from that time I got reincarnated as a slime. Given the rules of the world that Rimuru ended up in, it could be argued that when the dragon Valdora gave him his name, he evolved from a regular slime into an oblex.
@n64eml
6 жыл бұрын
And I thought the negative material plane was terrifying. DAMN OBLEX, YOU SCARY!!!
@NodDisciple1
6 жыл бұрын
This monster reminds me of the Hotel Keeper in John Carpenter's "At The Mouth of Madness." A seemingly nice lady hiding a amorphous mass behind her desk.
@dropdead234
6 жыл бұрын
An old man, and his seeing eye dog. A helpless baby, found next to a corpse. Oh, the horrors are truly endless... How big do these things get? Imagine a dragon sized one. Third idea...A long-trusted friend who works as an alchemist. And has been one of these all along...
@revshad4226
6 жыл бұрын
"I am Legion, for we are many"
@DMtheDM93
3 жыл бұрын
Turn it over in your mind like a... Oblexcube
@slade88green
5 жыл бұрын
The idea of an Oblex getting into a city and opening a home for the blind could be interesting. It would of course be the staff, blind themselves. Who would suspect the entire staff of a school for the blind for disappearances around the city?
@andrewmorgan2537
5 жыл бұрын
The rival school of the deaf would. Yet because they constantly sign such 💩 about rivals noone believes them.
@RockyRodent333
6 жыл бұрын
AJ I LOVE these evil slimy boys. Great video for a great monster. Can't wait to use it.
@shadow_psych7069
6 жыл бұрын
That was a great explanation of the Oblex! I saw the D&D Beyond highlight video for it but they really only touched on the surface of what this creature will add to D&D as a whole. My mind has become fixated on doing 1 thing after watching this video.. I MUST concoct a plan of the most devious kind, by finding a way to have my Oblex infiltrate and become a member of my players' party, then slowly and systematically manipulate the party into destroying the world by making choices they thought were good, but that was all according to the Oblexes plan from the very beginning. Muahahaha!
@ProfessirRay
6 жыл бұрын
Another great video Mr.Picket sir~ Any chance you'll be doing a video on the various diseases in DnD? I'd love to know if there are any from the much older editions that have fallen out of favour/use?
@AJPickett
6 жыл бұрын
Great idea!
@dogle9258
6 жыл бұрын
Yeah the new status effect and this comment made me think of a whole AJ ecology of video where you list old forgotten statuses effects, epic curses, and woeful dangerous diseases from forgotten lore.
@ItsTheZanMan
3 жыл бұрын
One of my characters is an ooze in my current Curse of Strahd campaign. In my CoS game, Strahd makes evil creations inspired by the characters, and an oblex is a creation inspired by that player. I plan sprinkling small details of oblex spawn inhabiting ravens, rats, wolves and bats until they face an adult one later in the castle that feeds and takes the guise of Emil and various other people in the castle
@madvulcan8964
3 жыл бұрын
*If an Oblex were to encounter a False Hydra what would happen?* Would/could they cooperate together or would they attack the other and if they didn’t fight each other who would win?
@AJPickett
3 жыл бұрын
Dunno, but that sounds interesting!
@hombreg1
6 жыл бұрын
As a lover of mill decks in magic the gathering, I shall leave a like for using the artwork found in the card "glimpse the unthinkable"
@lordofcanton2598
6 жыл бұрын
My Oblex, so picture this. A village built on top a a cave network, with small vents joining the cave and the surface. The Oblex would extend its self up through the floorboards and eventually duplicated the village. When new comers arrive they are consumed whilst sleeping at the inn and added to the village This is very Steven King. It was creep af. It was so much fun to RP.
@samfish2550
Жыл бұрын
Honestly the idea that a spawn made of rebellious thoughts being ejected from the main mass inorder to better be able to curry favor from their mind flayer masters is one that interests me. Namely because this would be less of independence from the ooblex then from the mind flayers, would that sort of unity impact it's ability to think, reason, want. If it's able to escape (maybe a strange sentimentality twords it's own minds lead the main blob to do this in secret so that it would live on.) Basically if this entity escaped it would be a interesting idea for a npc for the party or even a pc, we do have a ooze race currently, or maybe the mind have/are trying to regain a more truly human from, either through emulation or magic means. Could be fun.
@itzybitzyspyder
Жыл бұрын
One of my favorite monsters. So insidious. One of my players DMs in another weekday and he got me.
