blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 8
Languages
—
Traits
Amorphous. The ooze can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
Corrode Metal. Any nonmagical weapon made of metal that hits the ooze corrodes. After dealing damage, the weapon takes a permanent and cumulative -1 penalty to damage rolls. If its penalty drops to -5, the weapon is destroyed. Nonmagical ammunition made of metal that hits the ooze is destroyed after dealing damage.
The ooze can eat through 2-inch-thick, nonmagical metal in 1 round.
False Appearance. While the ooze remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an oily pool or wet rock.
Actions
Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) acid damage, and if the target is wearing nonmagical metal armor, its armor is partly corroded and takes a permanent and cumulative -1 penalty to the AC it offers. The armor is destroyed if the penalty reduces its AC to 10.
How many gray oozes for a fight?
A gray ooze is worth 100 XP. Using the 2024 encounter budgets (SRD 5.2), this is how many gray oozes fit each difficulty for a party of four characters of the same level. A dash means even one would be over the budget.
Party level
Low
Moderate
High
1st
2
3
4
2nd
4
6
8
3rd
6
9
12+
4th
10
12+
12+
Budgets add up every monster’s XP, so you can swap some for other creatures of the same total. Try other party sizes and mixes in the encounter calculator.
How the gray ooze compares at CR 1/2
Against the 32 other challenge 1/2 monsters in the SRD 5.1, the gray ooze has more hit points than 15 of them, which makes it a little frailer than most at its CR. See every CR 1/2 monster.
Statistic
Gray Ooze
CR 1/2 average
Armor Class
8
12.6
Hit points
22
20
Best attack bonus
+3
+4
Gray Ooze 2024 stat block
The 2024 Monster Manual revised the gray ooze, and the SRD 5.2 carries the new stat block. What changed:
Amorphous. The ooze can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch without expending extra movement to do so.
Corrosive Form. Nonmagical ammunition is destroyed immediately after hitting the ooze and dealing any damage. Any nonmagical weapon takes a cumulative −1 penalty to attack rolls immediately after dealing damage to the ooze and coming into contact with it. The weapon is destroyed if the penalty reaches −5. The penalty can be removed by casting the Mending spell on the weapon. The ooze can eat through 2-inch-thick, nonmagical metal or wood in 1 round.
Actions
Pseudopod. Melee Attack Roll: +3, reach 5 ft. Hit: 10 (2d8 + 1) Acid damage. Nonmagical armor worn by the target takes a −1 penalty to the AC it offers. The armor is destroyed if the penalty reduces its AC to 10. The penalty can be removed by casting the Mending spell on the armor.
