Planar Bestiary
This mud-colored creature has five long, slender, whiplike tentacles, each of which can reach lengths of 8 feet or more, which they use either to walk on solid or muddy surfaces, or to burrow beneath the ground.
Though they somewhat resemble terrestrial creatures, smothering tulums are elementals of the Plane of Earth cursed by evil magic of unknown origin to seek out and suffocate living creatures of Material Plane worlds. To this end, they sometimes burrow through the fabric of reality between the Plane of Earth and Material Plane worlds wherever enough mud accumulates.
Motive: Suffocate the living
Environment: Half-dried lakes, flood zones, and other places in worlds of the Material Plane where one disaster has already endangered local creatures, usually alone hunting prey
Health: 15
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (5 points)
Armor: 1
Movement: Short; short when burrowing
Modifications: Speed defense as level 4 due to large size; burrowing, moving across water and mud, and stealth (in muddy areas) as level 7
Combat: Mud constantly condenses in the smothering tulum's presence. Small nonmagical flames are extinguished, water turns muddy, and a smear of mud and dirt covers formerly clean surfaces. Breathing creatures within immediate range that fail a Might defense task cough and gag so much they can do nothing else each round on their turn except attempt a Might defense task to end the effect. Once successful, the victim is immune to gagging and coughing from the tulum's smothering presence for one day. Each three rounds a creature gags, they descend one step on the damage track from the accumulating mud in their lungs.
Creatures immune to the coughing and gagging effect are attacked twice each round with their tentacles.
The tulum can blind up to three creatures at once (with condensed mud) within short range that fail a Speed defense task. Blinded victims who succeed on a Speed task can carefully wipe the mud from their eyes and regain sight.
The tulum can turn an adjacent region of ground a short distance in diameter into a field of mud, rendering it difficult terrain. Creatures in the area or that enter the area that fail a level 5 Might defense task are held in place by the sucking mud until they succeed on a level 5 Might task to free themselves as their action.
Interaction: Smothering tulums speak the language of elder elementals (Primordial). They have little sympathy for the living but might negotiate if promised a bounty of helpless beings.
Use: Flooding has killed dozens in the community. Now adding misery upon heartbreak, some kind of mud monster is picking off the other survivors.
GM Intrusion (Group): A rain of smothering mud covers an immediate area at a point up to a short distance from the tulum. Each creature in the rain takes damage and is subject to the tulum's smothering presence (even if they've already become immune to the passive aura). The ground beneath the rain becomes a field of mud, as described under Combat.