@bailz8674
6 жыл бұрын
"Weee areee Oblex".
@denewst01
6 жыл бұрын
I like the idea about how the older oblex will split off more troublesome personalities it's absorbed in order to help maintain it's own cohesion. Have one of those spawn be formed from the memories of a cleric of Ilmater, who then rebels & escapes, continuing it's devotion to the maimed god & becoming a cleric "again" in it's own right (if any good god would accept it, it'd be Ilmater) helping others, including providing comfort to the sick & dying by accessing their memories of loved ones, keeping alive the memories of those who have passed away etc.
@warlich666
6 жыл бұрын
The moment I herd there was a new ooze I knew you were gonna cover it lol
@AJPickett
6 жыл бұрын
lol, so true.
@Tenabrus
6 жыл бұрын
As I run a homebrew world and love to build up new fun npcs to place in my cities. I would love to see a cabal of Elder Oblex that have come together trying to build a Wizard's guild/tower in one of the major kingdoms. The sulfurous smell would not necessarily be to out of place in a wizards tower where many spell components and alchemist beakers spew forth their own aromas. The elder oblex may share spells amongst themselves as they use their considerable intelligence to try to develop more useful spells for their own purposes. All the while there are eager young apprentices that come knocking at the door seeking the knowledge and tutelage of the tower's "Wise and Venerated" leaders. No one ever realizes that as one elder grows old and dies it is just another face the oblex continue to rotate through as part of this elaborate rouse. As the many apprentices learn and grow they provide new memories and spell development that the Elder Oblex eagerly crave. The Elders coming in at night and stealing the memories from their apprentices once a month or so to sate their hunger and the apprentices knowing little beyond the monthly night terrors they are enspelled to dismiss as over work from one of their strenuous projects. There is a great adventuring hook if a concerned family member of one of the apprentices contracts passing adventurers to check in on some of the strange behavior of their son/daughter. Or if one of the apprentices escapes and runs away after a break through in their research. Finally discovering the true purpose of this tower and its masters. What would you all think if your dm threw something like this at you. How might you want to tweek the idea for your world if you liked it?
@drakeford3238
6 жыл бұрын
Tenabrus The main thing with this (and this can be great or terrible depending on the kind of game you like to run) is how open ended it is. Arguably, the Oblex aren't really doing much wrong here. They are instructing students and assisting in their progression as promised, and they aren't outright killing or traumatizing anyone either. Hell, most Wizards would probably call monthly night terrors in exchange for advanced eldritch tutelage a fantastic deal (even if they might not admit it). If you're looking for a somewhat ambiguous moral scenario (though I feel that it would actually be slanted pretty heavily in favor of the Oblex here), or a cool location with a bit of mystery to unravel, I think this works pretty well. If your trying to make more of a "go investigate/stop this weird evil thing" game, you might need to work the Oblex into being a bit more damaging or negligent than you currently have them.
@Tenabrus
6 жыл бұрын
Drake Ford I try to have fun and bring in challenging moral issues. I have a kingdom of Orcs, similar to the kingdom of many arrows, but with a lawful bent. The kingdom came about from overthrowing the previous human kingdom in the region because they had enslaved the orcs. It is now a kingdom of former slaves and a refuge for recently escaped slaves. The problem is most of the deities still try to curb Grummish 's power from his followers and paint orcs as wholly evil and in need of destruction. Are the oblex judged prematurely the same way? Or would you want to tweek the story so that the apprentices are sent to the mindflayers once a certain level of arcane power is reached? In that version the oblex are surely committing evil acts. But the long con of this set up allows for mindflayers to have even tastier brains to feed upon. I like open ended story options because I feel the players should get to decide the direction they want to take things. (Sorry for the rambling stream of thought)
@drakeford3238
6 жыл бұрын
Tenabrus I like your take on the Orcs. Might try to weasel it in sometime, though my own homebrew world doesn't currently have the space for it. As for the Oblex, I think they would be judged almost reflexively as being utterly repulsive, but that's fairly surface level and you'd need to go a little deeper if you want a proper moral quandary. I would also argue against the Mindflayers gambit, as (like you noted) that's basically just evil. It been a while since I read up on them, but I also recall that they had a rather serious disdain of arcane magic. I think that a proper moral quandary needs to have a certain amount of both help and harm to it. _For example:_ What if Oblex genuinely taught, but their feedings (which they obviously conduct in secret) drove some amount of their students utterly mad or turn them into proper amnesiacs? What might happen to those who figure this out? Might the Oblex ever reveal its true nature to successful and trustworthy apprentices, and, if so, what role do they play? Can this be resolved peacefully? Does it even need to be resolved? In this scenario, you have a legitimate trade off that isn't based on simple judgement or bias. An Oblex that has spent its lifetime collecting arcane knowledge and skill may well rival a Lich in that regard, and it is benefitting its students- at least some of them. That said, it also poses a legitimate risk to the students, and one that they may not be aware of or consent to. It turns into a balancing act of safety, knowledge, progress, and, from the Oblex's perspective, even survival. Granted, this is just off the top of my head, and it likely has some holes, so you could probably come up with something better with some time to think about it.
