Starfinder: Lagromea
Lagromea Combatant CR 4 XP 1,200
Neutral large Ooze
Init +; Senses Blindsight (thermal, sound); Perception +10
Defense HP 50
EAC: 16; KAC: 18
Fort: +8; Ref: +4; Will: +1
Defensive Abilities: Acid fluids, DR 6 vs slash or piercing horrific stench; Immunities: Acid, ooze immunities, sightless
Offense
Speed: 20 feet.
Melee: 3 Pseudopod bash +8 (1d6+9 B)
Ranged: Bone-infused meat chunk +9 (1d6+4 P), range increment of 50 feet.
Space: 10 ft., Reach: 10 ft.
Offensive Abilities: Flesh bomb
Statistics
Str +5; Dex +1; Con +3; Int -; Wis +0; Cha +0
Skills: Athletics +15, survival +10
Other Abilities: Engulf
Ecology
Environment: Any, although most commonly found in cities or large communities
Organization: Solitary, small pods (1d4) or medium pods (3d4)
Special Abilities
Acidic Fluids (Ex): Anything attacking the creature with natural weapons (claws, bites, etc.) will automatically suffer 1d4+4 points of acid damage. This will not heal the Lagromea, as it cannot absorb the dissolved flesh.
Engulf (Ex): A Lagromea can engulf Large or smaller target as a standard action. The Lagromea merely has to move over the squares in which the targets are standing in. The victims are allowed an attack of opportunity when the creature does this. If they take this option, they are not entitled to a saving throw. Those who choose to save must make a Ref save (DC 13) to avoid being engulfed. On a successful save, the target is pushed back or aside as the Lagromea moves. Targets engulfed automatically suffer the creatures 2d4+4 acid damage every round and gain the pinned condition, they are also in danger of suffocating, and are trapped within its body until they are no longer pinned. It should be noted that whenever acid damage inflicted on an engulfed creature, the Lagromea will heal half the damage inflicted, rounded down. So if it inflicts 7 points of damage, it will heal 3 points of damage.
Flesh Bomb (Ex): As a standard action, the creature can rip a section of its own flesh and hurl it at any target within 100 feet. It has a burst radius of 20 feet and anyone caught in the area of effect must make a Ref save (DC 13) or suffer 2d6+4 points of damage, half piercing, half acid. The creature can do this only 5 times per day.
Horrific Stench (Ex): The Lagromea exudes a powerful stench of rotting flesh in a radius of 30 feet around it. Anyone caught in this radius must make a Fort save (DC 13) or become sickened as long as they remain in the area of effect. As soon as they leave the area, they will lose the sickened condition at the beginning of their next round of action.
Protesters are always trying to find ways to end the slaughter of cattle and other ‘food’ animals, in order to end their suffering. Many were under the delusion that meat only came from supermarkets and other such vendors, not realizing that meat has to come from a specific source.
Using this as a basis, scientists, working alongside geneticists came up with a way to simply grow vast amounts of meat in vats and through genetic manipulation, could easily alter the consistency, taste and texture of any type of meat. You want Ribeye? You got it. You want AAA steak, no problem! Salami, pepperoni, pork-chops? Easy!
Initially such vat or lab-grown meat was incredibly expensive to create and labs and equipment required to produce this type of meat were almost prohibitive in the cost. As is always the case breakthroughs in research and genetic engineering made it cost effective, and eventually it became cheaper to create vat-grown meat than raising live animals. It became so common-place that many ranchers and the big slaughter-houses were forced out of business.
Some believe mystics or technomages were involved, others believe nanites caused it to mutate and change, and there were even rumors that somehow the meat was infused with necromantic energies.
No matter what one believes, a monster was created and it escaped. It did not achieve sentience, but it did acquire the ability to shape-shift to a limited degree, allowing the creature to grow pseudo-pod limbs for mobility and for striking and grappling.
The creature is always on the move, looking for other creatures to consume anything organic it encounters. It engages in combat as soon as living ‘meat’ is encountered, using three pseudopods each round. The creature can target up to three different opponents through this method, or it can attack a single target with all three. It can also choose to forgo using one pseudopod in order to rip a chunk of its own body and throw it at targets.
Finally the stench of rotting flesh is so overpowering that anything which needs to breathe or has a sense of smell has a very good chance of becoming sickened by being within 30 feet of this monster.
Chris Van Deelen is the creator and contributor to over half of the Wisdom from the Wastelands series, contributor to the Swords of Kos: Hekaton anthology. He also wrote Creatures of the Tropical Wastelands, and 100 Oddities found in a Car. As prolific as he is, Chris Van Deelen continues to write and produce material which will be in publication soon. Not only is he a prolific content creator, he also has a wide selection of fiction and stories! If you like his work, please follow his personal author page on Facebook and on Twitter to keep up with his latest news and game content.
