What Lies Beneath

Five Creatures (other than rats) You'll Find in the Sewers

In many urban adventures, the party eventually must head down into the depths below the city. They will slog through the sewers to continue whatever it is their quest needs of them. Sewers have some common monsters within them such as rats, wererats, alligators, and other vermin. Today I want to look at some other interesting things one might challenge their players within a sewer system. I present to you five things you’ll find in the sewers that aren’t bugs or rats.

Alchemical Ooze Swarms

The first of two oozes on this list, the alchemical ooze swarm combines two things that low-level parties find challenging. Creatures of the ooze type can’t “see” although they have blindsight which negates invisibility or concealment, they have no mind which makes them immune to mind-affecting spells, and they have an amorphous body making them immune to flanking and precision damage. Tiny swarms, on the other hand, take half damage from slashing and piercing damage, are immune to spells that target one creature, and cannot be tripped or grapple. Even being between CR 1/3 and 2 these creatures can be tough for a party that isn’t prepared.

Alchemical oozes would be found in the sewers around potion makers shops or magical institutions that teach alchemy. When these places eliminate the waste their experimentation creates the run-off which might mix in unexpected ways to create one of the four types of ooze swarm: Choleric, Melancholic, Phlegmatic, and Sanguine. These collections of slime are one of the many hazards of an unthinking alchemist.

Goblin Snake

Although not technically goblins, these aberrations have a goblin-like face on a serpentine body. Like goblins, they are in a constant search for things to fill their gullet and if forced to they can be deadly predators. Given the chance, however, they would rather subsist off of things that they don’t have to hunt and are known to eat anything that falls in their path; from carrion to straight up rubbish. A sewer system is the perfect place to have their meals delivered to them by an unsuspecting populace.

Eating all that refuse gives these creatures a fetid breath, which can send low-level adventurers into bouts of upheaval. They also tend to keep snakes as pets, which can make for a more interesting encounter using the goblin snake as a puppet master for a number of vipers. Goblin snakes don’t even need to end up a combat encounter. These creatures are cowards at heart and can be bribed, especially with magical knowledge, to be helpful.

Gelatinous Cube

The second of the two oozes on this list, the gelatinous cube is a classic monster that pretty much everyone has faced at one point or another. Its engulf and paralysis abilities, on top of the already mentioned ooze immunities, can make it a formidable opponent to low-level parties. The fact that you can walk right into it if it’s motionless can start a battle off on rather the wrong foot.  There are some variations from the classic, including the ebony cube (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/oozes/gelatinous-cube/gelatinous-cube-ebony/), which is not transparent but can dissolve metal and stone, and the electric cube (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/oozes/gelatinous-cube/gelatinous-cube-electric/), which is only partially transparent but has a stunning electrical attack.

Like many of the other creatures on this list, the gelatinous cube is a devourer. It lives off of organic material which can be found in quantity in most sewer systems. It will eat everything from organic refuse to the vermin that tend to congregate in a city’s waste disposal system. With the origins of the transparent oozes being a mystery, there are any number of reasons one could have found its way into this urban environment.

Otyugh

The otyugh is a creature that is actually best known for dwelling in sewers, as well as middens, cesspools, and toxic swamps. These creatures are often used as sewer cleaners in large cities such as Korvosa in Paizo’sGolarion campaign setting. Of the creatures mentioned, this is probably the most common to be found in a sewer, although its use among GMs doesn’t always reflect that.

Although both intelligent and usually indifferent to the plight of good and evil, otyughs will, however, defend their lairs if attacked. This creature can add both an interesting fight and a moral conundrum to an encounter. If the party is traversing the sewer then they are the trespassers and many people refuse to believe that the choice of diet and lair make the Otyugh anything more than a mindless scavenger.

Flail Snail

Our last creature is both bizarre and deadly. The flail snail is one of those oddball monsters that made you say, “what the heck?” when you first saw it. The ability to pull itself up on a long mucus rope and adhere to ceilings and walls made for a twisted visual. Its sticky or gooey trail of snot slime, as well as being able to retract into its shell, made it a challenge to many parties. But the one thing that really sets the flail snail apart is its shell’s ability to warp the magic that is cast at the creature.

Flail snails are omnivorous and will eat vermin as well as fungus and occasionally organic human waste. Although not the most likely to be found in a city’s refuse system, the dank sewers replicate their normal underground territory enough that the basically free food delivered in the form of garbage would be enough to keep one or even a whole group around. Like the otyugh, these creatures are often mistaken for mere animals, but they do have an intelligence and thousands of years of racial memory. Sadly, they have no means of verbal communication.

Next time you’re looking to spice up your party’s trek into the fetid reaches of your city’s waste disposal system, consider these creatures. But they aren’t the only things you can find there. Other than rats and other vermin, what kind of creatures do you like to include in your sub-urban adventures?

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