@brosephnoonan223
6 жыл бұрын
Tenabrus That's a really nice idea about a fleeing apprentice. Have a bit of "The Only Sane Man" trope going on, as he runs and tells every person he meets about the dark secret of the Xelbo Enclave of Arcane Tutelage (Oblex spelled backwards and initialized as E.A.T) with NOBODY believing him, Soylent Green style. "They're all oozes! Its always been oozes! Theyre eating peeeeeeople!"
@sebbychou
4 жыл бұрын
My ooze themed campaign, I'll likely have the rival team of adventurer eventually become mimic'd by an Oblex
@TKDxxxward
6 жыл бұрын
I see this as a sort of sky net of oozes! Or it attaches to a elder tree and starts corrupting the environment. or you have it as a sort of C3PO. It is translating different languages for its master (high ranking devil or outer plane being) that could be fun to role play
@maxx8362
5 жыл бұрын
If memory serves, then I believe the Oblex is the result of a Make-a-Wish kid visiting WotC.
@trequor
5 жыл бұрын
Yeah this monster is even creepier when you consider that it came from the mind of a dying child
@Redrung
6 жыл бұрын
Can player secretly be Oblex and his/her real charactor actually traped in some dungeon
@YoloHunt
6 жыл бұрын
For the Oblex to travel as the player secretly it must hide its cord of slime that connects it from the host (the ooze itself) to the form it takes. Having them carry a bag of many things immediately removes the problem from the question though. Though typically the slimes never take prisoners unless they are trapping the unlucky victims for themselves or Mindflayers. Though we were meant to break the rules or changes things a little for the fun of game.
@Pfhreak
6 жыл бұрын
Somebody call Bartholemew to save the Kingdom of Didd!
@MRSterling78
6 жыл бұрын
How about a video on spellfire? Or the Chosen of Mystra?
@chaddixon9764
6 жыл бұрын
If I use this the first person it's going to copy is going to be named Nolan.
@AJPickett
6 жыл бұрын
*takes off hat* We all owe Nolan a debt.
@BK-qe9gq
Жыл бұрын
12:57 Funnily enough that’s a character I created. For context I’m playing a character with a third party sorcerer subclass called Oblex Impostor which is exactly what it sounds like. You are an oblex simulacrum that realized what you were and through some means severed your connection with your elder oblex and didn’t die in the process. So yeah I’m a rogue oblex spawn named Stephan Ralts who’s trying to get revenge for the original Stephan while also trying to figure out how to explain what happened to Stephan’s wife and kid, along with why I have not been home for 6 months.
@michaelmcdowell7096
5 жыл бұрын
A handful of changes and u got the closest thing to "the thing", it just needs to absorb cells and create perfect duplicates
@HumbleMemeFarmer
6 жыл бұрын
Wonder How Jubilex feels about this.
@AJPickett
6 жыл бұрын
He likes it.
@HumbleMemeFarmer
6 жыл бұрын
Figures as much. Besides, what are they gonna do, turn on him?
@ViruZ42
3 жыл бұрын
I was trying to find a use for these in my spelljamer campaign as a thoon minion, I was thinking they would mimic an octopus bridge crew (human) with a thoon disciple as an overseer and a black op team of shadowflayers to plant infiltrator devices across the spheres.
@rickeymariu1
6 жыл бұрын
Love the vid. I don't play 5th but I'll use this creature
@kevinbarber2795
6 жыл бұрын
I saw your comment on another video talking about how this one was made! Cool that a video came so quickly!
@zacharyhawley1693
6 жыл бұрын
Pyschological horror at its finest. I'd give it to an experienced PC with an opening prompt that they don't quite remember a horrible encounter with some new creature that rendered them blind. With the rest of the party refusing to elaborate on what happened. A wonderful build up with a thrilling conclusion. When they figure it out that they didn't actually survive said encounter.
