Andeloid

An andeloid is a slime that fuses its victims into one being, and few horrors among the crystal spheres match these chimerical meldings.

Dormant, it is a waxy crystal spore about 3 inches wide, its shifting shimmer often mistaken for a gem (AC 0, hp 4). Fire cannot harm the spore, though the active form is vulnerable. It wakes into a flat, 2-foot ooze after suffering at least 1 point of heat or flame damage, or after 2d6 rounds within 5 feet of a living potential host. A captured host looks glazed in half an inch of clear slime, keeping its useful gear and its now-soaked clothes.

Hostless, it is almost mindless and seeks only a host. A composite thinks with a group mind led by its smartest member, swayed by the other hosts' dominant attitudes and the andeloid's urge to survive and grow; with several thinking hosts it acts like a committee.

The slow ooze lurks. Its touch forces a save vs. poison against infestation; a sleeping or unconscious victim who saves wakes up. Fire or the spells listed below let an alert victim drive it off or destroy it; no other magic works on it. Once bonded to a host's psyche it cannot be driven out, only killed.

Each new host is stuck by some body part to another, and in a month the flesh merges. If the andeloid dies first, the victim may try a System Shock roll each round to pull loose. Fused hosts die with their binder and can be separated only by wish or heal, though they can be raised.

A composite totals the andeloid's and hosts' Hit Dice (for saves only, not THAC0) and hit points; damage drains that shared pool, and every host dies when it reaches zero. Unless hit by fire or spells, the andeloid itself merely goes dormant for 2d8 turns, then re-forms as a 2 HD ooze. Hosts share each other's special defenses, resistances and immunities, and also their weaknesses unless a natural defense cancels one; the andeloid's own immunities are not passed on. Poison saves gain +4.

Hosts attack normally at +1 to THAC0, minus one attack if a limb is fused, and special attacks are lost when the body part bearing them is melded. Composites cannot fly or swim and move at their slowest host's rate.

Rescue spells: cure disease deals 3d6 to the andeloid and neutralize poison 1d6; regeneration deals 2d10 and forces a save vs. death magic or dormancy for 2d8 turns; restoration deals 3d6 with a save vs. death magic or destruction.

Young andeloids have 2 HD and gain 1 every three months, to 24. The total Hit Dice and levels of all hosts must stay at or below its own, so overly powerful victims can never be taken. Intelligent composites hunt strong beings when it is safe, and the ruling ego may digest a host, one week per Hit Die, to free room; that host's personality blends into the dominant one.

Most races destroy andeloids on sight, though chaotic folk may accept a full-grown composite and some insane or chaotic evil races treat joining one as a path to legend. Composites may be good or evil, as their dominant mind dictates, but hatred tends to make them savage. They wander remote lands or, given a host with starhelm powers, the void between worlds, caching treasure on lonely moons and asteroids.

It eats through its hosts. Unfed, it burns their fat for a week, then digests 1 host Hit Die per week, weakest first, dissolving bodies as it goes. A week after the last is gone it splits into one spore per Hit Die, able to last for ages without air or food. New andeloids, born only from spores, recall nothing of earlier lives.