Monster Monday: Figgy Pudding - The Holiday Monster that Really Brings It.

'Tis the season for holiday-themed D&D adventures!  You've heard of the deadly black pudding, but today's Monster Monday is its lesser-known Christmastime cousin, the Figgy Pudding, a truly terrifying dessert wreathed in alcoholic flames that are sure to fill you with seasonal warmth.

illustration by Kent Hamilton

Consider this a preview of next week's post: a short little one-shot Holiday dungeon crawl I'm calling ESCAPE FROM THE LAIR OF THE KRAMPUS!

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is (C)2014 Jonah Bomgaars.

Figgy Pudding        CR 6

XP 2,400

N Huge ooze (fire)

Init -5; Senses blindsight 60 ft.; Perception -5

Aura musical damping

DEFENSE

AC 5, touch 3, flat-footed 5 (-5 Dex, -2 size, +2 natural)

hp 76 (9d8+45)

Fort +8, Ref -2, Will -2

Immune fire, cold

Defensive Abilities split, ooze traits

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.

Melee slam +6 (2d6+3 plus 2d6 fire plus burn)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks burn (2d6, DC 18), fire burst (20 ft. radius, 5d4 fire damage, DC 18)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9^th)

   3/day – charm monster (DC 17), deep slumber (DC16)

STATISTICS

Str 15, Dex 1, Con 18, Int -, Wis 1, Cha 17

Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 15

SQ ooze traits

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Fire Burst (Ex)

Once every 1d4 rounds, a figgy pudding can vent excess alcohols from its system, bathing all within 20 feet of it in a short burst of searing blue flame.  This deals 5d4 damage to all within 20 ft. of the pudding (DC 18 Reflex save for half damage).  The save DCs are Constitution-based. 

Musical Damping (Su)

All magical and supernatural non-damaging musical effects, such as musical bardic performances or siren’s songs, cease to have an effect on any creatures within 50 ft. of the figgy pudding.  Sound is heard as normal, but no benefits or penalties are conferred. 

Split (Ex)

Slashing weapons deal no damage to the figgy pudding.  Instead, the creature splits into two identical puddings, each with half the original’s current hit points (round down). A pudding with 10 hit points or less cannot be further split and dies if reduced to 0 hp. 

ECOLOGY

Environment any cold

Organization solitary

Treasure none

This huge, pulsating blob secretes a sweet alcohol that burns with a hot blue flame.  Although rare today, they were known in times past for seeking out and attacking sources of music, especially groups of carolers - a legacy which lives on in several midwinter holiday carols. 

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D&D has a long history of monsters that obviously started out as jokes.  Some, like the owlbear, the flail snail, and the black pudding, have become iconic.  Others, not so much.  I'm not saying I expect the figgy pudding to become an iconic monster, just that I feel totally justified in putting it out there in the world for people to use.  It can't be more absurd than the armadillephant.

The weirdest thing about the figgy pudding, other than the whole thing, is its Musical Damping ability.  Since most people only know of figgy puddings from the carol "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", I wanted to tie the monster in to caroling somehow, hence its hatred of carols and its ability to negate the effects of bard song.  There aren't enough monsters that are specifically designed to interact with bardic abilities.  Plus, imagine a group of terrified carolers surrounding the party and demanding "Now slay us the figgy pudding and bring it right here!"

-your figgy d20 despot