@NoNamesLeft0102
Жыл бұрын
The oblex only needs to touch someone in order to acquire the knowledge that they possess. Law enforcement or medicine. Depending on the temperament, an aggressive specimen could be direct, targeting those who have what it needs with investigations, presenting an excuse. Meanwhile, a more patient specimen could simply gather as many potential identities as needed, using what it acquires to subtly take what it desires.
@DungeonDad
6 жыл бұрын
I legit love this creature.
@AJPickett
6 жыл бұрын
I know right? I was like "Ok, I forgive you for the Phoenix... barely"".
@venkelos6996
Жыл бұрын
The nastier Oblexes are some of my favorite things from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. I often seem to want to complain about the lack of teeth 5e sometimes seems to have, regarding legitimately dangerous, and mind-wrecking encounters, but these definitely check the boxes. I didn't remember Illithid references, so I guess a relationship with the Mind Flayers is new to me, but it could be cool! One thing that does confuse me; why aren't the Illithids concerned about the Oblex's magic? Magic seems to be something that confuses most Mind Flayers; members of their own species who actually develop it are outcast radicals, and they enjoy eating wizard brains to try and understand this force. If the Oblex can use, and develop magic, instead of psionics, why aren't the Illithifs bothered by this, or even just very interested? It's funny because I wondered about their intelligence, and possible relationship to Jubilex. I thought most slime had had their minds destroyed by Ghaundaur, and yet THESE oozes are super smart, and they didn't seem to have any association with Jubilex, so I was confused. I had been wanting to incorporate some "smart slimea" into a story, though maybe less dangerous than these, and wondered why they were special, when compared to other slime and oozes. Now I have some ideas!
@feathereddoggo7891
2 жыл бұрын
With the release of the plasmoid ua I'm lmatting a player play a slime girl. In my campaign everyone got a powerful monster or humanoid that's their big bad. Goona use an oblex for her games goona run tn. I got an island in my game that long ago was a sight for an stopped abyssal invasion. However the island was so bombarded with abyssal and celestial magic that's is basically magical chernoble. However the genasi that lived there weren't evacuated so I'm having their bodies be the memories this oblex has absorbed and it's absorbed so many elemental creatures that I'm giving it elemental resistances and additional spells. I'm also going to have the new bard be one of the ejected minds that was too strong to assimilate. I hope she likes the game
@trajanfidelis1532
3 жыл бұрын
I don't want to be mind controlled by cherry Jell-O :(
@michaelgearhart5050
6 жыл бұрын
So? The Dungeons and Dragons version of the Terminator T2 model?
@aokiji99
6 жыл бұрын
oblex is created from a make a wish foundation kid that come and brianstorm ideas for new monster in dnd
@auldcrow1461
6 жыл бұрын
Yup, that's one sinister kid. Great beastie
@chadevinellers5384
4 ай бұрын
Here is a nightmare for you, on oblex with a few spawns ranging from 15 to 20 individuals. And then a false hydra gets ahold of one of the duplicates eventually leading its way to the elder oblex.
@alexbreeze4978
Жыл бұрын
Some advice as a DM who has run an oblex in game before, hivemind enemies and gestalts are WAY more difficult than you might think if you havent played one before, They are smarter than you and their mannerisms, dialogue, and plans have to be way more nuanced than a singular villain. It is far easier to make an oblex that thinks with one mind that moves between emotions and plans violently every few rounds, or that speaks poetically in riddles as a creature trying to flaunt its intelligence. The Gravemind from Halo 2 is a phenomenal version of this idea to take inspiration from.
@AJPickett
Жыл бұрын
Good advice, thanks Alex.
@AliasEliahus
6 жыл бұрын
Thanks to a bright minded young man, finally our star spawn have their shoggoths
@brosephnoonan223
6 жыл бұрын
Who says nothing good comes from cancer
@adamwelch8445
6 жыл бұрын
Well I peed my pants. fully understand the power of the oblex!!!
@strangent404a7
5 жыл бұрын
I like to think there is an oblex wizard which uses its profession for an excuse for its smell and abilities
@andrewmorgan2537
5 жыл бұрын
I think it would've just used magic to disguise its sent because it is very smart and somewhat paranoid.
@NWLR-tv
6 жыл бұрын
I clicked this video out of pure curiosity. But knowing AJ it's gonna be great
@KuLaydMahn
6 жыл бұрын
Great video! I can't wait to see your take on Revenants!
