Secrets of the Swamp - RPS Encounter

The Bonescale tribe of lizardfolk make their home near a dark, otherworldly portal and have begun to kidnap unwary travelers to sacrifice to a creature inside the portal they think is their god. In return, the creature returns the victims as zombies to destroy the tribe’s enemies.

The din of mosquitoes, frogs and animal calls is suddenly broken y a frantic splashing ahead. Through the low-lying fog and hanging vines, the outline of a creature’s head can be spied a moment before it seems to disappear into the ground.

Marsh Features

The area has several features of note:

• Distractions: Background noise, overgrowth and swamp gas inflicts a -5 penalty to Perception checks.
• Light-Fog: There are a few inches of light fog low to the ground, not enough to provide concealment, except for things below ground level – such as the globster in the pond.
• Sloping Ridge: The pond containing the portal and the globster is surrounded by slick, downward sloping terrain. Creatures moving along the ridge must make a DC 12 Acrobatics check to keep from falling 15 ft. down the ridge to the shore of the pond. Creatures on the slope between the top of the ridge and the pond must make a DC 17 Acrobatics check to keep from falling. The fall itself does no damage, but leaves the creature prone adjacent to the pond and the globster.
• Pond: The pond is a rough circle with a diameter of 15 feet. It is 15 feet deep at the center. There is 5 feet of flat land around it before it begins to slope 45 degrees upwards towards the ridge, 15 feet above the ground.
• Globster Stench: The ridgeline above the pond where the lizardfolk are guarding is within the 30 foot radius of the globster’s stench ability.
• The Portal: The portal is at the bottom of the pond and blocked by the globster, the only chance of getting into the portal is to go through the globster while it is still alive.
• Negative Energy Damage: A creature in the pond or within 5 feet of it takes 9 negative energy damage each round. This heals the globster 3 hit points each round.

Situation

Sinkhole: The creature is a doe that has stumbled into a sinkhole. A DC 20 Perception check reveals it is in a water-filled sinkhole 50 feet ahead. Moving closer to the hole automatically reveals the nature of the hole. The sinkhole is 5 feet by 5 feet and 10 feet deep; the doe weighs 100 pounds. The water is brackish and hard to see into.
Peering into the hole and making out the doe requires a DC 20 Perception check as well. Anyone in the water can see the doe. At the start of the first round, the doe becomes unconscious. During the third round, three lizardfolk zombies make their way toward the clearing, drawn by the commotion. If the doe is still in the water by the end of the third round, it drowns.
Following The Zombies’ Trail: The zombies left a clear trail that leads back to their origin. It takes 10 minutes to follow the trail to a pond surrounded by a ridge.

The Bonescale Tribe

Six warriors of the Bonescale tribe guard the ridge surrounding the pond that contains the portal and the creature within. They have been altered by exposure to the portal and from drinking.

The Creature in the Portal

The creature in the portal the Bonescale tribe worship as their god is a Globsters that is both unaware and uncaring towards their devotion. This strange ooze creature, normally found on ocean coasts, made its way inland following a ready supply of food in the marsh. It became trapped when it entered a pond that was also a nexus to the Negative Energy Plane.
Like the lizardfolk, the creature has been altered by its exposure to the portal. Creatures that die or that are already dead when it swallows them are transformed into zombies after an hour in the creature’s belly. Yhey then claw their way back out of the globster’s mouth. While it is mindless and eats any fallen Bonescale warriors, their shared affinity with the portal keeps it from attacking them.
Closing the Portal: If the globster is killed, it is sucked into the portal and the portal closes forever.

Tactics

Globster: The globster initially lurks below the dark, fetid waters of the pond, waiting for an opportunity to attack creatures that fall down the slopes of the ridge or that get too close to it. It is unable to move out of the pond because of the portal. It will not attack Bonescale lizardfolk or zombies, unless those creatures are dead, or in the case of the zombies, destroyed.
The globster has recently eaten two lizardfolk sacrificed to it shortly before the battle, so if it consumes two more creatures (such as dead lizardfolk) during combat it uses its create spawn ability. The portal does not trap the spawn. There is a 10% chance each round a consumed creature reanimates as a zombie (instead of a globster) and climbs out of the globster’s mouth.
Bonescale Warriors: They try to stay within the globster’s stench aura (to which they are immune) and throw javelins. Wounded warriors may move closer to the pond to heal from the negative energy effect (see “Marsh Features”). They defend the globster with their lives and if badly injured sacrifice themselves to it to be reborn stronger (in their twisted minds).

Globster CR: 5

Large ooze, unaligned

Armor Class: 14

Hit Points: 82 [roll8d10+40]

Speed: 20 ft , swim: 19 ft

STR

41 +15

DEX

4 -3

CON

20 +5

INT

1 -5

WIS

6 -2

CHA

1 -5

Skills: Stench: Any creature other than a globster that starts its turn within 15 feet of the globster must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the start of the creature's next turn. On a successful saving throw, the creature is immunte to the stench of all globsters for 1 hour.
Spawn Globster (1/day): ) When a globster eats a living creature, it only digests a small portion of the remains. As the undigested remains accumulate, the globster grows more and more bloated. As a full-round action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, a globster regurgitates these foul remains along with portions of itself. Doing so causes the globster 1d6 damage, but creates a new, fully grown globster that immediately attacks the nearest nonglobster target. A globster can create spawn only after it has fed upon at least four Medium-sized creatures (or the equivalent number of creatures of other sizes).

Languages: -

Challenge Rating: 5

Actions

Tentacle: Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 feet, one target. Hit 3d8=5 bludgeoning damage. If the target is Medium or smaller it is grappled (escape DC 14) and restrained until the grapple ends. The target must lso make a DC 16 constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of the globsters next turn.
Tentacle Slam: The globter slams the grappled creature int oa solid surface. the creature must succeed on a DC 16 constitution saving throw or take 3d6+5 bludgeoning damage and be stunned until the end of the globster's next turn. On a successful save, the target takes half the bludgeoning damage and isn't stunned.

Bonescale Warriors CR: 1

Medium lizardfolk, any

Armor Class: 15

Hit Points: 16

Speed: 30 ft , swim: 15 ft

STR

13 +1

DEX

10 +0

CON

13 +1

INT

9 -1

WIS

10 +0

CHA

10 +0

Damage Immunities: fear effects, poison

Senses: Darkvision 60 feet.

Languages: Draconic

Challenge Rating: 1

Actions

Morningstar: +2 to hit 1d8+1 plus small centipede poison (DC 11 Constitution Save)
Claw: 1d4 bite: 1d4 javelins (3): +1 to hit 1d6+1

These black-hued reptilian humanoid have several dark lumps on their faces and arms. Black ooze drips from their mouths.