Gray Ooze
Medium Ooze · · CR 1/2
- Ooze
- Medium
- Tier 1
As a medium ooze (unaligned), Gray Ooze carries CR 1/2. Common in underground environments. Sourced from Monster Manual (5e 2014) and Monster Manual (5.5e 2024).
Stat Block
- Challenge Rating
- 1/2
- Type
- Ooze
- Size
- Medium
- Alignment
- —
- Speed
- —
- Habitats
- Underground
- Sources
- Monster Manual (5e 2014), Monster Manual (5.5e 2024)
Ecology
Gray oozes thrive in damp, lightless places where they can absorb minerals from wet stone, slowly digesting metal and bone over weeks. They reproduce by division when sufficiently fed, splitting into smaller oozes that drift apart into separate territories. They contribute to dungeon ecology as scavengers, breaking down carcasses and rusted equipment that no other organism can process. Predators avoid them due to corrosive secretions, leaving oozes to claim flooded passages, sewer junctions, and abandoned mineshafts as quiet kingdoms.
Behaviour
Gray oozes are incurious but not stupid. They learn the patterns of light, sound, and footfall in their territory and position themselves accordingly. A patient ooze can lie motionless for weeks, indistinguishable from wet stone, until vibrations announce a meal. They show no aggression toward creatures their senses identify as inedible or dangerous, simply waiting them out. Their decision-making is closer to a slow chemical gradient than thought, but it is consistent.
Origin
Sages disagree on whether gray oozes are degenerate elementals from the Plane of Earth, escaped alchemical experiments, or simply a primal life form that predates more complex organisms. Some scholars argue all four common ooze types are stages of a single life cycle. The truth varies by setting, but most lore agrees that gray oozes existed before recorded history and will outlast most civilizations, indifferent and patient.
Related Monsters
Frequently Asked Questions about Gray Ooze
- What is the challenge rating of Gray Ooze?
- Gray Ooze is rated CR 1/2. The rating matches a tier-1 group in low-stakes encounters.
- What type of creature is Gray Ooze?
- Gray Ooze is classified as a ooze in D&D 5e, medium size.
- Where does Gray Ooze live?
- The bestiary places Gray Ooze in Underground.