@00784865
6 жыл бұрын
Next we see:oblex as player race. :D i would love to try that.
@sluggaboyzWC3
6 жыл бұрын
QorinHalfhand. Could be done as a spawn that has been grafted into a mostly mind eaten being as an experiment. Having before hand been spawned from the mind and memories of that person being ripped out by an elder oblex as sort of an experimental 'super infiltrator' the oblex slowly growing in the body able to use the brain of the victim like a cartoon little alien until it can mimic thoes functions and then slowly consumes the creature from the inside out latching itself into one stable form. After that ide say it as a player race would probably be +2 int instead of the form's normal bonous, and gains a mind drain attack that if it criticals an enemy you may gain proficcentcy in one knowledge skill until your next short rest or gain a peice of Intel at the dm's disgression that the being knew. This critical effect could also be triggered by a coup de gra attack after 3rd level. It would also have the creature type Ooze but could be affected by mind affecting magic.
@dahelmang
2 жыл бұрын
So many questions... If they drain memories from an elf would they gain access to memories from past lives? Would this make elves a prime target for them? What about dragons? What would a battle between a gold dragon and an old Oblex look like? Why haven't they taken over the world?
@Elminster-ln4yw
2 жыл бұрын
What makes you so sure they haven't?
@dahelmang
2 жыл бұрын
@@Elminster-ln4yw oooh that would be interesting
@Elminster-ln4yw
2 жыл бұрын
@@dahelmang Just saying, you could take any setting and completely change the theme of it if you had a group of enlightened conspiracy theorists fighting and hiding from the oblex government
@dahelmang
2 жыл бұрын
@@Elminster-ln4yw things got really confusing when the steel dragons revealed their identities and led the resistance.
@Elminster-ln4yw
2 жыл бұрын
@@dahelmang Naturally the Oblex have muddied the waters by injecting their made up conspiracy into the mix that it's all doppelgangers.
@SchellShocker79
6 жыл бұрын
These are really cool creatures. Great video as always!
@epiccthulu
4 жыл бұрын
Ah and this is why i love listening to even videos of the past. I’ve been looking for the perfect familiar for my character. I’m on the train of thought this particular ooze can be diet trained. A diet of happy memories could lead to it wanting to generate more of them in their “victims “.... idk not every eldrich horror has to be evil
@wagz781
6 жыл бұрын
I'm kind of mad now. I modified a gibbering mouther to be able to take on a similar roll as an obilex albeit as an elder god of roiling chaos and now people think I copied this thing.
@Yuudaddy
6 жыл бұрын
Makes you wonder why the Gods are not waging a holy war against the Illithnids. Hell Why Asmodeus is not doing so? I mean are they not a competition?
@dragonballtalk8527
6 жыл бұрын
Włodzimierz Szyc they don't eat as many brains as you would think.
@Yuudaddy
6 жыл бұрын
Still, I woudl imagine at least one God wanting to wipe them all out and at least one God wanting to actually control them...
@brosephnoonan223
6 жыл бұрын
Włodzimierz Szyc Im not sure youre aware just how fucking big the squids were before the Gith fuckin murdered them so out of history... If I were a god, id take a pass on this mess.
@Yuudaddy
6 жыл бұрын
Such wasted potential...
@markbenand
Жыл бұрын
I have a question AJ. Even though they were made by the Illithids, would Juiblex automatically be able to take control of them if he was in proximity like how Demogorgon can take control of lesser demons because of his title as the prince? Juiblex is the creator and lord of slimes and oozes after all.
@AJPickett
Жыл бұрын
I would say 100% yes, that is generally the way demons work as well btw.
@markbenand
Жыл бұрын
Thank you!@@AJPickett
@DuskyPredator
6 жыл бұрын
I had an interesting idea if an Oblex gained enough will, magic and clerical ability to come into contact with Jubilex, and see it as its true master. The Oblex could gain the goal of consuming all, and even consume an elder brain to cause another step further. Actually this is the final piece of a horror campaign I had on my mind that would involve going into an Ilithid city that is abandoned. Start with the horror of what an Ilithid city is like before learning something more horrific. The idea that Oblex consumed all of the ilithid, and are now on the surface to summon a demon lord, while infiltrated possibly every facet. Make it extra Lovecraft with asylums, with the oblex have created a cycle of causing madness to then "fix" it as sulfic smelling doctors that drain memories. Add in some cultists, and I think there was some spell from gags that could turn one into an ooze and it should be a filled setting.
