Monster Monday: Gelatinous Hypercube - The Slime Out of Time

Today's Monster Monday is the gelatinous hypercube, an ooze from the astral plane that has become untethered from causality. To the eyes of those who travel forward through time at a constant rate and for whom actions precede reactions (that is to say, most mortals), gelatinous hypercubes seem to rapidly shift between different versions of themselves, often jumping around erratically in space as they appear at random points on their personal timelines. Those engulfed by the gelatinous hypercube find themselves frozen in time and rapidly aged or de-aged at random.

Yeah, it's sort of a joke monster, but gelatinous cubes are sort of joke monsters too.

tesseract gif by Jason Hise via Wikimedia

A gelatinous hypercube prowls the astral sea

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2018 Jonah Bomgaars.

This oddly rippling gelatinous cube seems to rapidly shift between several different states of being.

Gelatinous Hypercube            CR 9

XP 6,400

N Large ooze

Init +0; Senses blindsight 120 ft.; Perception -5

DEFENSE

AC 4, touch 4, flat-footed 4 (-5 Dex, -1 size)

hp 150 (12d8+96)

Fort +12, Ref -1, Will -1

DR 10/magic; Immune acid, electricity, ooze traits

Defensive Abilities ever-shifting form, outside of time

OFFENSE

Speed 15 ft.

Melee slam +13 (1d8+5 plus 4d6 acid plus temporal stasis and time warp)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks fourth-dimensional engulf, temporal stasis (DC 25), time warp (DC 20)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8^th)

   At will – quickened dimension door (self and engulfed creatures only)

STATISTICS

Str 20, Dex 1, Con 26, Int --, Wis 1, Cha 1

Base Atk +9; CMB +15; CMD 20 (can’t be tripped)

SQ random initiative

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Outside of Time (Su)

The gelatinous hypercube is unaffected by linear time. It is immune to any spell or spell-like ability with a duration greater than instantaneous. It can act normally for the duration of time-based spells and abilities like time stop.

Ever-Shifting Form (Su)

The gelatinous hypercube exists in multiple simultaneous forms, making it difficult to hit. Physical attacks against it have a 50% miss chance, and the hypercube takes only half damage from area effects. In addition, at the beginning of each round, the gelatinous hypercube is healed or damaged according to the following table (roll 1d6):

1	3d6 damage
2	1d6 damage
3-4	No change
5	Heal 1d6
6	Heal 3d6

Any healing over its maximum hit points are gained as temporary hit points until the beginning of its next turn. The gelatinous hypercube cannot kill itself with its ever-shifting form: if the results of the roll ever cause it to go to negative hit points, the gelatinous hypercube instead disappears from existence for one round, reappearing in its previous location with its previous HP total.

Random Initiative (Ex)

At the beginning of each round, re-roll the gelatinous hypercube’s initiative. Because of its unique relationship with time, the gelatinous hypercube has a +5 bonus to initiative.

Fourth-Dimensional Engulf (Su)

A gelatinous hypercube can engulf Large or smaller creatures in its path as a standard action. It cannot make a slam attack during a round in which it engulfs. The gelatinous hypercube merely has to move over the opponents, affecting as many as it can cover. Opponents can make attacks of opportunity against the hypercube, but if they do so they are not entitled to a saving throw. Those who do not attempt attacks of opportunity can attempt as DC 21 Reflex save to avoid being engulfed – on a success, they are pushed back or aside (opponent’s choice) as the hypercube moves forward. The hypercube cannot engulf creatures by dimension door-ing into their space unless the creature had previously been engulfed by that hypercube.

   Engulfed creatures are subject to the gelatinous hypercube’s temporal stasis and time warp, gain the pinned condition, are in danger of suffocating, and are trapped within its body until they are no longer pinned. The save DC is Strength-based.

Temporal Stasis (Su)

The gelatinous hypercube’s irregular relationship to linear time can cause those struck by it to become temporarily untethered from causality. A target hit by the hypercube’s melee or fourth-dimensional engulf attack must make a DC 25 Fortitude save or be placed into temporal stasis (as the spell) for 2d6 rounds. Creatures placed into temporal stasis in this way can still be affected by the gelatinous hypercube’s attacks and abilities even though they are immune to damage and aging from all other sources. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Time Warp (Su)

Creatures hit by the hypercube’s melee or fourth-dimensional engulf attack must make a DC 20 Fortitude save or be aged or de-aged to a new age category, gaining all the advantages and disadvantages of that age category. There is a 50% chance that the target will be advanced to the next age category, and a 50% chance they will be regressed to the previous age category. For the purposes of this ability, the age categories are: Infancy, Childhood, Youth, Adulthood, Middle Age, Old, Venerable, and Maximum Age: Youth receives a -2 penalty to all stats except Dexterity, Childhood receives a -2 penalty to all stats, and Infancy receives a -4 penalty to all stats, with all penalties being cumulative. Creatures aged past their maximum age or below infancy cease to exist, and can only be returned to life at their ‘normal’ age with true resurrection or wish. This is an aging affect. Its save DC is Constitution-based and includes a -4 racial penalty.

ECOLOGY

Environment Astral Plane

Organization solitary

Treasure incidental

This multi-dimensional ooze, born outside of linear time, is disconnected from causality and constantly shifts between all possible forms of itself, often taking multiple forms simultaneously. Their appearance is sometimes described by mortals as two rotating cubes simultaneously growing and shrinking into each other. While they possess the same basic instincts as a normal gelatinous cube – to engulf living things – they are far more complex. Their shifting bodies and unique relationship to time make them difficult to hit. Although they move slowly, they can also appear in a new position suddenly by shifting forward or back on their personal time stream. Any creatures damaged by their time-dilating forms can find themselves rapidly aged or de-aged, or even temporarily frozen in time.

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Plot Hooks and Encounter Ideas

• An aging nobleman seeks adventurers to lead him to a gelatinous hypercube in the hopes that he might plunge himself into it and de-age himself. He seems unconcerned with the obvious risks, and offers a huge pile of cash as a reward (to be paid out after his successful rejuvenation).
• A wizard researching time and the Astral Plane seeks fluid from the body of a gelatinous hypercube as a reagent for one of his experiments. 
• Trapped in a dungeon in the hollowed-out petrified corpse of a forgotten god floating through the astral plane, the adventurers must fight their way past an extradimensional wizard and their cohort of gelatinous hypercubes.

-your n-dimensional d20 despot