@TheAdarkerglow
6 жыл бұрын
I mean, you're essentially taking 'At The Mountains of Madness' and replacing Elder Things with Illithids and Shoggoth with Oblex, and you want to make it 'Extra Lovercraft'? Do you know how much nonsense that sounds like? A lot of nonsense.
@DuskyPredator
6 жыл бұрын
As much as At The Mountains of Madness is going into an ancient society. The idea that I really had stuck in my head was players being able to have a tour into an abandoned Ilithid city, being able to pass along vague and creepy explanations of what they are finding. But the only way I could think it end might be finding someone they were sent to receive coming into contact with a tadpole that left alone became a Neothelid. It was hard to think how that was even the horror I was wanting. But Oblex were a way that the madness is out of the mountains, and back at home, so then it becomes sort of like the Thing setting, but without the isolation. Taking advantage of madness rules, could even make a mental hospital a way to heal such afflictions as they leave the mountains of madness and go into the next Lovecraft story, while looking for some secret invasion that no one will believe them about. Where eventually the mental hospitals will be revealed as the evil platform, maybe after they even unwittingly helped them.
@TheAdarkerglow
6 жыл бұрын
Your statements have lead me to the conclusion that you haven't actually read much, if any, of the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The ancient society they delve into was destroyed by, no kidding, Sentient and intelligent Oozes capable of shape shifting called the Shoggoth - the creature from the Cthulhu Mythos most accepted as the inspiration for 'The Thing'. There was no 'next story' in Lovecraft's writing, as most protagonists survive either barely clinging to sanity or completely devoid of it, or are merely investigating events that have passed. I'm not saying that it's a bad place to start building a story, I'm simply saying that making a Lovecraft story 'more Lovecraftian' isn't possible, and suggesting maybe you read some of his work, especially as inspiration for a horror campaign. Lovecraft's use of sesquipedilian, sometimes archaic vocabulary really lends to a certain alienation and unease to the description, an unfamiliarity, and that's something you might contemplate carrying over to your story. (Sesquipedilian means, for those who don't know, polysyllabic or 'long', or to be characterized as 'long-winded').
@DuskyPredator
6 жыл бұрын
Sigh, dude, I know all of that. I have read, listened to, watched, and delved into a lot of the Lovecraft stuff. Rather than I was saying make a Lovecraft 'story' more Lovecraft, I was referring more to a setting. I know that the endgame to those sorts of things are the kind of things would be the rending of the mind of the protagonist, the one who views it. As just the first step to that story, the end to the Ilithid city like a long lost tomb, would be to either find a tiny remnant with big implications, or find someone who has glimpsed that madness. A priest or wizard who peered through a conduit to Jubiliex that corrupted the Oblex, or something that was connected to the Elder Brain as it was consumed by a mass of Oblex that are connected to Jubilex. Leaving players as simply the observer of an observer that has completely lost their mind, or they can lose their minds too if they want to use the conduit. Until they get magic treatment that might make them functionable again, like say some group that can mess with memories a bit. I know only the truly insane would even think of dealing with Jubilex, so rarely it would be a group functional enough to do anything, just as madness cripples most at the end of a Lovecraft story. An Oblex though, they kind of feel like the first thing that actually could separate the willingness to serve Jubilex, and minds that could allow to actually accomplish something. But who knows, maybe the Oblex itself changed even further, consuming an Elder brain and becoming such a mass for an instant had it adopt the Ilithid's long plan to take over, and wants to even consume Jubilex itself. A continued rabbit hole of madness, as both forces to summon Jubilex and oppose it, could be puppetry of some sort of Great One Oblex. I wonder if t would be maddening to find out that regardless they were helping something so alien.
@JamesDean-nx2nq
5 жыл бұрын
A super large oblex could mimic a house and consume any who enter it
@Nyghtking
5 жыл бұрын
I would probably end up making it over tuned by making it so it's size is limited to that of a large human, it doesn't take on the personality of people it touches but does get a perfect template for their personality that it can mimic, and it would keep the languages, non-save proficiencies, magical knowledge, ect. So basically I would run it kind of like The Thing.
@FyrenMagus
3 жыл бұрын
I've had it in my games since 3.5...saw Phantoms and played a lot of Halo (Flood) and combined the two to be very very similar to the 5e Oblex
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